WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) along with Rep.  Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09) urged the Army Corps of Engineers to act quickly to finalize the Buchanan County Consolidated School Relocation Project, a project that would relocate and consolidate the existing Hurley High School and Buchanan County Career, Technology & Higher Learning Center from their existing locations in a floodplain onto one campus in Grundy, Virginia.

“The relocation of Hurley High School and the Buchanan County Career Center will provide a safe and reliable facility for the communities of Grundy and Hurley, Virginia,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter. “Recent significant rainfall events in Buchanan County have showed that time is of the essence to complete this critical consolidation and relocation project. We urge USACE to prioritize finalizing the Buchanan County School Relocation Contract as quickly as possible so this critical project can get underway.”

Due to consistent, severe flooding in Buchanan County – including two recent flooding events in 2021 and 2022 – USACE has implemented flood risk management measures in the county since the early 2000s. In August 2003, USACE approved a conceptual level Detailed Project Report package for the Buchanan County Nonstructural Project that identified Hurley High School and Buchanan County Career Center as “feasible for floodproofing by means of a ‘ringwall.’”

In 2019, the Buchanan County Nonstructural Project received significant supplemental appropriations to complete flood risk management activities pursuant to the Disaster Relief Act of 2019. Given the lapse in time, a USACE review determined that a ringwall for the high school was no longer feasible and relocation was the most viable solution. The Buchanan County Board of Education then submitted plans to relocate the career center to the same location as the high school, which was supported by a 2021 Supplemental Environmental Assessment produced by USACE.

In their letter, the lawmakers highlighted the elongated approval process, and requested quick action finalizing a project that is vital for Southwest Virginia. 

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

 Dear Assistant Secretary Connor:

We write today concerning the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Consolidated School Relocation Project, which is part of the Buchanan County Section 202 Nonstructural Flood Damage Reduction Project. The purpose of this project is to relocate and consolidate the existing Hurley High School and Buchanan County Career, Technology & Higher Learning Center from their existing locations in a floodplain onto one campus in Grundy, Virginia. We respectfully request that USACE act swiftly to finalize the Buchanan County Consolidated School Relocation Project, which is essential for our constituents in Southwest Virginia.

Over the decades, the community of Buchanan County has faced a number of severe flooding events – including two recent significant rainfall events in 2021 and 2022 that resulted in Major Disaster Declarations. As a result of these recurring flooding events, USACE has implemented flood risk management measures in Buchanan County since the early 2000s. In August 2003, USACE approved a conceptual/feasibility level Detailed Project Report package for the Buchanan County Nonstructural Project that identified Hurley High School and Buchanan County Career Center as “feasible for floodproofing by means of a ‘ringwall.’”

In 2019, the Buchanan County Nonstructural Project received significant supplemental appropriations to complete flood risk management activities pursuant to the Disaster Relief Act of 2019. Given the lapse of time, USACE was able to examine the feasibility of onsite nonstructural flood protection for Hurley High School and the Buchanan County Career Center. Following this review, USACE determined that the nonstructural floodproofing options for the high school were not feasible and converting to the nonstructural measure of acquisition by relocation was the most viable solution for providing flood protection. Although the ringwall was confirmed feasible for the career center, the Buchanan County Board of Education submitted alternative plans to relocate the career center to the same location as the high school, which was supported by a 2021 Supplemental Environmental Assessment produced by USACE.

It is our understanding that the Great Lakes & Ohio River Division transmitted the Draft Consolidated School Relocation Agreement Contract to USACE headquarters on October 26, 2022 for review and comment. At the request of USACE headquarters, we understand the Huntington District Office drafted a Letter Report and detailed responses to comments and questions posed by USACE headquarters intended to supplement the 2003 Detailed Project Report and document the considerations leading to the updated decision to achieve the most cost effective and implementable plan. We understand the Letter Report and additional materials were transmitted to the Great Lakes & Ohio River Division for review on January 13, 2023, approved, and then transmitted to USACE headquarters on January 23, 2023 for final review. It is now our understanding that USACE headquarters is in the final stages of reviewing the Buchanan County Consolidated School Relocation Contract.

The relocation of Hurley High School and the Buchanan County Career Center will provide a safe and reliable facility for the communities of Grundy and Hurley, Virginia. Recent significant rainfall events in Buchanan County have showed that time is of the essence to complete this critical consolidation and relocation project. We urge USACE to prioritize finalizing the Buchanan County School Relocation Contract as quickly as possible so this critical project can get underway.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to working with USACE to advance this important project for Buchanan County, Virginia.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced the Increasing Competitiveness for American Drones Act of 2023, comprehensive legislation to streamline the approvals process for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights and clear the way for drones to be used for commercial transport of goods across the country – making sure that the U.S. remains competitive globally in a growing industry increasingly dominated by competitors like China.

Currently, each aircraft and each BVLOS operation that takes flight requires unmanned aerial system (UAS) operators to seek waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but the FAA has not laid out any consistent set of criteria for the granting of waivers, making the process for approving drone flights slow and unpredictable. The bipartisan Increasing Competitiveness for American Drones Act will require the FAA to issue a new rule allowing BVLOS operations under certain circumstances.

“Drones have the ability to transform so much of the way we do business. Beyond package delivery, drones can change the way we grow crops, manage disasters, maintain our infrastructure, and administer medicine,” said Sen. Warner. “If we want the drones of tomorrow to be manufactured in the U.S. and not in China, we have to start working today to integrate them into our airspace. Revamping the process for approving commercial drone flight will catapult the United States into the 21^st century, allowing us to finally start competing at the global level as technological advancements make drone usage ever more common.”

“Drones have the potential to transform the economy, with innovative opportunities for transportation and agriculture that would benefit rural states like South Dakota,” said Sen. Thune. “I’m proud to support this legislation that provides a clear framework for the approval of complex drone operations, furthering the integration of these aircraft into the National Airspace System.”

