WASHINGTON – In an effort to combat money laundering and sanctions evasion, a group of six Senate Committee Chairs including Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to the Treasury Department urging the agency to revise and reissue proposed rules from 2015 that would have imposed anti-money laundering (AML) and suspicious activity report filing requirements on investment advisers, including advisers to private equity funds and hedge funds.

Advisers to private funds have enjoyed an exemption from requirements to maintain AML programs, verify the identities of their customers, and report suspicious transactions to the U.S. government.  This exemption has made private funds a potentially attractive avenue for money launderers and sanctioned persons to hide their wealth, and the Senators urge Treasury to move as quickly as practicable to address this weakness in the AML system.

In addition to Sens. Warner and Jack Reed (D-RI), Chair of the Armed Services Committee and a leading Congressional champion for transparency and accountability for financial intuitions, the letter is signed by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chair of the Finance Committee; Richard Durbin (D?IL), Chair of the Judiciary Committee; Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee.

“Requiring advisers to establish AML programs, report suspicious activity, and file currency transaction reports, among other requirements, would go a long way towards deterring [politically exposed Russians]—and other illicit actors—from using private equity funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, credit funds, real estate funds, and other private pools of capital to enter the U.S. financial system.  Following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the United States has worked with its allies and partners to find the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs. However, loopholes and vulnerabilities in our financial reporting laws have made it increasingly challenging for federal investigators to identify where oligarchs and other criminal actors are placing their assets.  Holding investment advisers to the same AML standards applicable to other financial institutions would help achieve this important national security objective,” the Senators wrote.

Full text of the letter is available here and below.  

We write to urge the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to revise and reissue, as necessary, proposed rules from 2015 on anti-money laundering (AML) and suspicious activity report filing requirements for investment advisers. In doing so, we urge FinCEN to use its discretionary authority to include investment advisers in the definition of “financial institution” in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which would require them to file currency transaction reports and keep certain records related to the transmittal of funds. Finally, we urge FinCEN to work with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to ensure adequate examination of the industry for AML purposes.

Investment advisers are exempt from requirements to maintain AML programs, verify the identities of their customers, and report suspicious transactions to FinCEN. Other financial institutions like banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds, futures commission merchants, introducing brokers in commodities, and insurance companies, among others, have been subject to these requirements for decades. According to the SEC’s Investment Adviser Information Reports, during just the last ten years, assets under management attributed to registered investment advisers has ballooned from approximately $44 trillion to approximately $113 trillion, raising fresh questions of whether FinCEN should eliminate these special exemptions.

The private funds segment of the asset management industry may be particularly attractive for money launderers and sanctioned persons due to existing regulatory gaps. In an Intelligence Bulletin from May 2020, the FBI indicated with high confidence that “threat actors likely use private placement of funds, including investments offered by hedge funds and private equity firms, to launder money, circumventing traditional AML programs.” Press reports have confirmed the FBI’s assessment. According to an article in Buzzfeed, a prominent Russian oligarch has used opaque corporate structures to invest at least $1.3 billion with private funds managed by U.S. investment advisers. And according to the New York Times, this very same oligarch made up to 100 investments in hedge funds and private equity funds managed by the nation’s largest asset managers, which allegedly did not confirm the source of these funds.

While the largest advisers to private funds may voluntarily implement AML programs, those advisers are not subject to regular examinations to test the adequacy of their programs. No government agency currently holds advisers accountable for adhering to their voluntary AML and sanctions compliance commitments. By contrast, banks, broker-dealers, and insurance companies are subject to periodic examinations to spot violations of the BSA and any compliance weaknesses.

Last month, FinCEN issued an alert warning financial institutions to be vigilant against attempts by politically exposed Russians to launder money, evade sanctions, and hide their assets. Requiring advisers to establish AML programs, report suspicious activity, and file currency transaction reports, among other requirements, would go a long way towards deterring these individuals—and other illicit actors—from using private equity funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, credit funds, real estate funds, and other private pools of capital to enter the U.S. financial system. Following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the United States has worked with its allies and partners to find the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs. However, loopholes and vulnerabilities in our financial reporting laws have made it increasingly challenging for federal investigators to identify where oligarchs and other criminal actors are placing their assets. Holding investment advisers to the same AML standards applicable to other financial institutions would help achieve this important national security objective.

In August 2015, FinCEN proposed rules to do just that. The proposal would have closed existing regulatory gaps by requiring investment advisers to implement and maintain AML programs. In the preamble to the proposal, FinCEN noted that “[a]s long as investment advisers are not subject to AML program and suspicious activity reporting requirements, money launderers may see them as a low-risk way to enter the U.S. financial system.” The recent FBI assessment, press reports of potential sanctions evasion by Russian oligarchs, and FinCEN’s own alerts to financial institutions demonstrate that these concerns may have become more acute in the years since FinCEN proposed these rules. We are pleased that the Administration shares these concerns as described in the United States Strategy on Countering Corruption in December 2021, which commits Treasury to re-examining the proposed rules from 2015. President Biden has rightly proposed additional funding for FinCEN to address the growing regulatory and enforcement demands on the agency, and we look forward to working with our colleagues to provide expanded resources in the fight against financial crime.

