Indifference not an option, senator says

April 4, 2012 12:10 am

Lindsay Cutler, a UMW senior majoring in American studies, captures Warner in Monroe Hall on her iPad.

Warner says bickering in Congress must end before debt can be fixed.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner urged University of Mary Washington students on Tuesday to get engaged in politics, demand straight answers from politicians and be aware that the national TV opinion shows are just that: opinion.

Warner, a Democrat, was speaking to a roomful of students--and some members of the community--during a stop at the Fredericksburg university.

He told them that the nation's ever-rising national debt and deficit will be the next generation's bill to pay off, and that they can't afford to be indifferent.

"That cannot be left just to the politicians," Warner said.

Warner talks frequently about the debt and deficit as the greatest problem facing the United States, and about the pressing need for Congress to end partisan bickering and find a solution to the problem.

A fix for the debt and deficit problem would take 20 years, he said, but lawmakers could make a start now. Doing so, Warner said, "would do more to create job growth and economic recovery" than any other action Congress could take.

Neither political party caused the problem, he said, and both will have to compromise to fix it.

Warner reminded the students of last year's fight over raising the debt ceiling, and warned that the fight will return later this year when the ceiling will probably need to be raised again.

"We're going to have one more shot at trying to fix this," he said.

In response to audience questions, Warner said the country must do more to help and encourage startup businesses and entrepreneurs. He said he advocates cuts to defense spending--not, he said, to weaken the military, but because defense budget spending has doubled since 9/11.

Warner said entitlement programs need reform, not just cuts, and said the biggest area of budget growth has been the expansion of tax breaks. In the past, Warner has spoken of eliminating many tax credits while reducing tax rates, especially for corporations.

Warner said he doesn't favor a balanced-budget amendment, calling it "a political sound bite rather than [making] the real hard decisions.

"There are legitimate reasons to run a deficit in times of crisis" such as war or economic recession, Warner said.

He pointed to Greece's financial problems as a warning; part of Greece's problem, he said, is a lack of flexibility in its monetary policies.

Responding to questions about immigration, Warner said he favors new visa programs targeted at particular types of workers, but that the government also needs to make it easier for industries such as Virginia's seafood industry to hire immigrant laborers.

Warner said he supports immigration reforms such as the DREAM Act, which would give permanent residency to people who arrived here illegally as children and graduated from U.S. high schools.

He said he envisions a looming struggle between identity validation processes and privacy concerns.

Asked about the situation in Iran, Warner said it's currently "the greatest threat to global stability."

"We cannot under any circumstances allow Iran to have nuclear weapons," he said. "You would have a powder keg in that region."

Warner again spoke about the need for more bipartisanship in Congress.

"There've been times I've thought I was going to jump out the window in this job" out of frustration with partisan pressures, Warner said.

He said he'd like to see changes to the Senate's filibuster rule, and would allow bipartisan amendments to every bill instead of "these silly amendments that are just gotcha amendments" that lawmakers propose now.