Warner reacts to President Trump’s proposed budget

~ Cites cuts to research, Chesapeake Bay cleanup, SW Va. ARC grants ~

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BROADCASTERS: Virginia Senator Mark Warner, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, responded to President Trump’s proposed budget released today. The proposal includes significant cuts in funding to the Environmental Protection Agency, slashes the federal workforce, and eliminates funding for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup program and Appalachian Regional Commission grants which have unlocked housing grants and economic infrastructure in southwest Virginia.

A full transcript of Sen. Warner’s remarks follows.

Clip 1 / 22 seconds: Here’s what our President has done: he’s dramatically cut education, infrastructure, research and development. Let me tell you a little bit about how that would affect Virginia specifically. Virginia relies on a lot of federal dollars because of our proximity to Washington, in terms of agencies, but also because many of our natural assets.

Clip 2 / 1 minute: As somebody who has been concerned about the budget, I’m always willing to look at places for savings but what we see in this Trump budget is additions somewhere in the defense budget that even some of our Joint Chiefs of Staff have not called for but at the cost of funding for infrastructure, education, research, regional commissions like the Appalachian Regional Commission, soft power like the State Department… and in a state like ours, which is still enormously challenged with traffic problems, particularly between Northern Virginia and Richmond and Hampton Roads…we see cuts to transportation but we particularly see cuts to Amtrak and rail service. You know, we’re never going to be able to build enough asphalt to get folks from DC to Richmond or down to Hampton Roads. Rail has got to be part of that agenda and has been something that both parties in Virginia have supported.

Clip 3 / 23 seconds: We’ve seen from President Trump a dramatic denial of any kind of environmental consequences. We’ve seen an EPA administrator who I voted against who denies climate change. I’d love to take him down to Norfolk where we’ve got sea level rise, challenging many parts of that great city. And boy, oh boy, in this budget did he go after the environment. He cuts thirty six hundred jobs from EPA. He cut the EPA budget by more than 30%. And in terms of Virginia specifically – regardless of where we live – we all value the Chesapeake Bay – one of our great treasures. And under Democrats and Republicans alike we’ve worked with federal partners to try to clean up the Bay. This is the first President that proposes fully eliminating all federal support for clean-up of the Chesapeake Bay. That’s wrong. That’s wrong in terms of enjoying that great bay for recreation, it’s wrong in terms of our tourism industry, it’s wrong in terms of our fishing industry, it’s wrong in terms of those communities affected by climate change and sea level rise. So this political document – people can review it – but my hope is that Democrats and Republicans will actually come together and put together a realistic budget that holds and keeps our deficit down but does it in a reasonable way.

Clip 4 / 40 seconds: So there is reasonable way to cut – I had to do that as Governor – and there is a stupid way. Unfortunately, what we’ve seen in the President’s proposals is something that’s not going to make America stronger, it’s not going to make America healthier, it’s not going to make America more educated, and it’s not going to allow Americans to get to work or get to see their family in a quicker or more efficient way. For that I hope that people in both parties will roll up our sleeves and quickly dismiss this political document and get to work on putting together a sound, reasonable budget that holds our debt and deficit in check but doesn’t do it at the expense of so many Virginians.