Investment advisers have an important role to play in safeguarding the U.S. financial system from crime. They can be valuable partners for FinCEN as it seeks to meet our enormous challenges to combat not only money laundering, but also fraud and other financial crimes. Such a partnership is also important to ensure the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions programs, which have expanded significantly during the pendency of FinCEN’s rulemaking. Accordingly, it is critical that rigorous AML and sanctions compliance standards be extended to investment advisers.

For these reasons, we respectfully request that you move as quickly as practicable to address this weakness in the AML system. We appreciate FinCEN’s efforts this year on a variety of fronts and amid competing priorities, including drafting and publishing several new rules to implement the Anti-Money Laundering Act and Corporate Transparency Act of 2021. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter, and we look forward to your reply.

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 WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement on the President’s budget proposal:

“I’m glad to see that President Biden’s proposed budget doubles down on the administration’s efforts to strengthen relationships with our allies and continue to support Ukraine. This budget would also help bolster our economy and ensure that hardworking Americans are able to get ahead through strong investments in education, child care, health care, broadband, and clean energy.

“I’m pleased that the President has continued to prioritize increased funding for community-based lenders who work with underserved communities, including Community Development Financial Institutions. The President’s Budget included $331 million for the CDFI Fund to continue promoting entrepreneurship and economic mobility among our most vulnerable communities. I was also glad to see funding to implement the Ashanti Alert Communications Network, and to help combat hate crimes, as authorized by the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act.

“I’m also pleased that this budget builds on gains made through the bipartisan infrastructure law by requesting robust federal dollars for transportation, including $150 million for WMATA. For a stronger military, this budget requests funding for two Virginia-class submarines, five military construction projects in the Commonwealth, and a new VA outpatient clinic in Hampton Roads. It also requests the largest pay raise in 20 years for our servicemembers and civilian personnel. Additionally, I’m thrilled to see that this budget proposal includes key funding to continue tackling the deferred maintenance backlog at our national parks, as required by my Great American Outdoors Act.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Thomas Carper (D-DE.), members of the Senate Corporate Governance Working Group, released the following statement to commend President Biden’s budget proposal to restrict stock sales by corporate executives: 

“We are pleased that President Biden’s Budget calls for addressing the misaligned incentives that encourage excessive stock buybacks, often at the expense of investments in workers, innovation, and communities. Congress needs to address this issue, and we’re working on common-sense legislation that will reform executive compensation and incentivize American companies to prioritize long-term economic growth.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, were joined by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today in raising concerns with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding its draft National Coverage Determination (NCD) decision memo for the drug Aduhelm and other similar Alzheimer’s treatments.

In the January 11, 2022 proposed decision memo, CMS groups together an entire class of Alzheimer’s drugs, despite the fact that many are in different stages of the testing and approval pipeline. It also proposes to cover them only if beneficiaries are enrolled in a randomized control trial conducted in an outpatient hospital setting.

“Monoclonal antibody treatments that target amyloid plaques in the brain are the therapies farthest along in their potential for treating certain individuals with Alzheimer’s disease,” the senators wrote. “We are concerned that by including the entire class of drugs in this coverage decision—before final data on safety and efficacy are even released on other therapies in the pipeline—CMS may limit future access to treatments.”

The senators continued, “Although all in the same class, no two drugs work exactly the same for all individuals. Further, the evidence gathered from Aduhelm’s FDA confirmatory trial as well as additional evidence gathered by CMS may inform coverage decisions of potential future drugs. Each new medicine, in our view, should be reviewed on its own merits and not as a class.”

Noting that Black and Latino populations have higher incidences of Alzheimer’s, the Senators also called on CMS to ensure that any clinical trial requirements do not inadvertently limit access to treatments for people of color.

“On behalf of people living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, thank you Senators Warner, Markey and other Senate leaders for sharing your concerns with CMS about the national coverage determination proposed decision and encouraging them to expand coverage of FDA-approved treatments for people living with Alzheimer’s. As it stands, the current draft would sharply limit access to an entire class of drugs. For the individuals living with this fatal disease, delaying and limiting access to treatment could mean further progression of their cognitive decline. We appreciate your continued leadership on issues important to the Alzheimer’s community,” said Robert Egge, Alzheimer’s Association chief public policy officer and Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) executive director.

“It is critically important to the Alzheimer’s community that CMS understand what many members of Congress already do: it’s wrong for Medicare to deny access to FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatments. This would not happen with cancer, and it must not happen with Alzheimer’s,” said George Vradenburg, chair and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. “I applaud the senators for working on behalf of patients to increase access to this class of drugs, particularly among people of color. Every day 1,000 Americans slip from mild to moderate Alzheimer’s and out of the disease stage targeted by this class of drugs. We do not have time to wait. And we will not stop our campaign until this injustice is corrected.”

As Co-Chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease Sen. Warner has been a longstanding advocate in Congress for improving access and quality of medical care for some of our country’s most vulnerable patients. Last week, Sens. Warner and Markey celebrated the addition of $3.5 billion for Alzheimer’s and related dementia research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus spending bill. In 2018, Sen. Warner led colleagues in calling on the Trump administration to continue investing in Alzheimer’s research.  Previously, he introduced bipartisan legislation designed to give people with advanced illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease, new tools to plan for their care and empower them to have those choices honored.