Specifically, the bill requires the FAA to establish a “risk methodology,” which will be used to determine what level of regulatory scrutiny is required:  

• Operators of small UAS under 55lbs simply have to declare that they conducted a risk assessment and meet the standard, subject to audit compliance by the FAA.
• Operators of UAS between 55lbs and 1320lbs must submit materials based on the risk assessment to the FAA to seek a “Special Airworthiness Certificate.” UAS in this category may be limited to operating no more than 400 feet above ground level.
• Finally, operators of UAS over 1320lbs must undergo the full “type certification” process—the standard approval process for crewed aircraft.

In addition, the Increasing Competitiveness for American Drones Act would create the position of “Associate Administrator of UAS Integration” as well as a UAS Certification Unit that would have the sole authority to issue all rulemakings, certifications, and waivers. This new organizational structure would create central rulemaking body for UAS, allowing for a more uniform process.  

“Commercial drone operations provide valuable services to the American public and workforce – but significant regulatory hurdles are hampering these benefits from reaching their fullest potential and jeopardize U.S. global leadership in aviation. The regulatory challenges are not driven by safety, they are hampered by bureaucracy. We accordingly have urged Congress to prioritize drone integration, and we are grateful for the support of Senators Warner and Thune in this cause. AUVSI is proud to endorse this legislation, and we urge Congress to include it as part of their critical work this year to pass a multi-year FAA Reauthorization,”  Michael Robbins, Chief Advocacy Officer of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), said.

“The Coalition is grateful for the leadership of Senators Thune and Warner, and this bill comes at a pivotal time for the drone industry. Since 2012, Congress has worked to progress the law and regulation around commercial drone use, but now, in 2023, this progress has slowed as regulations and approvals continue to be delayed. With reauthorization of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs required by September 30, this year is a critical time for the drone industry,” said The Small UAV Coalition.

“The Commercial Drone Alliance applauds the introduction of the Increasing Competitiveness for American Drones Act of 2023, and we commend and thank Senator Warner and Senator Thune for their leadership on these important issues. While the U.S. has lagged behind other countries in developing and deploying uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), this legislation provides the U.S. with the opportunity to reestablish its prominence as a global leader in advanced aviation and compete more effectively in the global economy,” said The Commercial Drone Alliance.

Sen. Warner has been a strong supporter of research and investment in unmanned systems, including driverless cars, drones, and unmanned maritime vehicles. He previously introduced  legislation designed to advance the development of UAS and build on the FAA’s efforts to safely integrate them into the National Airspace System. Virginia is home to one of seven FAA-approved sites across the country where researchers are testing the safest and most effective ways to incorporate UAS into the existing airspace – including the first-ever package delivery by drone to take place in the United States. Last October, Sen. Warner visited the headquarters of DroneUp, a leader in independent drone delivery contracting, in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Full text of the legislation is available here.

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 WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement after President Biden’s State of the Union address:

“Since President Biden came into office, Congress has passed a slew of bipartisan bills to help our economy recover from the pandemic, address inflation, rebuild our infrastructure, support our vets, make our communities safer, and our country more competitive against China. We’ve also worked across the aisle to support the Ukrainians in their fight against Putin’s brutal invasion of their country.

“I agree with the President: what we have accomplished over these last two years demonstrates what can be done when both parties put aside their red and their blue jerseys, and focus on getting stuff done for the American people. I hope we’ll see more of that in the new Congress.”

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) announced that he will bring Mrs. Marguerite Bailey Young of Fredericksburg, Virginia as his guest for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Mrs. Young – a 94 year-old widow and retired school system administrator – relies on several daily medicines, including two types of insulin. Like many seniors across the country, Mrs. Young has seen the cost of her insulin drop dramatically thanks to a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that caps insulin at $35 per month for Medicare recipients.

“Congress has spent years talking about lowering the price of prescription drugs, and last August, under President Biden, we did just that. This State of the Union, it’s an honor to be joined by Mrs. Marguerite Bailey Young – one of millions of Americans who no longer have to worry about rationing or having to forgo their insulin due to the disproportionate, skyrocketing costs,” said Sen. Warner.

The Inflation Reduction Act is a historic piece of legislation that was supported by Sen. Warner, passed by Congress, and signed into law in August of 2022. The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to lower the cost of prescription drugs costs and health care by allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, capping out-of-pocket costs for seniors, and extending the expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years, among a number of other key provisions.  

Mrs. Young, an Accomack County native who lives independently and on a fixed income, has been an active advocate for access to health care for underserved persons in her region. She previously served as a board member of Central Virginia Health Services, a federally qualified health center with more than 15 practice sites throughout Central Virginia. She spent more than 30 years championing healthcare access and equity within her own community, first as a Board Trustees on the Mary Washington Healthcare Board, then continuing to serve as a citizen member on the health system’s board-level committees before retiring just last year.

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WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine urged the Virginia General Assembly to protect marriage equality by repealing the ban on same-sex marriage that remains in Virginia’s constitution. In 2006, over then-Governor Kaine’s strong objection, Virginia passed a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, but the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges overrides Virginia’s ban by requiring all states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. While Sens. Warner and Kaine helped pass legislation last year to ensure same-sex marriages are recognized by every state, the right of same-sex couples to marry in Virginia would be jeopardized by the state ban if Obergefell is overturned.

“We write today to urge you to take action to protect marriage equality. The General Assembly should act now to repeal the shameful ban on same-sex marriage that remains in the state constitution,” the senators wrote in a letter to General Assembly leadership.

The senators continued, “It is long past time that Virginia’s governing document conveys to same-sex marriages the same freedoms, rights, and responsibilities that are afforded to all other constitutional marriages. We urge you to work with your colleagues to advance legislation for a referendum that would fully protect Virginia’s LGBTQ couples.”

Amendments to Virginia’s constitution must pass both chambers of the General Assembly in two consecutive sessions and then be passed on the ballot by voters. Constitutional amendments cannot be vetoed by a Governor. The Virginia Senate passed a bill to repeal the state constitutional ban in the 2022 session, but that bill failed in the Virginia House of Delegates, restarting the amendment process. On January 31, 2023, the Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections Committee favorably reported a similar bill to repeal the ban.

In the U.S. Senate, Warner and Kaine were among the 212 members of Congress who signed an amicus brief arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court that same-sex married couples should have the same legal security, rights, and responsibilities that federal law provides all other married couples. Warner and Kaine have also cosponsored the Equality Act, which would amend federal civil rights laws to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, and federal jury service.

