WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced bipartisan legislation to help local communities in Appalachia expand economic opportunity. The Appalachia Opportunity Act establishes a $100 million annual grant program to support and encourage public-private partnerships in Appalachia that will improve regional infrastructure, encourage entrepreneurship, and create jobs.  

While federal-state partnerships like the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) have made great strides at helping the region modernize and adapt to economic shifts over the last several decades, the federal government and states are still largely tasked with selecting which of these projects receive funding. This bipartisan bill establishes a competitive grant program that would be administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to incentivize local communities to engage in public-private partnerships that would advance local economic development projects. At $100 million annually, the new grant program would nearly double the level of federal funding specifically set aside for expanding economic development in Appalachia. The funds will come from the Dislocated Worker Reserve Fund, a program that provides assistance to dislocated workers who are disproportionately impacted by large layoffs and natural disasters.

“You shouldn’t have to leave your hometown to find a high-paying job and get a world-class education,” said Sen. Warner. “But Southwest Virginia and other parts of Appalachia have been hit hard by economic shifts of the last several decades. While there’s no magic formula that will fix all of the economic problems facing rural communities overnight, the federal government can and should do more to support homegrown initiatives that will expand economic opportunities in the region. This bipartisan bill incentivizes the private sector to make long-term investments in Appalachia, and encourages rural communities to experiment with new and innovative ways to create and attract 21^st century jobs.”

“Federal investments and partnerships with local leaders are both critical in helping prepare Appalachian economies and communities for the future,”said Sen. Capito. “As we continue efforts to give our communities the tools they need to grow and prosper, encouraging collaborative partnerships between the public and private sectors is key for ensuring success and sustainability in the region. This bill will encourage cooperation and help deliver critical new resources for economic development in West Virginia and all of Appalachia.”

“Last fall I teamed up with several Senators from the Appalachian region to co-chair The Appalachia Initiative, and today I am excited to continue our important work to tackle the unique needs facing Appalachian communities,” said Sen. Manchin. “Rural communities in West Virginia are facing some tough challenges and grant programs like this will help foster the public-private partnerships needed to get local projects off the ground. This bipartisan bill is part of a comprehensive effort to help drive pragmatic, locally driven efforts to spur economic progress in Appalachian communities.”  

“Over the past 50 years, targeted federal investments through the Appalachian Regional Commission have been a driving force for economic development and job creation in North Mississippi and greater Appalachia,” said Sen. Wicker. “This new program would provide additional competitive funding to spur long-term private investment and develop critical infrastructure, making a difference in the lives of the millions of people who call the region home.”

For ten years, the bill would provide $100 million annually to the Appalachia Innovation Program to fund ideas generated by local Appalachian communities. In order to be eligible for these grants, communities will convene public-private teams to collaborate on projects that increase economic growth and education in the Appalachian region. Teams will include representatives from local economic development boards, private companies and associations, and regional institutions of higher learning, including technical schools, community colleges, or four-year institutions. 

In order to encourage collaboration across localities and improve the economy for the whole region, projects are required to involve at least two bordering counties, and have access to additional sources of funding representing at least 10 percent of the project’s overall cost, either through local matching funds or private sector investment. To be eligible, projects must also have a measurable economic impact, and seek to do at least one of the following:  

• Create jobs 
• Expand regional capacity of post-secondary education
• Grow tourism rates 
• Benefit public health 
• Upgrade regional infrastructure 

“BPC Action applauds the introduction of the Appalachia Opportunity Grants Act, which contains recommendations from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Appalachia Initiative. This bill responds to the economic challenges in Appalachia by offering a bipartisan approach to advance prosperity and accelerate growth for more than 25 million people that call this region home,” said Jason Grumet, President of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

"This is indeed a great day for the Appalachian Region. The bill almost doubles the resources dedicated to this region and will go a long way toward growing a viable future for the people of Appalachia.  The structure is a direct linkage to federal funding for local people to solve their economic challenges with their own solutions. I applaud this long overdue effort,” said Thomas M. Hunter, Former Executive Director of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

“The Appalachia Opportunity Act will provide important resources to spur economic growth throughout the region. We thank Senator Warner for his leadership and applaud his ability to gain bipartisan support for his proposal. We look forward to participating in the public-private collaborative process that will identify worthy projects and work to realize the jobs they’ll bring for our people,” said Christian T. Beam, President & COO Appalachian Power Co.

