In The News

On Tuesday, Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine asked the chair and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to protect funding for the Carrier Replacement Program during the Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations process. If a defense bill is not passed — which is probable — the Department of Defense will be funded temporarily via a Continuing Resolution. If that happens, the advance procurement funding for the program will continue at Fiscal Year 2016 level...Continue Reading

After cooling off in the movie theater this summer, take your kids to the park to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. For 100 years, parks have stimulated local economies and protected wild environments. In 2015, national park visitors contributed nearly $16.9 billion in spending during visits to parks throughout the U.S. Unfortunately, our parks are still underfunded and undervalued by the government each year. As well some of our national park treasures like the Grand...Continue Reading

Congressional representatives from Virginia and the District of Columbia yesterday announced that the National Park Service, jointly with the District Department of Transportation, has been awarded a $90 million FASTLANE Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for repairs to Arlington Memorial Bridge, which carries 68,000 vehicles daily. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Reps. Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly and Barbara Comstock jointly issued the follow...Continue Reading

The federal government awarded a $90 million grant to the National Park Service's efforts to repair the Arlington Memorial Bridge, local lawmakers announced Tuesday. The grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation is only a fraction of the $250 million needed to keep the bridge open to the 68,000 cars that drive on it every day. Lawmakers previously asked Congress to fund up to $150 million of the repairs, according to WTOP. "While additional funding resources will be needed to complete thi...Continue Reading

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Funding is now in place to replace the Deep Creek Bridge in Chesapeake. The two-lane drawbridge over the Dismal Swamp Canal was built in 1934. It was declared functionally obsolete in 1996, meaning certain travel restrictions are in place regarding the types of vehicles that can cross over it. On average, 27,000 vehicles cross over the Deep Creek Bridge daily. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is administering the project to replace the bridge, improving it to a five-lane drawbr...Continue Reading

RICHMOND, Va. — U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced Thursday that Virginia will receive federal preparedness grants worth more than $18 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. About $2.4 million will go towards a Port Security Grant program. The grants will help combat terrorism and respond to other disasters and emergencies. The funding was made available through FEMA. FEMA also allocated over $53 million to the National Capital Region, which include...Continue Reading

Two historically African-American cemeteries along the Richmond-Henrico County line have been approved for funding to help protect them. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s board of trustees on Thursday approved the allocation of $400,000 from its preservation trust fund for 76 acres consisting of the East End and Evergreen cemeteries, which have fallen into disrepair. The foundation uses a mix of public and private money to protect more than 750,000 acres across the state. “We&rsquo...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON (NEWSPLEX) -- Four members of the U.S. Senate have introduced legislation to help students make smarter decisions when it comes to financing higher education. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both of Virginia, along with Dean Heller of Nevada and Cory Gardner of Colorado say the Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act would promote financial literacy with comprehensive counseling services for those who get federal financial aid. "In January, Senator Kaine and I ...Continue Reading

Nearly $600,000 from the federal government has been released for construction of the Lynchburg Regional Airport’s new control tower, slated to be finished by the end of the year. Built in 1963, the existing tower is in need of replacement. According to Lynchburg Regional Airport Director Mark Courtney, the tower has outlived its usefulness. “With the combination of airline service, flight training and business jets coming in and out, the modern tower is essential to our mission and ...Continue Reading

Arlington’s elected officials are speaking out in favor of today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion. Rep. Don Beyer, County Board member Katie Kristol and U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine — all Democrats — today praised the Supreme Court’s 5-3 decision to strike down a Texas law that greatly restricted abortion providers there. Beyer called the decision a victory for “common sense and justice for women” in a statement: Common...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, including Tim Kaine (D-Va.), announced a proposal to help keep guns from terrorists The bipartisan announcement is a measure that would prevent people who are on no-fly lists from buying guns. The senators mentioned Tuesday that the measure would have an element of due-process — a check to prevent innocent people from being put on watch lists. The announcement comes one day after Congress rejected proposals to keep guns out of e...Continue Reading

A group of nine senators on Tuesday unveiled a bipartisan compromise aimed at keeping guns out of terrorists' hands in the wake of the June 12 Orlando shooting. The legislation spearheaded by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, would prohibit people on the government's no-fly list and the government's selectee list used for extensive screening at airports from purchasing a gun. The bill would allow U.S. citizens and green-card holders to appeal a decision blocking his or her purchase of a firearm, and ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON — Signaling a possible breakthrough in the long stalemate in Congress over tightening the nation’s gun laws, a bipartisan group of senators called on Tuesday for banning gun sales to terrorism suspects on the government’s “no-fly” list. The proposed measure, while modest, puts new muscle and momentum behind what would be one of the few restrictions placed on gun ownership in the past 20 years. The push for the compromise bill, led by Senator Susan Collins...Continue Reading

Virginia and D.C. lawmakers announced Monday plans to keep open the crumbling Arlington Memorial Bridge, which will have to close in 2021 if it is not repaired. U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Virginia Democrats, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser toured the bridge Monday morning before making their announcement. “We just took a pretty sobering tour of America’s most iconic bridge,” Mr. Warner said at a press conference. “Arlington Memorial Bridge was built for a 75-...Continue Reading

Two-dozen U.S. senators on Monday will urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to scrap a policy that bans blood donations from many gay men, saying that the mass shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando last week underscored how the policy discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation. “The atrocities in Orlando are now understood to be the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, where 49 victims were killed and another 53 were wounded, most of them critically,” said a copy of ...Continue Reading

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — While Father’s Day stands as the most prominent holiday being celebrated Sunday, some across the country are celebrating an entirely different kind of holiday. June 19, 1865 marked the end of slavery in the South in the United States. Since then the holiday has been celebrated throughout the country. Sen. Tim Kaine (D) issued a statement on the holiday Sunday afternoon. “On this day 151 years ago, people celebrated the end of slavery in the Sout...Continue Reading

El senador demócrata Chris Murphy pronunció un maratónico discurso de más de 15 horas seguidas que concluyó el jueves 16, exigiendo que la Cámara Alta vote sobre medidas de control de armas y así cerrar el vacío legal que permite la venta de armas a supuestos terroristas. Señaló que eso ocurrió con Omar Mateen, el autor de la matanza en un club de Orlando, Florida, que dejó un saldo de 49 muertos y 53 heridos la ...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) slammed his colleagues on Monday, arguing they are sidestepping a vote on the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) because they are worried about the potential political fallout.  "Members of Congress have chosen to avoid a vote on the theory that either a yes or a no vote carries political risk. In my view, that is a shameful abdication of responsibility," Kaine said during his commencement speech at the Virginia Military Institute.  ...Continue Reading

Senate Democrats led by Chris Murphy of Connecticut ground the Senate floor to a halt Wednesday, vowing to speak as long as necessary to force the Senate to take action to address gun violence. U.S. Senator Time Kaine added his voice to the renewed push for legislative action to combat gun violence during the more than fifteen-hour filibuster. Kaine reflected on how Virginia has been affected by gun violence. "We've got scar tissue in my Commonwealth, we've got scar tissue in this country and we...Continue Reading

Just after 11 AM on Wednesday, June 15th, Democratic Senator from Connecticut Chris Murphy seized the Senate floor and embarked on a nearly 15-hour long filibuster in order to secure a vote on gun-control legislation. He was joined by more than 35 of his colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, including both of Virginia's Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. Virginia's senators are among those who saw tragedy happen in their state multiple times, both pointing to the Virginia Tech...Continue Reading