海角大神

Between security concerns around China 鈥� including the TikTok app, which is owned by a Chinese company 鈥� and the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, Mark聽Warner聽is one busy senator. The Virginia Democrat is chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, and has been in the news lately. A lot.

Thus, the timing of our Monitor Breakfast last Monday couldn鈥檛 have been better. But after the greetings and introduction, what was top of mind for Senator聽Warner? Adam Sandler鈥檚 appearance the night before at the Kennedy Center as winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

When the show airs Sunday night on CNN, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e gonna have to bleep out every third word,鈥� Mr.聽Warner聽said to reporters鈥� laughter.聽

Then he got down to business. First the senator noted that it was the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and ruminated aloud on the long-term consequences.

鈥淲e took our eyes off the ball a bit in terms of great-power competition,鈥� Mr.聽Warner聽said. The story that will dominate for months and potentially years, he added, is 鈥渙ur competition with Russia and China 鈥� China in particular.鈥�

The senior senator from Virginia, a self-described 鈥渢ech nerd,鈥� knows whereof he speaks. Before going into politics, he made his fortune as an entrepreneur in the early days of cellular technology. Then, as governor of Virginia in the early 2000s, he traveled to China, hopeful that business deals and academic collaboration would bring the most populous nation on Earth into the larger international order.聽

Now, as a longtime member of Senate Intelligence 鈥� and since 2021, committee chair 鈥� Mr.聽Warner聽is more sober-minded. As I report in聽my article about the breakfast,聽he believes he was wrong about Mr. Xi, and that after years of intellectual property theft and exploitative joint ventures, the nature of U.S. national security threats has changed profoundly. Cyber privacy is also a major concern. The CEO of TikTok faced a barrage of criticism in Congress Thursday,聽as reported by my colleague Christa Case Bryant.

罢丑别听聽can be found on the Monitor鈥檚 YouTube channel.

As the hour drew to a close, the senator warned that if Mr. Xi decides to sell arms to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his war in Ukraine, that 鈥渃ould be the most significant thing to happen in years.鈥�

But Mr.聽Warner聽also sought to end on a positive note. He suggested that new technology 鈥� such as next-generation wireless 鈥� offers 鈥渆normous hope for mankind around the world,鈥� with monitoring by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee as it seeks to keep Americans safe.

He also circled back to the Mark Twain gala, and remarked that 鈥淒ana Carvey and Chris Rock were both really funny.鈥� One might think a Senate committee chair engrossed by big, serious issues has no time for fun. But we all need to kick back sometimes.