WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement on President Trump’s Executive Order artificial intelligence (AI):

“AI holds enormous promise, with diverse applications across almost every imaginable sector and an array of implications in the national security context, as well. Our strategic competitors fully understand the stakes and have devoted enormous resources to outpacing the U.S. in this area. At the same time, if we’ve learned anything from the last two years, it’s that U.S. policy should be much more thoughtful in the consideration of emerging technologies – particularly in modeling their misuse. I applaud a number of aspects of the Executive Order, such as the proposal – mirroring the white paper I released last summer – to open federal data-sets to non-federal entities. 

“Overall, however, the tone of this Executive Order reflects a laissez-faire approach to AI development that I worry will have the U.S. repeating the mistakes it has made in treating digital technologies as inherently positive forces, with insufficient consideration paid to their misapplication. As I raised in my white paper, there are early indications that AI may contribute towards ‘winner-take-all markets’ – making it all the more important that our AI policies catalyze and sustain long-term competition and innovation. Similarly, the Administration’s Executive Order treats the impact of AI on the American workforce almost as an after-thought – relegating consideration of upskilling and retraining to existing federal programs.  

“Lastly, while the Executive Order explicitly references the activities of strategic competitors and adversarial nations, it offers little concrete guidance on how the U.S. should respond to adversarial and malicious uses of AI technologies by state and non-state actors alike, nor does it address instances where American technology companies are working in and with adversary nations in ways that undermine civil liberties, privacy, and American leadership.”

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine and U.S. Representatives Bobby Scott, Gerry Connolly, Don Beyer, A. Donald McEachin, Elaine Luria, Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton released the following statement:

“Like other Virginians, we have been devastated by these horrible developments. We are brokenhearted that the actions of Governor Northam and Attorney General Herring have reopened old wounds left by Virginia’s long history of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and systemic racism. There’s no question that Virginians’ faith in their government and leaders has understandably been deeply shaken.

“We have each publicly called for Governor Northam to resign. 

“Yesterday, we were shocked and saddened to learn of the incident in the Attorney General’s past. The Attorney General has earnestly reached out to each of us to apologize and express his deep remorse. We understand that he is currently engaged in in-depth discussions with leaders and others in Virginia. The Attorney General must continue those conversations, and stand ready to answer questions from the public if he is to regain their trust.

“We are deeply disturbed by the account detailing the alleged actions of Lieutenant Governor Fairfax. We believe these allegations need to be taken very seriously, and we respect the right of women to come forward and be heard.

“We will continue in dialogue with one another and our constituents in the coming days, and evaluate additional information as it comes to light.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Susan Collins (R-ME), Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reduce duplicative filing costs for small businesses seeking to make retirement plans available to their employees. The bill was sponsored in the House by Reps. Linda Sánchez (D-CA), member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and Phil Roe (R-TN), member of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

“Employer-provided retirement plans give workers stability and strengthen our economy in the long run, but the process of offering these plans can be expensive and complex for smaller employers,” said Sen. Warner. “This bill would remove an unnecessary impediment and reduce filing costs, thereby making it easier for employers to promote the retirement security that workers deserve.” 

“Faced with an alarming $7.8 trillion shortfall in personal retirement savings, Americans simply aren’t saving enough to be able to afford a comfortable retirement,” said Sen. Collins. “When employers provide their employees with access to retirement plans, approximately 80 percent of them contribute.  This bipartisan bill will help promote retirement security by making it easier and less expensive for small businesses to establish retirement plans, increasing their accessibility to employees and helping to ensure that those who worked hard for decades do not spend their retirement in poverty.” 

“Too many Americans simply aren’t putting enough money away to be able to afford a secure retirement. It is no secret that women, especially women of color, are even farther behind in building adequate retirement savings due to continued pay inequality. By helping more small businesses provide workplace retirement plans we can give millions of hardworking families more financial peace of mind,” said Rep. Sánchez. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan, bicameral legislation to make it easier and less expensive for small businesses to establish retirement plans for their workers. This common sense legislation will help provide greater retirement security to more Americans.”

“It is imperative we do everything we can to encourage affordable and accessible retirement savings for all Americans,” said Rep. Roe. “This commonsense legislation will make it easier and less costly for small businesses to provide retirement plans for their workers by alleviating duplicative reporting requirements for plan administrators. I am proud to support this bill, which will promote a secure retirement for hardworking Americans.” 

