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. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Community Development Finance Caucus (CDFC), released the following statement after the Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund announced that it would update its timeline for rolling out the new CDFI Certification Application and likely revise the version that was released for public comment in the Federal Register on November 4, 2022:

“We are pleased to see the CDFI Fund postpone the launch of the new CDFI Certification Application beyond the previously anticipated April timeline in order to carefully review and weigh all public comments. As we indicated in our letter to Treasury, it is critical that the CDFI Fund provide adequate time to receive and consider comments on the proposed changes to avoid unintended consequences and ensure that its programs reflect the perspectives, and meet the needs of the low-income, underserved and rural communities the Fund was created to serve.”

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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 – 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.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded President Joe Biden’s signing of legislation to avert a government shutdown and fund the government through Fiscal Year 2023. Among other major priorities, this legislation includes nearly $200 million in federal funding for Virginia-specific projects secured by Sens. Warner and Kaine.

“The 117^th Congress has been the most productive Congress in modern history and it’s only fitting that we wrap up it up by enacting a consequential government funding package that will continue to strengthen and build on this progress,” said Sen. Warner. “This bill funds essential community projects in Virginia to the tune of $200 million dollars, and it supports hardworking families by increasing access to affordable child care, housing, high-speed internet, and start-up capital in underserved communities. This law will provide needed protections to pregnant workers, lower drug costs, and improve access to mental health care. Importantly, I’m proud that this bill will ensure a more resilient military right here at home, while reaffirming our commitment to the Ukrainian fight for democracy and against authoritarianism.”

“Virginia will benefit greatly from the budget President Biden just signed, and I’m grateful to every Virginian whose insights and advice helped me shape this legislation to best meet the Commonwealth’s needs. Not only will this budget execute the pay raise Congress just authorized for our servicemembers, expand internet access, address mental and physical health needs, and expand access to affordable housing—it will bring over $200 million in funding back to Virginia to support urgent local community projects. This budget is a big win and I look forward to seeing all of its positive impacts in the new year,” said Sen. Kaine.

As part of last year’s budget process, the Senate restarted a process that allows members of Congress to work with the communities they represent to request funding for local community projects, otherwise known as earmarks, in a manner that promotes transparency and accountability. This process allows Congress to dedicate federal funding for specific projects.?

Through strong advocacy, the senators secured funding in the budget bills for the following projects in Virginia: 

• For projects in Northern Virginia, click here.
• For projects in Central Virginia, click here.
  For projects in Southwest Virginia and Southside,click here.  
• For projects in the Shenandoah Valley, click here.  
• For projects in Hampton Roads, click here.
• For projects that impact communities in multiple regions across the Commonwealth, click here.  

In addition, the budget bills include funding for the following Warner and Kaine priorities: 

Investing in Kids: Provides $8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which provides financial assistance to help low-income families access child care. This is $1.85 billion more than Fiscal Year 2022, representing a 30 percent increase in funding for the program. The bill also includes $11.996 billion, $960 million more than Fiscal Year 2022, for Head Start, the national school readiness program. Last year, Virginia received more than $120 million through the CCDBG program, and Virginia’s Head Start programs served 15,000 vulnerable children and their families. Increasing funding for the CCDBG program is a core tenant of Kaine’s child care and early childhood education proposal to expand the supply of quality child care facilities, increase child care and Head Start teacher wages, and lower child care costs for families across the country.   

Addressing Americans’ Mental Health Needs: Expands the number of mental health care options available for seniors by ensuring seniors can access marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors under Medicare for the first time. This expansion is based on a bill Kaine cosponsored, the Mental Health Access Improvement Act. The budget also includes Kaine’s bipartisan Investing in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Act, legislation to support children’s access to mental health care by providing grants to human service agencies or non-profits to develop, maintain, or enhance early intervention mental health programs for children from 0 to 12 years of age. 

Increasing Access to Affordable Housing:  Includes $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which will lead to the construction of 10,000 housing units nationally; $3.3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program, which cities and counties can use to build affordable housing or for economic and community development projects that benefit low- and moderate-income housing; funding for 11,700 new housing choice vouchers; and dedicated funding to address homelessness, housing for the disabled, and housing for older Americans, among other investments. The budget also establishes a new $85 million competitive grant fund for localities looking to increase housing construction, similar to legislation proposed by Kaine. 

