{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=CF834B06-D299-4BBF-B928-FD9650E21E1E", "ICYMI: What They're Reading - Warner in Southwest and Southside Virginia", "2022-09-02", "2022", "2022-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "VA", "Mark R. Warner", "W000805", "www.warner.senate.gov", "warner", "https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Last week, Sen. Warner hit the road, making 14 stops across Southwest and Southside Virginia to highlight a wealth of accomplishments from a session of Congress that he believes \u201cwill be looked back upon as one of the most productive years \u2013 literally \u2013 since the 1960s.\u201d\n\nFrom Wise to Washington to Wythe, and everywhere in between, Sen. Warner met Virginians, talking to kids about biscuits and civic engagement\u2026 to education leaders about access to high-speed internet\u2026 and to residents and volunteers about the devastation caused by flooding in Buchanan County. He also toured revitalization efforts in downtown Danville\u2026 sat down with community leaders to discuss manufacturing expansion opportunities in New River Valley\u2026 and even exchanged famous recipes with Russell County\u2019s very own Linda Skeens, who won an astounding number of ribbons at the Virginia-Kentucky State Fair earlier this year. Rumor has it that Ms. Skeens has even agreed to include Sen. Warner\u2019s tuna melt recipe in her upcoming cookbook.\n\nSen. Warner also proudly delivered millions in federal funding for very worthy projects that seek to improve access to rural health and dental care, as well as tackle food insecurity and substance use disorder. He also discussed and answered questions pertaining to some major accomplishments out of Washington, including his landmark infrastructure law, his law to restore American technological leadership and manufacturing of semiconductors, and President Biden\u2019s recent signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowers prescription drug costs, closes tax loopholes for billionaire corporations, and provides financial security for miners by extending the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund excise tax at a higher rate.\n\nBristol Herald Courier: Senator Warner's visit to Wise County Health Wagon is worth $1.25 million\n\nWISE, Va. \u2013 U.S. Sen. Mark Warner looked around the most quiet Wise County Fairgrounds Monday and remembered more hectic times.\n\nWarner, D-Va., returned to the fairgrounds \u2013 longtime host site of Remote Area Medical clinics -- to formally present $1.25 million to the Health Wagon for construction of its new dental clinic.\n\n\u201cThe reason why this fairgrounds is so special, it was 2002 \u2013 the first year I was governor \u2013 and I\u2019d heard about what you guys were doing here,\u201d Warner said prior to the check presentation. \u201cI remember dentists from all over the commonwealth, but who was going to show up? It ended up being thousands and thousands of people \u2013 not only Southwest Virginia but from Michigan, from Florida \u2013 driving for days just to come here and get dental assistance.\u201d\n\nWarner returned many times, brought each of his children to help volunteer and had his Senate staff members come from across the state to volunteer so they better understood the issues.\n\n\u201cThe memories I have are of hot days, 60-70 chairs at once where people were being taken care of,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the things that was so typical of Southwest was it was people caring for people. No matter how much crummy stuff was going on in the country or around the world, you could not come to the whole effort and not come away with a belief in the basic goodness of people.\u201d\n\nSimilar efforts \u2013 on a lesser scale -- are underway at the fairgrounds for much of this week. About 100 military personnel and volunteer dentists and other health care providers are offering free health care, X-rays, dental care and vision screenings. Similar to RAM, the event is the Move Mountains medical mission. Appointments are required, but there is no charge for care.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s happening at the fairgrounds is great. It is not a permanent, long-term solution,\u201d Warner said. \u201c\n\nThe $1.25 million in Congressionally designated spending will go toward construction of the Health Wagon\u2019s new dental clinic, now being built in Wise.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nMartinsville Bulletin: Stuart hospital to reopen in 2023; two mobile health units coming to Patrick Co. soon\n\nThe Stuart hospital that closed in 2017 has an aggressive timeline of being reopened in 2023 with the help of a bipartisan effort between Virginia officials and a $600,000 check to better the health care available in Patrick County with the addition of two mobile medical units.\n\nPioneer Community Hospital of Patrick in Stuart closed in 2017 after filing for bankruptcy in 2016 due to financial hardships. A crowd of over 30 people gathered to hear the official announcement of the reopening.\n\n\u201cAt this time last year, we were a county that didn\u2019t have a hospital or even one on the horizon and had extremely limited means of providing adequate health care to our citizens, tourists and local businesses,\u201d Patrick County Director of Economic Development Sean Adkins said. \u201cFast forward to today, and we stand at the site of our future Foresight Hospital of Patrick County opening in 2023.