Press Releases
Sen Warner Asks Defense Secretary Hagel to Reconsider DoD School Closings, Teacher Furloughs
May 29 2013
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Kay Hagan (D-NC), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) today asked U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to reconsider a decision to close schools and furlough almost 11,000 teachers at Department of Defense (DoD) operated schools for up to five days this fall as part of the Pentagon’s plan to comply with budget cuts required by the sequester.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) has introduced legislation to strengthen existing military whistleblower protection laws to ensure that victims of sexual assault and other misconduct are protected from retaliation after they report the alleged offenses. The Military Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2013 improves overall protections for military men and women who report any type of misconduct, requiring timelier investigations by the inspector general
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Jim Moran (D-08) joined Senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner, Congressmen Rob Wittman (R-01), Bobby Scott (D-03), and Gerry Connolly (D-11), and members of Virginia tribes to announce legislation to grant federal recognition to six Virginia Native American tribes. The bill, the “Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Act” was introduced by Moran and Kaine in the House and Senate, respectively.
Sens. Warner & Kaine Submit Legislation to Expand Offshore Energy Leases
Senate proposal includes U.S. revenue sharing with Virginia
May 22 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today cosponsored the introduction of The Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2013. The legislation would expand American offshore energy production with a revised five-year leasing plan, and provide revenue sharing
Sens. Warner & Portman Introduce Bipartisan DATA Act
Expands transparency and accountability for federal spending, allows taxpayers and policymakers to track spending
May 21 2013
Sens. Mark Warner and Rob Portman (R-OH) today introduced bipartisan legislation to improve and expand federal fiscal accountability. The legislation requires standardized reporting of federal spending to be posted to a single website.
Senator Warner: Pentagon Should Rethink Furloughs of Teachers at DoD Schools
~ Planned five-day teacher furloughs will negatively impact children, disrupt families ~
May 16 2013
Senator Warner today urged Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to reconsider his decision to furlough almost 11,000 teachers at Defense Department-operated schools for up to five days as part of the Pentagon’s plan to comply with budget cuts required due to the sequester.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine today applauded the confirmation of Marilyn Tavenner of Virginia as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) by a vote of 91 to 7. Tavenner is the first Senate-confirmed CMS Administrator since 2006. CMS oversees Medicare and Medicaid and is charged with health care services for millions of Americans.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement regarding the retirement of Virginia Tech President Charles Steger:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Mark Begich (D-AK), Harry Reid (D-NV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Tim Scott (R-SC), introduced a resolution yesterday recognizing National Travel and Tourism Week to emphasize the importance of the travel and tourism sector for the economies of communities throughout the nation.
WASHINGTON – On Monday, May 6, 2013, the California State Senate unanimously passed legislation calling on Congress to pass, and the president to sign into law, Startup Act 3.0 – the strongest, most comprehensive jobs and high-skilled immigration reform bill on the table in Congress. U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), authors of Startup Act 3.0, lauded the passage as an important step toward breaking the log-jam of inaction in Washington.
Sens. Warner, Rubio, Wyden Introduce Student Right to Know Before You Go Act
Bipartisan legislation will make relevant higher education data available to students, families
May 09 2013
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) today introduced The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act to ensure that a wide range of comparative data about higher education programs is more readily available for prospective students and their families. They discussed their bipartisan legislation during a roundtable on Capitol Hill this morning with students, parents and school counselors.
Sen. Warner Urges Budget Negotiations with the House
Calls for an end to "lurching from crisis to crisis"
May 08 2013
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) led an effort on the Senate floor today calling on Republican colleagues to allow budget negotiations to begin with the U.S. House of Representatives.