Increasing Military Pay and Compensation:?Includes $1.5 billion to fully fund a 4.6 percent pay raise for servicemembers that Kaine helped authorize as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which writes the annual National Defense Authorization Act. Also includes $515 million towards military family support programs. Warner, who pushed for this funding, has long stressed the need for increased support for servicemembers through legislation such as the?Military Hunger Prevention Act?that helps low-income military families put food on the table and through a number of provisions in this year’s defense bill.

Making Our Communities Safer:?Provides $50 million for Community Violence Prevention grants to support communities in developing comprehensive, evidence-based violence intervention and prevention programs, including efforts to address gang and gun violence through partnerships between community residents, law enforcement, local government agencies, and other community stakeholders. The bill also includes $45 million in funding to a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to train police officers in de-escalation, implicit bias, and preventing unlawful force. This funding will also go towards strengthening crisis intervention teams by embedding mental and behavioral health professionals alongside law enforcement officers. Finally, the bill includes $125 million for anti-recidivism programs, helping formally incarcerated individuals re-integrate peacefully into society.

Supporting America’s Veterans: Provides $5 billion to implement the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, which Warner and Kaine successfully pushed to pass earlier this year. This legislation expanded health care services and benefits to veterans with conditions related to toxic exposure during their service. The budget also includes $118.7 billion for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical care and $2.7 billion to support critical services and housing assistance for veterans and their families experiencing housing insecurity. 

Expanding High-Speed Internet Access: Includes $364 million for the USDA’s ReConnect Program to expand access to high-speed broadband to remote underserved areas. As governors and senators, Warner and Kaine have long supported expanding broadband access in Virginia. During the pandemic, they secured significant funding for broadband through the?Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Warner and Kaine also joined a bipartisan letter to Senate leadership requesting this funding earlier this year. Warner also personally secured billions of dollars for broadband expansion in both the?American Rescue Plan?and the?Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 

Strengthening the Prescription Drug Pipeline: Includes bipartisan provisions championed by Kaine to strengthen the pipeline and increase transparency for critical medicines, which would lower costs and make it easier for physicians and patients to plan for the future. Kaine first outlined these steps in two bipartisan bills, the Interchangeable Biologics Clarity Act and the Biologics Market Transparency Act.  

Boosting Local Economies:?Includes $200 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission and $20 million—an increase of $15 million compared to last year’s budget—for the Southwest Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC) to support their work to build economic partnerships, create opportunity, and foster economic development. Kaine and Warner, along with the late Representative A. Donald McEachin, led the push to increase SCRC funding. 

Improving NASA Infrastructure: Provides an estimated $103 million to fully construct and replace the Wallops Causeway Bridge at the Wallops Flight Facility. The Wallops Island bridge replacement project will address structural deficiencies, improve safety, and help ensure mission readiness for future NASA launches. Warner and Kaine have consistently advocated for increased funding to address the deterioration of the bridge by hurricanes and severe weather and most recently sent a letter to Congressional leadership requesting this funding.

Restoring the Chesapeake Bay: Includes $92 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, which is the leading federal program that coordinates restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Expanding Defense Workforce Training: Includes $830.2 million for the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program Office, which funds a range of efforts at the Department of Defense to support the defense industrial base, including a pilot program in Danville which is currently training students in machining, welding, metrology and manufacturing for jobs in shipbuilding.

Boosting Scientific Research and Innovation: Includes $1.8 billion in funding to help implement the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. Warner and Kaine led efforts in the Senate to secure funding from the legislation for Virginia, noting in a letter to the Department of Commerce that Virginia has a leading technology workforce and semiconductor manufacturing presence, making the Commonwealth an ideal location for future federal investments in semiconductor research and manufacturing. 

Making Higher Education More Affordable: Provides a $500 boost or 7.2 percent increase to the maximum Pell Grant in the 2023-2024 school year, raising the maximum award to $7,395. This is the largest increase in the maximum Pell grant award since the 2009-10 school year and further builds off the $400 increase provided last year. The omnibus also includes $1 billion, an increase of $137 million or 15 percent, for programs to strengthen Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions.

Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Includes the Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) Act, legislation Warner and Kaine cosponsored to reduce barriers to non-opioid pain management for those enrolled in Medicare. The budget also includes the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act, legislation Kaine cosponsored to reduce barriers to accessing medication-assisted treatment for individuals living with substance use disorders.

