Mark R. Warner

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/.

“Crowdfunding has the potential to not only change the way that startup businesses access capital, but to allow entrepreneurs to create and keep jobs in places like Danville or Roanoke,” Senator Warner said today in Arlington at the first of a series of events that he’s holding to help Virginia entrepreneurs better understand how crowdfunding can be a tool for business growth.

Today’s event included a brief introduction by Senator Warner, followed by a panel discussion with a diverse range of regional experts and business leaders, including the CEOs of Indiegogo, NewsiT, Smallknot, and TapCaps.

“Virtually all of the net new jobs that were created in America over the last 30 years have been created by startups,” Senator Warner said. 

Crowdfunding is a way for businesses to raise capital through the pooling of many relatively small investments.  Though not a new concept, advances in internet technology have paved the way for crowdfunding to “really change the world,” said Senator Warner.  Using new platforms such as Indiegogo and Smallknot geared towards connecting businesses with potential small investors, some entrepreneurs have raised millions of dollars needed to get their businesses started.  

A recent report cited by the Milken Institute estimates that $2.8 billion would be raised via crowdfunding in 2012 alone, an 87% increase over 2011.  Panelists also explained how these initial investments gathered through crowdfunding can help attract capital from more traditional sources. 

Though potentially a great tool for entrepreneurs in need of capital, Senator Warner and most of the panelists agreed that the potential pitfalls of crowdfunding – including investor protections, managing investor expectations, and even liability questions – must be carefully weighed in order to protect those small investors and contributors.   

Resources from today's seminar will be available here. Senator Warner will be holding at least 4 more crowdfunding-related events across the Commonwealth between now and the end of the year.  The next will take place in Norfolk on Thursday, October 25, and will be followed by a networking happy hour.  For more information, please visit Senator Warner’s crowdfunding page. 

Moving Virginia forward to continued success in a global economy should not include losing sight of important local and statewide connections. That’s what Senator Warner, a co-founder of Nextel and former venture capital investor, told more than 300 young people attending the second annual Virginia Young Professionals Summit in Richmond on Saturday. 

"Sometimes when we think only globally we lose the connectivity that brings us together in our communities and all across Virginia,” Sen. Warner said. “And today more so than ever before, who you know is more important than what you know.”

Sen. Warner also emphasized that investing in people as critical to business success.

“The best idea in the world isn't worth as much as having great people on board,” he said. “I would always invest in a good management team over a good business plan.”

The former governor also encouraged attendees to work on constantly reinventing themselves.

"Like it or not, in this economy, you're going to have seven or nine careers before you're 50,” Senator Warner said. “It’s important to stay flexible and keep learning.”

David Karp, the 26-year-old founder and CEO of Tumblr, focused on embracing unexpected opportunities in his keynote speech. He advised his audience to learn from people they meet.  “Hang out with people who are where you aspire to be,” he said. 

Karp also emphasized the importance of staying true to yourself. He said that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, had  advised him to stick with his vision when he was facing the challenges of growth and success. 

“He told me not to give up on being clever,” Karp said. “And that was enough to push me to stick it out a little bit longer as a small, lean company. Today, we have 115 people, and we’re one of the top 20 sites in the world.”

Participants attended breakout sessions on topics including funding start-up businesses, networking, and developing and maintaining a brand.  Anne Schlussler, founder of Clarity Staffing, a personnel recruiting agency,  and a moderator for the branding panel, encouraged attendees to focus on actions, not words, during their careers. 

“Successful, talented, do-ers don't just talk about themselves all day,” she said. “There's work to be done.”

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) today introduced bipartisan legislation to improve and expand federal fiscal accountability.  The legislation requires more standardized reporting of federal spending posted to a single website, allowing citizens and agencies to more easily identify improper payments, waste and fraud.  The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA), first introduced by Sen. Warner in June 2011 and reintroduced today in a revised form with Sen. Portman as chief co-sponsor, is a Senate companion to legislation introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Chairman Issa’s legislation passed the House in April. 

The DATA Act requires the development of government-wide financial data standards to make it easier to compare federal spending across federal agencies. It also requires that the standardized data be analyzed to prevent waste, fraud, abuse and improper payments. In addition, the DATA Act takes steps to simplify financial reporting and improve the quality of the spending data, and it requires that the information be posted on USASpending.gov website, which initially was developed when Sen. Portman served as director of U.S. Office of Management & Budget in 2006-07.

