Senators Warner & Kaine warn of Virginia impacts in government shutdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WDBJ) - Virginia’s U.S. Senators are warning of the impact here in the Commonwealth if Congress is unable to avoid a government shutdown.

Thursday, House Republicans were unable to advance a defense appropriations bill, raising fresh concern about their ability to fund the government after September 30.

Democratic Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine say Virginia stands to lose as much an any other state, because of its large federal workforce, but they say a government shutdown will affect many others as well.

“We have been working relentlessly to try to get rid of the passport backlog for Virginians who want to get passports. That will come to a grinding halt. NIH research will come to a grinding halt during the midst of a shutdown. Air Traffic control. We’ve already seen record delays at our airports,” Warner told reporters during a briefing Thursday afternoon.

“And we saw what happened when there was a shutdown in 2013, our communities like Chincoteague next to the national park and wildlife refuge or communities in the Shenandoah Valley near Shenandoah National Park, they got hit really hard,” Kaine said during his own teleconference with reporters.

Warner and Kaine said they hope a majority of Democrats and Republicans can come together to pass a continuing resolution that would at least keep the government funded until later this year.

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