A copy of the letter is available here and below. 

Dear Administrator Brooks-LaSure:

We’re writing to share concerns about the recently proposed National Coverage Determination (NCD) decision memo for Aduhelm and similar drugs, released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 11, 2022. Although more data is needed on Aduhelm’s impact on Alzheimer’s disease, we urge you not to include in the NCD the whole class of similar drugs that have not yet been considered by the Food and Drug Administration. Further, we ask that CMS work to ensure that in any studies required by CMS, robust and representative participation by communities of color are prioritized.

As CMS notes in its decision memo, more than 6 million people in America have Alzheimer’s disease and this is expected to rise to 14 million by 2060. Monoclonal antibody treatments that target amyloid plaques in the brain are the therapies farthest along in their potential for treating certain individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. We are concerned that by including the entire class of drugs in this coverage decision—before final data on safety and efficacy are even released on other therapies in the pipeline— CMS may limit future access to treatments.

As you know, there is a large unmet need for treatments for those with Alzheimer’s, a devastating and fatal disease. In Aduhelm’s class of drugs, three drugs are working their way through the FDA approval process. Although all in the same class, no two drugs work exactly the same for all individuals. Further, the evidence gathered from Aduhelm’s FDA confirmatory trial as well as additional evidence gathered by CMS may inform coverage decisions of potential future drugs. Each new medicine, in our view, should be reviewed on its own merits and not as a class.

Additionally, CMS should ensure that its final NCD does not make it more difficult for Medicare beneficiaries of color to both obtain these treatments if trials are required by CMS and also for us to obtain needed data on Alzheimer’s treatments in such trials, as Black and Latino populations have higher incidences of Alzheimer’s than non-Hispanic whites. The draft NCD proposes to limit coverage only to drugs administered in hospital outpatient settings. This will make it significantly more difficult, if trials are required, to enroll beneficiaries of color, as aggressive outreach and the use of disparate sites is often needed to meet diversity targets. The draft NCD’s requirement for randomized controlled trials could also limit inclusion of people of color, as these populations are often underrepresented in such trials.

Alzheimer’s patients and their families have been waiting 20 years since the last therapy was approved, and this class of therapies holds the promise that those living with the disease may soon have multiple disease-modifying therapies from which to choose. Time is not on the side of those with Alzheimer’s, and we urge you to issue a final NCD that puts patients and their loved ones first by examining each potential new treatment on its own.

Thank you for your commitment to ending Alzheimer’s disease, and we look forward to continuing our work with you in this crucial area.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $1,000,000 in federal funding for the Appalachian Veterinary Expansion project. The funding will be used to support construction of a new Veterinary Education and Technology (VET) building at Lincoln Memorial University-College of Veterinary Medicine’s (LMU-CVM) DeBusk Veterinary Teaching Center Campus (DVTC) in Ewing. The project will also increase the number of students in the region and attract new sources of investment in the Cumberland Gap region.

“We’re glad this federal funding will be used for the construction of a new building at the DeBusk Veterinary Teaching Center Campus,” said the Senators. “This investment will help train more aspiring veterinarians and spur economic growth in Lee County and the surrounding region.”

LMU-CVM welcomed its inaugural class in 2014 and is the first veterinary school dedicated to serving Appalachia. In August 2014, Kaine visited LMU-CVM's campus to tour the facilities and learn about the school’s programs.

The funding was awarded through the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative, which provides federal resources to help create jobs in existing or new industries for communities affected by job losses in the coal industry. The Appalachian Veterinary Expansion project also received a $2 million grant from the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is renewing his push to safeguard the health and welfare of American-trained bomb-sniffing dogs tasked with fighting terrorism abroad.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Sen. Warner today highlighted new language that requires the Department of State to report on the status of dogs in the Explosive Detection Canine Program (EDCP), which came under scrutiny in 2019 after an Inspector General (IG) report found that the Department failed to conduct proper follow-up after sending highly-trained dogs to foreign partner nations, resulting in the death of at least ten dogs from largely preventable illnesses.

“I was glad to see that the recent Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law on March 15, included language requiring the State Department to report to Congress on the status of dogs currently in, and retired from the program, as well as an update on the policies and procedures that the Department has implemented in response to the Inspector General’s recommendations,” wrote Sen. Warner.

“As you know, the Department spends millions of taxpayer dollars in order to initially train these canines, provide appropriate veterinary care, and embed mentors in partner nations, among other efforts and expenses meant to ensure the success of the program. Once abroad, these loyal canines play an invaluable role, often risking their lives in support of their security mission, working to keep important assets, their teams, and broader populations safe,” he continued. “For these reasons and more, it is morally wrong and unacceptable for any deployed dog to be subjected to mistreatment, malnutrition, improper care, or unsafe shelter. Congress and the American people deserve to know the steps that the Department has taken and is planning, to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not placing dogs in these conditions.”

The Warner-led language – signed into law as part of the government spending bill – requires the State Department to produce a report for Congress that accounts for each of the dogs in the program, including those who are now retired. The report, due to Congress within 90 days, must also provide an update on the policies and procedures that the Department has implemented in response to the Inspector General’s 2019 recommendations.