A 2016 report by the Pew Charitable Trusts showed that only 22 percent of workers at small companies have access to a workplace savings plan or pension, compared to 74 of workers at firms with 500 or more employees.  

This legislation would allow employers and sole proprietors who participate in retirement plans to file a single aggregated Form 5500 – a required annual return that that provides compliance information to the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Treasury Department. Currently, employers are required to file separate forms to satisfy reporting requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. By eliminating the need to report these two forms separately, this bill will remove unnecessary red tape and reduce costs for small businesses who wish to provide workers with retirement security. Under this bill, retirement plans would need to have the same trustee, fiduciary, plan administrator, plan year and investment menu in order to be eligible to file an aggregated Form 5500.

According to a 2016 survey conducted by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, in collaboration with Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement, only one-third of self-employed respondents indicated that they make sure they are saving for retirement. These self-employed workers, along with sole proprietors and small business owners, are the most likely to benefit from this legislation, as they are the most likely to establish retirement plans that meet the requirements necessary to file an aggregated Form 5500. 

To provide DOL and Treasury time to implement this change, this bill has an effective date of no later than January 1, 2023. A copy of the legislative text is available here.

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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in a letter urging the Administration to stabilize the Medicare Advantage program that provides quality health care to 21 million seniors and individuals with disabilities. The senators wrote to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma requesting she consider how to strengthen the program, innovate with technology and ensure predictability for enrollees. 

“Millions of our constituents depend on Medicare Advantage for quality, patient-centered health care,” the senators wrote. “Beneficiary enthusiasm for the program remains strong, with more than one in three seniors enrolled…For plan year 2020, we encourage the Administration to implement policies that promote innovation, provide predictable funding to support long-term, value-based arrangements and ensure that any substantive changes include sufficient time for thorough evaluation and stakeholder engagement.” 

In addition to Senators Cortez Masto and Mike Crapo, Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.), Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Angus King (I-Maine), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), John Hoeven (RN.D.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Joe Manchin (DW.Va.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Thomas Carper (D-Del.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Bill Cassidy (R-La), Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), John Thune (RS.D.), Shelley Capito (RW.Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), Tim Scott (RS.C.), Michael Rounds (RS.D.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Richard Burr (RN.C.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Tom Udall (DN.M.), Martin Heinrich (DN.M.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Kevin Cramer (RN.D.) also signed onto the letter. 

The full text of the letter is available HERE and below:

Dear Administrator Verma:

We write to express our strong support for Medicare Advantage and the high-quality care it provides to more than 21 million seniors and individuals with disabilities. We appreciate the Administration’s recognition of the value of Medicare Advantage and its work to encourage innovation for these private health plans. As annual updates are considered for 2020, we ask you to continue to strengthen and grow this proven part of the Medicare program by proposing policies that provide stability and predictability.

Millions of our constituents depend on Medicare Advantage for quality, patient-centered health care. Beneficiary enthusiasm for the program remains strong, with more than one in three seniors enrolled. This is due, in part, to private plans’ ability to leverage best practices in care delivery, use robust data analytics, and implement proven value-based care and care management models. Medicare Advantage enrollees report a 91 percent satisfaction rate, with 74 percent of enrollees in plans rated four Stars and above.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced average Medicare Advantage premiums are estimated to decrease by six percent in 2019. Meanwhile, beneficiary enrollment has increased by eight percent in the past year and 79 percent since 2010, a testament to the affordability, high-quality care coordination, disease management and community-based programs, and supplemental benefits such as vision and dental coverage provided by Medicare Advantage plans. Further, bipartisan efforts are helping to reduce beneficiary costs by increasing the use of telemedicine, promoting value-based insurance design, and expanding benefits that address social determinants of health by including transportation, nutrition, and other non-medical needs that enhance quality of life.

For plan year 2020, we encourage the Administration to implement policies that promote innovation, provide predictable funding to support long-term, value-based arrangements, and ensure that any substantive changes include sufficient time for thorough evaluation and stakeholder engagement.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement on President Trump's State of the Union address: 

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $1,262,495 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the University of Virginia. The funding will be used to conduct medical research regarding heart disease, neurological disorders, and identifying pathways for infections. 

“We’re excited to announce funding to support medical research in these important fields,” the Senators said. “The University of Virginia is a leader in the medical community and these funds can ensure its research departments have the resources they need to conduct thorough, life-saving work.”

