A member of the Gang of Six said he is supportive of President Obama’s jobs package and “it’s got a chance” of making it through the Senate.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told reporters Friday that he backs parts of the $447 billion plan that Obama is traveling the country pitching to voters. In particular, Warner favors provisions that put money toward infrastructure and the payroll tax holiday.
But the bill doesn’t go far enough in addressing the ongoing mortgage crisis, Warner said, and it needs improvement. He didn’t comment on the plans of Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to pay for the package with a 5 percent surcharge on people earning $1 million or more a year.
“What we’ve got to do is get the bill at least to the floor of the Senate to debate it,” he said.
Warner proposes helping homeowners refinance their mortgages at current market rates to reduce the high number of foreclosures nationwide. “That might be one of the best stimulus actions we can take,” he said.
As a moderate Democrat from a swing state, Warner continues to work behind the scenes to build coalitions. He said he now has support from more than 40 of his colleagues as he attempts to push the congressional supercommittee to broker a deal that cuts $4 trillion from the deficit. An agreement between Obama and House Republicans set the bar at $1.2 trillion.
Warner also wants the state department to add staff and lower wait times for foreign travelers to get into the U.S. He said it takes 120 to 150 days for vacationers from booming China, India and Brazil to get a travel visa to visit the U.S., hurting the U.S. tourism industry. The cost for increasing employees would be offset by visa fees.
“We don’t make this process very user friendly anywhere,” Warner said.