Sen. Warner, a dog owner, has been an advocate for dogs in Virginia and throughout the country. He previously raised alarm about the 2019 Inspector General (IG) report, which found that the trained dogs who died in the Kingdom of Jordan suffered from various medical problems, including largely preventable illnesses like parvovirus and heat exhaustion. Many of the dogs were trained at a State Department-contracted facility located in Winchester, Va.

The State Department’s antiterrorism assistance program provides Explosive Detection Canines (EDCs) to foreign countries to support local law enforcement in deterring and countering terrorism. The program is primarily implemented by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Office of Antiterrorism Assistance, in partnership with the Bureau of Counterterrorism. Although the State Department previously relied on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to provide and train the bomb-sniffing dogs, in 2016, the State Department established its own canine training center, the Canine Validation Center (CVC) in Winchester, Va., which is responsible for procuring dogs, training foreign students as handlers, and conducting assessments to determine a country’s ability to care for the dogs and operate a canine program. In addition, the CVC is responsible for conducting health and welfare assessments in foreign countries.

A copy of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Blinken,

I write today regarding efforts by the Department of State to address serious concerns that Congress and the Department’s Inspector General, among others, have raised about the Explosive Detection Canine Program (EDCP).

In September 2019, the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of State (OIG) released a report, Evaluation of the Antiterrorism Assistance Explosive Detection Canine Program – Health and Welfare . As you know, the evaluation of this program resulted from allegations that the U.S. was providing insufficient oversight, resulting in the inadequate health care, mistreatment, and premature deaths of a number of dogs. Months later, in December 2019, OIG issued a subsequent report, in response to another complaint alleging that “additional canines beyond those described in the [September] evaluation had died” from preventable causes.

As part of its evaluations, OIG made a series of recommendations to the Department to address the serious concerns over the health and welfare of the dogs trained and deployed as a part of this program.

I was glad to see that the recent Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law on March 15, included language requiring the State Department to report to Congress on the status of dogs currently in, and retired from the program, as well as an update on the policies and procedures that the Department has implemented in response to the Inspector General’s recommendations.

As you know, the Department spends millions of taxpayer dollars in order to initially train these canines, provide appropriate veterinary care, and embed mentors in partner nations, among other efforts and expenses meant to ensure the success of the program. Once abroad, these loyal canines play an invaluable role, often risking their lives in support of their security mission, working to keep important assets, their teams, and broader populations safe.

For these reasons and more, it is morally wrong and unacceptable for any deployed dog to be subjected to mistreatment, malnutrition, improper care, or unsafe shelter. Congress and the American people deserve to know the steps that the Department has taken and is planning, to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not placing dogs in these conditions.

I’m glad that the Department under your leadership will be examining this issue, and I look forward to seeing the results from the report within the required 90-day period. To coincide with that report, I would ask that the Department also brief my staff on the current status of the program.

This issue remains very important to me, and I look forward to working with you as needed to continue addressing reforms to this program.

Sincerely, 

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WASHINGTON – Co-chairs of Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), commended the inclusion of $3.5 billion for Alzheimer’s and related dementia research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus spending bill. This funding is a $289 million increase over the previous year’s appropriations, and above the funding level that the NIH estimates–pursuant to Senator Markey’s Alzheimer’s Accountability Act– it will need to effectively treat or prevent Alzheimer’s by 2025. Currently, more than 6.25 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease, and by 2060, that number is expected to double.

  “I am proud to co-chair the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, which has been instrumental in increasing the awareness of and advancing research in Alzheimer’s,” said Senator Warner. “In 2010 I lost my mother to Alzheimer's after her 10-year battle with the illness. I saw firsthand the challenges of this terrible disease. That is one reason why I am committed to supporting clinical and medical research into Alzheimer’s and dementia-related illnesses. Investments like this $3.5 billion are crucial to better understanding, treating and ultimately curing Alzheimer’s disease.”

“As a founder and co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, I have long championed increased investments for Alzheimer’s research, which hold great promise for putting an end to this disease that has a devastating effect on millions of Americans and their families,” said Senator Collins. “We have made tremendous progress in recent years to boost funding for biomedical research, and this legislation builds on that momentum. I am encouraged by the bipartisan commitment to reaching the national goal of preventing and treating Alzheimer’s by the year 2025.”

 “Consistent and robust investment in medical and clinical research for Alzheimer’s disease puts us on the path to defeating this devastating disease,” said Senator Markey. “Since my mother passed from Alzheimer’s in 1998 and I co-founded the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s disease, I have worked on a bipartisan basis alongside Alzheimer’s patients advocates, and caregivers to push for increased funding for Alzheimer’s research.  I am proud these efforts have successfully brought billions of federal research dollars to this disease. This year’s funding increase is another positive example of the work that must continue until we effectively prevent, treat, or cure Alzheimer’s disease.”

A copy of the Senators’ letter requesting the funding can be found here.

In Fiscal Year 2021, the Senators helped to secure $3.2 billion for Alzheimer’s and related dementia research at NIH.