\u201d\n\n[\u2026]\n\n\u201cThis is a team effort,\u201d Warner (D-Va.) said. \u201cPatrick County is a special place \u2026 Getting these hospitals reopened is an enormous, enormous challenge and what your delegate [Virginia Delegate Wren Williams (R-9th District)] did, the process \u2026 was expedited. This would not be happening anywhere near this time without his good work.\u201d\n\n\u201cOver the last 25 years, there have been close to a thousand rural hospitals that have closed across America,\u201d Warner said. \u201cAnd there have been virtually none that have reopened \u2026 There will be federal hurdles that we\u2019ve got to go over \u2026 This is a very aggressive timeline \u2026 But the idea of getting this hospital reopened by 2023, ambitious, but you\u2019ve got our commitment that we\u2019ll do our part in the federal stage.\u201d\n\n[\u2026]\n\nCoalfield Progress: Senator talks health care, brings funding\n\nWISE \u2014 U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and state Sen. Todd Pillion discussed the area\u2019s dental services, insulin prices and black lung benefits Monday when visiting The Health Wagon\u2019s Move Mountains Medical Mission.\n\nRoughly 100 Army, Navy and Air Force medical personnel were on site to render medical service as part of an Innovative Readiness Training program.\n\nWarner thanked the troops for protecting the country, which involves providing medical assistance to those in need, he said.\n\nHealth Wagon CEO Teresa Tyson said dental work has seen the highest demand, with more than 1,600 procedures performed since the start of the mission, Aug. 15.\n\nThe General Assembly recently improved the reimbursement rates for dentists providing Medicaid services for the first time in 17 years, said Pillion, and this momentum needs to continue.\n\nWarner later presented Health Wagon officials a $1.25 million check to build a new dental office, which is currently under construction. Warner and U.S. Sen Tim Kaine secured the money through Congress' member-directed funding policy.\n\nWarner said insulin prices need to be capped and that if the Democrats win the majority in the November congressional elections, the effort to achieve this will be renewed.\n\nThe $35 cap on insulin copays for Medicare beneficiaries should extend to everyone, Warner said.\n\nWhile mentioning the exponentially increasing rate of black lung in young miners, Warner said the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act establishes black lung benefits on a permanent basis.\n\nThe act includes a permanent extension of the Black Lung Excise Tax, which is the only revenue source for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.\n\nThe News & Press: Putting points on the board, Warner touts string of legislative victories\n\nRICHLANDS, Va. \u2013 U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D \u2013 Va.) came to Richlands Monday on the heels of a string on legislative victories that has transformed a stalled Democratic agenda to a series of accomplishments the senator could tout to constituents.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nHe said the major infrastructure bill has money that should allow 98% of Southwest Virginia homes to have high speed internet at a rate of less than $35 per month by 2024-2025.\n\nWarner said miners and their families now have Black Lung benefits guaranteed thanks to legislation introduced by him and Joe Manchin.\n\nHe said the U.S. is going to do what Canada and other countries do and use the power of negotiation to bring down the cost of medicine. Warner said the hope is to get the cost of insulin below $35 for senior citizens right away and eventually for everyone.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nWarner spoke with State Senator Travis Hackworth about the need for affordable housing. Hackworth said the area from New River Valley down has a projection of 10,000 new jobs but the biggest drawback is the need for affordable housing.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nHe said the people of Ukraine have given him hope and restored his faith that we have the best system of government.\n\n\u201cThe people In Ukraine have said we will sacrifice our lives to have the kind of system you have. The right to vote, the right to a free press and the right to disagree with each other,\u201d Warner said.\n\nBristol Herald Courier: Warner aims to bring microchip production back to America\n\nU.S. Sen. Mark Warner made stops in Marion and Wytheville Tuesday on a three-day tour of Southwest and Southside Virginia to talk with community leaders.\n\nAmong the topics at the forefront of the conversation were the state of the manufacturing industry, improving Virginia\u2019s infrastructure and Warner\u2019s CHIPS bill.\n\nAt both stops Warner touted the recent passing of what he called a \u201conce in a generation infrastructure law.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat does that mean for Virginia? It means $8 billion for our road system\u2026 it means rail all the way to Christiansburg, and I\u2019m committed as long as I have this job to making sure that rail system goes all the way to Bristol. It means money for all the airports\u2026 It means resources for water and sewer.\u201d\n\nThe package also includes $65 billion to improve broadband access, an effort Virginia has already begun to tackle.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nWarner also discussed his bill to increase semiconductor production in the U.S., saying the supply chain issues with the chips are a contributing factor to high inflation, particularly with the price of vehicles.