Your questions, answered
From the road in Virginia.
Folks,
I’ve been on the road the past few days.
And the best part of our campaign trips – besides the roadside stops for barbeque or a tuna melt – are the conversations I get to have with voters.
And look, not all of those conversations are easy, but I appreciate when I get asked the tough questions. When my team and I meet to schedule out our trips, we make sure to find time to help local Democrats, but we also prioritize campaign stops that allow us to reach Virginians who aren’t used to going to political events or talking with their elected officials.
We’ve done a series of community conversations – from Loudoun to Lynchburg to Henrico to Pulaski, with even more to come – aimed at reaching folks who don’t typically attend political events.
And on the road, I’ve been getting a lot of really great questions from voters. I’d like to share a few of my responses to the most frequently asked questions with you, too.
But first, if you haven’t had a chance to attend one of our events – I understand that not everyone has the time or flexibility to join us – then please take a second to take my campaign’s priority survey. I’d love to hear what issues are most important to you right now.
Everywhere I go, I hear from voters concerned about data centers in their communities from the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence. Here’s my honest answer.
We’re not going to turn back the clock on Artificial Intelligence – but there’s a heck of a lot more we can do to protect your neighborhood and your utility bills.
That’s why I’m fighting for the Power for the People Act — a bill that forces data centers to pay for the grid upgrades they require, instead of you. It makes them bring their own clean power and battery storage, instead of draining what we’ve got. And it guarantees the work is done with strong labor standards and good-paying jobs.
I’m also working on a plan to require data centers to better manage their water use and maintain appropriate distance from neighborhoods like yours.
And it’s important that we give Virginians the transparency you deserve – so that you know when a new data center is coming to your community and that these data centers can’t make secret deals and hide the details from you and your neighbors.
The cost of – everything – has gotten out of control. But for young families, they often bring up the cost of housing and child care.
Look, this one is personal to me. My wife and I chose to raise our family here, and I still believe Virginia is the best place for young families – but you’ve got to be able to afford it.
On housing, we’ve got to fix the supply, and make it easier and cheaper to build. That’s why I wrote a bipartisan bill to build more than 1.6 million affordable homes over the next decade and a second package to build or preserve another 500,000 in rural communities, including right here in Virginia.
Now – a roof over your head only helps if you can actually go earn a living. And for young parents, that comes down to child care.
So I’ve introduced legislation giving child care centers a tax credit to raise worker pay – helping them attract and retain the staff they need. Because the fact is, child care is the foundation that lets parents earn a living while giving our kids the head start they deserve.
And I am hearing from folks who are deeply concerned about the cost of their health care.
You couldn’t create a more opaque health care system than the one in the U.S. No country pays more for less than we do.
And since my first day serving Virginia in the Senate, I’ve been fighting to change that. I helped write the Affordable Care Act, which massively expanded health care access and ensured that no insurance company could discriminate against you for your medical history.
I helped cap insulin at $35 a month — and cap what seniors pay out of pocket for prescriptions at $2,000 a year. And when the middlemen were hiding how they set drug prices, I helped force them to open their books.
But recently in Washington, we’ve seen policies that take us backward, that have shuttered rural clinics in Virginia, made health insurance too expensive for thousands of Virginians, and consequentially raised costs for the rest of us. I’ve fought against these policies, and worked to find quick solutions to give Virginians some much-needed-relief, but here’s the reality:
It’s time to move towards a system that cuts out the middleman, guarantees health care coverage no matter your employer, and ensures Americans are not deciding between paying for food on the table or covering their monthly premiums.
It’s become obvious to me that in order to have a sustainable system, we have to have universal health care, so that we don’t focus only on who has coverage, but put our focus on bringing costs down for everyone.
Now, listen.
The challenges facing our country right now are big. There’s no question about that.
But I will also tell you this: I would not trade America’s place in the world for any country on Earth.
I am running for reelection because I believe in this country. I believe in its promise. And I still believe that the world is better off when America leads the way.
I’m also running for reelection because I believe in something that’s deeply personal to me: that everyone in this country should get the same fair shot at success that I had.
That’s what this campaign is about. Thank you for being a part of it – and staying engaged and informed at this critical time in our country.
The fight continues,
Mark Warner