“The UMWA supports every opportunity for economically devastated communities throughout Appalachia to revitalize themselves while increasing badly needed employment opportunities. The Appalachia Opportunity Act will help jump-start this process, and we wholeheartedly support it,” said Cecil E. Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). 

“What an exciting outcome of our work on the BPC task force! This grant program will have a tangible impact on economic development across the regions of Appalachia. The focus on grant allocations to teams of public and private groups for collaboration on regional projects has great potential to create jobs, encourage entrepreneurship, and expand the regional capacity of higher education. I support the Appalachia Opportunity Act and look forward to its impact on the future UVa-Wise,” said Dr. Donna Price Henry, Chancellor of the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

Sens. Warner and Manchin, along with Sens. David Perdue (R-GA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), are co-chairs of the bipartisan Appalachia Initiative, a task force convened with the Bipartisan Policy Center to find pragmatic, bipartisan solutions to Appalachia’s challenges. Last year, they released a report with a set of bipartisan recommendations to boost economic growth in Appalachia.

A summary of the legislation can be found here. Full bill 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, issued the following statement on reports from the New York Times and the Guardian  that Cambridge Analytica misused the data of millions of Facebook users:

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued a statement after the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on five Russian entities and 19 individuals for interference in the 2016 election:         

“This is a welcome, if long-overdue, step by the Trump Administration to punish Russia for interfering in the 2016 election. Our nation’s top intelligence officials have testified that Russia continues to interfere in our democracy, with no intention to stop. Yet these sanctions do not go far enough. Nearly all of the entities and individuals who were sanctioned today were either previously under sanction during the Obama Administration, or had already been charged with federal crimes by the Special Counsel. With the midterm elections fast approaching, the Administration needs to step it up, now, if we have any hope of deterring Russian meddling in 2018.”

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-Va.) pushed the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to take immediate action regarding critical failures at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (DCVAMC) highlighted in an Inspector General report released last week that showed patients were put at risk due to supply, equipment, and inventory issues. Last year, Sens. Warner and Kaine wrote to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin to express serious concerns over initial findings found by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) that detailed similar deficiencies at the facility. Following last week’s OIG report, Secretary Shulkin announced an overhaul of the senior leadership overseeing almost two dozen troubled hospitals across the country.

“While we are disturbed by the numerous breakdowns in essential functions at the DCVAMC that are documented by the OIG, we are particularly troubled by the massive leadership failures at multiple levels of the VA despite consistent warnings,” wrote the Senators.

In particular, the Senators raised concerns regarding leadership failures that endangered the health and safety of veterans at the facility and called for more stringent oversight measures given the lack of direct response following last year’s interim report. In their letter, Sens. Warner and Kaine requested an update on the progress made in implementing corrective actions at the DC-based medical facility and any measures the VA is planning to take to increase accountability. Finally, the Senators requested the agency to identify potential legislative actions that Congress can take to help fix problems at DCVAMC. 

“The Washington D.C. VA Medical Center serves thousands of Virginians each year. Failure to execute basic hospital functions at the VA’s flagship medical facility erodes the trust our veterans have in the VA. We can and must do more to guarantee the health and safety of our veterans in your care,” concluded the Senators.  

Full text of the letter follows. A PDF can be found here.

The Honorable David Shulkin

Secretary of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20240

Dear Secretary Shulkin, 

We write to you to express our concern regarding the recent Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that outlines critical deficiencies at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (DCVAMC). While we are disturbed by the numerous breakdowns in essential functions at the DCVAMC that are documented by the OIG, we are particularly troubled by the massive leadership failures at multiple levels of the VA despite consistent warnings.

