Warner urges administration support for Startup Act
U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today invited President Obama to join them in helping startups and small businesses succeed.
In December, Sens. Moran and Warner introduced legislation called The Startup Act (S. 1965) to jumpstart the economy through the creation and growth of new businesses. Continue reading “Warner urges administration support for Startup Act” »
Warner staff office hours in Staunton on Tuesday
Any Virginia residents that need assistance with a federal agency such as the IRS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Social Security Administration, or would just like to pass along a concern to Sen. Mark Warner, please feel free to come and speak with a representative from Sen. Warner’s office on Tuesday, Oct. 11, from 10:30 am to noon at the Staunton City Hall Caucus Room, 116 W. Beverley St.
Constituents can always contact any one of the senator’s offices directly. The Roanoke office can be reached at 540-857-2676.
Warner announces support for tourism initiative
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) today announced his support for bipartisan legislation that will increase international tourism by cutting excessively long wait times for overseas visitors to receive U.S. tourist visas. The legislation, co-sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), would give the U.S. State Department more tools and new incentives to streamline visa processing services without compromising the security of our borders or American citizens.
Tourism is one of Virginia’s largest industries, generating more than $17 billion in revenue. According to the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC), tourism supports more than 200,000 Virginia jobs and contributes an estimated $1.24 billion in state and local tax revenue for the Commonwealth annually.
“Tourism is big business in Virginia, but a key obstacle to increasing the number of foreign travelers is our burdensome U.S. visa system,” Warner said. “If we want to grow these numbers, we need to look at smart visa reforms that promote international travel without compromising U.S. security.”
In China, those who want to visit the United States often face waits of up to 120 days. In Brazil, it can take up to 145 days to process a U.S. travel visa, while a visa that permits a Brazilian citizen to visit the UK can be processed in about two weeks.
“Would you wait more than four months for a travel visa?” Warner asked. “The U.S. requirement for a mandatory face-to-face interview with a consular official before issuing a visa was enacted shortly after 9/11. This legislation would allow the State Department to exercise its discretion and extend some of these one-year tourist visas for up to four-years. That will encourage more foreign visitation by reducing the backlog of individuals waiting for interviews. It also allows our U.S. embassies and consulates to focus on commonsense risk profiles, and stop wasting their limited resources interviewing grandmothers who simply want to visit their loved ones in Virginia.”
The U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world in the international tourism market. U.S. Commerce Department figures show that the United States’ share of overseas arrivals has fallen from 17 to 12.4 percent since 2000, even as worldwide travel grew by 40 percent over the same timeframe. The loss of even one percentage point of the total world international travel market potentially costs the United States 161,000 jobs.
The Klobuchar/Blunt legislation would help alleviate the excessively long wait times at some embassies and consulates, and help give the State Department the tools and incentives it needs to address this pressing issue. The bill would:
· Incentivize the State Department – without risking security – to improve the visa process by allowing the Department to reinvest fees charged for visas if additional personnel will help improve efficiency.
· Allow the Secretary of State, in appropriate circumstances, to grant a waiver of up to 3 additional years (4 years total) for foreigners to renew their tourist visas without requiring the tourist to go through an in-person interview each year.
· Require the State Department to provide a report to Congress outlining how the Department is using Department of Commerce travel data in order to further improve the visa process.
“Tourism is a powerful engine for job creation in Virginia and in local communities across the country,” Warner said. “By making it easier to travel to the United States without compromising important national security safeguards, we could create new jobs and strengthen local economies without spending one dime of American taxpayer dollars.”
Warner announces bipartisan debt-reduction panel
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today announced that he has organized a bipartisan coalition representing more than one-third of the members of the U.S. Senate to encourage the members of the congressional “super committee” to seek the broadest possible bipartisan agreement to address the nation’s deficits and debt. This group of 36 Senators — 18 Republicans, 17 Democrats and one Independent — builds upon Sen. Warner’s yearlong efforts, along with Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), to craft a deficit and debt framework as the two co-founders of the Senate’s bipartisan “Gang of Six.”
“Our 11th hour Gang of Six agreement to eliminate $3.7 trillion from the national debt came too late to be considered as part of the early August deadline to raise the debt limit, but the tough fiscal choices that our nation faces continue to get more difficult every day,” Sen. Warner said. “The 12 members of the super committee have been tasked with reaching a bipartisan consensus on a plan to begin eliminating $1.5 trillion from our debt over the next ten years. Frankly, that’s not nearly bold enough to truly fix our nation’s balance sheet.”