Sens. Warner, Kaine Urge President Obama to Move to Reduce V-A Claims Backlog
Average wait time for veterans’ disability claims is over 300 days
Apr 29 2013
WASHINGTON –U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today sent a letter to President Obama urging him to take action to reduce the current backlog of veterans’ disability claims. Currently, the average claim takes over 300 days to be resolved. In the letter, Sens. Warner and Kaine, who were joined by 65 other members of the Senate, cited long delays in cities across the country in making the case for swift action to reduce the backlog.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today was appointed Chairman of the Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion Subcommittee by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). The subcommittee works to strengthen U.S. competitiveness by promoting trade, investment, innovation and manufacturing.
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) announced the introduction of the Government Customer Service Improvement Act of 2013. The bipartisan legislation works to improve customer service delivery across federal agencies.
Sen. Warner Reappointed Chairman of Government Performance Task Force
Senate Budget Commitee's bipartisan panel to boost cost savings through reforms, accountability, and transparency
Apr 22 2013
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today was reappointed chairman of the bipartisan Government Performance Task Force by U.S. Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA). The Task Force, established in 2009 with Sen. Warner as its initial chairman, supports the Budget Committee by providing oversight and recommendations on ways to increase the performance and reduce the cost of federal agencies and programs.
Virginia Delegation Urges Pentagon to Act to Reduce Impact of Potential Furloughs
~ Bipartisan letter recommends “full flexibility … to protect civil servants at a difficult time” ~
Apr 18 2013
Members of Virginia’s Congressional delegation today sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressing bipartisan unity for immediate action to avert furloughs to the Defense Department’s civilian workforce, citing the potentially disproportionate impact on the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Statement of Sen. Warner on Senate Gun Votes
Apr 17 2013
It’s very disappointing that we could not reach 60 votes in the Senate for the reasonable, bipartisan legislation to strengthen background checks.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) issued the following statement after a bipartisan group of eight senators introduced a bill to fix our nation’s broken immigration system. The bill was introduced by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
“I support the bipartisan compromise on background checks announced by Senators Manchin and Toomey today. It will strengthen our background check system, close the gun show loophole and prohibit the commercial sale of guns to those who are dangerously mentally ill or have a criminal record."
“For those of us who have been working for some time on bipartisan solutions to the debt, I am encouraged by the President’s budget proposal. It cuts the growth in federal spending, makes targeted investments to strengthen the economy, and it passes the test of fairness by including specific, phased-in reforms to entitlement programs"
Statement of Sen. Warner on GAO's Report on Program Duplication
We need a more collaborative culture," says Warner, "These silos must be broken down."
Apr 09 2013
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement on today’s report by the Government Accountability Office, which cited specific examples of duplication, overlap and other inefficiencies in programs administered across the federal government. The report identified an additional 31 areas where agencies could achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness, and identified 81 specific actions to reduce overlapping, duplicative and inefficient federal spending.
Sens. Warner & Kaine Urge Confirmation of Marilyn Tavenner as CMS Administrator
Former nurse, hospital CEO, Va. Health & Human Resources Secretary nominated at CMS
Apr 09 2013
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sens, Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today urged Senate confirmation of the Presidential nomination of Marilyn B. Tavenner of Virginia to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. CMS is the lead federal agency responsible for health care for millions of Americans through its administration of Medicare, Medicaid and programs related to implementation of The Affordable Care Act
Sen. Warner Seeks Assurances that Military Families are Safe from Lead in Drinking Water
Letter to Secretary Hagel follows discovery of lead at 2 Navy child centers in Virginia
Apr 04 2013
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to take action to protect military families from unsafe levels of lead in drinking water. Recent tests at two Hampton Roads Navy child care centers found lead in drinking water that far exceeded Environmental Protection Agency safety levels.
Sen. Warner Successfully Amends Senate Budget Bill
Amendments help federal retirees, boost online transparency, and eliminate duplicate reports
Mar 15 2013
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today successfully amended the 2014 Senate budget resolution, adding three amendments which collectively promote more effective, transparent and cost-efficient government. Each of Sen. Warner’s three proposals received unanimous bipartisan support today. The Budget Committee is scheduled to vote on the overall 2014 budget bill within the hour, and it is expected to be considered by the full Senate next week.