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 WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) issued the statement below after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published a new report with recommendations to realign and modernize the VA health care system nationwide:

“For years, I’ve pushed to make sure that Virginia’s veterans have access to quality and timely health care that they have earned through years of service to our country. I’m pleased to see the Department of Veterans Affairs issue these critical recommendations as a preliminary but notable step in meeting its obligations under the VA MISSION Act of 2018 – legislation I was proud to support. I look forward to engaging with veterans and communities around Virginia to make sure that these recommendations would live up to their stated aim of effectively meeting the future health care demands of our growing veteran population here in the Commonwealth.”

These recommendations come as a result of a nationwide analysis commissioned by Warner-supported legislation to determine whether health facilities are best aligned to meet the future needs and demands of the veteran population.  The Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) report includes the findings of a multi-year, nationwide review that evaluates a number of factors in the VA health care system, including facility quality, and geographic distribution relative to veteran population.

Among others, the report recommends constructing new VA Medical Centers (VAMC) in Newport News, Norfolk, and Roanoke, as well as relocating certain services to more modern and conveniently located facilities for veterans, and establishing new community-based outpatient clinics in places like Bedford, Mechanicsville, Petersburg, and Chesterfield. These recommendations seek to increase VA capacity, and expand access to a variety of services as needed, including primary care, residential rehabilitation treatment programs, community living centers, outpatient mental health, and outpatient surgical and specialty care services.

Over the next year, the bipartisan, presidentially appointed and congressionally approved AIR Commission will review those recommendations. During this time, stakeholders, veterans, and members of the community will have an opportunity to evaluate the report and submit any feedback to the commission, which will hold public hearings, visit VA facilities, meet with employees and VA partners, and listen to veterans in order to assess the recommendations before submitting them, along with any necessary changes, to President Biden. If the President ultimately signs off on the final recommendations, Congress will have 45 days to reject or accept the entire slate of recommendations.

During his time in the Senate, Sen. Warner has been a strong advocate for improving care for Virginia’s veterans. In 2015, confronted with wait times in Hampton Roads that were three times the national average, Sen. Warner successfully urged the VA to send down a team of experts to address the problem. He also succeeded in getting the Northern Virginia Technology Council to issue a free report detailing how to reduce wait times. Most recently, in October 2020, Sen. Warner successfully saw through the signing of his legislation to expand veterans’ access to mental health services and reduce the alarming rate of veteran suicide. He’s also previously met with senior leadership at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center and Hampton VA Medical Center to discuss wait time reduction at their facilities and suicide prevention efforts. 

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WASHINGTON – Today, Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine issued the following statement to mark the one-year anniversary of President Biden signing the American Rescue Plan (ARP)—COVID-19 relief legislation they helped pass into law:

“Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we’re on our way toward a comeback after COVID-19. Virginians in every community experienced firsthand the benefits of this legislation, from direct payments for families and easier vaccine access, to support for schools and child care centers. We wouldn’t be where we are today without these investments, and we’re going to keep working to build on the progress we’ve made over the last year.”

ARP was first introduced in the Senate in March 2021, and was ultimately passed by 50 Democratic Senators and a tiebreaking vote by Vice President Kamala Harris. The legislation funneled critical resources to communities throughout Virginia to help the economy recover after the pandemic. When ARP passed, the unemployment rate was 6 percent. Since then, it has dropped to 3.8 percent.

Investments the legislation made in Virginia priorities include:

Assistance for Virginia households:

• The bill provided advanced expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments – tax cuts for parents – that benefited 1.6 million Virginia children, including more than 200,000 children living below the poverty line. The vast majority of families in Virginia received $3,000 per child ages 6-17 years old and $3,600 per child under 6 as a result of the increased 2021 Child Tax Credit.
• Expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) payments for childless workers boosted earnings for more than 400,000 Virginia workers. The ARP nearly tripled the EITC to roughly $1,500 for workers without children.
• The legislation also included additional funding for emergency rent and utility relief—which has now provided over $500 million to help keep Virginia families in their homes and keep utilities from being shut off during the pandemic.

Child care: Virginia received $488 million to help child care providers stay open and ensure families have access to affordable child care options so they can return to work. The expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit has provided working Virginia parents with relief from the high cost of child care. Virginia families with incomes below $125,000 will get back up to half of what they spent on child care in 2021 while working or studying—saving up to $4,000 for one child or $8,000 for two or more children under age 13. Families earning up to $438,000 will get a partial credit. 

State, local, and tribal aid: The legislation provided $7.2 billion for state and local aid for Virginia. This funding helped Virginia continue to take public health measures and address the negative economic effects of COVID while also including more flexibility to help local Virginia governments experiencing revenue shortfalls prevent budget cuts. Some examples of how Virginia communities are putting this funding to use include:

• $250 million for ventilation improvements in public school facilities to decrease the risk of COVID-19 transmission and support safe schools across Virginia.

• $700 million for broadband deployment across Virginia, which will result in universal broadband coverage in the Commonwealth by 2024, four years earlier than predicted.