\n\n\u201cWe have tens of thousands of cars that American auto companies have made,\u201d Warner said. \u201cThey are sitting in lots in Michigan and Ohio and can\u2019t get to market because we don\u2019t make enough semi-conductor chips.\u201d\n\nThirty to 40 years ago, Warner said, the U.S. made about 40% of all semiconductor chips in the world.\n\n\u201cNow we make 12%,\u201d Warner said.\n\nHe said the U.S. doesn\u2019t make the cutting-edge chips used in advanced technology, airplanes or satellites.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re made in China. They\u2019re made in Taiwan. And I can assure you, as the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, it is a national security risk if we don\u2019t bring that semiconductor manufacturing back to this country,\u201d Warner said.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nRichmond Times Dispatch: Chesterfield, Henrico, 2 other Va. localities vie for semiconductor chip sites\n\nHadis Morkoc, a professor of electrical engineering and physics, led a tour Thursday at VCU\u2019s Virginia Microelectronics Center for a group that included Sen. Mark Warner.\n\nFour local governments \u2014 including Chesterfield and Henrico counties \u2014 are pitching potential sites for large semiconductor chip factories to take advantage of a new federal law that dangles billions of dollars of incentives to return manufacturing of the critical microelectronic component to the United States.\n\nSen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of the principal authors of the CHIPS + Science Act that President Joe Biden signed into law on Aug. 9, convened a roundtable discussion in Richmond on Thursday to showcase sites that the state is marketing to attract big investments by manufacturers eager to take advantage of $40 billion in new federal subsidies for domestic production of semiconductor chips.\n\n\u201cI think Virginia is going to be very competitive,\u201d Warner said in an interview after the meeting and a tour of the Virginia Microelectronics Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. \u201cBut we have to realize that certain states at this point are a bit ahead.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to put up incentive packages that are frankly much larger than we have in the past,\u201d he said, citing competition from states such as Ohio, Texas, Arizona and New York.\n\nThe 90-minute meeting included big county delegations led by Chesterfield County Administrator Joe Casey and Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas as well as representatives for other potential semiconductor chip manufacturing sites in Pittsylvania County, outside of Danville, and Chesapeake in southeastern Virginia.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nVirginia Business: Va. officials woo chip manufacturers\n\nU.S. Sen. Mark Warner and state and local economic development officials are vying to attract semiconductor chip manufacturing facilities to four Virginia industrial sites as the commonwealth gears up to fight for a piece of the financial pie from sweeping federal legislation that promises to ramp up chip production in the U.S.\n\nRepresentatives of Chesterfield, Henrico and Pittsylvania counties and the cities of Chesapeake and Danville joined with Warner, Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason El Koubi and Micron Technology Inc.\u2019s senior vice president and general counsel, Rob Beard, Thursday during a meeting at Virginia Commonwealth University to discuss how to make Virginia more competitive. Officials from VCU and Virginia Tech also attended the meeting, which was closed to the press and public.\n\nThe meeting coincided with President Joe Biden issuing an executive order Thursday to kickstart the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act, calling for swift implementation of a component of the bill that provides $52.7 billion in funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research. Biden\u2019s executive order establishes an interagency steering council to coordinate implementation of that funding, co-chaired by National Economic Director Brian Deese, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Alondra Nelson, the acting director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nIt was initially introduced in 2020 in an earlier form by Warner, Virginia\u2019s Democratic senior senator, and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn; the act was passed by Congress this summer and Biden signed it into law on Aug. 9.\n\nAccording to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the U.S.\u2019s share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity has decreased from 37% in 1990 to 12% today because other nations have been outpacing the U.S. in investing in the industry.\n\nAs chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Warner has been outspoken about the need for domestic chip manufacturing. It\u2019s a refrain he returned to Thursday as he toured labs at VCU\u2019s C. Kenneth and Dianne Harris Wright Virginia Microelectronics Center.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen over the last 30 years, America dominated this industry to now \u2026 we only make about 12%,\u201d Warner said. \u201cAnd America, on the manufacturing side, we don\u2019t make any of the cutting-edge chips.