We kicked off day two of a three day swing around Southwest Virginia yesterday with a visit to Buchanan Mine #1 near the town of Oakwood. Senator Warner greeted miners before suiting up and heading down into the mine.

"Coal needs to remain part of our portfolio approach to energy, and utilizing Virginia’s natural resources is key in reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil," Senator Warner said.

Underground, the Senator saw a continuous mining operation underground as well as work on reinforcing the walls before heading back up to the surface.

Next, we traveled to Bluefield, where the Senator addressed a joint meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, which includes members from Virginia and West Virginia. He pitched his deficit reduction efforts, as well as talked about energy and education. Senator Warner also took questions from the crowd before heading to Dublin.

In Dublin, the Senator attended a town hall meeting with more than 100 Volvo employees. Volvo's New River Valley plant assembles trucks to order and recently expanded its operations. The employees had lots of questions for Senator Warner, including his views about bipartisan cooperation in Congress. One of the employees compared the importance of finding common ground between union workers and management to finding common ground in fiscal talks. Senator Warner then toured the plant and chatted with workers before getting to drive a New River Valley custom-made semi-truck around the plant.

Senator Warner wrapped up the day in Wytheville at a young professionals networking happy hour organized by STAY Southwest, Smyth County Young Professionals for Progress and Wythe-Bland Young Professionals.

"This is really cool," Senator Warner said. "It's great to see young people in the region come together to keep Southwest Virginia great".