“I am pleased to have partnered once again with my colleague and friend Saxby Chambliss to organize this new bipartisan group representing nearly one-third of the members of the U.S. Senate. Our coalition of 36 senators has agreed to work together to encourage the ‘super committee’ to act boldly to reach the broadest possible agreement to strengthen our economy, encourage more job creation and greater investment, and to begin putting America back on a sustainable fiscal path,” Sen. Warner said.
“We have come together today to demonstrate that there is broad, bipartisan support within the U.S. Senate for a responsible fiscal plan that cuts federal spending, reforms the tax code, and protects and strengthens our entitlement programs over the long-term,” said Sen. Warner.
“If we don’t responsibly address the debt issue now, for the first time in the history of our country, our generation is going to leave the next generation an America that is not as good and wholesome as the America we inherited,” Sen. Chambliss said. “Until we do something about it, that debt is increasing by about $4 billion a day.”
The 36 Senators have agreed to the following statement of principles:
“As a bipartisan group of Senators, we will encourage and support the Super Committee in fulfilling its mission. We are here to support a deficit reduction package consistent with the following principles that should:
Include enough deficit reduction to stabilize the debt as a share of the economy, and put the debt on a downward path, and provide fiscal certainty. We believe a reasonable target is at least $4 trillion, including previously enacted deficit measures. This will send the right message to the financial markets.
Use the established, bipartisan debt and deficit reduction frameworks as a starting point for discussions.
Focus on the major parts of the budget and include long-term entitlement reforms and pro-growth tax reform.
Be structured to grow the economy in the short, medium and long-term.
Work to include the American public and the business community in a broader discussion about the breadth of the issues, challenges and opportunities facing us.”
The 36 participants include these members of the U.S. Senate:
Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK)
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE)
Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL)
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)
Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO)
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Warner delivers thank-yous to Navy Seals
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner today delivered more than 1,200 messages of support and appreciation to U.S. Navy special operations personnel representing the successful military operation that eliminated Al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. The ‘thank you’ notes were submitted through a message board set-up on Sen. Warner’s website, and through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in the week following the successful U.S. military mission.
“These messages reflect a spontaneous outpouring of support, respect and appreciation for all of our men and women in uniform,” Warner said. “The messages come from military families, veterans, entire schools and hundreds of Virginians who simply wanted an opportunity to say ‘thanks’ to these remarkable warriors,” Warner said.
Over the course of the week, news of Sen. Warner’s ‘thank you’ initiative spread beyond Virginia and hundreds of supportive messages poured-in from people across the country and around the world, including messages from citizens of Canada, India, Ireland, Israel and the United Kingdom.
• “As a lifelong resident of Hampton Roads, it is all too easy to take the military for granted. We are your neighbors, classmates, and friends. We are blessed to have you.”
• “A huge thank you and to let you know how proud we are from Mr. Underwood’s 5th grade class at Rocky Gap, Va. Elementary School!”
• “Our 2nd grader came home from school and said, ‘Our guys killed a very bad man who hurt those people in the twin towers. We got him, Mommy.’ Yes, we did. Thank you.”• “I was five when Bin Laden and Al Qaeda attacked the twin towers, and I have never truly felt safe since. Thank you for giving that back to me. You all have inspired me to join the United States military when I am older.”
• “Most of the time no one knows what you do, where you do it or even if you actually exist. We still don’t know who you are, but we do know what you did. Thank you.”
• “This Marine mom wants to thank you so much for your service! We rest easier knowing you are out there protecting us.”
• ”I have no words to describe the men who were on this mission. I never realized ordinary men could be so extraordinary.”
• “As the daughter of a career Navy Senior Chief, I wish he had lived long enough to hear about what you all did. He would have smiled and said, ‘Damn right — they’re Navy!’”
• “From a Navy officer who lost a friend on the USS Cole and a colleague at the Pentagon on 9/11: Many of us who have fought and served for these many years can now feel vindicated and proud.”
• “We are all so proud of you and so thankful for your service to Virginia, the nation, and the world. You do us proud.”
• “My family in NY who lost a loved one on Sept 11 is forever indebted to all of you.”
• “You have provided an opportunity for every American to move beyond the grief and horror of 9/11 and face our future with confidence and pride. That is huge.”
• “How do you thank someone who saves the world? I will pay it forward. Thank you for being a hero to my kids.”
“Members of our special forces community recognize that their successes usually cannot be celebrated with public parades and press conferences,” Warner said. “That doesn’t mean we cannot look for creative ways to express our respect and appreciation while still protecting their identities and their safety. I am pleased to share these messages of thanks with the entire military community here in Hampton Roads.”