“This legislation will allow us to track the full cycle of federal spending on one website, and that should be incredibly helpful to both taxpayers and policy makers,” Sen. Warner said. “The DATA Act creates a powerful new tool that should improve the way the federal government does business. This legislation is an example of how Washington is supposed to work -- across the aisle and on both sides of the Capitol.”

“At a time when the government is running trillion-dollar deficits on top of a record $16 trillion debt, Washington should be doing all it can to track how taxpayer dollars are spent.  Better visibility and public disclosure of our government’s $3 trillion in yearly spending is critical to identifying and eliminating waste,” Sen. Portman said.  “Our bill would reform and significantly improve USASpending.gov by strengthening federal financial transparency, empowering taxpayers to see how their money is spent, and providing a better tool for eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.”  

“With Congress preparing to make momentous decisions about the federal budget, it’s more important than ever that the public have clear information about government spending,” said Katherine McFate, President and CEO of OMB Watch, a nonprofit government transparency and accountability watchdog organization. “The DATA Act will provide an unprecedented level of transparency and create critical new tools to track and analyze federal spending and hold officials accountable for their decisions.”

A summary of The DATA Act can be read here, and the legislation can be accessed here. 

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) today introduced bipartisan legislation to increase U.S. manufacturing, competiveness and export opportunities. The Building a Stronger America Act incorporates significant elements of Sen. Warner’s 2011 America Recruits legislation, a bill that would recruit new, high-value jobs to rural regions in the United States by encouraging the repatriation of jobs that have been off-shored to other countries. 

“America’s competitors for solid, good-paying manufacturing jobs are nations like Brazil,  China and Korea – countries which have consistently offered generous federal-level incentives to attract investment and jobs,” Senator Warner said. “This bipartisan package includes my proposal to help states like Virginia provide a targeted boost to state and local economic development incentives to allow us to bring back manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas. This bipartisan jobs package also works to strengthen workforce training programs and expand export opportunities for American employers.”

The broader Building a Stronger America Act package focuses on three areas where the federal government can help facilitate new growth: strengthening the U.S. manufacturing sector, leveling the playing field for American companies, and enhancing trade opportunities for American companies:

1. Strengthening the U.S. Manufacturing Sector

Companies, ranging from big manufacturers to small businesses, are struggling to hire skilled workers. In order to address this gap, the legislative package includes initiatives to help the manufacturing sector improve existing job training, retention and expansion programs, such as the:

• Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act, S.665, which directs the Secretary of Commerce to award three-year competitive industry or manufacturing sector grants to encourage industry growth and competitiveness and improved training, retention, and advancement in targeted industry clusters. (Sherrod Brown-Snowe)
• WIN Jobs Act, S.1948, which directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Innovation in Investment pilot program to make competitive grants to business and higher education consortia that would expand workforce training in high-tech manufacturing and developing industries through public-private partnerships. Directs the Secretary of Labro to establish a pilot program to modernize and expand the National Apprenticeship System. (Pryor-Wicker)
• Sen. Warner’s America Recruits Act, S.1247, which:

1. Creates a competitive grant program for states to provide up to $5,000 in forgivable loans for each new manufacturing job created and maintained for at least five years within a rural or economically-distressed region of the country.
2. Works with employers to develop training and education programs for the specific jobs available at area businesses, strengthening those programs which provide an industry-recognized credential for workers in the advanced manufacturing and information technology industries;
3. And expedites federal financing to allow certain qualifying companies to increase  export capacity.

2. Leveling the Playing Field

U.S. exporters are held to the highest standards when doing business with foreign governments and the international community.  This section would incorporate legislative concepts that improve U.S. import standards, ensuring that foreign exporters abide by the same standards as their domestic counterparts. It includes the:

• Enforcing Orders and Reducing Customs Evasion Act, S.1133, which requires the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish procedures for investigating claims of evasion of anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders. (Wyden-Blunt)
• Global Investment in American Jobs Act, S.3274, which requires the Secretary of Commerce to lead an interagency review and report of U.S. laws and policies on foreign direct investment and make recommendations to make the U.S. more competitive.  The bill also includes a Sense of the Senate that it is a good idea for the U.S. to attract inbound investment by removing unnecessary barriers and promoting good polices to ensure the U.S. remains the premier destination for businesses. (Kerry-Corker)