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Leaders Saslaw, Norment, Kilgore, and Scott:

We write today to urge you to take action to protect marriage equality. The General Assembly should act now to repeal the shameful ban on same-sex marriage that remains in the state constitution.

Marriage is a sacred and fundamental right in our society. In a long-overdue victory for the LGBTQ community, the Supreme Court concluded in Obergefell v. Hodges that the 14th Amendment requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, bringing the country one step closer to the fundamental ideal of equality for all.  We were proud to cosponsor and support the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act in the Senate. On December 13, 2022, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that same-sex and interracial couples lawfully married in any state will have their marriages recognized across the country even if Obergefell is overturned.  Although the Respect for Marriage Act provides full faith and credit for state-issued marriage licenses, the legislation does not require a state to issue a marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

While the Obergefell decision supersedes Virginia’s constitutional ban, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health makes same-sex couples feel that their marriages are in jeopardy. In fact, Justice Clarence Thomas stated in his concurring opinion that “in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”  If Obergefell is overturned, then LGBTQ Virginians will likely lose the right to marry the person they love unless the General Assembly repeals the ban in Virginia’s constitution. Virginia’s circuit courts would be prohibited from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples due to the prohibition in the Commonwealth’s constitution.

We are encouraged by proposals in both the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate to repeal the constitutional provision. It is long past time that Virginia’s governing document conveys to same-sex marriages the same freedoms, rights, and responsibilities that are afforded to all other constitutional marriages. We urge you to work with your colleagues to advance legislation for a referendum that would fully protect Virginia’s LGBTQ couples.

Thank you for your continued leadership and service to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined their colleagues in introducing a bicameral and bipartisan resolution to immediately remove the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and take a critical step toward enshrining equality for women in the United States Constitution. The introduction of this resolution follows the 2020 passage of an amendment by the Virginia General Assembly, which made Virginia the 38th and final state needed to ratify the ERA.

“In 2020, Virginia carried this important issue across the finish line by becoming the final state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. It’s time to remove this trivial deadline, recognize the will of the states, and ensure that women’s equality is fully and expressly recognized in our Constitution,” said Sen. Warner.

“In 2020, Virginia took action to enshrine equality for women into the Constitution by becoming the 38^th and final state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment,” said Sen. Kaine. “Now, it’s time for Congress to act to remove the arbitrary time limit for ratification and finally guarantee women equal protection under the Constitution.”

The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced 100 years ago to codify gender equality. Since 1923, the constitutional amendment was introduced in every session of Congress until it passed through both the House and Senate in 1972. Congress then placed a seven-year deadline on the ratification process before extending the deadline to 1982. During this period of time only 35 states ratified the ERA, failing to meet the 38 state threshold before the arbitrary deadline. 

With the recent ratifications of the ERA by Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018 and Virginia in 2020, all that remains is a resolution from Congress to remove the arbitrary deadline, recognize these recent ratifications, and certify the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Ratifying the ERA, which states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex”, would affirm women’s equality in our Constitution, enshrining the principle of women’s equality and an explicit prohibition against sex discrimination in the nation’s foundational document.

As the 28th Amendment, the ERA would serve as a new tool – for Congress, for federal agencies, and in the courts – to advance equality in the fields of workforce and pay, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment and violence, reproductive autonomy, and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. Enshrining this protection in our Constitution would ensure enduring protections for all Americans across the country. It would also signal to the courts that they should apply a more rigorous level of review to laws and government policies that discriminate on the basis of sex, making it more likely for them to be struck down.

In addition to Sens. Warner and Kaine, this legislation was sponsored by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), as well as Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Angus King (I-Maine), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

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WASHINGTON –– Today, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN) were joined by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Chris Coons (D-DE) in reintroducing the ISA Student Protection Act to support an innovative financing tool for students pursuing postsecondary education. The bipartisan bill would protect students by applying strong consumer protections to Income Share Agreements (ISAs).

ISAs provide opportunities for students to make plans for financing higher education based on their future income and job success. Under an ISA, a student agrees to pay a percentage of their income over a given time period in exchange for tuition payments from nongovernmental sources. When the agreed timeframe ends, the student stops payments regardless of whether the full amount has been paid back.

 “Income-Share Agreements are a promising way to finance postsecondary education and an attractive alternative to high-interest student loans,” said Sen. Warner. “There are students across the country who are already benefitting from ISAs and deserve the safeguards and certainty the ISA Student Protection Act of 2022 would provide.”

“Hoosiers should not be forced to make a choice between a quality education and an affordable one. In the midst of record-high inflation, many students and families continue to face financial hardship and an increase in student loan debt,” said Sen. Young. “With the appropriate safeguards, ISAs can be an innovative, debt-free financing option for Hoosier students. Our bipartisan bill works to strengthen the framework for ISAs, enabling both colleges and career and technical schools to prepare students for success in the workforce without burdening taxpayers.”

 “Everything is more expensive these days, especially the cost of a college degree. This common sense bill creates a debt-free financing option for students,” said Sen. Rubio.

“Income Share Agreements are a useful alternative for some students who need financing for postsecondary education and training, especially when federal student aid is not available. The ISA Student Protection Act of 2023 would establish guardrails to protect these students as they begin their careers while creating legal certainty for providers who develop these innovative financial offerings,” said Sen. Coons. “With trillions of dollars in U.S. student loan debt burdening the country’s workforce, I’m glad to move forward on bipartisan legislation to strengthen additional financing options for students who are preparing for success.”

Specifically, The ISA Student Protection Act of 2023 would:

1. Prohibit ISA providers from entering into agreements with students that require payments higher than 20 percent of income.
2. Exempt individuals from making payments towards their ISA when their income falls below an affordability threshold.
3. Set a maximum number of payments and limits payment obligation to the end of a fixed window.
4. Set a minimum number of voluntary payment relief pauses, during which payment obligations may be suspended.
5. Require detailed disclosures to students who are considering entering into an ISA, including the amount financed, the payment calculation method, the number of payments expected, the length of the agreement, and how their payments under the ISA would compare to payments under a comparable loan.
6. Provide strong bankruptcy protection for ISA recipients by omitting the higher “undue hardship” standard for discharge required under private loans.
7. Prevents funders from accelerating an ISA in default.
8. Ensure that ISA obligations cease in the event of death or total and permanent disability.
9. Apply federal consumer protection laws (e.g., Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Military Lending Act, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act) to ISAs.
10. Give the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulatory authority over ISAs.
11. Clarify the tax treatment of ISA contributions for both funders and recipients.