\u201d\n\n\u2018In the hunt\u2019\n\nSeveral sites in Virginia offer the space needed for the potential manufacture of semiconductors, which can require up to 1,000 acres, Warner said. A likely location for a new plant could be found in rural Southern or Southwestern Virginia.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nWhile there may be shovel-ready sites to lure manufacturers, those locations alone might not be enough.\n\nNew York, Texas, Arizona and Ohio have \u201creally raised the bar in going after semiconductors,\u201d Romanello said.\n\nTo compete, Virginia needs to offer greater incentives.\n\n\u201cOne of the things I think Virginia is going to need to do is both have sites prepared but also be willing to put more resources into these packages if we\u2019re going to be competitive,\u201d Warner said, citing New York\u2019s corporate subsidy of up to $10 billion in tax credits for \u201cgreen\u201d semiconductor manufacturers over a 20-year period, enacted on Aug. 11, among other states\u2019 incentives.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nBeyond attracting the major chip manufacturers, officials told Virginia Business they\u2019re looking at the entire semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, which includes the supply chain for components and related materials. And that provides even more opportunities, El Koubi said.\n\n\u201cWe are both looking at opportunities for Virginia to attract the semiconductor [fabrication] opportunities themselves for large semiconductor plants, but we\u2019re also looking at ways to cultivate the ecosystem, building on Virginia\u2019s existing strengths in the semiconductor space,\u201d he said.\n\nThose strengths include close to 30 companies in the semiconductor industry \u2014 providing production, equipment testing, construction and other services \u2014 and an advanced manufacturing and related industries workforce numbering almost 350,000.\n\nWarner wants to see Virginia increase its capacity to manufacture the tools and equipment that go onto the \u201cfab floors.\u201d That\u2019s a niche that has not yet been co-opted by Asian countries that otherwise dominate the semiconductor industry.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nDanville Register & Bee: Swinging through Danville, Warner tours downtown, praises growth\n\nSen. Mark Warner made a stop in Danville on Wednesday afternoon, where he toured the River District and dropped by a few businesses.\n\nWarner\u2019s visit was part of the Democrat\u2019s three-day swing through Southwest and Southside Virginia, which included a visit to Stuart before he came to Danville and then headed to South Boston.\n\nDuring a meeting with about 20-25 community leaders after his walk with officials downtown, Warner praised the growth that has taken place in the River District.\n\nHe pointed out how empty downtown was several years ago and the resurgence of the River District since then, when \u201cwarehouses didn\u2019t have a lot in them.\u201d Now there are numerous locally owned businesses, including restaurants, retailers and other establishments.\n\n\u201cThere are great things happening in a lot of communities across Virginia,\u201d Warner told officials in the former Pepsi Building next to the Danville Science Center. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything on a per-capita basis that is close to what you guys are doing here.\u201d\n\nDanville is attracting more people from other areas to come live here, he added.\n\n\u201cSixty percent of the people coming into the community are not from the community...\u201d Warner said.\n\nHe also pointed out Averett and Danville Community College in the city. With a one-bedroom unit renting for $1,100 in the River District and \u201cyou\u2019re all full up is really an enormous, enormous accomplishment,\u201d Warner said.\n\n\u201cI want to, you know, give you all the credit,\u201d Warner said. \u201cI hope that the community at large recognizes [that].\u201d\n\nHe also referred to the decline of tobacco and textiles in the late 90s and early 2000s, which culminated in the closing of Dan River Inc.\n\n\u201cVery few communities got whacked as hard as Danville did,\u201d Warner said.\n\nCity leaders, including the mayor, economic development director and others, led Warner on a tour of downtown on a hot August day. Stops included Ma\u2019s Cakes and Moss Mountain Outfitters on Main Street, The Bee Hotel on South Union Street and Knitting Mills Lofts on Lynn Street.\n\nDuring the meeting with leaders after the walk downtown, Warner said cooperation between Danville and Pittsylvania County is one factor that has made the community special.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re stronger combined than separated,\u201d he said, adding that it is the model that can enable a lot of other communities around Virginia to perform better.\n\nWarner also touched upon national issues during his meeting with local officials.\n\nEverybody should have access to high-speed, affordable internet, Warner said, challenging local leaders to get training for the region\u2019s workforce to meet that need. About 750,000 broadband installers will be needed across the country, he said.\n\nDanville needs a pop-up training center for that, he said.\n\n\u201cI think that\u2019s going to be an opportunity there,\u201d Warner said, adding that Virginia also needs to get a microchip manufacturing site.