Mark R. Warner

"The Senate has acted to avoid the immediate fiscal cliff, but this negotiated agreement does little to address our deficits and it does not raise enough revenue to put our country on a path to reduce our long-term debt. In coming weeks, we still must reach agreement on steps to generate more revenues, make additional spending cuts, and strengthen and reform our entitlement programs so successful programs like Medicare and Social Security will still exist 30 years from now."

WASHINGTON - Congress and the White House have a limited time to reach a compromise on taxes and spending to avoid going off a "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year. While some are not optimistic that a deal will be reached this month, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner believes we won't go over the cliff.

"I don't think it's going to happen. But you know, you go up and down ... I have two sets of concerns. One, obviously, that we don't go over. Two, that we don't string this out until Dec. 31," Warner, a Democrat, said on WTOP Friday morning.

"Each day that we go on we not only have folks not hiring but we increasingly have consumers in the most important shopping season of the year saying, 'Maybe I'm not going to buy that Christmas present because I don't know what's going to happen,'" Warner said.

He suggested that partisan politicians need to move forward and accept the reality of the situation at hand.

"The fact is, we've had an election, the president has won. We know we're going to have to generate some additional revenues, the best down payment is to go ahead and let the Bush tax rates for the top two percent go back up," Warner said.

Warner added that paired with letting the tax rates expire, Congress needs to move forward with a larger tax reform effort to ensure entitlement programs are around 30 years from now.

While Warner agrees elected officials need to come to the table and find a compromise, he says there is a protocol that senior senators are observing as the White House and Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio take the lead.

"What we've all done is we've stood down right now because it's appropriate that the president, who has just been re-elected, and the speaker of the House are going to have to make the framework of this deal," Warner said.

But he says once that framework is in place, there are members in both parties willing to stand up for a balanced compromise.

"There's an awful lot of us willing to help fill in the details in not only avoiding the cliff, but doing the hard work next year on tax reform and working through entitlement reform," he said.

A concern felt throughout the Senate is that too little time will be left to come to a comprehensive deal, Warner says.

"One of the things we've seen in Washington that has disturbed me as a former business guy is that there seems to be this tendency to wait to the last moment and then cobble something together," he said. "In this case in particular, that's not the way to do it. There's too much at stake."

Steve Inskeep: And next we’ll hear a supporter of gun rights whose views are evolving. Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner owns guns, shoots on his farm, has an A rating from the National Rifle Association for his support of gun rights, and has not supported new gun laws in the past.

Senator Warner: And then last Friday, something that not as a Senator, but as a dad kicked me in the stomach more than anything. You felt “oh my god, how do we keep our kids safe.” That day happened to be the day when my college-aged daughters all came home from school and kinda said, “Dad you work up there, what are you gonna do about this?” And the answer of kinda, well, let’s enforce the existing gun control laws didn’t seem satisfactory to me.

SI: So what more needs to be done?

Senator Warner: Look, I can give you chapter and verse of every aspect of the budget negotiations. I am not an expert on all the particulars of the various proposals on gun legislation. It appears to me that as technology has moved forward and firearms have become more effective, mostly for our troops in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly with these high capacity magazines, that as these weapons that were built for the battlefield are slightly modified and then sold to the public, that we need to take a look at that. I don’t think changing gun laws alone is going to completely solve the problem. Clearly, we have to take a fresh look at issues around mental illness. But the idea that we can simply say, okay, status quo, just doesn’t feel right in my gut. You know, enough is enough.

SI: Senator, I mentioned on Twitter that I was going to talk to you and asked people as I often do if they have any questions and people were really specific, yes or no questions. They want to know, for example, should the 1990s ban on assault weapons be renewed?

Senator Warner: Question is, I’ve gone through an immediate tutorial on what defines an assault weapon. I’m not sure the definitions that were used in ’94 are the same definitions to be used in 2012 or 2013.

SI: Oh, because the weapons have evolved.

Senator Warner: Are there ways that we should look at these high capacity magazines so that, particularly people that are not militarily trained, can’t get off so many rounds so quickly, yeah that seems to me to be a place that responsible people can look for part of a solution. You know, I guess Steve, what I’m saying is, as I dig more into this, there isn’t a very appropriate time for anyone to drill down. I don’t have a bill to offer today. If I can find a way here where we can find some common ground on this, and I hope other legislators who have been strong supporters of the Second Amendment as well, are going to say, “hey, we gotta be able to answer our kids and our constituents a lot better that were actually part of the solution.” You know, the one thing I do know is the status quo is not acceptable.

SI: Senator, I wanted to ask about one other thing. Our sports commentator Frank Deford was on the air this week and he said that gun control advocates will take an opportunity like this to push their positions and gun rights advocates will push back on their positions and it’s a predictable dance and nothing will really change, he said. Unless sportsmen, hunters, decide that they are willing to push for what they might see as reasonable gun restrictions. Do you think that’s right?

Senator Warner: I think we need to hear their voices in this conversation and I think they will. And I again hope that those listeners who are hunters and gun owners will step up as well.

SI: Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, always a pleasure to speak with you, thanks very much.

Senator Warner: Thanks so much Steve.

