ALEXANDRIA - Congress should tackle energy policy when it convenes in January with expanded Democratic majorities, Senator-elect Mark Warner, D-Va., said Wednesday.
Congress could get the most "bang for our buck" with new energy legislation that increases domestic production of all energy sources, Warner told reporters at his Alexandria campaign headquarters.
Off-shore drilling for oil and natural gas "needs to be part of the mix," he said, reiterating a position that puts him at odds with more liberal members of his party.
"I'll probably take some hits from both sides," he said, anticipating how his self-described "radical centrist" politics will play in the polarized Senate.
In his first news conference after defeating Republican Jim Gilmore for Senate Tuesday, Warner declined to say which committee assignments he will pursue.
Warner spoke in a small conference room, sitting near a photo of him with outgoing Republican Sen. John Warner (no relation).
"I've gotten a lot of advice and counsel from him over the last few months," Mark Warner said of the elder statesman who did not seek reelection. Warner said he would continue to consult his predecessor after taking office.
He proposed a public-private partnership to help restore America's slumping auto industry and spur the development of more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Under Warner's plan, if automakers develop vehicles that get 80 to 100 miles per gallon, the federal government will guarantee their purchase.
Warner, who has a background in business and won praise for his skill managing Virginia's budget deficit as governor, also said he would work to trim the federal budget.
"Businesses are tightening their belts right now. Families are tightening their belts, and I think it's important we find some areas in the federal budget to show that we can cut back," he said, not getting into details. "This was not to be a big policy conversation."
Despite a Democratic sweep that expanded the party's numbers in the Senate and his election giving Virginia two Democratic senators for the first time since 1970, Warner discouraged reading too much into his state's results.
"I don't think there is a permanent political realignment going on," he said.
At campaign headquarters, Warner shook hands, cracked a few jokes and thanked his campaign team, all while kidding with reporters that it didn't feel right to be called senator.
"It still sounds weird," he said.
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