Warner weekly wrap up: “We’ve Got This”

“WE’VE GOT THIS”

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence stepped up its investigations this week into Russian hacking of the 2016 U.S. election. On Wednesday, Vice Chairman Senator Warner and Chairman Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) appeared together at a press briefing to provide an update on their committee’s progress so far.

On Thursday, the Senate panel held a rare public meeting where a series of experts and former intel officials discussed the brazenness of the Russian interference in our presidential election. In Senator Warner’s words, the Russians “launched a deluge of disinformation” in a coordinated effort to undermine U.S. credibility and moral authority in the eyes of the world.

Watch Senator Warner’s opening statement here, and see an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS here. Also, former Obama Administration homeland security official Suzanne Spaulding makes a strong case here that the Senate Intelligence Committee is Congress’ best option for a strong and credible investigation. And Paul Kane of the Washington Post profiles the perhaps unexpected bipartisan partnership between Senators Warner and Burr here.

LIFE AFTER DEBT

Surely we can make it easier for young people, at the beginning of their careers, to manage their student loan debts. That’s one conclusion Senator Warner has reached during his two-year deep-dive on changes in the American economy and workforce. The average Virginia college student graduates with $29,000 in student debt, and Senator Warner is partnering with GOP Senator Marco Rubio on legislation that makes income based repayment the default option on federal student loans. And he’s also partnering with GOP Senator John Thune on legislation that would allow employers to recruit and retain young talent by offering a new employee benefit: using pre-tax dollars to help their employees pay-off their student debts. Read more here.

MAKING THE CASE FOR ARC

Senator Warner organized a bipartisan group of ten senators from six states to ask President Trump to reverse the elimination of all federal funds for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). When he served as Virginia’s governor, the ARC was a reliable partner as Senator Warner worked to leverage federal, state, and private sector funding to boost the economic infrastructure of southwest Virginia.

“For 52 years the Appalachian Regional Commission has played an instrumental role in reducing poverty rates, providing economic opportunities, and extending basic necessities to communities throughout Appalachia,” the senators wrote. “Eliminating this essential program would have devastating consequences for the more than 25 million Americans that live in the Appalachian Region today, who need it now more than ever.”

AMERICA’S BEST IDEA

Thanks to years of chronic underfunding, the National Park Service (NPS) system faces a backlog of nearly $12 billion in overdue maintenance on facilities like visitor centers, trails, and campgrounds, as well as major infrastructure operated by NPS like the GW Parkway and the Memorial Bridge. While national parks are seeing record numbers of visitors, the last time Congress directly addressed the infrastructure needs of the park system was in 1956. Sen. Warner teamed up with Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman on bipartisan legislation to create a dedicated funding source specifically to address the growing maintenance backlog at the NPS, which manages 34 parks, trails and battlefields and historic sites in Virginia.