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Roundtables, Rail and Roanoke Vets
Aug 22 2013
It's day three of Senator Warner’s 1,000 mile statewide Virginia trip and the Senator kicked off the day in Chesapeake talking with realtors, homebuilders and others in the industry about his bipartisan legislation to strengthen America’s housing finance system.
"This is one area that we never really dealt with after the financial crisis in 2008," Senator Warner said. "I look forward to working with you all to fix this."
Senator Warner then visited Tidewater Community College's Norfolk location to meet with students, parents and counselors about his Student Right to “Know Before You Go,” bill. The bipartisan legislation would help families more easily access information that's already gathered about graduation rates, student loan debt, employment prospects and potential future earnings . “A higher education shouldn't cost a quarter million dollars,” Sen. Warner told parents and students at TCC.
@MarkWarner addresses roomful of students and parents @TCCva. Wants more transparency and information for decisions pic.twitter.com/iyUiMKV1yA
— James Toscano (@JamesToscano) August 22, 2013
Later this afternoon, the Senator visited the Veterans Administration Regional Office in Roanoke to learn more about how they are reducing the backlog of veteran’s disability claims by digitizing their records system. He also announced that the VA has certified the College of William & Mary's Lewis B. Puller, Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic as a national "best practices" program for submission of disability claims.
"It will be only the third certified program," Senator Warner explained. "The American Legion and the Disabled American Veterans are the only other two.
The Senator also talked about his efforts to expand William and Mary's program.
"I've been talking to some other senators, and as many as fifteen other law schools across the country plan to open their own clinics, modeled on what your predecessors here at the William and Mary Law School have done," he said.
Senator @MarkWarner in #Roanoke learning about #veterans benefit claims and how the clearing the backlog is going. pic.twitter.com/rPvJCWPdxJ
— Jenna Zibton (@jennasjems) August 22, 2013
Finally, Senator Warner headed to Norfolk Southern in Roanoke to hold a town hall with workers. He got questions on the deficit, supporting surface transportation and more.
After the town hall, the Senator got tour of the rail yard.
Senator Warner will have another full day in Southwest Virginia tomorrow that will be capped off by a fun night at the Bristol Motor Speedway.