In April 2017, we asked you to take immediate action to improve management at the DCVAMC following the release of the OIG Interim Status Report that first brought to light many of these serious problems. The final report expands upon the OIG’s initial findings and details significant inadequacies in executing basic hospital functions, including an inability to maintain an appropriate inventory of medical supplies and sanitary storage facilities, which resulted in an increased risk of harm to veterans at the facility. Thankfully, the OIG found that the efforts of DCVAMC health care professionals prevented patients from suffering adverse medical outcomes as a result of the identified deficiencies. We applaud those health care professionals for their herculean efforts in the face of such adversity, but their outstanding dedication to veterans should not minimize the egregious management problems at the DCVAMC, including historically high vacancy rates in logistics and sterile processing positions dating back to 2014. 

We found the most troubling aspect of the OIG’s Report to be the massive failures in leadership that occurred throughout multiple levels of the VA. Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 5, and Veterans Health Administration Central Office (VHACO) staff all filed and received reports from 2013 to 2017 that outlined many of the supply, equipment, and inventory issues that were later outlined in the final OIG Report. However, despite repeated recommendations for action, these DCVAMC leaders failed to take appropriate steps to address these issues. This failure in leadership endangered the health and safety of veterans at the facility. The lack of leadership identified by the OIG highlights the need for more stringent oversight measures that would prevent these breakdowns from occurring at other VAMCs.

We are pleased that you already addressed some of the failings of the DCVAMC documented in the April 2017 OIG Interim Status Report, including personnel changes and the implementation of new supply and cleanliness processes. In addition, we applaud your initiative to implement measures that would help prevent similar failures in leadership at VAMCs across the nation, such as increasing accountability at the VA Central Office.

While progress has been made since the release of last year’s report, fundamental problems still exist at the Medical Center. We request that you provide a comprehensive update on the progress made in implementing corrective actions at the DCVAMC and a full description of the VA-wide measures you are planning to enact that would increase accountability throughout the organization. Finally, we ask that you identify any legislative action that is required to carry out remedial measures. 

The Washington D.C. VA Medical Center serves thousands of Virginians each year. Failure to execute basic hospital functions at the VA’s flagship medical facility erodes the trust our veterans have in the VA. We can and must do more to guarantee the health and safety of our veterans in your care. We look forward to working with you to correct the persistent problems at the DCVAMC and prevent similar deficiencies from occurring elsewhere within the VA.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today urged the Trump Administration to prioritize reforms to the security clearance process. In a letter to the White House, Sen. Warner urged Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster to “personally apply the utmost priority to personnel security clearance reform. In the letter, which follows an Intelligence Committee hearing last week on the same topic, Sen. Warner called the current system “inadequate” and said reforms were necessary to recruit and retain a trusted national security workforce.

“The background investigation inventory has more than doubled in the last three years, with over 700,000 people currently waiting on a background check. Costs to run a check have nearly doubled, and timelines to process clearances far exceed the standards set in law. Furthermore, prompt recognition of security clearances granted at one agency at another is uneven. These inefficiencies cost the taxpayer millions of dollars, sap morale and productivity, and harm our nation’s security,” wrote Sen. Warner.

Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee held an open hearing on security clearance reform featuring representatives from industry and a number of the government agencies with jurisdiction over the clearance process. During questioning, Vice Chairman Warner pressed government officials to make needed improvements, and heard from industry representatives about ways the clearance process could be reformed via legislation.

Back in January, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) placed the security clearance process on its “high risk” list – the areas of government that need broad-based transformation or reforms. At a February hearing in the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats called the security clearance process system “broken” and acknowledged that it must be reformed.

“We need a ‘whole of government’ approach to tackling this challenge – by harnessing the power of modern technology, instituting processes like ‘continuous evaluation,’ ensuring adequate funding, and ensuring uniform standards. These things require the Administration’s top officials to treat security clearance as an urgent priority,” noted the Senator in today’s letter to General Kelly and General McMaster.

Last month, Sen. Warner penned an op-ed in the Cipher Brief highlighting the need for reforming the security clearance process.

The full text of the letter follows. A PDF can be found here. 

Gen. John F. Kelly, USMC (Ret.)                                              LTG H.R. McMaster, USA

Chief of Staff                                                                           National Security Advisor

The White House                                                                     The White House

Washington, DC  20503                                                          Washington, DC  20503

Dear General Kelly and General McMaster:

We write to request that you personally apply the utmost priority to personnel security clearance reform to ensure we can recruit and retain a trusted workforce for our nation’s national security and public safety missions. 