“Without legislative and regulatory certainty, Income Share Agreements will not be widely available at scale as an alternative to high interest rate parent plus or personal loans,” said Mung Chiang, President of Purdue University. “We commend Sen. Young and the bipartisan Senate sponsors introducing legislation today and encourage prompt consideration to provide the framework necessary to expand this student-friendly option as soon as possible."

“The cost of higher education and workforce training has skyrocketed and has become a significant obstacle to economic advancement,” said Maria Flynn, CEO of Jobs for the Future. “JFF applauds Senators Warner and Young for introducing the ISA Student Protection Act, which would support the exploration of income share agreements (ISAs) as an alternative model for financing higher education and training. JFF recognizes the need to protect against any possible risks with ISAs, which is why we are pleased to see that this legislation would provide clear definitions, parameters, and consumer protections for students.”

“Student Freedom Initiative has issued 176 Income Contingent Alternatives to Parent PLUS and private loans to junior and senior STEM students at Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and over 300 students have applied,” said Mark Brown, Executive Director of Student Freedom Initiative. “Disbursements total just over $1.75M with an average disbursement of $13,672 per student. Sixty-three percent of HBCU students use Parent PLUS loans which default at five times the rate as similar instruments and the debt is held twice as long. We must invest in these students and not strap their parents with debt they cannot reasonably pay. Issuing conventional loans to families of limited means, some already in poverty, is unethical. Student Freedom Initiative strongly supports providing students, especially those living at or below the poverty level, with innovative solutions to financing their higher education, and we hope Congress will provide sensible regulations and legal certainty to those engaged in this effort.”

“The ISA Student Protection Act is a significant step forward in shaping the promising ISA model into a safe, sustainable, student-centric source of funding for workforce training,” said Peter Callstrom, President and CEO of the San Diego Workforce Partnership. “This legislation will empower entrepreneurial and innovative agencies like ours to continue exploring how ISAs can expand the reach and impact of talent development strategies.”

“The ISA Student Protection Act of 2023, introduced by Senators Warner and Young, will help create more accessible, affordable and accountable financing options for postsecondary education and training,” said Taylor Maag, Director of Workforce Development Policy for Progressive Policy Institute. “PPI has long supported Income-Share Agreements as a bold and innovative model for higher education financing and we applaud this effort to expand postsecondary opportunities for today’s students, while ensuring the necessary protections for their success.”

“Well-designed ISA programs open up support for student underserved in the current system, and they do so in a way that is affordable and aligned to students' educational and career success,” said Kevin James, Founder and CEO of Better Future Forward. “To ensure all students are protected and can benefit from these options, we need a strong, well-designed consumer protection framework built around the risk-sharing nature of ISAs. This bipartisan legislation is a strong step forward in that regard, and we commend Sens. Young, Warner, Coons, and Rubio for their work on it.”

“Stride Funding was built to improve educational access, career success, and economic mobility for all Americans. As tuition costs continue to rise, the cost of the American Dream has become inaccessible for millions of students, with economically disadvantaged students particularly handicapped due to standard student loan borrowing requirements tied to family economic status and credit background,” said Tess Michaels, Founder and CEP of Stride Funding. “Without innovation, all students have been left with limited access to affordable and flexible education funding and our most vulnerable students have been altogether denied pathways to educational programs that deliver real career value.  We congratulate and thank Senators Young, Warner, Coons, and Rubio for their leadership in crossing party lines to sponsor the ISA Student Protection Act of 2023 – ensuring that future generations gain access to more transparent, equitable, and accessible education funding through Income Share Agreements.”

Full text of the legislation is available here.

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) was joined by Committee Vice Chair Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for a joint interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, where the Senators discussed the Committee’s bipartisan oversight efforts and how the U.S. needs to tackle the rising threats posed by the Communist Party of China.  

On the need for access to classified material found in the residences of Presidents Trump and Biden:

“This committee has had a long bipartisan history of doing its job. And our job here is intelligence oversight. The Justice Department has had the Trump documents about six months, the Biden documents about three months, our job is not to figure out if somebody mishandled those, our job is to make sure there's not an intelligence compromise. And while the Director of National Intelligence had been willing to brief us earlier, now that you've got the special counsel, the notion that we're going to be left in limbo, and we can't do our job, that just cannot stand. And every member of the committee who spoke yesterday and I wanted the director to hear this, regardless of party said, we are united in we have to find a way to do our job. That means we need these documents, we need that assessment.”—U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner

On the Intelligence Committee’s priorities:  

“I actually think if there's one issue that still is extraordinarily bipartisan, it is a growing concern about China, and a recognition that in this technology race, second place is not good enough for us.” —U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner

On TikTok:

“I want to have an approach that says, we need to look at foreign technology investments, foreign technology development, regardless of country, if it poses a national security threat and have some place that can evaluate this. We need a frame to systemically look at this… 138 million users in America use TikTok on a regular basis. Average about 90 minutes a day. The fact is, the algorithms that determine what you see on TikTok is determined out of Beijing by China. And the proof is, if you look at what Chinese kids are seeing on their version of TikTok, which emphasizes science and engineering, versus what our kids and the kids around the world are seeing, it is dramatically different. So, both from a data collection and from, frankly, a propaganda tool, it is of huge concern.” —U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner

On social media regulation:

“I've been saying for years, and we may not fully agree on this, but on all these social media companies, a lot of good, but there is a dark under belly. And the fact that the United States historically, we would have set some rules of the road for these entities in terms of standards, in terms of protocols, in terms of appropriate behavior, in terms of questions like even like basic privacy. But our failure to do so has mean we have ceded that leadership, oftentimes to the Europeans, or to individual states, and I think that's, frankly, a loss of American leadership.” —U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner

Video of Sen. Warner and Sen. Rubio’s full interview on Face the Nation can be found here. A transcript follows.