The following programs will receive funding:

• Heart and Vascular Diseases Research will receive $782,464.
• Clinical Research Related to Neurological Disorders will receive $399,281.
• Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation Research will receive $80,750.

The funds were awarded through HHS’s National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs in new treatments, expanding life spans, and building healthier lives. 

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement after the Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries announced a final contract to block buy two Ford-class aircraft carriers:

“A big congratulations is due to the Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries for finalizing a deal that will save 4 billion in taxpayer dollars and help keep the country safe,” Senators Warner and Kaine said. “Virginia’s shipbuilders make the finest carriers in the world, and we have long pushed the Navy to make this smart investment by block buying the newest class of ships. We are also glad that this move will help provide stability for the Hampton Roads defense community, ensuring that the shipyards can maintain the workforce they will need to help us reach the Navy’s goal of a 355-ship fleet.”   

Warner and Kaine have long supported the block buying of aircraft carriers. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kaine championed language that was included in the annual defense bill to allow for a block buy. Warner and Kaine both supported this effort in funding bills and discussed the benefits with military leadership.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) announced that he will be inviting a federal employee who works in Petersburg, Va., as his guest to the President’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. Cheryl Nazar, a nurse at a federal prison, is one of the thousands of federal employees who were hurt by the 35-day government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.

“As a public servant working one of the most dangerous jobs in the country, for 35 days Cheryl had to continue providing care for inmates, despite the fact that her own safety and security was being compromised by the government shutdown,” said. Sen. Warner. “Since President Trump never took the time to meet with any federal workers during the shutdown, I hope Cheryl’s presence at the State of the Union will send a message that there are real people with real families who shouldered the burden of his shutdown, and make clear to the President that we can’t afford another.” 

On December 22, 2018, funding lapsed for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, furloughing up to half its 36,000-person staff and forcing the rest, including prison guards, to work for the duration without pay. During the shutdown, correctional officers were frequently forced to work extended shifts, resulting in potentially dangerous levels of fatigue. Other staff without the proper training were sometimes called upon to fill in for prison guards who, struggling to support their families without their regular paychecks, called out sick in order to work second jobs – leading to understaffed conditions that put the safety of prison employees like Cheryl Nazar, a nurse, at risk. 

As she faced increasingly dangerous conditions at work, Cheryl was also struggling to make ends meet without a paycheck. To weather the shutdown, Cheryl and her husband had to dip into their limited savings, which were close to exhausted by the time the government re-opened after 35 days. The Nazars also had to put their plans to buy a new home on hold as a result of the financial uncertainty caused by the shutdown. Although Cheryl received her back pay on Thursday, January 31, there is a growing fear that President Trump may again shut down the government when funding runs out on February 15 – once again putting Cheryl’s paycheck and security at risk.  

Virginia is home to more than 170,000 federal employees and thousands of federal government contractors. During the 35-day government shutdown, Sen. Warner focused on listening to Virginians affected by the shutdown and sharing their stories. He has introduced legislation to end the threat of future shutdowns and protect federal government workers from being used as pawns in political negotiations. To reduce the financial hardships caused by the recent 35-day shutdown, Sen. Warner introduced legislationthat the President signed into law, securing back pay for federal workers, and he has also sponsored bipartisan legislation to provide back pay to low- and middle-wage federal contractor service employees affected by the government shutdown. 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, reintroduced legislation to modernize our antiquated security clearance system, reduce the background investigation backlog and ensure the government has the trusted workforce necessary to perform its national security and public safety missions. Last year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) added the government-wide Personnel Security Clearance Process to their High-Risk List of federal areas in need of broad-based transformation or specific reform to prevent waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement.  This legislation was first introduced in December 2018 and draws on provisions from the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018/2019, which was unanimously reported out of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in June 2018. 

Sen. Warner also wrote to acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Director of National Intelligence Coats and other key officials, to reiterate his call for urgent and aggressive implementation of needed reforms. 

“The current vetting process for security clearances and positions of trust is too complicated, takes too long, costs too much, and fails to capitalize on modern technology and processes,” wrote Sen. Warner. “We are taking too many security risks and losing talented people who are not willing to endure a years-long process. Our current system is broken and needs a revolution.” 

“In order to achieve our shared objectives, we must avoid politicizing and delaying reform efforts,” he continued. “We must act now, especially amidst allegations of inappropriate granting and revoking of clearances and anxieties caused by the government shutdown.”

The Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act would:

• Hold the Executive Branch accountable for addressing the immediate background investigation backlog crisis.
• Provide a plan for consolidating the National Background Investigation Bureau at the Department of Defense.
• Implement practical reforms so that policies and clearance timelines can be designed to reflect modern circumstances. 
• Require that reforms be implemented equally for all departments, and for personnel requiring a clearance, regardless of whether they are employed by the government or industry.
• Strengthen oversight of the personnel vetting apparatus by codifying the Director of National Intelligence’s responsibilities as the Security Executive Agent.
• Promote innovation, including by analyzing how a determination of trust clearance can be tied to a person, not to an agency’s sponsorship. 

“PSC and the contractor community owe Vice Chairman Warner thanks for his tenacious and persistent focus on modernizing and streamlining the federal government’s security clearance processes,” said David J. Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council. “Excessive backlogs and wait times add risk to government missions, contract performance, and the ability of both the government and contractors to recruit and hire the talent we need. Enactment of the Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act will reduce these negative impacts while maintaining integrity in the system and better protecting our national security.”

“We deeply appreciate Senator Warner’s leadership on critical security clearance reform. For our members to attract and retain technology talent, we must seriously reduce the clearance cycle time. This is crucial for our ability to serve the nation effectively,”said Bobbie Kilberg, CEO of the Northern Virginia Technology Council.  

“While the security clearance backlog is slowly getting smaller, we need urgent steps to ensure the U.S. government and U.S. companies doing critical national security work can recruit, hire, and retain talented individuals to work on classified programs. AIA supports the Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act of 2018 as a positive step towards resolving the security clearance backlog and positioning us to employ the workforce essential to ensuring our security into the future," said Eric Fanning, President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. 

Sen. Warner has been a strong voice on security clearance reform, urging the White House to prioritize reforms to the clearance process. 

During the recent partial government shutdown, Sen. Warner wrote to the Administration to ensure that federal employees did not have their security clearances jeopardized through no fault of their own, due to their loss of pay.

For more information on this legislation, click here. 

The bill is available here. The full text of the letter is available here and below.

January 31, 2019

The Honorable Mick Mulvaney

Acting White House Chief of Staff

The White House

Washington, DC  20503

The Honorable Margaret Weichert

Deputy Director of the Office of Management & Budget,

Acting Director, Office of Personnel Management

Chair, Performance Accountability Council

The White House

Washington, DC 20503

The Honorable Daniel Coats

Director of National Intelligence

Washington, DC 20511

The Honorable Joseph Kernan

Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

5000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301-5000

Dear Mr. Mulvaney, Ms. Weichert, Mr. Coats, and Mr. Kernan:

I write you to reiterate my March 13 and September 25, 2018, letters to then-chief of staff John F. Kelly, calling for urgent and aggressive implementation of reforms to the government’s antiquated process for ensuring we have a trusted government and contract workforce.

The current vetting process for security clearances and positions of trust is too complicated, takes too long, costs too much, and fails to capitalize on modern technology and processes.  We are taking too many security risks and losing talented people who are not willing to endure a years-long process.  Our current system is broken and needs a revolution.  In order to achieve our shared objectives, we must avoid politicizing and delaying reform efforts.  We must act now, especially amidst allegations of inappropriate granting and revoking of clearances and anxieties caused by the government shutdown.

A new vetting paradigm should be built on a few basic principles, delineated in a bill I introduced last year and am reintroducing in the 116^th Congress, S. 3724, Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act of 2018.

·         Accountability: requiring plans for reducing the background investigation inventory to a steady state of roughly 200,000 from its high point of 725,000 in April 2018; consolidating the National Background Investigation Bureau (NBIB) in the Department of Defense; and maintaining transparency in the costs of background investigations; and ensuring reciprocity. 

·         Reform: rethinking the current suite of investigative methods; adopting consistent and clear policy for interim clearances, uniform treatment of government and contract personnel, and use of automated records checks; setting bold design goals to process applications for SECRET clearances in 30 days and TOP SECRET clearances in 90 days; and ensuring prompt reciprocity. 

·         Oversight: codifying the roles and responsibilities of the DNI as the government’s Security Executive Agent in statute.  

·         Innovation: employing a process that reflects current threats, a mobile workforce, and modern technologies; reduces the complexity of a five-tier system; enables sharing of derogatory information between and among government agencies and contractors; and reexamines which positions even need a clearance.