Fighting Eating Disorders: The bill includes the Anna Westin Legacy Act, legislation cosponsored by Warner to help those affected by eating disorders through improved health care professional training and clarity of mental health parity.

Supporting the Direct Care and Family Caregiver Workforce: Includes $2 million for a project to identify new strategies to attract and retain a qualified direct care workforce. A similar provision was included in Kaine’s Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act, legislation designed to address direct care and family caregiver workforce shortages. 

Addressing Americans’ Long COVID Needs:?Includes $10 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to provide the research needed to ensure those experiencing Long COVID have access to the patient-centered, coordinated care they need. This effort was first outlined in Kaine’s?CARE for Long COVID Act. 

Extending Telehealth Access: Extends COVID-19-related telehealth flexibilities for two full years, through 2024, drawing on legislation introduced by Warner and cosponsored by Kaine to allow more Americans to utilize telehealth services and expand the types of health care providers eligible to offer telemedicine.

Protecting Pregnant Workers: The bill includes the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, legislation cosponsored by Kaine to require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers and prevent them from forcing a woman to take leave when other reasonable accommodations would allow her to continue working.

Keeping Kids Healthy: Extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides low- and no-cost health coverage for thousands of low-income children in Virginia, for an additional two years.

Improving Cybersecurity in Health Care: Includes several provisions addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities across the health care sector. Last month, Warner released a policy options paper outlining current cybersecurity threats facing health care providers and systems and offering a series of policy solutions to improve cybersecurity across the industry, several of which were included in the bill.

Supporting Miners Suffering from Black Lung Disease: Includes $12.19 million for Black Lung Clinics. Warner and Kaine have actively worked to secure benefits for miners and their families suffering from black lung disease. In August, the?Inflation Reduction Act,?supported by both Warner and Kaine, permanently extended the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund excise tax at a higher rate, providing more certainty for miners, miner retirees, and their families who rely on the fund to access benefits. 

Improving Access to Lifesaving Drugs: Includes significant improvements to the Food and Drug Administration’s Accelerated Approval Pathway, an important regulatory mechanism that provides early access to treatments and cures for patients with serious and life-threatening conditions. Kaine has long advocated for these improvements, which he outlined in his bipartisan Modernizing Accelerated Approvals Act.    

Funding for Pediatric Cancer Research:?Provides $12.6 million to fund childhood cancer research through the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act—legislation?championed?by Warner and Kaine and named after a child from Loudoun County who died from a brain tumor in 2013.

Supporting Hospital-Based Nurse Training Programs: Includes a technical correction to protect funding for programs that train nurses and other allied health professionals at hospital-based nursing programs across the country. This provision is based on the Technical Reset to Advance the Instruction of Nurses (TRAIN) Act, legislation Kaine cosponsored.  

Addressing Physician Shortages: Provides for the distribution of 200 additional Medicare-funded graduate medical education (GME) residency positions, with 100 slots specifically dedicated to increasing the number of mental health residencies. Kaine has long-supported expansion of GME residency positions and is a cosponsor of the Physician Shortage Reduction Act to do so.

Supporting Rural Hospitals: Includes a two-year extension for Medicare payment programs that are vital to rural hospitals: the Medicare Dependent Hospital program and the Low Volume Adjustment Hospital program. Kaine cosponsored legislation in support of this action, the Rural Hospital Support Act. The budget also includes $5 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish an Office of Rural Health, a step first outlined in the Rural Health Equity Act, which was led by the late Congressman A. Donald McEachin in the U.S. House of Representatives and cosponsored by Kaine in the Senate.  

Fighting Global Hunger:? Includes over $2 billion in international food aid and to promote U.S. agricultural exports overseas. This funding is critical to combatting global hunger and malnutrition. This funding follows?Kaine’s work to highlight and address the threat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine poses to food security around the world, and?Warner’s support for non-governmental organizations responding to the food crisis. It also includes $154 billion—an increase of $13.4 billion compared to last year’s budget—for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. Last year, 756,600 Virginians, or 9 percent of Virginia’s population, relied on food stamps.

Fighting Pandemics and Promoting Access to Medical Countermeasures: Includes provisions from Kaine’s bipartisan bill, the Promoting Access to Critical Countermeasures by Ensuring Specimen Samples (ACCESS) to Diagnostics Act, to support quicker research and development of medical countermeasures to disease outbreaks and pandemics, including diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapeutics, in response to emerging infectious diseases. The budget also includes $10.56 billion—a $731 million increase compared to last year’s budget—to support global health and vaccination efforts worldwide. This funding is critical to protecting Virginians from the impacts of disease outbreaks around the world. 