Janice “Jay” Johnson: Cutting Social Security is a dangerous calculation
Sen. Mark Warner and the “Gang of Six” are close to a debt reduction deal and it looks like there will be substantial cuts to programs like Social Security.
There is no denying that reducing the deficit is important, especially after the problematic recent Standard and Poors rating. But the question is, how. I have a couple suggestions for the Gang of Six.
1.) Social Security does not contribute a penny to the deficit; it should not be cut to reduce the deficit. The program has a $2.6 trillion surplus. With modest, reasonable reforms like scrapping the pay roll tax cap, all promised benefits can be paid. Not only is the program efficient and cost effective to run, Social Security lifts 20 million Americans out of poverty.
2.) Let the Bush tax cuts expire and ask corporations to pay their fair share. The Bush tax cuts will cost us nearly $1 trillion to keep in place for the next 10 years. This amounts to 1/6 of the deficit reduction proposed in the House Republican budget proposal. Meanwhile, we have recently been reminded that many corporations pay no taxes at all. In fact, sometimes we pay them. Bank of America received a $1.9 billion refund from the IRS. GE received $4.1 billion from the IRS even though they have recently sent 1/5 of their jobs overseas.
Any reasonable look at our deficit problems must include closing corporate tax loopholes and must not gut vital programs like Social Security, relied on by millions of seniors like myself.
Janice “Jay” Johnson is the treasurer of Virginia Organizing.
Warner pushes Valley tourist-sector development
It can be like trying to herd cats to get localities to cooperate in the Shenandoah Valley on a strategy to promote the tourist sector.
For one, what is the Shenandoah Valley?
“How do you define the Shenandoah Valley?” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner asked the roughly 30 attendees at a Shenandoah Valley Regional Tourism Roundtable that he convened at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton on Monday.
The discussion that ensued – encompassing political, geological and cultural definitions – demonstrated the difficulty in trying to get people in the Valley tourist sector to come together on a plan of action.
Warner told reporters after the summit that he called together tourism-industry leaders to try to jumpstart the kind of effort that he did with success in Southwest Virginia during his term as governor.
“I’d seen some of the stuff take a little more root in Southwest Virginia,” Warner said. “I just feel like there are such assets here in the Shenandoah Valley, and I think about this as a consumer and as a promoter that it’s still – as much as they’ve got, it could be better. It could be presented better.”
Warner asked participants if it wouldn’t make more sense for localities and travel-industry associations to coordinate their web and print marketing efforts. The feedback: We could, but we could use some help getting there.
“When I was governor, I’d come to an event like this with a check in hand,” Warner joked in response, alluding to the tight fiscal environment in Washington.
A goal for Warner with the summit was to get people in the tourist industry talking – and thinking.
“It’s hard for a local jurisdiction to think, I’ve only got a tiny little bit of money, how do i not just promote what’s in Waynesboro, what’s in Staunton, what’s in Rockbridge? The idea here was saying, maybe you take 90 cents on the dollar and spend it on local, and you take 10 cents on the dollar goes to more regional efforts,” Warner said.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
EMU grad among DREAM Act protestors arrested
Isabel Castillo, a 2007 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University, was one of 21 recent graduates and current students from universities – all undocumented immigrants – from around the United States
who were arrested for acts of non-violent civil disobedience at the U.S. Senate Hart Office Building on July 20.
All of them were brought to the United States as children. They have been raised and educated here – this is “home” to them, since few can recall living anywhere else, Castillo said in an interview at EMU, three days after she was booked and released.
Castillo chose to be arrested, along with four young adults from Arizona, California, Illinois and Texas, by refusing to leave the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., when requested to do so by his staff members.
The protesters initially were welcomed when they visited Reid’s office to ask him to put the DREAM Act – which stands for Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors – to vote in the Senate before the end of this legislative session of Congress.
“I have been waiting quietly since this legislation was first debated in Congress in 2001,” Castillo said. “Looking ahead, I do not think there is going to be a better opportunity than the present to get this legislation passed. I cannot stay quiet anymore.”
EMU president Loren Swartzendruber and provost Fred Kniss have both spoken in support of Castillo’s efforts. “The DREAM Act is an important and necessary piece of legislation, and I have written to our Virginia senators encouraging its passage,” said Swartzendruber. “We are glad that one of our alumni is working so courageously to promote the DREAM Act.”
