Virginia’s U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner released the following statement yesterday upon reports that the Pentagon will reduce federal employee furloughs from 11 days to six days:

“I am relieved to see the Pentagon has further reduced mandatory, unpaid furlough days for civilian employees, eliminating five of the 11 furlough days that were expected over the rest of this fiscal year. “When the DoD furloughs were initially announced, the Virginia delegation successfully worked together to minimize the impact on 40,000 shipyard workers in southeastern Virginia. Additionally, I led a Budget Committee hearing two weeks ago in which the owner of a small defense contracting firm in Hampton Roads told my colleagues that the sequester cuts were causing him to bench about one-third of his workforce. I also stood on the Senate floor a week and a half ago and shared with my colleagues some of the letters and emails I’ve received, providing examples of the tough economic realities that many Virginia families were facing because of these unpaid furlough days. Although today’s Pentagon decision to end civilian furloughs is a good one, our broader budget issues still remain. I’ll continue pushing for a bipartisan agreement that cuts federal spending in a rational way, and reforms our tax code and entitlement programs in a fair way.”