3. Enhancing America’s Trade and Export Programs 

Currently, a multitude of federal agencies are tasked with enabling and accelerating the ability of domestic companies to export their products and services overseas.  This section streamlines the activities of the vast array of export promotion and facilitation agencies inside the executive branch.  It includes the:

• Export Promotion Act, S.2171, which updates the duties of the Department of Commerce Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) to improve the coordination of export promotion activities within the United States in order to target and develop new export markets for U.S. products. (Pryor-Blunt)
• Small Business Export Growth Act, S.3218, which revises membership of the TPCC to include one member that represents state agencies with responsibility for export promotion and export financing.  The bill also requires reports for improving access about export information (including state resources) on the Export.gov website and for developing a single website for complying with and disseminating information about U.S. export control laws and regulations. (Shaheen-Ayotte)

Senator Warner spoke today on the Senate floor advocating for passage of the Cybersecurity Act, which would work to protect U.S. computer networks from cyberattacks.  There have been several high-profile incidents recently, including attacks on websites such as LinkedIn and Yahoo, as well as attempted cyber attacks every day against all sorts of government networks. Senator Warner says the bill is necessary not only to help protect the county’s nuclear and chemical plants, electric grid, and financial systems from cyber attack, but also to prevent the theft of intellectual property from company databases

“We need to do the difficult, bipartisan work this year to gain agreement on a basic framework that can make us safer than we are right now,” Senator Warner said.  “I genuinely worry that our failure to act this year means that when—not if—we are hit by a major cyber-attack, the size, scope and cost will be greater than if we were better prepared.”

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce is supporting Senator Warner’s bipartisan Startup 2.0 legislation, which would help support and grow small businesses and innovative start-up companies.

“This legislation will encourage entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation by allowing businesses to recruit and retain global talent, providing greater support for high-skilled jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and encouraging investment in startup companies,” the Chamber wrote in a July 26th letter to Senator Warner. “During these challenging economic times, we must do everything we can to promote job growth and economic development, and Startup 2.0 is a step in the right direction.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia), members of the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today called the revised cyber security legislation a step in the right direction. The Senators also welcomed a commitment from Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) to allow an open amendment process on the floor of the Senate. On June 18^th, Senators Snowe and Warner sent a letter to Leader Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) urging them to ensure transparent deliberation and a full and open debate on cyber security legislation in July.

Senators Snowe and Warner said: 

“As Members of both the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, we are in agreement that the Senate must act swiftly to pass comprehensive legislation to address our nation’s vulnerabilities to cyber threats. On June 18^th, we wrote to Senators Reid and McConnell pledging our full support for a fair and transparent approach to debating cyber legislation in the Senate during the July work period. Today, we welcomed the Majority Leader’s commitment to allow an open amendment process and we joined our colleagues in voting to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the cyber debate by robust vote of 84-11.  As we said in June, we are optimistic that there is tremendous potential for this chamber to forge a viable solution that incentivizes private sector participation and collaboration.  The revised legislation is a significant step in the right direction and we look forward to a full and open debate of relevant amendments.”

In their June letter, Senators Snowe and Warner called on the chamber to put aside partisan politics to forge a viable process for considering cyber security legislation in the Senate and incentivizing private sector participation and collaboration in preparing our nation to defend against this emerging threat. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today re-introduced the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act, legislation to help make more spectrum available to meet the growing demand for wireless broadband and other radio-based services. The bill directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to create a comprehensive inventory of each spectrum band to understand how the spectrum is being utilized, and would also create a centralized website that would include relevant spectrum and license information accessible by the public. 

“Every mobile technology and most successful startup companies in the last 20 years could not have taken off without the use of spectrum in some form,” Senator Warner said.  “However, spectrum is a limited resource, and we need a comprehensive inventory of spectrum to better assess how we are using it. This bipartisan legislation takes a necessary step in that direction.”

“With the enactment of Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act earlier this year, Congress took a notable but incremental step in an effort to free up additional spectrum to meet the growing demand of wireless broadband,” said Senator Snowe. “I believe more can and must be done to meet the future needs of all spectrum users and properly address existing spectrum challenges.  This includes a comprehensive spectrum inventory, more strategic and long-term planning of spectrum resources, and greater collaboration between the FCC and NTIA.”