• $8.6 million to help Frederick County participate in a regional project to develop fiber-to-the-home broadband service. This put broadband within reach for roughly 42,700 previously unserved locations in the region.
• $3.7 million for Virginia Beach to provide 65 emergency rental vouchers to help households at high risk of housing instability afford rent. The program will expand on the 35 vouchers previously awarded to the city through federal programs.
• $1 million for Prince William County to support the costs associated with the COVID-19 emergency response program, including community vaccination efforts.
• $600,000 for Albemarle County to provide emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing to individuals experiencing homelessness.
• $570,000 for Danville to provide utility assistance to 1,300 households that were financially impacted by the pandemic. This assistance aims to prevent residents from being displaced due to unpaid utility costs.
• $560,000 for Alexandria to use for workforce development programs. These programs incorporated work-based learning, vocation-based English for Speakers of Other Languages (V-ESOL) training, digital literacy and equity for employment, and included access to supportive services. Participants will earn as they learn, and hosting companies will receive support and a chance to assess a good fit before making a hiring decision on a prospective employee.

Health care provider mental health: The bill included over $100 million, including over $5 million for Virginia, to boost mental health support for front line health workers. This funding was modeled after the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, legislation Kaine sponsored in honor of a physician from Charlottesville, Virginia, who died by suicide after working on the frontlines of the pandemic in New York. The Breen Act subsequently passed the Senate in February 2022.

Higher education: Virginia received over $948 million for 120 colleges and universities, including $297 million for community colleges due to the American Rescue Plan—much of which will provide financial relief to students. For a more in depth breakdown of Virginia higher education funding, including funding for community colleges, HBCUs, and MSIs, click here.

Expanding health care access: The legislation included a two-year authorization of provisions from Kaine’s Medicare-X Choice Act to help low- and middle-income Americans pay their health care premiums by providing a larger tax premium subsidy for Americans living below 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and expanding tax credit eligibility to families above 400% of the FPL. Kaine continues to advocate for the passage of his legislation to make those changes permanent. In Virginia, over 307,000 people are now seeing reduced health care costs through the Health Insurance Marketplace, a 18% increase since the American Rescue Plan passed.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today voted for the passage of the $1.5 trillion government spending bill. This package funds the federal government through Fiscal Year 2022, delivers $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine, provides critical legal and funding authorities to the intelligence community, allows for full implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law, reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act, and delivers countless wins for families in Virginia and across the country.

“Today the Senate voted to pass a full-year spending bill. While this deal took too long to come together, and concessions were made on both sides, I am proud that we have a bipartisan package that will deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid and military assistance to the people of Ukraine, avert a costly government shutdown, and deliver on key funding for projects that will boost our economy and invest in communities across the country and throughout the Commonwealth. This package will also deliver on key priorities I have been fighting for, including supporting military families, expanding access to rural broadband, addressing the IRS backlog that has delayed returns across the country, and reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act for the first time since 2013,” said Sen. Warner. “Also in this spending package are the Intelligence Authorization Act and our bipartisan cyber incident reporting bill, key pieces of legislation that will enhance congressional oversight for the U.S. Intelligence Community – a critical move as we face some of the gravest global security threats of the past century. It will also improve transparency between private entities and the government in the event of broader cyber attacks. I am glad that we in Congress finally worked in a bipartisan way to get this done and start delivering for the American people.”

“This legislation is monumental for both our efforts here at home and on the international stage, by providing support for critical Virginia priorities and Ukraine’s security and humanitarian needs following Russia’s unjustified invasion,” said Sen. Kaine. “I’m also thrilled that I was able to include legislation I’ve been fighting for to ensure children of Gold Star families have access to the maximum Iraq and Afghanistan Service awards, as well as money specifically for projects addressing issues across Virginia, from mental health and teacher shortages to our infrastructure needs. America is at its best on days like this, when we face our challenges head on and provide needed leadership.”

The following list includes many of the provisions Warner and Kaine advocated for on behalf of Virginia that were included in the omnibus bill:

• Support for Ukraine: To support the people of Ukraine as they continue fighting Putin’s brutal and unprovoked assault, this bill includes $13.6 billion in funding to:
• Bolster the defensive capabilities of both the Ukrainian military and those of NATO Eastern flank countriesProvide urgently-needed humanitarian aid including migration and refugee assistance, and emergency food assistance, health care, and urgent support for vulnerable populations and communities
• Expand diplomatic programs to maintain American Citizen Services, support operations that were forced to vacate Ukraine, and increase State Department capabilities to target Russian oligarch assets
• Aid DOJ Ukraine Task Force efforts to address cybercrime and ransomware threats, trace and seize proceeds of crime, prosecute sanctions violators, and address export control, sanctions and cyber cases.   

• Cyber Defenses: Includes $2.6 billion in funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to bolster the nation’s cyber-defenses. It also includes Warner-sponsored legislation to require companies responsible for U.S. critical infrastructure to report cybersecurity incidents to the government.

• Military Pay Increase: Supports a pay increase of 2.7 percent for servicemembers and Department of Defense civilian personnel, and funds a $15 minimum wage for DoD personnel, in support of President Biden’s Executive Order.

• Military Families: Provides $1.4 billion in funding to improve and maintain housing, and address challenges related to privatized military housing impacting servicemembers and their families. It also provides $278.1 million in housing assistance and $119.6 million for food assistance efforts for servicemembers and their families. For years, Sens. Warner and Kaine have fought to improve housing conditions. Sen. Warner has also been focused on improving food access for servicemembers and their families.