The system we have now is inadequate to meet today’s challenges.  On January 25, 2018, the Comptroller General announced that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) placed the security clearance process on its “High Risk List.”  On February 13, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the security clearance system process is “broken” and in need of a “revolution.”  And on February 16 General Kelly himself issued a memo recognizing the need to “take action to streamline, harmonize, and modernize standards across the Executive Branch.”

On Wednesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee heard from the GAO, industry representatives, and the senior government officials charged with overseeing and implementing the clearance process.  The hearing highlighted serious shortcomings in how the government determines who may have access to the nation’s secrets and classified facilities and networks. 

The background investigation inventory has more than doubled in the last three years, with over 700,000 people currently waiting on a background check. Costs to run a check have nearly doubled, and timelines to process clearances far exceed the standards set in law. Furthermore, prompt recognition of security clearances granted at one agency at another is uneven. These inefficiencies cost the taxpayer millions of dollars, sap morale and productivity, and harm our nation’s security.

We need a “whole of government” approach to tackling this challenge – by harnessing the power of modern technology, instituting processes like “continuous evaluation,” ensuring adequate funding, and ensuring uniform standards. These things require the Administration’s top officials to treat security clearance as an urgent priority. 

We look forward to working with you address the challenge of reforming and fixing our nation’s security clearance process. 

Sincerely,

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Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner released the following statement regarding the release of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that confirmed significant deficiencies in care at the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center that threatened the health of veterans:

“I am deeply concerned by the recent VA OIG report that identified unacceptable conditions at the DC VA Medical Center. Among other issues, the report found that the DC VA was unable to execute basic hospital functions, including maintaining an appropriate inventory of medical supplies and sanitary storage facilities. These failures were the direct result of years of inadequate leadership at various levels of the VA. Thankfully, due to the herculean efforts of the health care professionals at the medical center, no veterans lost their lives as a result of these conditions.

“Secretary Shulkin recently addressed the breakdown in leadership at the DC VA Medical Center and has announced his plans to rectify the failures at this facility and at other underperforming medical centers across the country. I look forward to pressing the VA and working with my colleagues in Congress to ensure that we are able to offer the best possible care for our veterans.”

Last year, Sens. Warner, Tim Kaine, and Jon Tester wrote to Secretary Shulkin, expressing their concern over the OIG’s initial interim report that detailed many of the deficiencies identified in the full report. The senators demanded immediate action be taken to ensure sufficient and sanitary supplies are available, and they requested that the VA review any patients who may have been exposed to unsafe practices and called for critical senior staff positions to be filled quickly to ensure these issues can be promptly remedied.

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WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) sponsored a set of bipartisan bills to help curb gun violence, including the Fix NICS Act, legislation which would ensure federal and state authorities comply with existing law and accurately report relevant criminal history records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). This bill penalizes federal agencies who fail to properly report relevant records and incentivizes states to improve their overall reporting. In addition, it directs more federal funding to the accurate reporting of domestic violence records.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been a proud supporter of the Second Amendment and have always advocated for responsible gun ownership. My commitment to those principles remains, but it is also past time to put an end to these mass shootings,” said Sen. Warner. “While these commonsense reforms are not themselves enough, they will strengthen our background checks system and keep deadly weapons out of the hands of violent individuals and terrorists. No single law will end all gun violence, but we must begin attempting to address this crisis.”

The Fix NICS Act: 

• Requires federal agencies and states to produce NICS implementation plans focused on uploading all information to the background check system showing that a person is prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms under current law—including measures to verify the accuracy of records.

• Holds federal agencies accountable if they fail to upload relevant records to the background check system through public reporting and prohibiting bonus pay for political appointees.  

• Rewards states who comply with their NICS implementation plans through federal grant preferences and incentives, while increasing accountability through public reporting for those who do not comply with their plans.

• Reauthorizes and improves important law enforcement programs to help state governments share relevant criminal record information with NICS.