Senators Warner and Snowe, members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, designed the bipartisan measure to complement the FCC’s National Broadband Plan in promoting more efficient use of spectrum and ensuring that the proper framework is in place to meet the future telecommunications needs of the nation.  Specifically, the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act tasks the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to perform an inventory of each spectrum band between 300 Megahertz to 6.5 Gigahertz, at minimum. This data will provide policymakers a clear, detailed, up-to-date understanding of how spectrum is currently being used and by whom – data essential to sound policy decisions.  

The bill also provides more transparency related to spectrum use by creating a centralized website or portal so the public can access relevant spectrum and license information. The legislation makes appropriate disclosure exceptions for spectrum being used or reserved for national security and public safety activities. In the 111^th Congress, similar bipartisan legislation (S.649, Radio Spectrum Inventory Act) was unanimously reported out favorably from the Commerce Committee on July 8, 2009.

Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan group of senators today introduced a Senate resolution calling on the U.S. government to reinforce its commitment to Internet freedom by opposing international efforts to cede greater Internet regulatory power to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The concurrent resolution expresses “the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, should continue working to implement the position of the United States on Internet governance that clearly articulates the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and preserve and advance the successful multi-stakeholder model that governs the Internet today.”

The resolution was introduced by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and co-sponsored by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), John Kerry (D-MA), Jim DeMint (R-SC), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Tom Udall (D-NM), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Mark Warner (D-VA).

In introducing this resolution, the senators made the following statements:

Senator Marco Rubio: “The Internet as we know it has transformed our societies and economies, and it has thrived because it is open, free, and encourages innovation and information sharing. An international regulatory regime goes against the very nature of the Internet and its purpose of sharing ideas and connecting people. The United States must lead an international effort to prevent authoritarian governments and regimes from diminishing Internet freedom. I look forward to working with our colleagues to continue highlighting this issue and ensure that the Administration does what’s necessary.”

Senator Claire McCaskill: “Protecting jobs and business in America is something that cuts across party lines, and is exactly the spirit of cooperation we need if we’re going to solve tough problems. The technology sector is a true bright spot in our economy today, and now is no time to impose international regulations that could restrict growth. And beyond the economic impacts, I’m not interested in giving oppressive regimes an even greater ability to restrict what their citizens can see, hear, share, and communicate.”

Senator Mark Warner: “A free Internet supports innovation, transparency, and economic growth, and shouldn’t be threatened by political or nationalistic concerns.  This resolution demonstrates our continued commitment to the power of an open Internet around the world.”

Senator John Kerry: “We can't afford to risk the balkanization of an open and global Internet. Unfortunately, a few countries have offered misguided proposals for the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications that could fundamentally alter the operation of the Internet, downgrade freedom of expression and substitute government control over content, and undermine the private, voluntary multi-stakeholder model that has propelled the Internet. The United States needs to stand strongly against these proposals. The International Telecommunication Union can and does play an important and useful role in promoting expanded access to information and communications technologies, especially in less developed nations. But it would ultimately be destructive to the developing world and freedom of expression for the organization to place any stamp of approval on centrally imposed regulatory barriers to speech or new tolls on Internet commerce.”

Senator Jim DeMint: “America was founded on decentralized power and individual freedom and the Internet in many ways operates on these same guiding principles. These international authoritarian designs are threats to liberty and that’s why America should lead the world by opposing them and avoiding government regulation of speech and private property here at home.”

Senator Kelly Ayotte: “As oppressed people around the world harness technology to rise up against authoritarian regimes, the United States must safeguard the Internet from the control of hostile governments. This resolution reflects a bipartisan commitment to preserving Internet freedom.”

Senator Tom Udall: “The Internet has inspired innovation and expanded our global potential in extraordinary ways. Members of Congress, from both sides of the aisle, should speak with one voice to protect Internet freedom so that others may continue to spread ideas and information around the world.”

Senator Mike Johanns: “The Internet is an incredible place for innovation, research, commerce and the free flow of ideas, all of which could be stifled as a result of overregulation and unreasonable censorship. As the U.S. and other countries prepare for the upcoming Conference on International Telecommunication, it is important to preserve the indispensable opportunities provided by the Internet for future generations around the globe.”

Last year, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan proposed an “international code of conduct” in an attempt to justify centralized government control over the Internet and standardize international rules and behavior concerning cyberspace and information. These and other nations have been calling for more international regulation over how the Internet operates at the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications in December, when 193 countries will meet in Dubai to update the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), where proponents of greater Internet regulation are expected to push to give the United Nations and ITU unprecedented controls over Internet governance.

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