In The News

U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have introduced the “Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act” to enact a series of gun violence prevention measures federally. The bill includes a provision to mandate reporting of lost and stolen guns, prevent children from accessing guns, and implement a one-handgun-a-month policy Warner and Kaine introduced this effort on April 16. This day marks 17 years since a gunman opened fire at two locations at Virginia Tech killing 32 people and leaving 17 othe...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google and Meta regarding the continued presence of a video depicting the murders of two Roanoke journalists. In August 2015, Alison Parker and Adam Ward with Roanoke’s WDBJ news channel were shot and killed by a former colleague during a live broadcast. A third person, Vicki Gardner, was seriously wounded during the attack, which the gunman recorded on video. Videos of the Moneta shooting incident remain on Google and Met...Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Justice has released a new rule that aims to close a specific loophole regarding the sale of firearms. On Thursday, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner applauded the new gun show loophole rule, which is based on the Safer Communities Act. The loophole concerns the sale of firearms online and at gun shows by private sellers without background checks. “When we passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, we secured long overdue, broadly popular provisions to keep guns out ...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine was in Charlottesville Monday morning to visit Piedmont Virginia Community College’s adult education center, where the Virginia Democrat said he wanted to learn how he could fine-tune legislation he’s proposed for years that would expand access to federal grants to those seeking high-quality, short-term job training programs. The students and faculty at PVCC’s Thomas Jefferson Adult Career Education facility are among those who stand to benefit from Kaine’s Jumpstart Our Businesse...Continue Reading

Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine recently helped secure federal funding for three Harrisonburg projects in the Senate’s $1.3 trillion spending bill. WHSV spoke with Sen. Kaine about the funding for the projects and the needs they’ll help address. “A million dollars for the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Child Daycare Center. We’re just hearing reports all over the Commonwealth about the need for more affordable, high-quality childcare. It’s good for kids, good for parents, and good for the providers,” s...Continue Reading

A pair of senators introduced a bill Wednesday that would require the State Department to track xylazine in its annual report. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced the legislation, which would require the State Department to include data on xylazine, nicknamed “tranq,” in its annual International Narcotics Control Strategy (INCSR) Report. The report is meant to record efforts on countering the international drug trade; it already includes data on fentanyl, cocaine and heroin...Continue Reading

On Wednesday, Senators Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Laphonza Butler (D-California) introduced the Opening Doors for Youth Act of 2024 to help at-risk youth find summer or year-long jobs that can set them up for success in future careers. The legislation would provide federal funding to local communities to create strategic partnerships with businesses to create job opportunities and provide career training, mentoring, financial literacy planning, and other skills and services to young people who a...Continue Reading

Virginia’s representatives in the Senate applauded the passing of a congressional funding bill on March 8. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner applauded the legislation, which averted a partial government shutdown and funded key government projects for fiscal year 2024. “It’s about time,” said Sen. Warner in a press release. “I was proud to support the passage of this legislation, which will give our federal agencies the funding they need to serve the American people and respond to the novel need...Continue Reading

Amid ongoing problems with mail delivery in Virginia, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. and seven other members of Virginia’s congressional delegation have written to the United States Postal Service’s Inspector General to press their concerns. The letter follows delays and disruptions in local mail service and a recent court case that involved theft of mail by former mail carrier. Kaine’s office has requested a tour of the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Sandston, which is curr...Continue Reading

After an increase in reported incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia at universities across the nation, Senator Tim Kaine is vouching for a bill that could help get students a response in a more timely manner. According to the U.S. Department of Education, between Oct. 1, 2023, and Feb. 15, 2024, the Office of Civil Rights received 219 complaints related to Islamophobia, antisemitism and anti-Arab discrimination. That’s more than a 1,000 percent increase compared to the year before.  Kaine a...Continue Reading

On Tuesday, Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) cosponsored the Showing Up for Students Act, which provides $280 million in additional funding for the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education. The OCR is responsible for protecting the civil rights of students in schools, including incidents related to antisemitism and Islamophobia. Citing an increase in reported incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia in schools across the nation, Kaine said the bill would provide OCR with...Continue Reading

After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos created via in vitro fertilization can be classified as children, Elizabeth Carr — the first U.S. baby born this way — set out to reveal the potential consequences of this decision. At a gathering in Ballston today (Friday) — surrounded by advocates, doctors and those who conceived or were conceived via IVF — Carr underscored the existential threat the ruling could pose. “IVF babies of my generation, I’ve noticed, are now having their own IVF jo...Continue Reading

A roundtable discussion Friday morning on the need to protect the availability and access to in-vitro fertilization was hosted by U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia). He was joined at the Ballston event by IVF advocates, medical professionals, and parents who conceived their children using IVF. "Patients have a right to access IVF services or other reproductive technologies," Kaine said. "Providers have a right to provide those services and technologies." Kaine is co-sponsoring legislation with U.S...Continue Reading

Elizabeth Carr entered the world as a 5-pound, 12-ounce earthquake, making medical history and unleashing furious controversy in 1981 as the first American conceived in a lab. Born in Norfolk with a “Nova” documentary crewin the delivery room and armed guards in the hall, America’s first IVF baby is 42 today and no longer a novelty.About 2 percent of U.S. births and an estimated 12 million people worldwide are products of in vitro fertilization. But Carr still stands as potent symbol of that now...Continue Reading

On Thursday, Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $1,900,000 in federal funding for three projects in Bland, Stuart, and Lee County. The funding, courtesy of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), will go towards building a dental clinic in Bland, investing in downtown revitalization projects in Stuart, and improving water service to 38 homes in Lee County. “Communities across Virginia have tremendous momentum, ideas, and initiative for projects that will improve their towns...Continue Reading

On Wednesday, Senators Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) introduced a bipartisan resolution designating March 18, 2024, as Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness. The date was chosen to coincide with the day that the senators’ bipartisan Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Act was signed into law by President Biden in 2022. “Our health care providers protect our health and well-being every day, often at the expense of their own. My Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider P...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON D.C. (WSET) — On Tuesday, Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) cosponsored the Access to Family Building Act, legislation to protect Americans’ right to access in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technology services. Sen. Kaine’s announcement comes after a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that has already led to restricted access to IVF. “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has opened the floodgates for draconian restrictions on reproductive free...Continue Reading

Legislation to strengthen the federal program that preserves and protects historic battlefields is making its way through Congress with bipartisan support and a good chance of becoming law. Sens. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, teamed with Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, to introduce the American Battlefield Protection Program Enhancement Act in the Senate.  Virginia’s Sen. Mark Warner is a co-sponsor. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed a similar bill. The bill woul...Continue Reading

U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine on Thursday announced $35 million in federal funding for expansion and improvements to Dulles International Airport. The funding was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which both senators, who are both Democrats, helped pass to improve air travel, roads, bridges, rail, broadband and water infrastructure, according to a release from Warner's office. Specifically the funding will go towards building a 14-gate, 400,000 square foot termi...Continue Reading

A new bill aimed at preventing youth suicide is on the table in the Senate. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) co-introduced the Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act with Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) to target the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 24, according to a statement released by Kaine. “In recent years, we’ve seen alarming spikes in anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges among the nation’s youth,” Kaine said. “We must do more to ex...Continue Reading