Video: Sen. Mark Warner Rips House GOP “Fiscal Terrorism” on Debt Ceiling, Says “It is time for them to put up or shut up”

See below for video and a few highlights from Sen. Mark Warner’s “press availability” earlier today. Among other things, Sen. Warner:

• Referred to the “antics in in the House”; said, “unfortunately you have this group in the House who very much seems to be proposing that – and let me be clear the debt ceiling is not about future spending obligations, it’s basically saying are we going to pay the bills that the Congress has already authorized and appropriated; you know you can’t mid-stream on your car payments say I’m not going to pay this year because I don’t  want (to or you can do it and you become bankrupt) – the ramifications of of saying that we’re not going to pay our bills would be the height of your responsibility…I find the House Republican position untenable…and the hypocrisy of this is that when President Trump was there when frankly the level of debt went up at a level unprecedented, the Congress extended that ceiling three times without any of this…fiscal terrorism…So I hope saner heads…more moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats can come up with a solution. Do we need to take on a host of issues both around spending revenues entitlements? Absolutely. But it’s not in the context of this kind of political hand grenade that some extreme members of the House try to want to throw into our political system and into our economy….It is time for them to put up or shut up.”
• On gun violence, he said “I for one am tired of elected officials who want to simply send thoughts and prayers; that’s why I and I think Tim Kaine as well reintroduced our assault weapon ban that had been in place back in the 90s and early 2000s…”
• On Youngkin nixing the potential Ford Motor Company investment in Southside, he said: “I have huge concerns about the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on many of the companies that come from China…I also know that that in a whole host of areas from solar to battery technology, we’ve got to win back and bring back some of that technology. On the specific case that was involving Ford and the Chinese company, I don’t…have any of the background, I’m not going to comment on that. I will stand by my overarching comments though that I don’t think we need to sever ties with China, we have to figure ways where we can work with them, but we do need to recognize that the CCP has an undue influence by Chinese law over many Chinese companies.”
• On Sen. Ted Cruz’s bill to “restore all 8,400 troops who refused to get the [COVID] vaccine, return them to active duty and give them back pay,” he said: “Do I think Senator Cruz’s bill is a good one? Absolutely not. I think it would undermine respect for discipline. I think it undermines the chain of command. And the idea that we are going to retroactively say what was absolutely healthcare guidance not just in the military but across virtually all domains, and now after the fact is going to be undermined, what would that do on a future basis in terms of discipline? I think it reflects somebody who’s not very familiar with the military.”