In the News
No time for political games
May 31 2011
House Republicans have scheduled a vote late today to increase the debt limit that is "doomed to fail" simply to prove a point, according to reporter Jackie Calmes at the New York Times. Senator Warner spoke to Calmes and also talked about his efforts to grapple with the nation’s $1.5 trillion deficit and $14 trillion debt with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC today.
“The people who are more politically savvy realize this may not be the normal brinkmanship,” said Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia. Nor, he added, is this standoff like the fight a few months ago over the current year’s spending, which ended with a late-night deal shortly before the government would have shut down.
Pressing Arlington for answers
May 31 2011
Senator Warner has written the Secretary of the Army asking for an update on the status of improvements at Arlington National Cemetery. It was one year ago that an Inspector General’s report documented widespread mismanagement and shameful practices at the nation’s most pre-eminent military cemetery.
At a budget conference hosted by the Peterson Foundation, Senator Warner and three other members of a Senate group working on a comprehensive, bipartisan budget solution said those budget discussions may be the best hope for a bipartisan fiscal accord this year.
Creating the Future
May 25 2011
Fixing our short-term deficits and longer-term debt allows our country to focus once again on what it does best: creating the future, Senator Warner delivered that message to the trustees of the Brookings Institute today as they released their year-long study Growth Through Innovation.
Talking Trade with HP
May 23 2011
This morning Senator Warner traveled to Herndon to discuss trade opportunities with ambassador Demetrios Marantis, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, and more than 250 employees at Hewlett Packard. The Senator talked about the need to pass the pending trade agreements with Korea, Panama, and Colombia, and the growing importance of exports, as well as deficit reduction and tax reform.
Virginian Pilot: Debt solution requires courage
May 20 2011
Over the coming weeks, Washington will be consumed with the arcane issue of the nation's debt ceiling. Not with the practical matter of whether lawmakers should raise the nation's credit limit, but with the political advantage that can be gained in this game of trillion-dollar chicken.
U.S. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia drew applause and laughter with advice he gave to the Class of 2011 during the Law School's May 15 graduation ceremony: "Never be afraid to fail. Always remember in our political discourse and debate to be civil and respectful of those you disagree with. And, never forget to call your mom."
Sen. Mark Warner says the departure of Sen. Tom Coburn from the bipartisan "Gang of Six"--senators who have been working on solutions to the national debt--will not stop the group's work.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Wednesday that the loss of a key conservative senator from the so-called Gang of Six doesn't mean they're giving up on producing a complex plan to cut trillions from the national debt through deep spending cuts, entitlement reforms and changes in taxes.
