Press Releases

Sens. Mark Warner and Rob Portman (R-OH) today introduced bipartisan legislation to improve and expand federal fiscal accountability. The legislation requires standardized reporting of federal spending to be posted to a single website.

Senator Warner today urged Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to reconsider his decision to furlough almost 11,000 teachers at Defense Department-operated schools for up to five days as part of the Pentagon’s plan to comply with budget cuts required due to the sequester.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine today applauded the confirmation of Marilyn Tavenner of Virginia as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) by a vote of 91 to 7. Tavenner is the first Senate-confirmed CMS Administrator since 2006. CMS oversees Medicare and Medicaid and is charged with health care services for millions of Americans.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement regarding the retirement of Virginia Tech President Charles Steger:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Mark Begich (D-AK), Harry Reid (D-NV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Tim Scott (R-SC), introduced a resolution yesterday recognizing National Travel and Tourism Week to emphasize the importance of the travel and tourism sector for the economies of communities throughout the nation.

WASHINGTON – On Monday, May 6, 2013, the California State Senate unanimously passed legislation calling on Congress to pass, and the president to sign into law, Startup Act 3.0 – the strongest, most comprehensive jobs and high-skilled immigration reform bill on the table in Congress. U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), authors of Startup Act 3.0, lauded the passage as an important step toward breaking the log-jam of inaction in Washington.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) today introduced The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act to ensure that a wide range of comparative data about higher education programs is more readily available for prospective students and their families. They discussed their bipartisan legislation during a roundtable on Capitol Hill this morning with students, parents and school counselors.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) led an effort on the Senate floor today calling on Republican colleagues to allow budget negotiations to begin with the U.S. House of Representatives.

WASHINGTON –U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today sent a letter to President Obama urging him to take action to reduce the current backlog of veterans’ disability claims. Currently, the average claim takes over 300 days to be resolved. In the letter, Sens. Warner and Kaine, who were joined by 65 other members of the Senate, cited long delays in cities across the country in making the case for swift action to reduce the backlog.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today was appointed Chairman of the Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion Subcommittee by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). The subcommittee works to strengthen U.S. competitiveness by promoting trade, investment, innovation and manufacturing.

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) announced the introduction of the Government Customer Service Improvement Act of 2013. The bipartisan legislation works to improve customer service delivery across federal agencies.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today was reappointed chairman of the bipartisan Government Performance Task Force by U.S. Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA). The Task Force, established in 2009 with Sen. Warner as its initial chairman, supports the Budget Committee by providing oversight and recommendations on ways to increase the performance and reduce the cost of federal agencies and programs.

Members of Virginia’s Congressional delegation today sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressing bipartisan unity for immediate action to avert furloughs to the Defense Department’s civilian workforce, citing the potentially disproportionate impact on the Commonwealth of Virginia.

It’s very disappointing that we could not reach 60 votes in the Senate for the reasonable, bipartisan legislation to strengthen background checks.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) issued the following statement after a bipartisan group of eight senators introduced a bill to fix our nation’s broken immigration system. The bill was introduced by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).

“I support the bipartisan compromise on background checks announced by Senators Manchin and Toomey today. It will strengthen our background check system, close the gun show loophole and prohibit the commercial sale of guns to those who are dangerously mentally ill or have a criminal record."

“For those of us who have been working for some time on bipartisan solutions to the debt, I am encouraged by the President’s budget proposal. It cuts the growth in federal spending, makes targeted investments to strengthen the economy, and it passes the test of fairness by including specific, phased-in reforms to entitlement programs"

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement on today’s report by the Government Accountability Office, which cited specific examples of duplication, overlap and other inefficiencies in programs administered across the federal government. The report identified an additional 31 areas where agencies could achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness, and identified 81 specific actions to reduce overlapping, duplicative and inefficient federal spending.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sens, Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today urged Senate confirmation of the Presidential nomination of Marilyn B. Tavenner of Virginia to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. CMS is the lead federal agency responsible for health care for millions of Americans through its administration of Medicare, Medicaid and programs related to implementation of The Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to take action to protect military families from unsafe levels of lead in drinking water. Recent tests at two Hampton Roads Navy child care centers found lead in drinking water that far exceeded Environmental Protection Agency safety levels.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today successfully amended the 2014 Senate budget resolution, adding three amendments which collectively promote more effective, transparent and cost-efficient government. Each of Sen. Warner’s three proposals received unanimous bipartisan support today. The Budget Committee is scheduled to vote on the overall 2014 budget bill within the hour, and it is expected to be considered by the full Senate next week.

“I share the concern of a lot of our members on both sides of the aisle. The fact is we’re $16 trillion in debt, $16.5 trillion in debt, and it goes up $3 billion every night. None of this is self-correcting. It’s going to have to be reduced and dealt with."

Sen. Warner has been awarded the U.S. Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest recognition the Navy can confer upon a civilian. In making the award, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus cited Sen. Warner’s efforts on both the Senate’s Budget and Intelligence committees to support military men and women and their families.

On a strong bipartisan vote of 14-4, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today passed U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner’s bipartisan CAMPUS Safety Act, which would consolidate federal campus safety efforts into the National Center for Campus Public Safety.

Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Bob Corker (R-TN), members of the Senate Banking Committee, wrote to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today asking him to clarify his "too big to jail" remarks, comments he made last week regarding enforcement actions on money laundering and terrorism financing activities based on the size of the culpable institution.

Press Releases

Expands transparency and accountability for federal spending, allows taxpayers and policymakers to track spending

May 21 2013

~ Planned five-day teacher furloughs will negatively impact children, disrupt families ~

May 16 2013

May 15 2013

May 14 2013

May 10 2013

May 09 2013

Bipartisan legislation will make relevant higher education data available to students, families

May 09 2013

Calls for an end to "lurching from crisis to crisis"

May 08 2013

Average wait time for veterans’ disability claims is over 300 days

Apr 29 2013

Apr 25 2013

Apr 22 2013

Senate Budget Commitee's bipartisan panel to boost cost savings through reforms, accountability, and transparency

Apr 22 2013

~ Bipartisan letter recommends “full flexibility … to protect civil servants at a difficult time” ~

Apr 18 2013

Apr 17 2013

Apr 17 2013

Apr 10 2013

Apr 10 2013

We need a more collaborative culture," says Warner, "These silos must be broken down."

Apr 09 2013

Former nurse, hospital CEO, Va. Health & Human Resources Secretary nominated at CMS

Apr 09 2013

Letter to Secretary Hagel follows discovery of lead at 2 Navy child centers in Virginia

Apr 04 2013

Amendments help federal retirees, boost online transparency, and eliminate duplicate reports

Mar 15 2013

~ at Senate Budget Committee Hearing on Release of FY2014 Budget ~

Mar 13 2013

~ Navy Sec’y. notes Sen. Warner’s work to ease impact of sequester ~

Mar 13 2013

Legislation heads to full Senate for vote

Mar 12 2013

~ Bipartisan letter: “No institution, individual or executive should be above the law” ~

Mar 12 2013