Why Mark Warner should run for President

“Dear James,

It’s hard to top a Virginia road trip that included both an earthquake and a hurricane. During Congress’ month-long August recess, we escaped the partisan atmosphere in Washington and traveled more than 1,300 miles across the Commonwealth, organizing more than 40 events in almost 30 communities across the state. 

Along the way, I heard from thousands of Virginians at more than a dozen community meetings and town halls. We met with hundreds of employees at several major employers in Northern Virginia, across Hampton Roads, on the Peninsula and inRichmond. We also had an opportunity to announce some new jobs for Southside Virginia, and we got a chance to celebrate the opening of the beautiful newHeartwood Artisans Center in southwest Virginia.

We attended a back-to-school student assembly at Goochland High School, welcomed returning Virginia Tech students to Blacksburg, and even managed to squeeze-in a great high school football Friday night in the New River Valley. 

We’ve produced a short video that provides a quick summary of our Virginia “staycation,” and I hope you’ll take a moment to watch it and share it with your friends. 

Not surprisingly, many of the Virginians we spoke with were disgusted with the partisanship we’ve seen in Washington. In fact, a recent Gallup poll found that 87% of Americans disapprove of the recent actions of Congress. I have to tell you, I did not encounter a single Virginian during my August trip who counted themselves among the 13% that apparently approve of what’s going on in Washington! 

Virginians are very frustrated about the sluggish pace of the economic recovery, and I share that frustration. In fact, this is an issue I have been focused on for some time now. I have introduced several bipartisan proposals to encourage broader and faster job creation. None of these ideas alone represents a “silver bullet” solution to our economic challenges, but combined together these proposals could have a positive impact on the economy.

My proposals include legislation to promote new jobs in advanced manufacturing in distressed communities such as Southside. I also have introduced a bipartisan proposal to dramatically reduce regulatory red tape, and I am an original co-sponsor of a bipartisan plan to create a national infrastructure bank to encourage greater private investment and create new jobs repairing our nation’s crumbling roads, rails and ports. I’m also working on legislation that will encourage entrepreneurs and greater investment by speeding-up the patent and FDA drug approval process. 

During our August travels, I also received great feedback on a proposal I’m just starting to work on that will put unemployed young people to work, training them to perform energy efficiency upgrades in our public schools. If we’re already paying these young people unemployment benefits, why not also provide them with a marketable job skill, and then put them to work cutting energy costs through improved energy efficiency in our school buildings?

I was gratified to discover during this trip that a lot of Virginians are aware of my yearlong efforts in the Senate’s so-called “Gang of Six” to craft a responsible, bipartisan plan to gradually eliminate nearly $4 trillion from our nation’s $14 trillion national debt. Our bipartisan agreement came too late to be included in last month’s obviously unsatisfactory solution to the debt limit deadline, but know this: I am obsessed about the threat that these deficits and debts pose to our country’s future. I intend to continue speaking-out forcefully and working for commonsense, bipartisan solutions that will begin to fix our country’s balance sheet. Our August “staycation” was packed with a lot of memorable sights and sounds, and it was great to once again visit with old friends and meet new ones. But one event in particular left an indelible impression on me. 

In Roanoke on a recent Friday, I had the privilege of attending and speaking at a naturalization ceremony in which 45 people took the oath of U.S. citizenship. They came to Virginia from places as diverse as Africa, Canada, China, Great Britain and India.

Several of these newest American citizens shared powerful and emotional testimonies about the hardships and sacrifices that were required just to get here. And every one of them demonstrated such pride and even joy at the opportunity to become a U.S. citizen. 

Welcoming these new citizens actually lifted my spirits and renewed my energy for the work ahead. It made me unbelievably proud to live in and serve a country that remains the freest, strongest, most entrepreneurial and creative nation in the world. 

I told these new citizens that they now have an obligation: a responsibility to become better informed, to vote regularly and to engage respectfully in the public affairs of their communities. 

As always, I encourage you to do the same, and I once again invite you to be in touch with our office if we can be of assistance to you and your family. 

Respectively,
Mark R. Warner”