Without the DREAM Act, Castillo cannot obtain a social security number. She cannot work legally and thus cannot use her social work degree to support herself. She cannot get student loans if she wishes to continue to graduate school. She cannot even marry someone legally living here and be certain that she would ever be allowed to join her husband as a legal resident. She cannot travel outside of the United States and be able to return to her hometown of Harrisonburg.
For years, Castillo has lived in the shadows in Harrisonburg, getting by with casual work such as babysitting. “I am tired of living like this. I want to have an opportunity to do the right thing – to get in line for [legal] residency and to prove myself worthy of it,” she stated. “[But] I am not just doing this for me; I am doing this for the 65,000 undocumented students who graduate from U.S. high schools each year and who have no future the way things are now.”
Castillo has decided to gamble that speaking up with her real name – telling her real story to the public wherever possible – will yield better results than continuing to stay in the shadows. She takes solace in a favorite Spanish quotation – “Dios aprieta pero no ahorca” – which roughly means that God won’t place more on her than she can bear.
Castillo said Reid’s Senate staffers pleaded with the protesters not to force them to call in law enforcement officers on July 20. The staff even got Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., on a speaker phone to try to persuade Castillo and her fellow protestors not to risk arrest. (Gutierrez himself was arrested at a May 1 protest before the White House – he said he would not move from the White House fence until he was arrested or until comprehensive immigration reform was signed.)
Castillo listened politely to Rep. Gutierrez, knowing he was sympathetic to her cause. But she and her fellow protesters – including a dozen that Castillo led from Harrisonburg – had previously decided that they must speak up now.
Castillo was born in Mexico and brought to the United States by her parents at age 6 without proper papers. Basically, if a child is brought into the United States in such a manner, there is no method for becoming a documented resident in later years, regardless of his or her academic accomplishments or social contributions.
Like all “undocumented immigrants,” Castillo is at constant risk of deportation to the country where she was born, a risk undoubtedly heightened by her decision to go public with the difficulties that she and hundreds of thousands like her face.
Castillo views herself as an “American” in every way except for having, as she puts it, a nine-digit social security number. She has few recollections of her pre-school life in Mexico. All of her formal schooling took place here. She graduated from Turner Ashby High School south of Harrisonburg with a 4.0 GPA. She graduated magna cum laude from EMU.
Castillo says she could not have made it through EMU without the help of two married employees – Deanna Durham, assistant professor in the applied social sciences department, and Byron Peachey, associate campus pastor. The couple has remained supportive since Castillo graduated three years ago. When she needed help with getting her group to and from Washington D.C., for example, Durham and Peachey drove the group.
Under the DREAM Act, undocumented young immigrants would be given a path to legal residency if they contribute to the United States by serving in the military or getting a college education. The process would still be arduous – it would take at least six years and perhaps as much as a decade – for a young person to satisfy all the requirements for getting a “Green Card.” Yet Castillo said she would welcome such a path, no matter how hard or long, because at least the path would be there.
In a Washington Post article the day after the arrests, Margie McHugh, co-director of the nonprofit Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, was quoted as saying: “It is a bit of a surprise to see how bold and open a lot of the young people are about their status, and that’s changed from the past.”
The Post noted, however, that there are definite risks: “In Arizona [in early May] … undocumented students staged a protest in front of Republican Sen. John McCain’s office. Three were arrested and are in deportation proceedings.”
McHugh told the Post: “I think it’s not possible to say yet if it’s a safe or an extremely risky thing for them to do. They are taking a great risk in putting themselves out there so publicly. In the end, they’ll be judged to have been quite prescient if the law does end up happening and naïve if it doesn’t.”
Story by Bonnie Price Lofton. Lofton is the publications editor at Eastern Mennonite University.
DREAM to reality
Isabel wanted to create an impression on her visit to Washington, so she had members of the group there to lobby Sen. Mark Warner for support for the DREAM Act to wear their graduation caps.
“We weren’t sure if we would actually be able to meet with him one-on-one,” she said. But the senator was on hand for the meeting, and “he definitely took notice.”
“When he came into the door, he said, Congratulations to the graduates,” said Isabel, who is heading up a local effort based in Harrisonburg-Rockingham to drum up support for the DREAM Act.
The acronym stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. Isabel, who asked us not to use her last name, or give particulars related to her schooling, was an alien minor under the definition of the legislation, coming to the United States and specifically the Harrisonburg-Rockingham area, when her parents moved her family here nearly 19 years ago. Continue reading “DREAM to reality” »
Valley gets $5M for green job training
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Blue Ridge Community College and James Madison University are among a group of Shenandoah Valley partners that will take part in a new program to train workers for jobs in the emerging green sector.