Modernizing America’s Health Data Infrastructure:?Includes $175 million—an increase of $75 million compared to last year’s budget—to modernize the public health data systems that help support healthy communities throughout America and Virginia. Also included are provisions from Kaine’s?Improving Data Accessibility Through Advancements (DATA) in Public Health Act to increase timely and accurate information sharing between local, state, and federal public health departments to improve preparedness for emerging public health threats and create a grant program to strengthen the quality and completeness of demographic data collection used by public health entities. 

Strengthening Transportation and Recreation Infrastructure:?Provides $150 million for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, in addition to $45 million for the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program, which will support multi-purpose trails across Virginia. 

Supporting Key Missing Persons Program: Includes $1 million to help with the nationwide implementation of the Ashanti Alert system. In 2018, Warner secured?unanimous Senate passage?of the Ashanti Alert Act, legislation that created a new federal alert system for missing or endangered adults between the ages of 18-64.?The bill was signed into law on December 31, 2018. 

Supporting Economic Growth for Underserved Communities:?Provides $324 million for the U.S. Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund, which supports businesses’ economic growth in underserved communities. The successful push by Warner and Kaine follows Warner’s efforts to support CDFIs through legislation including the?Jobs and Neighborhood Investment Act?and the creation of the bipartisan?Senate Community Development Finance Caucus. 

Protecting Democracy:  Includes provisions to ensure that electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state’s vote for president and provides specific guidelines for the point at which candidates elected president and vice president can receive the resources provided for their transition into office. Warner and Kaine have long called for legislation to safeguard future elections, and Warner was among the bipartisan group of senators who negotiated these proposals.

Assisting Ukraine in the Fight Against Russia’s Illegal Invasion: Provides $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to support the Ukrainian people, to strengthen our NATO allies, and to defend global democracy in response to Russian aggression.  

Supporting Our Afghan Allies: Provides funding to help eliminate processing backlogs and expedite adjudications of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) cases. Virginia is home to one of the largest Afghan diaspora populations in the United States and led the U.S. in resettling Afghan allies following the U.S. withdrawal.  

Supporting Order and Safety at Our Border: Includes funding to support 19,855 Border Patrol agents, 300 more agents compared to last year’s budget, in addition to $800 million to support Customs and Border Patrol’s management of migrant processing facilities. The budget also provides resources for various programs to help improve the conditions that drive migration from Central America, including programs focused on counter-narcotics efforts and economic development. As Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Kaine has long advocated for efforts to address the root causes of migration. 

Fairness for Victims of Terrorism: Transfers $6 billion to the U.S. Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund, to help ensure all victims of state-sponsored terrorism have access to appropriate compensation. The additional Funds would expand the Fund’s coverage and provide justice to victims and families of those killed or injured during the 9/11 terrorist attacks (including at the Pentagon), the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing, and the Iran hostage crisis, among others.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement regarding key health and climate provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act —legislation the senators helped pass in August to help Virginia lower drug and energy costs, imrove access to health care, and tackle cllimate change—that will go into effect on January 1, 2023:

“This year, we were proud to have helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act, historic legislation that will lower costs for Virginians while also tackling climate change, which is wreaking havoc on Virginia communities. We are thrilled that essential pieces of this law will go into effect on January 1 to help bring down health and long-term energy bills for families across the Commonwealth, by increasing access to affordable health care and helping Virginians diversify their energy sources.”

Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act to lower prescription drug costs, help more seniors and low-income Virginians get access to the vaccines they need to stay healthy, and help more Virginians get health care coverage:

On January 1, 2023:

• Penalties on drug manufacturers that increase prices: Starting in 2023, manufacturers will be required to keep the increase in the cost of their drugs at or below inflation.
• Free vaccines for Medicare recipients: Starting in 2023, people with Medicare will not have to pay to receive vaccines under Medicare Part D, which includes vaccines for shingles, HPV, MMR, diphtheria, and pertussis. 4.1 million people with Medicare received a vaccine under Medicare Part D in 2020, including 85,000 Virginians.
• A $35 cap on the cost of insulin: Starting in 2023, out-of-pocket costs for insulin—regardless of how much a patient needs—will be capped at $35 per month under Medicare. As of 2020, over 74,000 Virginians with Medicare Part D used insulin and paid, on average, approximately $51 per month out-of-pocket to purchase the drug. Some people are currently paying up to $900 a month for the insulin they need to stay alive.
• Extension of ACA subsidies: During the pandemic, Congress enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to help lower health care premiums for millions of Americans. Beginning on January 1, the Inflation Reduction Act will extend these enhanced subsidies through 2025 to help make Virginians’ health insurance more affordable. Over 300,000 Virginians were covered by the ACA in 2022.

