GLOUCESTER — Sen. Mark Warner told employees, volunteers and residents of Bay Aging elderly community something they probably already knew on Tuesday — that 90 percent of Americans think Congress is dysfunctional.

"Let me assure you," he added, "that I am in the 90 percent."

Virginia's junior Democratic senator spent an hour at Bay Aging, discussing health care, the defense budget, domestic spending and other topics. His visit attracted more than 60 people who packed into a community room at Daffodil Gardens, an assisted living community of 64 apartments that's home to 66 residents at least 62 years old.

The single biggest threat to America isn't terrorism or Al-Qaida, Warner said, it's the deficit. Every day the nation adds billions to its trillions of dollars of debt and if interest rates rise two to three points, the country couldn't pay its bills, Warner said.

Federal spending is at an all-time high in relation to the gross domestic product while tax revenue is low, he said. As a result, Congress has to consider slashing spending not only on entitlements, but the defense budget as well, he said.

Both political parties have members that want to work together, Warner said. But "what passes for compromise in Washington is just a way to spend money and not pay for it."

Warner called on businesses to create more good jobs.

"At the end of the day, what's going to make America competitive in the 21st century isn't going to be cheap wages," Warner said, "it's going to be smart people."

Earlier in the day, Warner convened an economic development discussion with leaders of 20 businesses at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton. He then toured the Apprentice School of Shipbuilding in Newport News in advance of a groundbreaking for a new school to replace the current one inside the shipyard's gates.

Warner also lauded the work of non-profit organizations such as Bay Aging. Warner said it's important for the private sector to help out more, maybe not in simply giving money but also encouraging volunteerism.

In speaking to members of the media afterward, Warner said defense spending cuts could come in cutting back on foreign bases.