Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Doug Jones (D-AL) today re-introduced the ZTE Enforcement Review and Oversight (ZERO) Act, a bipartisan bill to enforce full compliance by ZTE, a Chinese state-directed telecommunications firm that repeatedly violated U.S. laws, with all probationary conditions in the Commerce Department’s July 2018 deal to lift the denial order’s seven-year ban against the export of U.S. parts and components to ZTE. If the Commerce Secretary cannot regularly certify ZTE’s full compliance with the deal and with relevant U.S. export controls and sanctions laws, the denial order’s crippling punishments will be reinstated against ZTE. 

“When it comes to violating U.S. sanctions and deceiving our government, ZTE is a repeat offender. Companies like ZTE threaten our security and compromise American interests but this administration has failed to hold them accountable. This much-needed legislation will force the telecom firm to play by the rules by imposing punitive measures if ZTE once again violates trade restrictions or its agreement with the U.S,” said Senator Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

“I am proud to reintroduce this bipartisan bill to hold the Chinese state-directed telecoms company, ZTE, accountable for repeated violations of U.S. exports controls and sanctions laws," Senator Rubio said. “China’s communist government continues to threaten our national security interests through state-directed actors and, while it was a mistake to strike a ‘deal’ with ZTE in the first place, this bill would ensure ZTE is held accountable if and when it cheats again.” 

“ZTE’s actions represent a threat to our national security. While we work on a broader strategy to combat China’s theft of advanced U.S. technology and brazen violation of U.S. law, we must act to ensure ZTE is not able to violate the current agreement with the Department of Commerce or break our laws. This bipartisan legislation will help hold their feet to the fire and should be considered without delay,” Senator Van Hollen said. 

“Having continuously violated American sanctions on Iran and North Korea, ZTE’s disregard for U.S. laws undermines our national security interests and cannot be tolerated,” Senator Collins said. “Our bipartisan bill would require the Department of Commerce to monitor ZTE and effectively put ZTE out of business if they are found to be noncompliant, ensuring the safety of our economy and national security.” 

“ZTE – with the support of the Chinese government – has repeatedly violated U.S. sanctions, and they must be held accountable for their actions,” Senator Moran said. “The bipartisan ZERO Act would authorize the Commerce Department to monitor ZTE and make certain they are not violating the current trade agreement. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to protect our national security interests from bad actors and ensure ZTE faces severe penalties if they break the law again.” 

“ZTE must be held accountable for violating our sanctions laws and threatening U.S. national security interests, not given a slap on the wrist and allowed to do business in the United States,” Senator Warren said. “I’m glad to work with Senators in both parties on a bill to ensure that this company faces severe penalties if it breaks the law again or violates its settlement agreement.”

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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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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Banking and Finance Committees, joined Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) to introduce the Bicamerical Congressional Trade Authority Act to restore Congress’ constitutional trade responsibilities and ease the burden on Virginia businesses, manufacturers and consumers hurt by the Trump Administration’s unilateral tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

“We need to be tough on China’s unfair and illegal trade practices. But we need to work with our allies to do it. President Trump has strained our relationships with key allies and partners by abusing the authority that Congress granted him and stretching the concept of ‘national security’ beyond credulity,” said Sen. Warner. “Virginia consumers and industries like craft beer and agriculture are hurting because of the President’s steel and aluminum tariffs. This bill would roll them back.”

“Tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the United States are taxes paid by American consumers. The imposition of these taxes, under the false pretense of national security (Section 232), is weakening our economy, threatening American jobs, and eroding our credibility with other nations. I’ve seen, first-hand, the damage these taxes are causing across Pennsylvania,” said Sen. Toomey. “Over recent decades, Congress has ceded its constitutional responsibility to establish tariffs to the executive branch. This measure reasserts Congress’s responsibility in determining whether or not to impose national security based tariffs. I urge all of my colleagues to join this bipartisan effort.”