CBS’s Face the Nation

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have any timeline in terms of when you will get visibility into the documents of classified material that both President Biden and President Trump had in their residences?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Margaret, unfortunately, no. And this committee has had a long bipartisan history of doing its job. And our job here is intelligence oversight. The Justice Department has had the Trump documents about six months, the Biden documents about three months. Our job is not to figure out if somebody mishandled those, but our job is to make sure there's not an intelligence compromise.

And while the director of national intelligence had been willing to brief us earlier, now that you've got the special counsel, the notion that we're going to be left in limbo, and we can't do our job, that just cannot stand.

BRENNAN: But the intelligence community would say their hands are tied, because this is an ongoing, active Justice Department investigation.

So what would meet the level of -- of addressing your concerns without compromising that?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, I don't know how congressional oversight on the documents, actually knowing what they are in any way impedes an investigation.

These are probably materials we already have access to. We just don't know which ones they are. And it's not about being nosy. You know, the -- here's the bottom line. If, in fact, those documents were very sensitive, materials were sensitive, and they pose a counterintelligence or national security threat to the United States, then the intelligence agencies are tasked with the job of coming up with ways to mitigate that.

BRENNAN: Does the director even know what the materials were?

SEN. WARNER: Well, we got a bit of vagueness on that, because, again, I believe you want to make sure the intelligence professionals and not political appointees were making some of that.

That makes sense to me. But I would even think that, if the -- President Trump and President Biden would probably want to have this known, if they say there's no there there. Well, there may still be violations on handling.

SEN. RUBIO: Let me tell you how absurd this is.

There isn't a day that goes by that there isn't some media report about what was found where, what -- some sort of characterization of the material in the press. So, somehow, the only people who are not allowed to know what was in there are congressional oversight committees.

So, it's an untenable situation that I think has to be resolved.

BRENNAN: The idea that some of these documents go all the way back to when President Biden was a senator, does that suggest that there's something more than a problem in the executive branch?

SEN. WARNER: Agreed. That's why the notion of, we're not going to give the Oversight Committee the ability to do its job until the special prosecutor somehow says it's OK doesn't -- doesn't hold water. We have a right, as not only members of the Intelligence Committee, but as part of the leadership, to read virtually every classified document. We got a problem in terms of both classification levels, how senior elected officials, when they leave government, how they handle documents. We've had too many examples of this.

And, again, I think we've got the bipartisan bona fides to say, let's put them in place on a going-forward basis, a better process.

BRENNAN: So, you -- you threatened to withhold some funding to some of the agencies yesterday.

SEN. RUBIO: I'm not in the threat business right now.

But we certainly are -- there are things we need to do as a committee every year to authorize the moving around of funds. I think the director of national intelligence and other heads of intelligence agencies are aware of that.

You know, at some point, I would prefer for them just to call us this morning or tomorrow or whenever and say, look, this is the arrangement that we think we can reach, so that the overseers can get access to this. I would prefer not to go down that road. But it's one of the pieces of leverage we have as Congress.

SEN. WARNER: We're going to figure out a way to make sure that we get that access, so that we can not only tell the American people, but we've got another 85 U.S. senators who are not on the Intelligence Committee who look to us to get those assurances.

BRENNAN: What is it that you, as lawmakers, can do? Is it new regulations when it comes to transitions?

SEN. WARNER: The director of national intelligence is the individual that's the chief officer for intelligence classification.

I think -- and there's been a number of other members of the Senate, both parties, have been working for years on the notion that we overclassify.

BRENNAN: Right.

SEN. WARNER: The number of things that we read in a SCIF that somehow then appear in the newspaper begs the question.It's kind of been an issue that's been bubbling for a long time.

BRENNAN: Overclassification.

SEN. WARNER: I think that this -- I think this series of events pushes it to the forefront.

And, again, we have the power to write legislation, which then executive agencies have to follow.

BRENNAN: In terms of record-keeping.

SEN. WARNER: In terms of record-keeping, in terms, literally, of at least guidance on classification issues. I mean, there has been -- and again, this director of national intelligence, I'm going to give her credit. She has been at least acknowledging and, long before this issue came up, said, we need to work on this issue of declassification, overclassification. Every director says it, and then it kind of gets pushed -- pushed back. I think one good thing that may come out of this is that we're going to find a way to resolve this issue on a going-forward basis.

BRENNAN: Welcome back to FACE THE NATION. For all the division on Capitol Hill, one subject that invites at least some bipartisan unity is the threat posed by China. For more, we return to our interview with the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner and Marco Rubio.

BRENNAN: President Biden is reportedly close to issuing an executive order when it comes to restrictions on U.S. investments in - in China. But there's concern about risking further escalation. What's your view on how far that action should go?

SEN. RUBIO: The Chinese have found a way to use capitalism against us and a - and what I mean by that is the ability to attract investment into entities that are deeply linked to the state. The military commercial fusion that exists in China is a concept that we don't have in this country. We have contractors that do defense work, but there is no distinction in China between advancements in technology, biomedicine, whatever it might be, and the interest of the state.

And then the second is, obviously, the access to our capital markets.

And the third is the risk posed. We don't, up to this point, have not had levels of transparency in terms of auditing and the like on these investments of the -- into these companies. When you invest in these companies and U.S. exchanges, you don't have nearly as much information about the bookkeeping of those companies as you would an American company or a European company because they refuse to comply with those restrictions. So, there's systemic risk to our investments and then there's also the geopolitical reality that American capital flows are helping to fund activities that are ultimately designed to undermine our national security.

SEN. WARNER: Beginning of the 20th century, I was a believer that, you know, the more you bring China into the world order, the more things will all be copacetic.

BRENNAN: Right.

SEN. WARNER: We were just wrong on that. The communist party, under President Xi's leadership, and my beef is, to be clear, with the communist party, it's not with the Chinese people or the Chinese (INAUDIBLE), wherever it is in the world, but they basically changed the rules of the road. They made clear, in Chinese law, that every company in China's ultimate responsibility is to the communist party. Not that their customers. Not to their shareholders.