On April 1, 2023:

• Limits to inflation effects on certain drugs: Starting April 1, 2023, people with Medicare may pay a lower coinsurance for some Part B drugs if the drug’s price increased faster than the rate of inflation.

On October 1, 2023:

• Free vaccines for Medicaid recipients: Medicaid and CHIP will cover vaccines for all Medicaid-covered adults. Currently, vaccine coverage is optional for states.

Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that kick in on January 1, 2023 to address climate change by helping cut dangerous pollution across Virginia:

• Boosts to clean energy investments: An expanded tax credit for clean energy manufacturers will incentivize investment in and production of renewable energy technologies like solar power and offshore wind. $4 billion of these investments have been reserved exclusively for use in coal communities. All clean energy tax credits include a bonus for meeting domestic manufacturing requirements related to steel, iron, or other manufactured components.
• Improvements to Home Energy Efficiency: Homeowners will be able to receive up to 30 percent back through tax credits for making energy efficiency improvements to their home—generally up to a maximum of $1,200 per year but potentially up to $3,200 if improvements include heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, or biomass stoves.
• Increased Access to Electric Vehicles: Qualified individuals will get up to a $7,500 consumer credit for the purchase of new electric vehicles. Incentives will also go into place to help ensure those vehicles are produced in North America. Qualified individuals will also be able to receive a tax credit of up to $4,000 for certain used electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids purchased through a dealership. In order to qualify for the full value of the credit, the vehicle must: have a battery capacity of at least 7kW hours; generally be a model at least two years old; and be sold by a participating dealer that is licensed in the jurisdiction. For new vehicles, eligible taxpayers include single filers with incomes under $150,000 annually and households with joint incomes under $300,000 annually if the head of household earns under $225,000 annually. The vehicle’s price is limited to $55,000 for compact vehicles and $80,000 for SUVs, vans, and pick-ups. For used EVs, single filers must have an income under $75,000 annually or $150,000 as a household, as long as the head of household makes under $112,500 annually. The used vehicle’s price is limited to $25,000.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released a statement following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Congress:

“President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people have displayed tremendous determination and resolve over the last 10 months as they have defended their country against Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion. I am proud that the United States has led the world in support of Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself, and tonight’s address underscored the importance of continuing this work. We will continue to stand with the Ukrainian people, and our NATO allies, to back Ukraine - including roughly $45 billion in additional military and economic assistance to Ukraine that will be approved by Congress this week.” 

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced that they successfully secured over $200 million in federal funding for Virginia in the newly released text of the government funding bills for Fiscal Year 2023. The bills are expected to be passed by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives and then signed by President Joe Biden.  

“This bill funds critical national priorities, including health care, education, scientific research and veterans services. It builds on the important progress Congress has made this year to lower costs, fight gun violence, and create good-paying jobs here in the U.S.,” said Sen. Warner. “I’m especially proud that we secured $200 million in funding for key projects all over Virginia.”

“Our annual budget has always been an opportunity to secure resources for Virginia priorities, and the budget text released yesterday shows that we are on track to do the same again this year,” said Sen. Kaine. “This budget will raise pay for servicemembers, support pediatric disease research, expand internet access, and help our communities stay healthier and safer from gun violence. It will also bring over $200 million back home to Virginia to support essential local projects for everything from improving our water treatment facilities and roads to putting public transportation and substance abuse treatment within reach for more Virginians. The time is now to get this bill across the finish line and signed into law.” 

As part of last year’s budget process, the Senate restarted a process that allows members of Congress to work with the communities they represent to request funding for local community projects, otherwise known as earmarks, in a manner that promotes transparency and accountability. This process allows Congress to dedicate federal funding for specific projects.