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nGazette Virginian: Warner calls Southside \u2018the comeback region\u2019 in South Boston stop\n\nU.S. Sen. Mark Warner spoke to a crowd of about 50 local leaders, professionals and residents Wednesday afternoon at the SOVA Innovation Hub in South Boston.\n\nThe visit was one stop on the senior senator from Virginia\u2019s multi-community tour of Southside.\n\nInnovation Hub staff treated Warner to a brief tour of the facility, as the crowd waited for the senator\u2019s comments.\n\n\u201cI have known him for 30 years; he\u2019s been a consistent friend of Southern Virginia,\u201d South Boston Mayor Ed Owens said as he introduced the senator. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the smartest businessmen I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d\n\nWarner expressed his admiration for Southside leaders and the community at large for their collective accomplishment of economic revitalization.\n\n\u201cThere is no part of the state that is more \u2018the comeback region\u2019 than Southside Virginia, and that has required grit, determination \u2014 lesser communities would have thrown in the towel,\u201d Warner said.\n\nWarner focused on the accomplishments of Congress this year, suggesting that 2022 has been one of the most significant congressional terms since the civil rights era.\n\n\u201cI think this last year in the United States Congress will be looked back upon as one of the most productive years, literally since the 1960s,\u201d he said.\n\nWarner further added that bipartisanship has figured into the equation of the successes he sees in legislative action this year focusing on the infrastructure bill among other efforts.\n\n[\u2026]\n\nBristol Herald Courier: Biscuit complaints bring Warner to Ridgeview Middle School\n\nCLINTWOOD, Va. - It was complaints about bad biscuits that brought Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) to Ridgeview Middle School Monday.\n\nLast school year, Ridgeview seventh-grade teachers April Hay and Portia Fletcher noticed their teenage students were not eating breakfast.\n\n\u201cEspecially boys, when they are not eating, something is wrong. I started questioning them about why they were not eating and they said, \u2018Well, we don\u2019t really like it,\u2019\u201d Hay said. \u201cIt was whole wheat instead of the white wheat, and they were just not eating it.\u201d\n\nThe director of food services suggested Hay write a letter to the senator about the issue. Hay took the suggestion a step further and worked with Fletcher to turn petitioning the government for better biscuits into a writing assignment.\n\n\u201cWe went through the writing process to learn how to write a letter,\u201d Hay said. \u201cWe sent those to the senator and I got a call one day from Richmond about it.\u201d\n\nSenator Warner\u2019s office said Warner had seen and read the letters and wanted to help. The first response came last year in the form of breakfast from Hardee\u2019s for the class from Warner. Then representatives from Warner\u2019s office said the senator wanted to come meet the students in person about their project.\n\n\u201cWe thought maybe we would get a nice letter or something from the senator,\u201d Hay a teacher for 25 years said. \u201cWe never expected this much. This has been the highlight of our careers.\u201d\n\nSo on the first day of the school year for Dickenson County, Warner met with the now eighth-grade class to say hello and answer questions, including a query asking if he has any aspirations beyond being a U.S. senator, which would be a run for president. After explaining he felt like he was in a good place to get things done for Virginia as senator, Warner did not reveal any potential presidential run to the auditorium full of eighth graders.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not sure that is in my future,\u201d Warner said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it probably is in my future.\u201d\n\nWarner also met with area school superintendents and county officials discussing a variety of topics such as broadband access, mental health assistance for students and the issues surrounding teacher shortages.\n\nWarner said he fears the recent controversies surrounding school boards would dissuade citizens from running for office leaving seats vacant in the future.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t think of a job that\u2019s got less perks or upside and more grief. School board members have always been citizens who care about their community and I just worry that sometimes people\u2019s anger and frustration have gotten so awful at some of these school board meetings around the country that people will just say, \u2018I\u2019m done,\u2019 and that would be a huge loss not just to our education system, but to our democracy,\u201d Warner said.\n\nBristol Virginia Schools Superintendent Dr. Keith Perrigan was one of the local school officials in attendance at the event. He said Warner has always been a big supporter of the public school system.\n\n\u201cSenator Warner, even back when he was governor, has always been a huge supporter of public education,\u201d Perrigan said. \u201cObviously, at the federal level he doesn\u2019t have the same opportunities that he did when he was governor, but he is always willing to listen and willing try to find a solution.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:29:59Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=CF834B06-D299-4BBF-B928-FD9650E21E1E"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8723312057554722, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}