On March 8, 2018, President Trump unilaterally imposed tariffs on imported aluminum and steel, including products from the United States’ closest allies, like Canada, Mexico and the European Union by relying on a rarely used provision — Section 232 — under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, claiming the imports are a threat to national security.  The Trump Administration’s across-the-board tariffs — and the retaliatory tariffs imposed by the countries affected by the Section 232 tariffs — have hit American workers and businesses hard.

Sen. Warner has met and heard from numerous businesses across the Commonwealth regarding the impact of the steel and aluminum tariffs. For example, a number of craft breweries in Virginia have shared that the tariffs have raised production costs that will limit their growth and ultimately lead to higher prices for consumers. The beer industry employs more than 28,000 people in Virginia, and contributes more $9.3 billion annually to Virginia’s economy. Virginia is home to 206 licensed breweries, a growth rate of more than 450 percent since 2012, making craft beer an important economic driver for the Commonwealth.

The bipartisan Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act builds on bipartisan legislation previously introduced by Sens. Warner, Toomey and retired Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) last year. The legislation requires the president to secure approval from Congress before he takes trade actions under Section 232. Congress has 60 days to review a President’s proposal to impose tariffs, which would be guaranteed expedited consideration and a path to an up-or-down vote in the House and Senate. The bill also rolls back Section 232 actions imposed within the last four years, including the tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum, unless Congress votes to keep them in place.

The Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act also includes provisions designed to restore national security intent to the use of Section 232. The bill codifies a definition of “national security” and requires the Department of Defense—not the Department of Commerce—to conduct future Section 232 investigations and determine whether national security is implicated.

Finally, the bill requires the International Trade Commission (ITC) to report to Congress on the downstream impact of recent and future Section 232 actions. It also mandates that the ITC administer product-wide exclusions for any future Section 232 actions.  

Additional Senate cosponsors include Sens. Ben Sasse (R-NE), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Angus King (I-ME), James Lankford (R-OK), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

The Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act has also been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ron Kind (D-WI).

A summary of the legislation can be found here, legislative text can be found here.

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance, requested ongoing briefings from the Trump Administration regarding the deal it reached to remove sanctions on several companies owned by the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Sen. Warner wrote, “I write today to express my concern that the agreement the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) reached with Oleg Deripaska does not remove Deripaska’s ability to control EN+, Rusal, and EuroSibEnergo, and I ask that you timely provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the same information OFAC requests or receives under the agreement and the results of any audits performed at OFAC’s request under the agreement so that Congress can continue its ongoing oversight of the sanctions imposed on Deripaska and his companies.” 

On Sunday, the Trump Administration formally lifted sanctions on the three firms linked to Deripaska, including a company that is the world’s second-largest aluminum producer.

Added Sen. Warner, “I am deeply concerned by the reports that there were details of the agreement not disclosed in your December 19, 2018 letter to Majority Leader McConnell regarding the agreement with Deripaska. The additional information strengthens my conviction that Deripaska will continue to exert control over EN+, Rusal, and EuroSibEnergo. Based on those reports and the letter, I understand that Deripaska’s equity stake in EN+ will decrease to 44.95 percent.  But when combined with the holdings of the family and close associates of Deripaska—including his personal foundation, his ex-wife, her father, and a firm with links to her family—means that Mr. Deripaska will continue to be closely associated with nearly 57 percent of the equity of EN+ after the restructurings contemplated by the agreement.” 

Earlier this month, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 57-42 in favor of a resolution that would stop the lifting of sanctions – short of the 60 votes needed to move the resolution forward. The House of Representatives approved the resolution 362-53, with a majority of members from both parties voting in favor of retaining the sanctions.

“Bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate signaled their concern with this agreement. These recent reports strengthen my determination that the agreement Treasury has struck with Deripaska needs to be overseen strictly not only by OFAC but also by Congress,” Sen. Warner added. “Your letter describes the ongoing auditing, certification and reporting and other information rights that OFAC will receive with respect to these companies under the agreement. I ask that you provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the same information OFAC requests or receives regarding the companies and the results of any audits performed at OFAC’s request under the agreement so that Congress can continue its ongoing oversight of the sanctions imposed on Deripaska and his companies.” 