Through strong advocacy, the senators secured funding in the budget bills for the following projects in Virginia: 

• For projects in Northern Virginia, click here.
• For projects in Central Virginia, click here.
• For projects in Southwest Virginia and Southside, click here.
• For projects in the Shenandoah Valley, click here.
• For projects in Hampton Roads, here.
• For projects that impact communities in multiple regions across the Commonwealth,? here.

In addition, the budget bills include funding for the following Warner and Kaine priorities: 

Investing in Kids: Provides $8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which provides financial assistance to help low-income families access child care. This is $1.85 billion more than Fiscal Year 2022, representing a 30 percent increase in funding for the program. The bill also includes $11.996 billion, $960 million more than Fiscal Year 2022, for Head Start, the national school readiness program. Last year, Virginia received more than $120 million through the CCDBG program, and Virginia’s Head Start programs served 15,000 vulnerable children and their families. Increasing funding for the CCDBG program is a core tenant of Sen. Kaine’s child care and early childhood education proposal to expand the supply of quality child care facilities, increase child care and Head Start teacher wages, and lower child care costs for families across the country.   

Addressing Americans’ Mental Health Needs: Expands the number of mental health care options available for seniors by ensuring seniors can access marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors under Medicare for the first time. This expansion is based on a bill Sen. Kaine cosponsored, the Mental Health Access Improvement Act. The budget also includes Sen. Kaine’s bipartisan Investing in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Act, legislation to support children’s access to mental health care by providing grants to human service agencies or non-profits to develop, maintain, or enhance early intervention mental health programs for children from 0 to 12 years of age. 

Increasing Access to Affordable Housing:  Includes $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which will lead to the construction of 10,000 housing units nationally; $3.3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program, which cities and counties can use to build affordable housing or for economic and community development projects that benefit low- and moderate-income housing; funding for 11,700 new housing choice vouchers; and dedicated funding to address homelessness, housing for the disabled, and housing for older Americans, among other investments. The budget also establishes a new $85 million competitive grant fund for localities looking to increase housing construction. 

Increasing Military Pay and Compensation:?Includes $1.5 billion to fully fund a 4.6 percent pay raise for servicemembers that Sen. Kaine helped authorize as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which writes the annual National Defense Authorization Act. Also includes $515 million towards military family support programs. Sen. Warner, who pushed for this funding, has long stressed the need for increased support for servicemembers through legislation such as the?Military Hunger Prevention Act?that helps low-income military families put food on the table and through a number of provisions in this year’s defense bill.

Making Our Communities Safer:?Provides $50 million for Community Violence Prevention grants to support communities in developing comprehensive, evidence-based violence intervention and prevention programs, including efforts to address gang and gun violence through partnerships between community residents, law enforcement, local government agencies, and other community stakeholders. The bill also includes $45 million in funding to a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to train police officers in de-escalation, implicit bias, and preventing unlawful force. This funding will also go towards strengthening crisis intervention teams by embedding mental and behavioral health professionals alongside law enforcement officers. Finally, the bill includes $125 million for anti-recidivism programs, helping formally incarcerated individuals re-integrate peacefully into society.

Supporting America’s Veterans: Provides $5 billion to implement the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, which Sens. Warner and Kaine successfully pushed to pass earlier this year. This legislation expanded health care services and benefits to veterans with conditions related to toxic exposure during their service. The budget also includes $118.7 billion for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical care and $2.7 billion to support critical services and housing assistance for veterans and their families experiencing housing insecurity. 

Expanding High-Speed Internet Access: Includes $364 million for the USDA’s ReConnect Program to expand access to high-speed broadband to remote underserved areas. As governors and senators, Warner and Kaine have long supported expanding broadband access in Virginia. During the pandemic, they secured significant funding for broadband through the?Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Sens. Warner and Kaine also joined a bipartisan letter to Senate leadership requesting this funding earlier this year. Sen. Warner also personally secured billions of dollars for broadband expansion in both the?American Rescue Plan?and the?Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 

Strengthening the Prescription Drug Pipeline: Includes bipartisan provisions championed by Kaine to strengthen the pipeline and increase transparency for critical medicines, which would lower costs and make it easier for physicians and patients to plan for the future. Sen. Kaine first outlined these steps in two bipartisan bills, the Interchangeable Biologics Clarity Act and the Biologics Market Transparency Act.  

