Northern Virginia

Sen. Jim Webb’s DPVA Fundraiser

Posted by Joe on Sunday, August 05

Sen Jim Webb at DPVA Dinner in Old Town Alexandria

On June 12, a group of supporters were able to gather and hear from Senator Jim Webb at the Union Street Public House in Old Town Alexandria. Throughout the evening, reports were coming in regarding the primary updates. Special attention was paid to the race in the 9^th Senate District where strong Webb supporter, Donald McEachin won the nomination.

Sen. Webb had good things to say about his staff calling them a “world class.” He then said that his focus will be on the three themes he touched upon during his campaign:

1) Reorienting the nation’s security, including our presence in Iraq

2) Economic fairness

3) Basic social justice

Sen. Webb expounded on these themes with emphasis on what he sees as a long term threat to the very existence of the middle class.

Sen. Jim Webb enjoys a conversation with supporters

He spoke about the idea of accountability to the American people. He was as frustrated as many people were regarding the recent outcome of the defense funding resolution which was vetoed by the President. Even with control of the Senate in Democratic hands, its still a slim majority with Sen. Johnson ill and Sen. Lieberman siding with the Republicans on issues pertaining to Iraq. There has been some success in getting the President’s administration to look at making a change in direction. The passage of a minimum wage increase was an example of a success.

Sen Webb answering a question from Mayor Gardner of Falls Church City

He shared with the gathering that there were positives and negatives in his experiences working in Congress. He mentioned that the only prior time he ran for office was for student council his senior year in high school and didn’t know what to expect from running for the U.S. Senate and winning. The one thing he did know from previously working on Congressional staffs was how the legislative branch works. He complimented his staff once again by adding that the addition of so many talented people had “multiplied his brain by 10.”

Sen. Webb also spoke about what he sees as “trajectory issues”. There is no one piece of legislation that encompasses the themes he wants to focus on, but that there are things that we can achieve through different pieces that will achieve those goals, such as the criminal justice system and reforming international trade.

One negative aspect of working in Congress was seeing that the sub-committee process has “atrophied”. He remembered that in the past, the sub-committee was where most of the thought and work went into the debate over ideas that would form the basis for legislation. He described his 9 Democratic colleagues who joined the Senate along with him as “pretty aggressive” and there was a sense of wanting to do things differently. He said that he’s though about running some sub-committees in the future.

Sen. Webb was asked about his take on renewable energies and biofuels, especially when we can create new jobs by looking at various cash crops we could grow in Virginia. He said that in regard to the energy bill, he wanted to definitely look at goals for reducing consumption. He also anticipated a big push back from those interests who don’t want that. He would like to explore what our country can do with alternative sources like solar and doing something positive with coal. He shared that he was the first Virginia U.S. Senator to meet with the Coal Council of Virginia.

When asked about how he’s been getting along with Senator John Warner he smiled. As a 25-year-old, he had been part of Warner’s staff. He appreciated that Sen. Warner was “graceful” toward him during last year’s campaign. Oftentimes they’ll find themselves walking to the Senate floor and Sen. Warner saying to him that, “I guess we’re both headed to cancel each other out.” He said that Sen. Warner has reached out to him in the matter of selecting judicial nominees, so that there wasn’t anyone to which Sen. Webb might object. He ended by saying that he has great respect for Sen. Warner.

After a good 30 minutes, Sen. Webb’s had to signal that he had to return to the Hill for some votes. Reluctantly, Sen. Webb thanked everyone for attending and reiterated his support for continuing the momentum from previous years by winning 2007’s General Assembly races.

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