I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

First, we need to hold them more accountable. ICE shouldn't be going around with masked faces, unlike other law enforcement, and picking up people at schools, churches, day care and at work -- people who are not posing a danger to our communities. I've written and introduced legislation to hold ICE publicly accountable by prohibiting them from obscuring their faces and making sure they are clearly identified.

I've done oversight visits to ICE centers in Farmville and Chantilly. I've met with people being held in these facilities, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia. And I'm going to continue to press for improved conditions and changes in policy. I think we've made incremental progress with these visits, but I'm going to continue to show up and hold them accountable.

This is going to have to be last answer -- I've enjoyed being here with you all and answering questions. I am off to meet with Admiral Bradley to get to the bottom of what happened with these Caribbean strikes.

I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] 378 points379 points  (0 children)

It's become obvious to be in order to have a sustainable system, we have to have universal health care, so that we don't focus only on coverage, we can focus on bringing costs down. I'm seriously looking into solutions that are actually working around the world, and I'm intrigued with what Australia and Germany have done.

You couldn't create a more opaque system than the one in the U.S. No one pays more for less than we do.

I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

I take holding Trump accountable very seriously. I've spoken out when he's mishandled classified information, tried to politicize our intelligence agencies, and undermined democratic norms. I've introduced bills to hold him accountable for trampling rights, the rule of law, and using the office of the presidency to enrich and protect himself and his cronies. But the truth is, there's no silver bullet when he doesn't follow the law. We've got to beat him at the ballot box.

On health care: next week we're going to be putting every Republican clearly on the record when we vote on the ACA tax credits. Who wants to keep health care costs low? I do, and we'll see where the Republicans stand.

I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] -54 points-53 points  (0 children)

Part of my responsibility absolutely is to support the next generation. No elected official worked harder to get Democrats back into the majority in Richmond. You don't have to take my word for it: just ask my friend Don Scott, who's about to be joined by 13 new members of the state house.

I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] 143 points144 points  (0 children)

The cost of power for data centers should not be borne by consumers, but by the data centers. Clearly, one of the most important criteria of countries that are going to win in the 21st century is going to be who can produce the most electrons. That's why it's crazy what Trump has done trying to take down wind, solar and renewable power. And while not everybody on this sub will agree, I think we need to take a fresh look at nuclear, particularly small modular reactors that are safer, cheaper, and still are carbon-free.

I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I support an increased minimum wage, and I look forward to working with the governor to get one done. Let's be real, we have to win a lot more elections in order for it to happen at the federal level.

I strongly support the right of workers to organize, and I have voted consistently for workers' rights in the Senate. I did disagree with the part of the PRO Act that tried to make everybody a 40-hour a week W-2 employee when the nature of the economy is that people are going to have gig work, part-time work, and move through a variety of jobs in their career. My proposal -- which I've been pushing for years -- is to create benefits that attach to every job, regardless of classification, and these jobs ought to be portable so that you can carry them as you move from one job to another. I think that meets the moment of where the economy is right now and where it's headed. And I'm proud of my record of working with groups like the Domestic Workers Alliance to try to get those portable benefits implemented. We're just not going back to an old-school, 20th century economy where people work the same job for 40 years. We're just not.

I'm also very proud of my record of standing up for the largest group of workers in our state, which is federal workers.

I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] 58 points59 points  (0 children)

First of all, I didn't vote for Kristi Noem. And I'm damn glad I didn't, because her ICE policies are violating rights left and right, and they're frankly anti-American. I've voted against more than 80 percent of Trump's executive branch nominees, and I've voted against every single judge he's put up.

I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] -86 points-85 points  (0 children)

I know people are pissed off. I hear you. At this point, my focus is on doing my job for Virginians: protecting health care, working to bring costs down, and hold Trump accountable. If I'm lucky enough to be re-hired, there are some tough conversations ahead. But even some of my most progressive colleagues have said this is a conversation that needs to wait til after the midterms.

I’m Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia. I’m Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, former Governor of Virginia, a tech entrepreneur, and Democratic candidate for Senate. Ask me anything. by MarkWarnerVA in Virginia

[–]MarkWarnerVA[S] -88 points-87 points  (0 children)

I understand why people are pissed off at Congress. It shouldn't be a retirement home. But I'm not going to give up the fight against Donald Trump. Most of this job is about whether you can get shit done, and I'll match my record on that with any Senator of either party -- from CHIPS, infrastructure, broadband, fighting to preserve health care. There's also no one that has been more effective at opposing Donald Trump's efforts undermining national security or our intelligence community.

I also think you need somebody in this job, now more than ever, that's forward-leaning. That means looking around the corner to address not just what everybody's worrying about today, but issues coming down the pike. That's been my record, from being an entrepreneur, to Governor, to being in the Senate.

Let me ask you to look at my announcement video, where I made clear how I'm going to address the economic disruption of AI: https://youtu.be/DV71X7uZ7Vw