Boosting Local Economies:?Includes $200 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission and $20 million—an increase of $15 million compared to last year’s budget—for the Southwest Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC) to support their work to build economic partnerships, create opportunity, and foster economic development. Sens. Kaine and Warner, along with the late Representative A. Donald McEachin, led the push to increase SCRC funding. 

Restoring the Chesapeake Bay: Includes $92 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, which is the leading federal program that coordinates restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Expanding Defense Workforce Training: Includes $830.2 million for the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program Office, which funds a range of efforts at the Department of Defense to support the defense industrial base, including a pilot program in Danville which is currently training students in machining, welding, metrology and manufacturing for jobs in shipbuilding.

Boosting Scientific Research and Innovation: Includes $1.8 billion in funding to help implement the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. Sens. Warner and Kaine led efforts in the Senate to secure funding from the legislation for Virginia, noting in a letter to the Department of Commerce that Virginia has a leading technology workforce and semiconductor manufacturing presence, making the Commonwealth an ideal location for future federal investments in semiconductor research and manufacturing. 

Making Higher Education More Affordable: Provides a $500 boost or 7.2 percent increase to the maximum Pell Grant in the 2023-2024 school year, raising the maximum award to $7,395. This is the largest increase in the maximum Pell grant award since the 2009-10 school year and further builds off the $400 increase provided last year. The omnibus also includes $1 billion, an increase of $137 million or 15 percent, for programs to strengthen Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions.

Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Includes the Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) Act, legislation Warner and Kaine cosponsored to reduce barriers to non-opioid pain management for those enrolled in Medicare. The budget also includes the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act, legislation Sen. Kaine cosponsored to reduce barriers to accessing medication-assisted treatment for individuals living with substance use disorders.

Fighting Eating Disorders: The bill includes the Anna Westin Legacy Act, legislation cosponsored by Warner to help those affected by eating disorders through improved health care professional training and clarity of mental health parity.

Supporting the Direct Care and Family Caregiver Workforce: Includes $2 million for a project to identify new strategies to attract and retain a qualified direct care workforce. A similar provision was included in Sen. Kaine’s Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act, legislation designed to address direct care and family caregiver workforce shortages. 

Addressing Americans’ Long COVID Needs:?Includes $10 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to provide the research needed to ensure those experiencing Long COVID have access to the patient-centered, coordinated care they need. This effort was first outlined in Sen. Kaine’s?CARE for Long COVID Act. 

Extending Telehealth Access: Extends COVID-19-related telehealth flexibilities for two full years, through 2024, drawing on legislation introduced by Warner and cosponsored by Kaine to allow more Americans to utilize telehealth services and expand the types of health care providers eligible to offer telemedicine.

Keeping Kids Healthy: Extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides low- and no-cost health coverage for thousands of low-income children in Virginia, for an additional two years.

Improving Cybersecurity in Health Care: Includes several provisions addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities across the health care sector. Last month, Sen. Warner released a policy options paper outlining current cybersecurity threats facing health care providers and systems and offering a series of policy solutions to improve cybersecurity across the industry, several of which were included in the bill.

Supporting Miners Suffering from Black Lung Disease: Includes $12.19 million for Black Lung Clinics. Warner and Kaine have actively worked to secure benefits for miners and their families suffering from black lung disease. In August, the?Inflation Reduction Act,?supported by both Sens. Warner and Kaine, permanently extended the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund excise tax at a higher rate, providing more certainty for miners, miner retirees, and their families who rely on the fund to access benefits. 

Improving Access to Lifesaving Drugs: Includes significant improvements to the Food and Drug Administration’s Accelerated Approval Pathway, an important regulatory mechanism that provides early access to treatments and cures for patients with serious and life-threatening conditions. Sen. Kaine has long advocated for these improvements, which he outlined in his bipartisan Modernizing Accelerated Approvals Act.    

Funding for Pediatric Cancer Research:?Provides $12.6 million to fund childhood cancer research through the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act—legislation?championed?by Sens. Warner and Kaine and named after a child from Loudoun County who died from a brain tumor in 2013.

Supporting Hospital-Based Nurse Training Programs: Includes a technical correction to protect funding for programs that train nurses and other allied health professionals at hospital-based nursing programs across the country. This provision is based on the Technical Reset to Advance the Instruction of Nurses (TRAIN) Act, legislation Sen. Kaine cosponsored. 