• Creates a Domestic Abuse and Violence Prevention Initiative to ensure that states have adequate resources and incentives to share all relevant information with NICS showing that a felon or domestic abuser is excluded from purchasing firearms under current law.

Sen. Warner is also a cosponsor of the Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act, bipartisan legislation to help keep guns from terrorist by preventing people who are on the “No Fly List” or the “Selectee List” from purchasing firearms.

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WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate voted 67-32 in favor of starting debate on S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, bipartisan legislation to grow the economy and protect consumers that was negotiated in part by Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA). Today Sen. Warner called for swift passage of the legislation, which will provide targeted relief for community banks and credit unions so they can improve access to capital and increase economic prosperity in the Commonwealth.

The legislation addresses some of the unintended consequences of the Dodd-Frank Act in order to make it easier for smaller community banks and credit unions to lend to Virginia businesses and families, which is good for households and the economy.

“The Senate is on the verge of passing major bipartisan legislation aimed at providing relief for small community banks, credit unions, and the customers they serve. As someone who helped put together the Dodd-Frank legislation, I know there are areas where we can help improve access to capital for consumers, farmers, and small businesses so they can grow the economy and create jobs,” said Sen. Warner. “Virginia’s community banks and credit unions did not cause the financial crisis, and they should not be held back by regulations intended for the big banks. I look forward to seeing the Senate pass this package of bipartisan measures that will provide relief for Main Street, strengthen consumer protections, and keep Wall Street accountable.”

Following the 2008 financial meltdown, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to crack down on the worst Wall Street abuses and institute strict regulations to prevent another crisis. Sen. Warner played an important role in negotiating and drafting major portions of this legislation, which created new safeguards to protect our financial system and hold Wall Street accountable.

However, as with any major reform, the law also had some unintended consequences. Virginia has lost over a quarter of its community banks and nearly a third of its credit unions since Dodd-Frank was passed. In some cases, the law resulted in unnecessary and burdensome regulations on credit unions and small community banks that made it harder for them to lend money to help local businesses grow and create jobs.

“As a credit union, we have to adhere to the same regulations as large banks do.  But we have to do it with a much smaller base – we only have 10,000 members and 20 employees – adhering to the same regulations that a behemoth like Bank of America has to adhere to,” said Lisa Lambrecht, President & CEO of Entrust Financial Credit Union in Henrico County. “I wish the federal government would understand that these one-size-fits-all regulations don’t work for credit unions. You have to remember; credit unions were formed to fill that gap that the larger established financial system was not serving.”

“In the rural areas, the larger institutions across the whole country have reduced their branches. The smaller banks have held their own, but we’re operating with 2000 less community banks a day than we were 12, 15 years ago. That’s over one fourth of community banks are gone — and I think a primary reason for that is regulatory fatigue,” said Lyn Hayth, President & CEO of the Bank of Botetourt. 

“Every dollar we spend on increased compliance really doesn’t go to our capital. And if we could put that extra dollar into our capital, we could lend it back out into the community on a tenfold basis. So, our hope is that regulation can be decreased, and that we are able to take that capital that we save and invest it back into our communities,” said Alice Frazier, President & CEO of Bank of Charles Town in Middleburg. 

“I think that community banks are the backbone of our country, and many of our rural markets. And not just our rural markets – but I think we serve a vital role to the growth of the economy,” said Mark Hanna, President of Farmers & Merchants Bank in Timberville.

The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S.2155) ensures that small lenders can provide mortgage and other credit to hardworking Americans, helping them and their families grow and start businesses. The bill also institutes several important consumer protections:

• Allows consumers to get one free year of fraud alerts, which will help consumers who have been impacted by situations like the Wells Fargo scandal or whose identities or personal information has been stolen.
• Unlimited free credit freezes and unfreezes, which helps consumers impacted by data breaches like the Equifax hack that compromised the personal information of approximately 145 million Americans.
• Provides free credit monitoring for all active-duty servicemembers.
• Protects the credit ratings of veterans wrongly penalized by medical bill payment delays by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This measure would prohibit medical debt from services received through the Choice Program and other VA community care programs from being reported to credit reporting agencies for one year. In addition, it would establish a dispute process for veterans seeking to remove adverse actions already on their report.
• Prevents mortgage companies from immediately kicking tenants out of their rentals if the landlord is foreclosed upon.
• Encourages banks to report suspicious behavior if seniors could be getting financially scammed.
• Allows seriously delinquent private student loan borrowers a one-time offer to remove negative reporting from their credit reports after making a series of on-time payments.