• Medical Care for Veterans: Provides $97.5 billion for medical care at the VA – an 8.7 percent increase over last year – to address the health care needs of our nation’s veterans, both ongoing and deferred care due to the pandemic. This includes $840 million in gender-specific healthcare for women. 

• Benefits Boost: Provides $3.5 billion to provide compensation benefits to veterans and their survivors, which will aid the VA in decreasing the claims backlog, and supporting new toxic exposure claims.

• Veterans’ Mental Health: Provides $13.2 billion in funding, which includes $598 million for suicide prevention outreach.

• Veterans’ Rural Health: Provides $2.4 billion for telehealth services to reach veterans, and $327 million to support improved access to care in rural areas.

• Veterans’ Homelessness: Provides $2.2 billion for efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans and their families.

• IT Modernization: Includes $5.5 billion in funding for IT modernization efforts at the VA.

• Shipbuilding: Provides more than $26 billion in funding for critical Navy shipbuilding priorities, many of which have a direct connection to Virginia and the Hampton Roads region, to include: Ford-class Aircraft Carrier Construction ($2.34 billion), Aircraft Carrier Overhaul ($2.48 billion), and Virginia- ($6.33 billion) and Columbia-class ($4.77 billion) Submarine construction.

• Virginia military construction: Provides more than $361 million in funding for 11 military construction projects across the Commonwealth, including in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Quantico, Ft. Belvoir, Sandston, Troutville, and at the Pentagon. 

• School Construction: Includes more than $500 million in funding for public schools on military installations nationwide, to fund construction, expansion, renovation, and repairs.

• Climate Resilience: Provides $100 million for the Department of Defense to address resilience issues at installations stemming from climate change.

• Intelligence Authorization Act: Includes the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, which authorizes funding, provides legal authorities, and enhances congressional oversight for the U.S. Intelligence Community – a priority for Sen. Warner as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

• Havana Syndrome: Provides additional funding to support personnel who have been impacted by anomalous health incidents. Chairman Warner and Sen. Kaine have been outspoken on the need to support afflicted personnel. 

• IRS Backlog: Provides $12.6 billion for IRS funding. This funding will help continue to eliminate the 2020 tax return backlog, more efficiently process 2021 tax returns, and improve customer service. Sens. Warner and Kaine have consistently supported sufficient funding to allow the IRS to meet the needs of taxpayers. 

• Small Businesses: Provides $1 billion to the Small Business Administration to support investments in programs to help underserved entrepreneurs access capital and contracting opportunities. 

• Funding for Community Development Financial Institutions: Provides $295 million for the CDFI Fund, including $173 million for financial and technical assistance grants and $35 million for the Bank Enterprise Award Program. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Warner has successfully pushed for increased funding for CDFIs to support and advance access to capital for underserved communities in Virginia.

• Fighting Violence Against Women: Reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act, marking the first time in nearly a decade that VAWA has been reauthorized. The bill also provides $575 million, the highest level ever, in funding provided for multiple competitive and formula grant programs that support training for police officers and prosecutors, state coalitions to respond to domestic violence and sexual assault, rape prevention programs, lethality assessment and homicide reduction initiatives, domestic violence hotlines, and women’s shelters and transitional housing support services.

• Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act: Includes $5 million to assist state and local governments with entering data into the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which will improve how hate crimes are collected by the FBI, establish hate crime reporting hotlines, and develop and adopt policies on identifying, investigating, and reporting hate crimes. Sens. Warner and Kaine first introduced the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act legislation in 2019. It is partially named after Heather Heyer, a Virginia constituent who was killed in the 2017 white supremacy protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

• Ashanti Alert: 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 will create 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. 

• Pell Grant: The omnibus provides a $400 boost to the maximum Pell Grant in the 2022-23 school year to raise the maximum award to $6,895. This is the largest increase to the Pell Grant since the 2009-2010 school year. Over 137,500 Virginia students receive the Pell Grant each year.  The omnibus also included the technical fix based on Sen. Kaine’s Protecting Our Gold Star Families’ Education Act to exclude the Iraq And Afghanistan Service Grant from sequestration and ensure that recipients of this grant have access to the maximum Pell Grant award. 

• Rural Broadband: Provides more than $550 million for expansion of broadband service, including an additional $450 million for the ReConnect program to expand rural broadband access. Sens. Warner and Kaine have been longtime champions for increased access to broadband. As part of the American Rescue Plan, they secured $10 billion to help states, territories and tribal governments expand access to broadband.

• Rural Health Care: Provides more than $366 million for HHS rural health care programs, an increase of $36,593,000.

• Miners: Provides more than $11.8 million for clinics that provide critical health care for coal workers with job-related lung diseases. The bill also directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prioritize maintenance of its Black Lung health screening mobile unit and urges the CDC to consider purchasing an additional unit, noting that early screening and detection of black lung can improve health outcomes and reduce mortality.

• Infrastructure Investments: The omnibus will finally fully fund the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, specifically programs funded by the Highway Trust Fund. Without a full-year funding bill, Virginia could have lost out on $364 million in highway funding and $53 million in transit funding just this fiscal year. This also enables the new Carbon Reduction Program and PROTECT grants to get started.