We have actually, in a bipartisan way, did over -- didn't get a lot of attention, over the last seven years, have been out and we've done 20 classified briefings for industry sector after industry sector about these risks. Frankly, pre-Covid, we kind of got nods.

BRENNAN: Right.

SEN. WARNER: But, you know, some pushback because a lot of companies were making - were making –

BRENNAN: Because companies just wanted access to the market regardless of the risk.

SEN. WARNER: Were making a lot of money off Chinese tech companies.

BRENNAN: Exactly. Exactly.

SEN. WARNER: Now, post-Covid, I think there is an awakening that this is a real challenge. And I think the good news is that not only is there an awakening, you know, in America, but a lot of our allies around the world are seeing this threat as well.

SEN. RUBIO: I - I think there was a -

BRENNAN: So you want restrictions on biotech, battery technologies, semiconductors, artificial intelligence?

SEN. WARNER: I want to have an approach that says, we need to look at foreign technology investments, foreign technology development, regardless of country, if it poses a national security threat and have some place that can evaluate this. We need a frame to systemically look at this. And, frankly, if it goes just beyond the so-called CFIUS legislation about inbound or outbound investment.

BRENNAN: That's a committee looks at the national security risk.

SEN. RUBIO: But understanding that for, you know, 20 years ago everybody thought capitalism was going to change China. And we woke up to the realization that capitalism didn't change China, China changed capitalism. And they've used it to their advantage and to our disadvantage. And not simply from an old Soviet perspective to take us on from a geopolitical or military perspective, they've done so from a technological and industrial perspective. And so you have seen the largest theft and transfer of intellectual property in the history of humanity occur over the last 15 years. Some of it funded by American taxpayers.

BRENNAN: They have the biggest hacking ability program than any other nation. The intelligence community says they're the world leader in surveillance, in censorship. How restricted should their ability to access this market be?

SEN. RUBIO: I think it is nearly impossible for any Chinese company to comply with both Chinese law and our expectations in this country. Chinese law is very clear, if you're a Chinese company and we ask you for your data, we ask you for your information, we ask you for what you have or we ask you to do something, you either do it or you won't be around.

BRENNAN: You want to ban Chinese companies from investing in America?

SEN. RUBIO: Well, I think there are certain investments where there's no way we can protect the country from doing it. Do you - you know, we go back to TikTok, people say, who - you know, why do we care about what some 16- year-olds are doing.

BRENNAN: Right.

SEN. RUBIO: I don't think the threat is that some 16-year-old likes these cool videos that are on there, which I admit are - are attractive, obviously, because of the artificial intelligence makes it so. It's the massive amount of data that they're collecting, not on one 16-year-old, not on 1,000 16-year-olds, but on millions and millions of Americans that give them commercial advantage, potentially the advantage of being able to shape American public opinion in a time of crisis, that - that just give them extraordinary insights that allow them to steer the conversation in this country in any direction they want.

BRENNAN: But this has been talked about for three years now.

SEN. WARNER: But - but let's -

BRENNAN: The Trump administration tried to ban it. The Biden administration still hasn't pulled the trigger.

SEN. WARNER: Maybe we were all a little bit slow to recognize the challenge here. You know, it is both a data collection entity. Now, it may not collect as much data as some of our American platforms, but it is very much, at the end of the day, still responsible to the communist party.

But think about this, Margaret, 138 million users in America use TikTok on a regular basis. Average about 90 minutes a day. The fact is, the algorithms that determine what you see on TikTok is determined out of Beijing by China.

And the proof is, if you look at what Chinese kids are seeing on their version of TikTok, which emphasizes science and engineering, versus what our kids and the kids around the world are seeing, it is dramatically different. So, both from a data collection and from, frankly, a propaganda tool, it is of huge concern.

BRENNAN: Yes. CBS spoke to TikTok about their plans and the company said they had come to an agreement over the summer in terms of how they could structure things to separate and create a wall to protect against some of these concerns. They said they can continue operating in the U.S. by offering data protections.

Do you both know what they are offering. And you're laughing so I'm guessing this isn't sufficient?

SEN. RUBIO: I don't know what the data protections are. And there's a technical aspect to it. But it's beyond the data protections. I filed a bill to ban it last year.

BRENNAN: Right.

SEN. RUBIO: We're going to re-file it again this year.

BRENNAN: You are?

SEN. RUBIO: It's bipartisan. It's bicameral. Some people are not willing to go that far, but I certainly think it's the right place to be. But, in the end, we've got to do something about it, whether it's a ban or something else.

I - I honestly don't know - I -- as I sit here with you today, I don't know how our national security interests and the operation of TikTok in this country, as long as it's owned by ByteDance, can coexist.

SEN. WARNER: And I'm - and - and --

BRENNAN: You want to force the sale?

SEN. RUBIO: I - I want -- I've been wanting to do that for three years.

SEN. WARNER: I may have a slightly different approach. I'm going to sit down and see how we can work through this. But I've been hearing - and I've been trying to give the Biden administration now more than two years to see, is there a technical solution here? And I'd be willing to take a look at it.

The Biden administration has not announced that. And I think the problem is, this is technically extraordinarily hard to do. TikTok has repeatedly said, oh, America's data, not being seen in China. And repeatedly we've seen Chinese engineers having access to American data.

BRENNAN: But it's already been downloaded 200 million times.

SEN. WARNER: This is -

BRENNAN: How do you convince a 16-year-old to delete the app and get rid of the phone? I mean is -- isn't this very hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube?

SEN. WARNER: This is - this - this -- absolutely. But this is one of the reasons why I think Congress has been horribly unsuccessful at this. I've been saying for years, and we may not fully agree on this, but on all these social media companies, a lot of good, but there is a dark under belly. And the fact that the United States historically, we would have set some rules of the road for these - for these entities in terms of standards, in terms of protocols, in terms of appropriate behavior, in terms of questions like even like basic privacy.

SEN. BRENNAN: Right.

SEN. WARNER: But our failure to do so has mean we have ceded that leadership, oftentimes to the Europeans, or to individual states, and I think that's, frankly, a loss of American leadership.