The legislation was introduced in November after years of bipartisan negotiations among Sen. Warner, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Banking Committee members Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Jon Tester (D-MT). It is also co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).

WASHINGTON – On Net Neutrality National Day of Action, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined a group of Senate and House Democrats in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) partisan decision on net neutrality. The Senate CRA resolution of disapproval stands at 50 supporters, including Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). The House resolution currently has 150 co-sponsors.

The FCC’s Open Internet Order prohibited internet service providers from blocking, slowing down, or discriminating against content online. Repealing these net neutrality rules could lead to higher prices for consumers, slower internet traffic, and even blocked websites. A recent poll showed that 83 percent of Americans do not approve of the FCC’s action to repeal net neutrality rules.

“From the start, the FCC’s process to determine whether to keep previously established rules that guarantee a free and open internet was marred by partisan fights and troubling irregularities in the public comment system,” said the Senators. “By repealing these open internet principles, we believe the agency greenlighted potential anti-competitive practices that could negatively impact consumers. We will continue urging our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand together to protect the integrity of our nation’s most crucial information network.”

Last week, the FCC’s rule repealing net neutrality was published in the Federal Register, leaving 60 legislative days to seek a vote on the Senate floor on the CRA resolutions. In order to force a vote on the Senate resolution, the Senators will submit a discharge petition, which requires a minimum of 30 Senators’ signatures. Once the discharge petition is filed, Senate Democrats will demand a vote on the resolution. A simple majority of 51 votes is needed to pass a CRA resolution in the Senate. 

A copy of the CRA resolution 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, issued a statement following today's release of the Democratic House Intelligence Committee memo:  

"It is deeply unfortunate that House Republicans decided to the release classified information in order to mislead the American people for partisan political purposes. Americans deserve an accurate picture of the actions taken by the FBI, which were fully appropriate and entirely lawful. This memo makes clear that there is no reasonable basis to suggest otherwise, except to undermine the Special Counsel’s investigation. Now that the Nunes memo has been thoroughly debunked, the White House and its allies in Congress must put a stop to the dangerous partisan sideshows that jeopardize classified sources and methods and focus on Russia’s unprecedented interference in our election, which is a real and ongoing threat to our national security.??"

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced today that Virginia localities and organizations in Alexandria, Danville, Chesapeake and Harrisonburg will receive $2,301,433 in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The grants will help these entities hire or retain service coordinators to assist public housing residents in finding jobs and educational opportunities, and achieving economic and housing independence.

“These funds will strengthen Virginia communities and improve quality of life for public housing residents,” said the Senators. “This investment will help residents obtain higher paying jobs so they can be self-sufficient and regain financial independence.”

The funding, provided through HUD’s Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency – Service Coordinators Program (ROSS-SC) helps grantees hire or retain "service coordinators" who work directly with residents to assess their needs and connect them with education, job training and placement programs, and/or computer and financial literacy services available in their community to promote self-sufficiency. 

A list of grant recipients and amounts is included below:

• Can I Live, Inc. (Alexandria) - $940,033
• Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority - $246,000
• Cardinal Village Tenant Association, Inc. (Danville) - $231,000
• Pleasant View Tenant Association, Inc. (Danville) - $231,000
• Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority - $231,000
• Chesapeake Redevelopment & Housing Authority - $246,000
• Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority - $176,400

The purpose of HUD’s ROSS-SC program is to encourage innovative and locally driven strategies that link public housing assistance with public and private resources to enable HUD-assisted families to increase earned income; reduce or eliminate their need for welfare assistance; and promote economic independence and housing self-sufficiency. These grants provide funding to hire and retain Service Coordinators who will assess the needs of residents of conventional Public Housing or Indian housing and coordinate available resources in the community to meet those needs. In addition, ROSS-SC grants help improve living conditions for seniors, enabling them to age-in-place.

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