• Shipyard Infrastructure: Includes $564 million to make significant and much-needed investments in our nation’s public shipyards, in support of the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan (SIOP).

• Norfolk Harbor and Channels Deepening Project: Provides an additional $83.7 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve navigation and expand capacity by deepening and widening the harbor’s shipping channels. This will enable safer access for larger commercial and naval vessels and provide significant new economic opportunities to the region. This funding is in addition to the more than $69.3 million the Senators announced in January as a result of the IIJA.

• Colonial National Historical Park: Provides $128.7 million to help rehabilitate sections of the Colonial Parkway. This funding was included in the President’s FY22 budget request and was made available by the Great American Outdoors Act negotiated by Sen. Warner.

• Appalachian Regional Commission: Includes $195 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), an increase of $15 million from FY21. This is in addition to the $1 billion provided to ARC through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act over five years.

• Blue Ridge Parkway: Includes $32.8 million to help rehabilitate sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This funding was included in the President’s FY22 budget request and was made available by the Great American Outdoors Act negotiated by Sen. Warner.

• Chesapeake Bay Program: Includes $88 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program. This funding is in addition to the $238 million provided to the Chesapeake Bay Program over five years through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

• Telehealth: Extends core telehealth flexibilities for 151 days past the expiration date of the Public Health Emergency (PHE).

• Synthetic Nicotine: Provides a legislative fix to clarify the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority to regulate products containing synthetic nicotine as tobacco products. Nicotine that can be chemically synthesized in a laboratory—rather than derived from tobacco—currently falls outside of FDA’s statutory definition of a tobacco product, which contributed to the explosion of youth use of e-cigarettes. Sen. Kaine worked with a bipartisan group of colleagues to successfully secure this language, aimed at reducing the number of children and teens addicted to harmful e-cigarettes.

• Maternal Vaccination: Includes provisions calling on the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consider the importance of vaccination awareness in carrying out public awareness campaigns. Specifically, the Secretary is asked to take into consideration the importance of increasing awareness and knowledge of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines to prevent disease in pregnant and postpartum women and infants, and the need to improve vaccination rates in such communities. This provision stems from Sen. Kaine’s bill, S.345, the Maternal Vaccinations Act.

• HBCU funding: Virginia’s five HBCUs, Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University, and Virginia University of Lynchburg will receive additional support in Fiscal Year 2022 as HBCU’s nationwide will see a $35 million (8.0%) increase in funding.

• Head Start: Head Start received an increase of $289 million (2.7%) over last year’s funding level which will mean more than a $4 million increase in Virginia, a critical boost to Virginia’s 393 Head Start centers across the Commonwealth that provide early childhood education and care to nearly 15,000 young Virginians.

• CCDBG: The Child Care and Development Block Grant will receive over $250 million more (4.3% increase) than last year. Support for CCDBG is critical in helping low-income families access affordable child care. This funding increase comes in addition to $580 million in supplemental CCDBG funding for Virginia through the COVID-19 relief bills, and the nearly $488 million provided by the American Rescue Plan to child care providers to enable them to stay open.

• Southeast Crescent Regional Commission: The bill provides $5 million, an increase of $4 million above the fiscal year 2021 level and $2.5 million above the President’s request. This funding targets the economic development needs of distressed portions of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. In July, Kaine and Representative McEachin were joined by Warner in sending a delegation letter to President Biden advocating for this historic funding and the appointment of a federal co-chair.

As part of FY2022 appropriations, the Senate also revived a process that allows members of Congress to make Congressionally Directed Spending requests, 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, Sens. Warner and Kaine were able to secure dedicated funding for Virginia communities totaling more than $85 million dollars. 

More information regarding specific projects in Virginia that will receive Congressionally Directed Spending is available below:

• For projects in Northern Virginia, click here.  
• For projects in Central Virginia, click here.    
• For projects in the Shenandoah Valley, click here.
• For projects in Southwest Virginia and Southside, click here.
• For projects in Hampton Roads, click here.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released the following statement regarding President Biden’s executive order on ensuring responsible innovation in digital assets:

“Today’s executive order does a commendable job of balancing the potential opportunities and benefits of digital assets in financial innovation, economic inclusion, and global payments modernization against the risks and challenges they present to core U.S. interests. I applaud the executive order’s recognition that maintaining the centrality of the United States in the global financial system – and, in particular, the role of American governance standards and the primacy of the U.S. dollar – is absolutely fundamental to our efforts with regard to digital assets. The EO’s urgency with respect to a strategy for a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is especially welcome, and I look forward to working with the administration on further steps to engage on international norms and standards related to CBDCs.

“Today, we face a highly motivated adversary that is actively searching for opportunities to evade the substantial sanctions imposed by the Biden administration and our allies around the globe. We must ensure that all participants in the digital assets marketplace are actively complying with sanctions, and we need to develop clearer guardrails and improved enforcement to address fraud, illicit finance, and insecurity in the wider digital assets industry.”

Last week, Sen. Warner sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raising concerns regarding the potential use of cryptocurrency to evade sanctions imposed on Russia after their invasion of Ukraine.

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