You know, for most of my lifetime we led virtually in every innovation area. We suddenly woke up with, you know, 5G or wireless communication where China was, you know, setting the standards. We - we woke up an industry like semiconductor chips and woke up -

BRENNAN: Yes.

SEN. WARNER: We used to own this and we've lost it. We've seen now the solar industry where it's all migrated to China.

If -- think about, you know, this notion around quantum computing, the ability to break any kind of encryption, or artificial intelligence, those technologies are driven by an authoritarian regime out of China. You know, I don't care where you fall on the political spectrum in America, that's not good news or for free people anywhere in the world.

BRENNAN: Aren't you - aren't you going to run head long into business interests here in the United States? I mean just look at Elon Musk. The U.S. government relies on his company SpaceX. He has a majority in car company Tesla. He has control over the internet connection in Ukraine via Starlink. And he now owns Twitter.

You said there's no one in the world more dependent on the communist party than Elon Musk.

SEN. WARNER: Exactly (ph). My concern is, you know, if you look at Mr. Musk's public statements, they're almost all supportive of the oversight regime in China, and they're almost all derogatory about the oversight regime in America and in Europe.

And part of that, I think, whether it's knowingly or not, is, where does he get all his batteries that go into all these Teslas? They are, you know, built in China, mostly, frankly, with a lot of Uyghur labor. And Senator Rubio has been the leader on trying to make sure that the Chinese communist party's treatment of the Uyghur people is prohibited. And, you know, I've yet to hear from Mr. Musk how that kind of contradiction about comments about the CCP in China and what he's dealing with Uyghur labor, how that's not going to influence some of his decisions.

SEN. RUBIO: It goes beyond Elon Musk. I mean business interests have invested, both in access to the Chinese market, but also in the means of production. And it's allowed them, in many cases, historically, to be deputized, include - and that includes the finance and investment world -- to come to Washington and argue for things that are against the national interest but in favor of their short and midterm profit line for their investors for their company.

BRENNAN: Senator Rubio, as a conservative you have to feel a little bit uncomfortable with talking about government intervention in private industry. But that has been the U.S. solution in some ways to the semiconductor issues you were raising, the subsidy, to try to bring chip making back to America.

SEN. RUBIO: Well, I would argue this, that I don't believe in government intervention in the private sector, but I do believe in government intervention in our national security. So, capitalism --

BRENNAN: These are subsidies.

SEN. RUBIO: Well, so capitalism is going to give you the most efficient outcome. But sometimes what do you do when the most efficient outcome is not in our national interest, because it's more efficient to buy rare earth minerals from the Chinese, it's more efficient to have things built over there in many cases, but is it in our national interest to depend on them for 80 something percent of the active ingredients in our pharmaceuticals? I could argue it was not. And in those instances, where the market efficient outcome is not in our national interest, it is my opinion that we default to the national interests because without our national interests and our national security, the other things won't matter.

We are not a market. We're a nation. And the market exists to serve the market, not the nation to serve the market.

BRENNAN: The $50 billion that taxpayers just pumped into to the chips bill and semiconductors, that's just the start. That you think other legislation is coming like that?

SEN. WARNER: I'm saying - what I'm saying is we need - you know, one of the reasons that it took us $52 billion and that was for most semiconductors and next generation wireless, was because candidly I think we went asleep at the switch for a long time and we had to suddenly play catch-up because we'd seen China advance and we had also seen Taiwan, our friend and one of the reasons why we need to be supportive, where, frankly, every advanced chip in all of our satellites and - and sea craft are made in Taiwan.

We were chasing after the fact. If we can get ahead on - on some of these key areas, I don't think we will need that kind of investment. But we are going to need to make sure that we've got a plan in place to make sure that these new technology domains don't all end up in China.

SEN. RUBIO: We need to identify, what are the critical industries and capacities that our country needs to be able to have without being leveraged or having to go through the Chinese to get it. And then we need to figure out what government's role is.

Now, I want to make sure that we're not turning this into a lobbyist trial where every industry comes here and gets money. And we have to make sure that if we're going to invest in research, that that research is protected, that there's sufficient safeguards, because what's the point of putting billions of dollars to innovate something they're going to steal anyway?

But I do think, again, this is not about government running or owning these companies. We're not going to rely on the Chinese or someone else to make it for us because we'll be denied that capability in a time of conflict.

BRENNAN: Can you get that through a divided Congress?

SEN. WARNER: I actually think if there's one issue that still is extraordinarily bipartisan, it is a growing concern about China and a recognition that in this technology race, second place is not good enough for us.

BRENNAN: We actually haven't had a bipartisan interview like this in about three years. So, to see a Democrat and a Republican sit down and talk about issues of substance is great to see.

SEN. WARNER: Thank you.

BRENNAN: Thank you both.

BRENNAN: We'll be right back.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner joined Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in reintroducing the Build, Utilize, Invest, Learn, and Deliver (BUILD) for Veterans Act of 2023. This legislation would modernize and streamline the delivery of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities and other infrastructure projects, bolster its workforce, and save taxpayer dollars by expediting the disposal or repurposing of unused and vacant buildings owned by the Department.

Currently, the VA lacks a strategic plan, sufficient infrastructure workforce, and consistent funding to initiate the building or remodeling of facilities identified by the Department. The BUILD for Veterans Act would strengthen the Department’s ability to initiate critical projects to better meet the need of current and future veterans—including women veterans, veterans in need of long-term care services, and veterans with spinal cord injuries and diseases. Among its many provisions, the bill would require the VA to implement a more concrete schedule to eliminate or repurpose unused and vacant buildings, develop and execute a plan to hire construction personnel, examine infrastructure budgeting strategies and identify required reforms, and provide annual budget requirements over a 10-year period.

“Cumbersome bureaucratic processes have long stood in the way of critical VA projects such as the opening and remodeling of hospitals, clinics, and benefits offices. As a result, we’ve seen unnecessary challenges in meeting the needs of veterans seeking care and support through the VA,” said Sen. Warner, who successfully spearheaded congressional efforts to approve new VA health care projects across the country, including outpatient clinics in Hampton Roads and Fredericksburg. “This legislation builds on recent efforts, and will allow us to better serve veterans and cut down on some of these pointless delays by pushing the VA to more strategically plan and budget for projected demand, and to improve its capacity to manage current and future infrastructure projects.” 

