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RICHMOND – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after the General Assembly approved the Higher Education Bond initiative that provides $1.5 billion in new capital construction to Virginia’s colleges and universities. Delegate Moran joined Governor Kaine and University Presidents at the announcement of this initiative on December 13, 2007 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“This funding will be a great step in our efforts to compete in the 21st century global economy,” said Delegate Moran. “Last spring I traveled to India on the Governor’s Trade Mission and toured the Indian Institute of Technology. India and China produce as many engineers each year as we will produce this decade. If we want to compete and win, we have to invest in higher education so we have the capability to do groundbreaking research in the life sciences and nanotechnology and biotechnology.

“Today we’ve authorized the largest investment in construction at our colleges and universities in Virginia’s history. This will help jumpstart our construction industry while building capacity for our future. We have thousands of new graduates that want to go to Virginia’s public colleges and today’s effort will help make sure we have room for them.”

RICHMOND – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after the General Assembly approved the Higher Education Bond initiative that provides $1.5 billion in new capital construction to Virginia’s colleges and universities. Delegate Moran joined Governor Kaine and University Presidents at the announcement of this initiative on December 13, 2007 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“This funding will be a great step in our efforts to compete in the 21st century global economy,” said Delegate Moran. “Last spring I traveled to India on the Governor’s Trade Mission and toured the Indian Institute of Technology. India and China produce as many engineers each year as we will produce this decade. If we want to compete and win, we have to invest in higher education so we have the capability to do groundbreaking research in the life sciences and nanotechnology and biotechnology.

“Today we’ve authorized the largest investment in construction at our colleges and universities in Virginia’s history. This will help jumpstart our construction industry while building capacity for our future. We have thousands of new graduates that want to go to Virginia’s public colleges and today’s effort will help make sure we have room for them.”

ALEXANDRIA - House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after Governor Kaine announced his amendment to the state budget to include only the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard for new construction of state buildings rather than lowering the standards by including “Green Globes”. The “Green Globes” standard does not include third party verification, mandatory energy consumption reductions and has been used by less than 10 percent of those who use the LEED standard. Delegate Moran asked the Governor to take this action in a letter dated March 19, 2008 (attached).

“I thank Governor Kaine for his responsible action to preserve our environment for the next generation and generations to come,” Delegate Moran said. “With the looming threat of global warming, we cannot afford to lower the environmental standards for state construction. Building ‘Green Buildings’ reduces energy usage, preserves the environment and lowers energy costs. Virginia ranks 38th in the nation for energy efficiency and conservation programs – we can do better.

As a father with two young children, I want them to be able to enjoy the same God-given natural treasures we have today. I urge my colleagues to accept this important, responsible and forward-looking amendment.”

Delegate Moran introduced “Green Buildings” legislation during the 2008 session of the General Assembly (HB1195). Today’s amendment makes the budget language consistent with that in Governor Kaine’s Executive Order 48.

ALEXANDRIA – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after the announcement from Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown that the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (SOVA/ICAC) had taken a Waynesboro, Virginia resident into custody for sexually exploiting a local child. Delegate Moran sponsored “Alicia’s Law” to invest in local law enforcement’s ability to investigate and arrest online child sex predators like this one.

“The work of local law enforcement has ended an innocent child’s suffering,” said Delegate Moran. “I am proud of the work the Bedford and Augusta counties’ Sheriff’s Offices did as part of our ICAC team. As a former prosecutor and the father of two young children, I know there is nothing more important.

When the General Assembly acted this year, we had heard the story of Alicia and knew it was time to prevent her tragedy from becoming all too real for other children. We took a tremendous first step this year in our efforts to protect Virginia’s children from these violent, vile predators. Today’s news from Waynesboro makes our efforts to all the more critical.”

The Waynesboro man was charged with one count of manufacturing child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of attempted indecent liberties with a minor under the age of 14. A local child victim was identified and placed in the care of child protective services. The arrest was made by the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office, which is an affiliate member of the SOVA-ICAC.

Review the announcement from the SOVA ICAC here.

Washington, DC – Virginia House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran received an appreciation award from Our Military Kids during an awards reception on Monday near the Capitol. He received the award for his support of their program, which provides grants to children of deployed and severely injured National Guard and military Reserve personnel. When the program began, Delegate Moran helped the organization secure initial support from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The award was presented by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“I thank the leadership of Our Military Kids for this recognition,” Delegate Moran said. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to work with them to provide grants that help the families of those service men and women fighting overseas. These kids and families deserve our support as a tribute to their parents’ service to a grateful nation.”

The program has provided over $1 million in grant funding to help children of deployed service members while their parents are overseas. They have provided 369 individual grants in Virginia. The grants are made to honor the sacrifices military parents make and to ensure that their children have access to activities and support that help the children better cope with the challenges that arise during a parent's deployment or injury recovery. The funds are often used to support youth sports programs, fine arts programs or tutoring.

“We are greatly indebted to Brian for his strong advocacy of the program,” Our Military Kids Co-Founder Gail Kruzel said. “Thanks to Brian, we have been able to provide additional benefits to the children of Virginia’s deployed. Virginia’s support of the program sets the benchmark for other states to emulate.”

Awards were also presented to former Virginia Governor Mark Warner and 11th District Congressman Tom Davis.

For more information on the awards see this statement from Defense Secretary Gates.