The full text of the letter appears below. A copy of the letter is available here.

Dear Secretary Mnuchin,

I write today to express my concern that the agreement the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) reached with Oleg Deripaska does not remove Deripaska’s ability to control EN+, Rusal, and EuroSibEnergo, and I ask that you timely provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the same information OFAC requests or receives under the agreement and the results of any audits performed at OFAC’s request under the agreement so that Congress can continue its ongoing oversight of the sanctions imposed on Deripaska and his companies.

I am deeply concerned by the reports that there were details of the agreement not disclosed in your December 19, 2018 letter to Majority Leader McConnell regarding the agreement with Deripaska.  The additional information strengthens my conviction that Deripaska will continue to exert control over EN+, Rusal, and EuroSibEnergo.  Based on those reports and the letter, I understand that Deripaska’s equity stake in EN+ will decrease to 44.95 percent.  But when combined with the holdings of the family and close associates of Deripaska—including his personal foundation, his ex-wife, her father, and a firm with links to her family—means that Mr. Deripaska will continue to be closely associated with nearly 57 percent of the equity of EN+ after the restructurings contemplated by the agreement.  You stated in your letter that Mr. Deripaska himself will not be permitted to vote more than 35 percent of his EN+ shares.  And you also implied that the votes of these individuals close to Deripaska will be assigned to an independent third party.  Nevertheless, the combination of a nearly 57 percent equity stake and the ability to vote 35 percent of EN+ shares suggests that Deripaska and his close associates will continue to have the largest stake—by far—in EN+.  

This nearly 57 percent stake alone is sufficient to determine that Deripaska will continue to have the ability to control EN+, Rusal and EuroSibEnergo.  But additional factors strengthen this conclusion.  For example, Deripaska is the founder of EN+, and was responsible for the hiring of many Rusal employees—another avenue for him to exert controlling influence.  Another sanctioned Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, will continue to have a stake through SUAL Partners Limited, which owns 22.5 percent of Rusal.  And VTB, a Russian government-owned bank that is subject to some U.S. sanctions and that has ties to Deripaska, will own about 24 percent.  Taken together, these additional facts mean that Deripaska and companies and individuals connected to him, will continue to have the ability to exert significant control over EN+, Rusal and EuroSibEnergo after the restructuring. 

Bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate signaled their concern with this agreement.  These recent reports strengthen my determination that the agreement Treasury has struck with Deripaska needs to be overseen strictly not only by OFAC but also by Congress. 

Your letter describes the ongoing auditing, certification and reporting and other information rights that OFAC will receive with respect to these companies under the agreement.  I ask that you provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the same information OFAC requests or receives regarding the companies and the results of any audits performed at OFAC’s request under the agreement so that Congress can continue its ongoing oversight of the sanctions imposed on Deripaska and his companies. 

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.  I would appreciate a response by February 3, 2019.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after Trump campaign confidante Roger Stone was arrested following an indictment by the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller:

“Roger Stone has been indicted for covering up his engagements with Wikileaks, an organization that U.S. intelligence officials and the Senate Intelligence Committee have publicly designated as a hostile intelligence service, regarding the public release of emails stolen by the Russian government. It is clear from this indictment that those contacts happened at least with the full knowledge of, and appear to have been encouraged by, the highest levels of the Trump campaign.   

“Roger Stone and Donald Trump have known each other for nearly forty years. Mr. Stone played a key role in recruiting Paul Manafort to run the Trump campaign, and he publicly claimed on several occasions to remain in regular contact with then-candidate Trump throughout the 2016 presidential race, even after he formally departed the Trump campaign. It appears Stone also lied to Congress and tampered with witnesses in order to obstruct these investigations into the Trump campaign – yet another example of senior Trump officials concealing the truth about their Russia-related contacts during the 2016 election. 

“I expect that we will learn more about Mr. Stone’s campaign role, his communications regarding Wikileaks, and who else knew about Stone’s efforts. It remains essential that the Special Counsel be permitted to finish this work without any political interference.”

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