Appearing today on WTVR CBS 6 News, Senator Warner said that "enough is enough" and called for "rational gun control" following last week's school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. 

WASHINGTON - Statement of U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA) on the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

"My thoughts are with the Sandy Hook Elementary School students, teachers, their families and the first-responders who are dealing with this horrific tragedy. Virginians know too well how devastating a trauma like this can be, and that recovering and moving forward will take time. We're praying for all those in Newtown and across Connecticut." 

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement today after the Office of Management and Budget launched an improved performance.gov website, a key requirement of Senator Warner’s 2010 Government Performance and Results Modernization Act. The President signed the Modernization Act in January February 2011. The upgraded portal unveiled by OMB today allows taxpayers, elected officials and other policymakers to review both short-term and long-term goals for each federal agency, and it displays quarterly performance data about each agency’s progress, or lack of progress, for each goal.

“Improving government performance rarely makes the front pages, but I am a firm believer in operating government in a more efficient, rational and transparent way. This website will provide additional information about why a specific goal was set, what progress is being made, which programs are contributing to the effort, and what steps are being taken to make additional progress.

“Importantly, the Modernization Act also requires federal agencies to work together to accomplish cross-agency priority goals for the first time. Breaking down the silos is critical when you have dozens of federal programs across many agencies delivering similar services.”

“We can always do better, and this new performance framework should help us make data-driven decisions about what works and what doesn’t.”

Sen. Warner is Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee’s Task Force on Government Performance, a bipartisan effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs and services. His work in Congress on establishing clear goals, enacting performance measurements and promoting transparency mirrors his work as Virginia Governor (2002-6), when he established the bipartisan Council on the Virginia’s Future along with the Virginia Performs website.

Senator Warner spoke yesterday at an annual conference on implementing health care information technology (IT). From his position as a former technology investor and co-founder of Nextel, and current position on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology, the Senator stressed the importance of making sure new health IT products can interact effectively with each other, much like how cell phones created by different manufacturers and operating on different networks can still communicate.

"We need to figure out in the next year or two – not the next five or 10 – how to get equipment made by different vendors to allow for searches, transactions and for exchange of information between different vendors," Senator Warner said.

You can watch video of the entire conference, including Senator Warner's remarks, here: http://www.healthit.gov/oncmeeting/webcast/.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement today of an award to Dominion Virginia Power to further develop offshore wind technology.  The Energy Department will award Dominion up to $4 million to complete engineering, design, and permitting for an innovative offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach:

“This is a positive step forward for the Commonwealth,” Sen. Warner said. “Developing our offshore energy resources will help create domestic manufacturing jobs and strengthen Virginia’s economy. It also advances efforts to better harness renewable energy sources while reducing U.S. reliance on imported oil. I have been an advocate for an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach for some time now, and I think there’s a lot of potential in developing our offshore energy opportunities off the Virginia coast.”

For more information on the Dominion Virginia Power project, click here.

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Senator Warner held a ‘Commonwealth Coffee’ at his Washington office today for members of Virginia’s Indian-American community.

The event was attended by about 60 Virginians, including business leaders, religious officials, educators, and military servicemen, representing the diversity of the community.

“Strong commercial ties are the cornerstone of the U.S. – India relationship,” noted Senator Warner.  “We’re seeing India welcome American multi-brand retailers, and the next step should be a bilateral investment treaty.”  Earlier this month, the Indian Parliament approved reforms that will open the country’s retail industry to foreign investors, paving the way for U.S. retail giants such as Walmart to compete in India.    

Senator Warner also spoke about continued cooperation between the two countries in the vital areas of energy and defense.

Along with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Senator Warner chairs the Senate’s India Caucus, the largest country-specific caucus in the U.S. Senate.

“There hasn’t been enough focus on the positive aspects of putting a debt and deficit deal together,” said Senator Warner on Tuesday, speaking to a group of students from Georgetown University’s Center for Business and Public Policy.  

“If you look around the world,” he continued, “the American economy looks pretty good… Investors have $2 trillion sitting on the sidelines waiting to invest if we just have the political wherewithal to get this [debt and deficit deal] done.”

Beyond the importance of finding a compromise to avert the fiscal cliff, he spoke about other ways to help spur job creation.

Senator Warner said that the energy industry would benefit from more clarity on future  government policy.  “If the federal government could implement a comprehensive energy policy with a stable regulatory framework…it would lead to predictability for the energy markets.”

A former businessman with strong ties to the telecom and technology industries, he emphasized that re-examining wireless spectrum allocation and implementing cybersecurity legislation could have a major impact on the health IT and education technology industries.

“Consolidating the various government agencies that regulate commerce…into a more user-friendly entity that’s easier for small and midsize businesses to navigate,” said Senator Warner, also will be vital going forward, since “if you’re a business owner, 95% of all your future customers will be international, no matter if you have a small or midsize business, or a fortune 500 company.”

“Because we have such a diverse, robust economy, there’s no one silver bullet to fix it… but this economy has been held back by policy uncertainty, and is ready to leap forward,” he concluded.  “When you consider what’s being asked of people in the rest of the world, it shouldn’t be this hard. We’ve got to get this [deficit/debt deal] done.”