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb on Friday announced a $5 million investment from the federal economic-stimulus package that will go to the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Investment Board to get the job-training program off the ground.
“The formation of the Shenandoah Valley Energy Partnership is exactly the kind of forward-looking collaboration we need to help jump-start our economy and create next-generation jobs in the clean energy field,” said Sen. Warner. “This investment in training workers for new green energy represents an exciting opportunity for the entire Valley region.” Continue reading “Valley gets $5M for green job training” »
The Rant | Mark Warner for president
Video Essay by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
The country could use somebody in charge in Washington who knows how to get the job done.
Virginians will remember somebody who is in Washington now who when he was in charge of things in the State Capitol could get things done there.
Mark Warner, we need you! That’s Chris Graham’s message in today’s Rant. Continue reading “The Rant | Mark Warner for president” »
Mark Warner: A bipartisan center forms in the U.S. Senate
Posted by afp on October 4, 2011 · 2 Comments
As our country’s $14.7 trillion national debt grows by more than $5 billion each day, and as a divided and dysfunctional Congress seemingly punts on responsible solutions to many of our toughest problems, is it any wonder that close to 9-in-10 Americans in a recent opinion poll said they strongly disapprove of the partisan gridlock they see in Washington?
At the beginning of August, Virginians witnessed an especially ugly and embarrassing political fight over raising the nation’s debt limit. The deal ultimately reached by Congress cut nearly $1 trillion in federal spending in the current budget, and created a bipartisan commission of six senators and six representatives to identify by Thanksgiving an additional $1.2 – $1.5 trillion in savings over the next decade.
I am hopeful this new commission will succeed, despite my belief that even $1.5 trillion in additional debt reduction is not nearly enough to truly begin fixing our nation’s finances. That’s why I have encouraged the 12 members of the Joint Select Committee to build upon the solid work and recommendations already proposed by several other bipartisan groups, including the Senate’s so-called Gang of Six, which I was proud to have formed earlier this year with my Republican colleague, Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.
Every independent, bipartisan analysis, including the Gang of Six, has concluded it will require at least $4 trillion in debt reduction to begin responsibly tackling our fiscal challenges. Every independent and bipartisan analysis also has concluded it will require a balanced approach that includes a blend of spending cuts, tax reform that eliminates some deductions while lowering overall tax rates, and phasing-in rational reforms to entitlement programs to protect and strengthen programs like Medicare and Social Security over the long-term.
We have a second chance to do the right thing with the creation of this Joint Select Committee, but we will never be successful unless we finally break out of our partisan trenches and agree to work together.
That’s why Sen. Chambliss and I in recent weeks have been reaching out to our Senate colleagues, on both sides of the political aisle, in a bipartisan effort to broaden and expand our Gang of Six. And I can tell you that the response from our colleagues has been remarkable.
On Sept. 15, more than one-third of the 100 members of the United States Senate stood with us to encourage the members of the Joint Select Committee to go beyond their mandate and reach for more than just $2.2 trillion in debt reduction.
In fact, 39 Senators in all – 20 Republicans, 18 Democrats and one independent – have now joined us to issue a strong, bipartisan appeal for the so-called super committee to “go big.” It was an impressive demonstration of bipartisan support and encouragement for their efforts.
“We know that this debt is choking this country. We feel it is time to check our political hats at the door,” Sen. Chambliss said.
“We’re with you,” said Senate Budget Chairman and North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad. “Be brave. Be bold. Go big.”
“Let’s set expectations much higher than where they are,” echoed New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte. ”Show some courage. We will be with you.”
“If you take a look at this picture of the gathered senators, it’s exactly the opposite of what the American people think is going on here on Capitol Hill,” said Illinois Democrat Richard Durbin. “What we’re trying to tell you is there is a real honest conversation taking place between Democrats and Republicans on tackling the biggest financial challenge this country has ever faced.”
This bipartisan statement by more than one-third of the members of the U.S. Senate may have been summed-up best by Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski:
“If you don’t leave here today feeling a little more confident that this Congress, or at least this Senate, can act together, not for the good of our respective parties but for the good of the American people, then I would suggest you didn’t pay close enough attention to those who are gathered here today.”
So yes, Virginia, I can tell you there is such a thing as a “radical bipartisan center,” and I am very proud to be one of its founding members.
Mark Warner is a United States Senator.
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