Senator Warner traveled to Norfolk, Newport News and Williamsburg this weekend to check-in with small business owners and community leaders on issues that ranged from health care to the economy, including Wall Street and the continuing gridlock in Congress.

During a meeting with ministers and other faith leaders in Norfolk on Friday, Senator Warner answered questions about last year's economic recovery stimulus package -- which has provided more than $5 billion in federal aid to state and local governments in Virginia, and more than $1.5 billion in tax relief for Virginia families and small businesses.

"I know the stimulus package has been controversial," said Senator Warner, "but if we hadn't passed the stimulus package, Virginia's budget would have looked a lot like California's."

On Saturday, he met with small business owners on the Peninsula. Ed Mullins of B&C Seafood in Newport News shared his experience with high health costs.

You can see the exchange below:

Later in the day, Senator Warner went to Williamsburg.  During two separate events there, he addressed the growing frustration toward Congress shared by many Virginians.

One small business owner asked Senator Warner about the gridlock we see too often in Washington:  

"There is some legitimate delay in the process  where there are people genuinely trying to come to a bipartisan compromise, but there are more people that are just delaying it because they know the longer they delay it, the easier it is to kill it.  How do we prevent that?"

Senator Warner said that he and other first- and second-year Senators are working with the Senate leadership to try to reform and modernize the rules so that one member will not have an ability to block legislation for no reason.  

Later, during a meeting with Williamsburg community leaders, Senator Warner was asked: "On a scale of one to ten, how optimistic are you about where we're headed?"

"I'm still an eight," Senator Warner said. "We can't give up hope yet."