The good news is that I believe the executive branch is contemplating many of these reforms.  An executive order to consolidate NBIB at the Department of Defense has been under consideration for many months.  The Performance Accountability Council is poised to implement a Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative with a comprehensive policy and process framework, but that first requires White House endorsement. 

I urge you to act swiftly and aggressively to push forward these much needed reforms.

I stand ready to help provide legislative and oversight leadership an effective, efficient, accountable, and fair process to ensure we have a trusted workforce.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) today reintroduced the Startup Act – bipartisan, cutting-edge legislation to encourage job creation, grow entrepreneurial activity, increase innovation and advance economic development.

The Startup Act would accelerate the commercialization of university research and creative inquiry that can lead to new ventures, review and improve the regulatory processes at the federal, state and local levels, and modernize a critical Economic Development Administration (EDA) program to spur economic growth and promote innovation. The widely-supported legislation also creates both entrepreneur and STEM visas for highly-educated individuals so they can remain in the United States legally to promote new ideas, fuel economic opportunity and create good-paying American jobs.

“America continues to fall behind in new business development and struggles to retain top talent that could grow our U.S. economy,” said Sen. Moran. “With a renewed sense of urgency, Congress must prioritize policies that will help recruit and retain highly-skilled students and innovators, bolster a pro-growth environment and enable entrepreneurs to transform ideas and research into companies and products – creating meaningful, good-paying jobs for Americans in the process. Thank you to Senators Mark Warner, Roy Blunt and Amy Klobuchar for continuing to prioritize this important legislation to help make certain America remains the best place in the world to bring an idea to market and grow a business.” 

“I’ve spent most of my career in the private sector so I know the importance of advancing innovation,” said Sen. Warner. “By encouraging entrepreneurship and helping attract and retain talented individuals, this bipartisan bill will help Virginia promote capital investment while boosting our economy and promoting U.S. competitiveness.”  

“To compete and succeed in a 21st Century global economy, we have to make our country the best place in the world for entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses,” said Sen. Blunt. “This bill will help promote innovation and small business growth, which in turn will create more jobs and strengthen the economy. The legislation will also increase U.S. competitiveness by making sure we have the workforce we need for high-demand STEM fields. 

“Startups and small businesses are engines of job creation and economic growth,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “Our bipartisan bill would make it easier for students and innovators to get their ideas off the ground, encourage new ideas, and strengthen our workforce to keep the U.S. competitive in the 21st century economy.”

Many of the principles included in the Startup Act are based on the research and analysis by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, based in Kansas City, Mo. Kauffman research shows that immigrants to the United States are nearly twice as likely as native-born Americans to start businesses, and first-generation immigrants now make up nearly 30 percent of all new U.S. entrepreneurs.

Data shows that international students studying in the U.S. on temporary visas accounted for nearly two-fifths of all Ph.D.s in STEM fields – that number has doubled over the past three decades. Further, international doctoral students were significantly more likely than domestic students to major and earn degrees in STEM disciplines in the U.S.

The Startup Act is supported by Sprint, Garmin, the Enterprise Center of Johnson County, the Kansas City Startup Foundation, Engine, the UMKC Innovation Center, the KC Tech Council, the Internet Association, the Consumer Technology Association, CTIA, SSTI, CompTIA, the Angel Capital Association, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, National Venture Capital Association, the Center for American Enterprise and the Information Technology Industry Council. 

Full text of the bill can be found here.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, 10 years after the week President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Patty Murray to reintroduce the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and guarantee that women can challenge pay discrimination and hold employers accountable. According to the National Women’s Law Center, today’s wage gap in Virginia would cost a woman on average $482,000 over a 40-year career, when compared to a man.

“More than half a century ago, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act to ensure that women in Virginia and across the country aren’t paid less than men for doing the same work. Unfortunately in 2019, the fight for equal pay isn’t over,” Warner said. “This bill will help drive wages up for women and combat discriminatory practices that have held women back from climbing the career and economic ladder.”

“This should be obvious: Women deserve equal pay. Yet women are still only paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, and the disparity is even worse for women of color. This is not just a ‘women’s issue’; it’s a family and economic issue. I’m proud to cosponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act because we must close the gender pay gap and end pay discrimination. I hope Congress will pass this commonsense bill to help families succeed,” Kaine said. 

The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen and close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by holding employers accountable for discriminatory practices, ending the practice of pay secrecy, easing workers’ ability to individually or jointly challenge pay discrimination, and strengthening the available remedies for wronged employees. The Senate legislation has 45 cosponsors.

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