The bill is endorsed by a range of veteran service organizations, including Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, The American Legion, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. 

This effort builds upon the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022, legislation supported by Sen. Warner and signed into law by President Biden to expand health care and resources for toxic-exposed veterans. The law provided $5.5 billion in funding for 31 new facilities across the country – including another outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads – and streamlines the process for the VA to execute on new leases, removing bureaucratic hurdles and cutting down on some of the frustrating delays to these facilities’ completion.

In addition to the PACT Act, Sen. Warner spearheaded a bipartisan effort to approve long-overdue leases for more than two dozen VA medical facilities across the country, including two in Virginia. In October 2022, Sen. Warner joined with VA officials to break ground on a new VA facility in Chesapeake that will provide primary care, mental health, and eye clinic services and will reduce drive times for Hampton Roads’ fast-growing veteran population.

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 WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and other colleagues in introducing legislation to make Washington, D.C. the 51^st state. The Washington, D.C. Admission Act would grant D.C. citizens full congressional representation. The bill would also ensure that the citizens and elected leaders of the District of Columbia have full authority over local affairs, including over the selection of judges to fill vacancies on D.C. courts, including the D.C. Court of Appeals, which has had one seat remain vacant for over nine years. Additionally, the legislation would designate the areas surrounding the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the National Mall as the seat of the federal government. That area would be the “Capital” and remain under the control of Congress, as mandated by the Constitution.

“Virginia’s neighbors in D.C. have been denied the right to representation for far too long,” said the Senators. “We’re glad to cosponsor this legislation recognizing D.C. as the 51^st state and finally ending D.C.’s long history of taxation without representation.”

Last year, companion legislation introduced in the House of Representatives by Del. Eleanor Norton Holmes (D-DC) passed by a vote of 216-208. District of Columbia residents have also voted overwhelmingly to petition the federal government to grant D.C. statehood. A November 2016 referendum approved a name, constitution, and boundaries for a new state which would be called Washington, Douglass Commonwealth (D.C.).

Also joining Sens. Warner, Kaine and Carper as original cosponsors on the Washington, D.C. Admission Act are Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Full text of the bill is available here.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Community Development Finance Caucus (CDFC), sent a letter to U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the department to consider all comments received in response to the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) application and Annual Certification and Data Collection Report (ACR).

“With the recent sizable investments in CDFIs, we support efforts by Treasury to ensure taxpayer dollars are reaching the intended recipients and used appropriately.  However, adequate time to receive and consider comments on the proposed changes is critical to avoid any unintended consequences and is central to ensuring that the CDFI Fund programs reflect the perspectives, and meet the needs, in the low-income, underserved and rural communities the Fund was created to serve,” the senators wrote in the letter.

Sens. Warner and Crapo conveyed concerns from stakeholders regarding the procedure through which the Department issued the new CDFI application and certification.

They continued, “Department of Treasury’s Stakeholders have expressed concern that the publishing of the new CDFI certification application and guidance by the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) on November 4, 2022, may have been procedurally insufficient. Moreover, some within the CDFI community believe that industry input is not being considered. These concerns have caused stakeholders to request the CDFI application and ACR be published under the formal rulemaking process governed by the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).”  

In their letter, Sens. Warner and Crapo requested more information about why Treasury decided that the APA process was not appropriate in issuing new standards. They also requested information on how the CDFI Fund intends to review and consider comments submitted through the PRA process.

To combat the hemorrhaging of jobs and opportunities during the pandemic, Sen.  Warner secured a record $12 billion in funding for CDFIs and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) to help underserved communities access affordable capital, in legislation modeled after his Jobs and Neighborhood Investment Act. More recently, Sen. Warner secured $324 million in the 2023 government funding bill for the U.S. Department of the Treasury CDFI Fund.

Last year, Sens. Warner and Crapo launched the bipartisan Senate Community Development Finance Caucus to serve as a platform where policymakers can coordinate and expand on public and private-sector efforts in support of the missions of CDFIs and MDIs. 

A copy of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Yellen,

We write to encourage the U.S. Department of Treasury to consider all comments received in response to the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) application and Annual Certification and Data Collection Report (ACR) released on October 4, 2022.  The proposed changes by the CDFI Fund must preserve the ability of CDFIs to be creative and flexible with historically underserved borrowers. 

The CDFI Fund maintains broad, bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate and we note its importance in meeting the needs of underserved communities in our home states. Certified entities should be aligned with the purposes of the CDFI Fund’s authorizing statute. With the recent sizable investments in CDFIs, we support efforts by Treasury to ensure taxpayer dollars are reaching the intended recipients and used appropriately.  However, adequate time to receive and consider comments on the proposed changes is critical to avoid any unintended consequences and is central to ensuring that the CDFI Fund programs reflect the perspectives, and meet the needs, in the low-income, underserved and rural communities the Fund was created to serve. 

Stakeholders have expressed concern that the publishing of the new CDFI certification application and guidance by the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) on November 4, 2022, may have been procedurally insufficient. Moreover, some within the CDFI community believe that industry input is not being considered. These concerns have caused stakeholders to request the CDFI application and ACR be published under the formal rulemaking process governed by the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). 

Can you share more information about why Treasury decided that the APA process was not appropriate? Additionally, how does the CDFI Fund intend to review and consider comments submitted during the PRA process?

We share a dedication to our communities and hope we can work together to expand on the great work done by CDFIs.  We look forward to your response. 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement following the release of a congressionally-mandated declassified report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP):

“Today’s report reflects a step forward in understanding and addressing risks to aviators. Overall, I am encouraged to see an increase in UAP reporting – a sign of decreased stigma among pilots who are aware of the potential threat that UAPs can pose. I’m proud to have passed language in the FY23 Intelligence Authorization Act that will empower the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to rigorously investigate and bring resources to bear on this challenge. I look forward to seeing continued cooperation between the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and other key government partners as we work to focus resources on UAP reports that remain uncharacterized and unattributed.”