Addressing Physician Shortages: Provides for the distribution of 200 additional Medicare-funded graduate medical education (GME) residency positions, with 100 slots specifically dedicated to increasing the number of mental health residencies. Sen. Kaine has long-supported expansion of GME residency positions and is a cosponsor of the Physician Shortage Reduction Act to do so.

Supporting Rural Hospitals: Includes a two-year extension for Medicare payment programs that are vital to rural hospitals: the Medicare Dependent Hospital program and the Low Volume Adjustment Hospital program. Sen. Kaine cosponsored legislation in support of this action, the Rural Hospital Support Act. The budget also includes $5 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish an Office of Rural Health, a step first outlined in the Rural Health Equity Act, which was led by the late Congressman A. Donald McEachin in the U.S. House of Representatives and cosponsored by Sen. Kaine in the Senate.  

Fighting Global Hunger:? Includes over $2 billion in international food aid and to promote U.S. agricultural exports overseas. This funding is critical to combatting global hunger and malnutrition. This funding follows?Sen. Kaine’s work to highlight and address the threat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine poses to food security around the world, and?Warner’s support for non-governmental organizations responding to the food crisis. It also includes $154 billion—an increase of $13.4 billion compared to last year’s budget—for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. Last year, 756,600 Virginians, or 9 percent of Virginia’s population, relied on food stamps.

Fighting Pandemics and Promoting Access to Medical Countermeasures: Includes provisions from Sen. Kaine’s bipartisan bill, the Promoting Access to Critical Countermeasures by Ensuring Specimen Samples (ACCESS) to Diagnostics Act, to support quicker research and development of medical countermeasures to disease outbreaks and pandemics, including diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapeutics, in response to emerging infectious diseases. The budget also includes $10.56 billion—a $731 million increase compared to last year’s budget—to support global health and vaccination efforts worldwide. This funding is critical to protecting Virginians from the impacts of disease outbreaks around the world. 

Modernizing America’s Health Data Infrastructure:?Includes $175 million—an increase of $75 million compared to last year’s budget—to modernize the public health data systems that help support healthy communities throughout America and Virginia. Also included are provisions from Sen. Kaine’s?Improving Data Accessibility Through Advancements (DATA) in Public Health Act to increase timely and accurate information sharing between local, state, and federal public health departments to improve preparedness for emerging public health threats and create a grant program to strengthen the quality and completeness of demographic data collection used by public health entities. 

Strengthening Transportation and Recreation Infrastructure:?Provides $150 million for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, in addition to $45 million for the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program, which will support multi-purpose trails across Virginia. 

Supporting Key Missing Persons Program: Includes $1 million to help with the nationwide implementation of the Ashanti Alert system. In 2018, Sen. Warner secured?unanimous Senate passage?of the Ashanti Alert Act, legislation that created a new federal alert system for missing or endangered adults between the ages of 18-64.?The bill was signed into law on December 31, 2018. 

Supporting Economic Growth for Underserved Communities:?Provides $324 million for the U.S. Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund, which supports businesses’ economic growth in underserved communities. The successful push by Sens. Warner and Kaine follows Sen. Warner’s efforts to support CDFIs through legislation including the?Jobs and Neighborhood Investment Act?and the creation of the bipartisan?Senate Community Development Finance Caucus. 

Protecting Democracy:  Includes provisions to ensure that electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state’s vote for president and provides specific guidelines for the point at which candidates elected president and vice president can receive the resources provided for their transition into office. Sens. Warner and Kaine have long called for legislation to safeguard future elections, and Sen. Warner was among the bipartisan group of senators who negotiated these proposals.

Assisting Ukraine in the Fight Against Russia’s Illegal Invasion: Provides $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to support the Ukrainian people, to strengthen our NATO allies, and to defend global democracy in response to Russian aggression.  

Supporting Our Afghan Allies: Provides funding to help eliminate processing backlogs and expedite adjudications of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) cases. Virginia is home to one of the largest Afghan diaspora populations in the United States and led the U.S. in resettling Afghan allies following the U.S. withdrawal.  

Supporting Order and Safety at Our Border: Includes funding to support 19,855 Border Patrol agents, 300 more agents compared to last year’s budget, in addition to $800 million to support Customs and Border Patrol’s management of migrant processing facilities. The budget also provides resources for various programs to help improve the conditions that drive migration from Central America, including programs focused on counter-narcotics efforts and economic development. As Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Kaine has long advocated for efforts to address the root causes of migration. 

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