Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D. C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after the Senate voted to repeal pension reductions for current servicemembers included in the Bipartisan Budget Act: “Today the Senate came together to repeal pension reductions that would have harmed our veterans and military families. I have been fighting to repeal these reductions since December and I’m relieved we can now give military veterans and their families the peace of mi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement today after the Senate voted, 67-31, to suspend the debt ceiling and prevent default on America’s fiscal obligations. “After coming together to pass a bipartisan budget agreement, as well as an appropriations package and a farm bill, I’m extremely heartened that Congress has again chosen economic certainty over crisis-budgeting and brinksmanship. I hope&nbs...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine announced today that Diane Kaufman will serve as Regional Director for Eastern Virginia.   “I’m proud to announce that Diane Kaufman will join my state team as Director of my Eastern Virginia regional office,” said Kaine.  “Located in Virginia Beach, this office performs important casework, constituent services, and outreach to individuals and groups throughout the area stretching from Williamsburg throug...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today introduced an amendment to the Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act that would find alternative savings through closure of an offshore tax loophole to replace the cost of living adjustment (COLA) reduction for military retirees. The amendment mirrors legislation introduced by the Senators in December 2013 that would replace the pension reductions with new legislation that could raise as...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine introduced Deputy Secretary of Labor nominee Christopher Lu of Arlington, Virginia at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pension (HELP) Committee.  Kaine highlighted Lu’s wide breadth of experience, including his roles as White House Cabinet Secretary and Co-Chair of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI), as evidence of his tremendous qualifications to...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after the Senate voted to advance legislation to repeal the military pension reductions included in the Bipartisan Budget Act: “Today the Senate took an important step toward the repeal of military pension reductions that unfairly impact our veterans and military families. Since December, I have fought to reverse this provision of the Bipartisan Budget Act by introducing legislation to repl...Continue Reading

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine visited a Resource Workforce Center in Richmond this morning to speak with employees and unemployed workers searching for jobs. During his visit, Kaine discussed the importance of extending emergency unemployment benefits for up to 1.7 million Americans as they look for work. “Today I heard from folks in my hometown who have spent months searching for work as they struggle to support their families,” said Kaine. “The gridlock in C...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after a minority of Senators blocked yet another vote on passage of emergency unemployment insurance legislation today: “I regret that a minority of Senators continue to block us from restoring emergency unemployment benefits for up to 1.7 million Americans, including more than 10,000 Virginians. In addition to hurting workers searching for jobs as they struggle to support their families, t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) voted today for Senate passage of the bipartisan Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2014, which now goes to the President for his signature.  The legislation included many provisions championed by the Senators that will benefit Virginians, including strengthened crop insurance for farmers and conservation programs for the Chesapeake Bay.  The 2014 farm bill, which saves taxpayers more than $23 billion over 1...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on the State Department’s final supplemental environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL Pipeline Project: “I believe the key environmental impact of this project is not the literal construction but rather the market signal that construction would send.  We currently have the tools to build an energy strategy to get cleaner tomorrow than today.  Building this pipeline would dramatically ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today on Iran, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Near Eastern, Southern and Central Asian Affairs, advocated strongly for exhausting all diplomatic options to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He argued that despite “good faith differences” in tactics, both sides in the Iran sanctions debate actually have the same goal: a nuclear weapons-free Iran achieved through diplomacy, rat...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern, Southern and Central Asian Affairs, released the following statement: “I am deeply troubled by the news that the Syrian regime is not meeting its international obligations to dismantle its chemical weapons program.  Bashar al Assad should know that backsliding on his commitment to dismantle his entire illicit chemical weapons program is intolerable and will be met with cons...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today after final passage of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act: "Today the Senate voted to preempt rate increases in the National Flood Insurance Program that would have affected many people in Virginia and other states with low-lying coastal and flood-prone areas.  Due to climate impacts like sea-level rise and more frequent storms, insurance rates must&nbs...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Rob Portman announced the formation of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus. The bipartisan Caucus, co-chaired by Kaine and Portman, will focus on improving and strengthening access to career and technical education to ensure that students of all ages are prepared with the skills they need for the jobs of the 21st century. “From growing up working in my Dad's small ironworking shop to creating Governor’s Ca...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senator Mark R. Warner and Representative Jim Moran in a letter to the Air Force Materiel Commander, General Janet C. Wolfenbarger questioning the Air Force’s plans to relocate the Office of Scientific Research from its current site in Arlington to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. A copy of the letter is available below. The Office of Scientific Research employs 170 in the heart of Northern Virginia’s technology co...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on President Obama’s State of the Union Address tonight: “Tonight the President laid out a practical agenda with specific ideas to continue moving our country forward by creating more opportunities for all Americans and rewarding hard work. I’m glad he was optimistic about where our nation’s economy is headed, because I am too. And I agree raising the minimum wage to $10.10 is exactly the boo...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) sent the following letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel today urging him to maintain the full eleven-aircraft carrier strike group as he crafts the FY15 defense budget.  Sens. Warner and Kaine argue the flexibility of the aircraft carrier has proven to be the most important security asset for commanders-in-chief. Additionally, Warner and Kaine urge Secretary Hagel to consider the effect of reductions in the carri...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, participated in a hearing on the military pension cuts included in the Bipartisan Budget Act, a provision which Kaine does not support. Kaine applauded the stability afforded to the military because of the budget deal passed in December, but called for an immediate repeal of the provision that impacts military pensions. Kaine recently joined Senator Mark Warner to introduce a measure that wou...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine announced that his guest at tonight’s Presidential State of the Union Address will be Army Staff Sergeant Tammy Brown. Staff Sgt. Brown, a machinist and welder with tactical knowledge and experience in metal fabrication who has served on active duty for more than 15 years, including tours in Kosovo and Iraq, is now stationed at Fort Lee, Virginia. Earlier this year, Kaine visited Fort Lee arou...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf announced today that they will cross the political aisle to sit together during the President’s State of the Union Address tomorrow night.  Fellow Virginians, Kaine and Wolf have worked closely together over the past year on issues of religious freedom around the world and look forward to the opportunity to carry on this bipartisan tradition. ###