Warner and colleagues call for extended telehealth services to be extended – Royal Examiner

From volunteering to voting rights to letters on inflation, Senator Warner has had another busy week. He began by traveling around NoVa for a day of action on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, before returning to DC to advocate and vote for the reauthorization of a law championed by King – the Voting Rights Act. . Senator Warner also continued his efforts to fight inflation, announced a new round of funding for the Infrastructure Act, and issued statements on major Intelligence Committee issues, including Havana Syndrome. He ends the week by traveling the Commonwealth again, making stops in Richmond and Hampton Roads.

Let’s review:

LIVE LIKE KING JR.

For Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Senator Warner embodied Coretta Scott King’s vision of a “work day, not a day off” and traveled to meet and serve alongside constituents. He started delivering Meals on Wheels with members of the Alexandria City Council – a family tradition as the senator’s late father, Robert Warner, volunteered with Meals on Wheels until the 1990s. He then met with recently resettled Afghan refugees and greeted the work of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, where he and US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield rolled up their sleeves and set to work sorting out the donated goods. Finally, he concluded the day by talking about the legacy of suffrage activism at the Martin Luther King Jr commemoration by the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.

Senator Warner brought that energy back to the Capitol, where he continued the week by fight for suffrage legislation. While the Freedom to vote: John R. Lewis Act ultimately did not proceed, Senator Warner keep on pleading for common sense laws that protect democracy and prevent electoral subversion.

FIGHT AGAINST INFLATION

For months, Senator Warner continued to monitor and fight inflation on various fronts. To negotiate and pass bipartisan legislation facilitate the supply chain and restore American competitiveness in the field of semiconductors, support the appointment of Fed officials devoted to the fight against inflation, he remains determined to solve the problem.

While he trusts economic forecasts that suggest the effects are likely to be temporary, Senator Warner is still trying to do all he can to get more solutions now. This week, he wrote a letter to the National Retail Federation (the world’s largest retail association, representing companies like Target and Wal-Mart) asking about efforts to facilitate the supply chain and provide federal assistance to support these initiatives. He said:

“I am writing to you today concerned about the challenges posed by high levels of inflation in our economy. Despite the unprecedented challenges associated with reopening the country and fighting the Delta and Omicron variants, our economy has recovered significantly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, rising prices continue to threaten our progress. I understand that persistent supply and demand imbalances and supply chain disruptions are contributing to inflation and I urge you to continue to work with me, my colleagues, and the Biden administration to identify ways to mitigate these supply chain issues as quickly as possible.

You can read the full letter here.

MONEY FLOW TO PORTS VA

So you’ve probably heard this one before: Virginia is getting another round of big funding thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure law that Senator Warner brokered.

This week, Senator Warner applauded $359 million in federal funding for various key infrastructure projects across the Commonwealth, including $249 million for the City of Norfolk Coastal Storm Risk Management Project and $69 million for dollars for the Port of Norfolk Deepening and Widening Project. These investments are part of a key effort to support resilience across Virginia and ensure its ports are ready to meet the evolving threat of climate change. These victories follow years of advocacy of Senator Warner to get more funding for these projects.

In a joint statement with Sen. Tim Kaine, Rep. Elaine Luria, and Rep. Bobby Scott (all D-VA), Warner said:

“We commend the Biden administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for recognizing the invaluable role of the Port of Virginia and the Port of Norfolk in supporting our country’s economy. Additionally, we salute the government’s significant investment in the City of Norfolk to protect this community from the growing threat of rising seas and major flooding. After years of advocating for this funding, we are thrilled that Virginia is receiving the federal dollars it needs to complete these projects, which will help further strengthen our supply chains, mitigate the growing risks of elevated sea ​​level and secure our economy and national security interests in and around the region.

INTELLIGENCE PROGRESS

As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Warner closely monitors the activities of the US intelligence community. This week, he issued two key statements regarding developments in these communities, first applauding steps taken by President Biden’s administration to improve the cybersecurity of federal government computer systems and networks. He said,

“I commend President Biden for signing this order to improve our nation’s cybersecurity. Among other priorities, this National Security Memorandum (NSM) requires federal agencies to report attempts to breach their systems by cybercriminals and state-sponsored hackers. Now is the time for Congress to act by passing our bipartisan legislation this would require critical infrastructure owners and operators to report such cyber intrusions within 72 hours.

Cybersecurity remains one of Senator Warner’s top priorities – late last week he attended a briefing in Richmond on the cyber-attack on the General Assembly last December.

In other Intelligence Community news, Senator Warner issued a statement after the CIA released a report from its Interim Task Force on Abnormal Health Incidents (also known as AHI or so- saying “Havana Syndrome”, after the place where these incidents first occurred. emerged). Since 2016, more than 1,000 intelligence, diplomats and military personnel have reported a constellation of troubling and mysterious health issues, including brain damage. As head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Warner worked to solve these cases, many of which required significant medical treatment. In October 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Assistance to American Victims Suffering from Neurological Strokes Act (HAVANA) in the law. The new law, which Warner introduced with Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and others, authorizes financial support and guarantees medical care for US officials who have suffered brain injuries.

In response to the CIA’s work to identify the cause of these mysterious symptoms, which some have speculated were the result of a directed energy weapon developed by one of our nation’s adversaries, Senator Warner said:

“While Director Burns has earned the confidence of the Senate Intelligence Committee that he takes this challenge seriously, it is important to note that today’s assessment, while rigorously conducted, only reflects the interim work of the CIA task force. The Senate Intelligence Committee will continue to push for answers on a bipartisan basis, and we look forward to robust engagement with the intelligence community, as well as the findings of the group of outside experts who have been assembled to seek answers. to these very urgent and difficult questions. questions.”

The full statement can be found here.

TAKE BAG

BROADBAND BRIEFING: Today, Senator Warner met with the Governor’s Broadband Advisory Councill Discuss the way forward to achieve universal broadband coverage.

GOODBYE WMATA: Senator Warner released a statement thanking WMATA CEO and Managing Director Paul J. Wiedefeld as he announced his retirement.

SUPPORTING TRIBAL RESPONSES TO COVID: Meaning Warner and Kaine applauded federal funding of $2 million awarded to the Chickahominy Eastern Division and the Nansemond Indian Nation for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, made possible by their votes on the US bailout. This follows a visit by Senator Warner to the Nansemond Indian Nation in April 2021.

MERGER RULES: Senator Warner welcomed the announcement by the FTC and DOJ to update their guidance on horizontal and vertical mergers. He also celebrated the progress of the first major tech antitrust bill arrive on the floor of the Senate, of which he is co-sponsor.

WEEK AHEAD

This weekend, Senator Warner is traveling to Richmond and Hampton Roads. The Senate will be recessed next week and Senator Warner plans to use that time to move forward with legislative planning for the rest of the year.