In The News

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia knew enough about the work being done at AidData, the influential student-faculty global research initiative at William & Mary, that when he had the chance, he just had to see it for himself. That opportunity came on Dec. 5 when Kaine visited AidData, housed at the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations (ITPIR), for a conversation with students, faculty and staff about research initiatives. Helping to organize the visit were William &...Continue Reading

Millions of children know the story of Pocahontas. They know that, thanks to the help of the Powhatan tribe, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas survived when others had failed. As Virginians, we know Indian tribes have played an integral role in the commonwealth and the country’s history from the very beginning. The Monacans, who call Amherst County home, have lived in Virginia for an astounding 10,000 years. Yet even today, the federal government has yet to recognize a...Continue Reading

Millions of children know the story of Pocahontas. They know that, thanks to the help of the Powhatan tribe, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas survived when others had failed. As Virginians, we know Indian tribes have played an integral role in the commonwealth and the country's history from the beginning. Yet even today, the federal government has yet to recognize any of Virginia's historic tribes. Many Virginia Indian tribes were situated here in 1607, when Jamestown was f...Continue Reading

Tim Kaine and other senators who for months have loudly opposed President Barack Obama's use of military forces against Islamic State terrorists without congressional approval are going to get their hearing next week. On Thursday, a day after Kaine scolded Obama - and Congress for failing to challenge the president - in a floor speech, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez called for a committee hearing Monday. It's expected to be followed days later by a vote on legislatio...Continue Reading

There are probably few things that Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul, junior U.S. senators from Virginia and Kentucky respectively, agree on politically, but when it comes to war, they’re on the same page. Kaine — a moderate, left-of-center former governor and early backer of Barack Obama in 2008 — and Paul — the isolationist, libertarian son of former U.S. Rep. and presidential candidate Ron Paul — are locked in a battle with the White House to force Pres...Continue Reading

Tim Kaine dropped by the office this week. He wasn’t campaigning for re-election. He didn’t have an agenda. He didn’t have a complaint. He didn’t ask for anything except a little time. He was in the neighborhood and just wanted to chat. So chat we did. We started with the Middleburg Film Festival. It was good to see you there. Then we moved to the issues that confront a senator from Virginia: the federal budget, sequestration, the economy of the commonwealth, the war on t...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) addressed students who will graduate from the George Washington School of Nursing in January, assuring them that they have chosen a “superb profession.” “We have a significant need for more health care professionals with the Affordable Care Act, the aging of our population—all of these things are creating that demand,” Sen. Kaine said during his visit to GW’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus (VSTC) on Monday. “Campuses like t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON—Some senators are making a last-ditch push to force a December debate on U.S. military operations against Islamic State militants, though a congressional vote authorizing the use of military force remains unlikely until 2015. Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) on Wednesday introduced a resolution declaring war against Islamic State, saying Congress has to fulfill its constitutional duty to declare war. “Right now, this war is illegal until Congress acts,” Mr. Paul said. Sens. ...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to do more to reward states like Virginia that have already tried to reduce carbon emissions as it completes its proposed Clean Power Plan. That plan aims to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants by 30 percent by 2030. In a letter to the EPA, Kaine said Virginia has already reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 38 percent since 2005. A one-size-fits-all approach hits Virginia disproportionately hard, he said. Instead, he said ...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va., is urging Congress to debate and vote on authorizing the use of military force against Islamic State militants before the Dec. 11 recess. “Allowing a president to conduct a unilateral military action that he himself has described as a war for six months without a vote in Congress would be really catastrophic,” Kaine said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It would be a huge overreach by the executive, but that overreach only happens if Congress decides to abdicate ...Continue Reading

Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine are co-sponsoring legislation to provide up to 15,000 visas annually for Koreans with specialized skills that are lacking in the U.S. labor market. The bill, introduced by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., addresses a gap in the U.S. free trade agreement with Korea, which unlike similar agreements negotiated before 2003 did not specifically address visas. “Smart reforms in the high-skill visa program will help Virginia businesses struggling to find qualified in...Continue Reading

The Keystone XL pipeline wouldn't go anywhere near Virginia, but Virginia -- especially Hampton Roads -- has a big stake in it, Sen. Tim Kaine just told the U.S. Senate, outlining his reasons for opposing the project to pipe oil from Canadian tar sands deposits south. He told his fellow Senators about Hampton Roads' concerns about rising sea levels. He said the state's farm, forestry and tourism sectors would all be hurt by climate change. "So those who want to duck the question of climate chang...Continue Reading

El centro de análisis Diálogo Interamericano, presidido por Michael Shifter, otorgó al senador demócrata de Virginia, Timothy Kaine, un reconocimiento por su Servicio Público en las Américas. El senador Kaine recibió el premio de manos de Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty III, quien fungió como jefe de gabinete de la Casa Blanca durante el gobierno del presidente Bill Clinton. La entrega del reconocimiento tuvo lugar el 13 de noviembre e...Continue Reading

Virginia’s senators paid attention. The 2014 elections saw Republicans win control of the Senate and expand their majority in the House. Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine looked at the numbers and drew appropriate conclusions. Warner barely survived a race that was not expected to be close. His near-death experience focused his attention. Kaine, too, followed his home state’s returns with diligence. Last week, Senate Democrats kept Nevada’s Harry Reid as their leader. Warner ...Continue Reading

Robert McCartney, a Washington Post metro columnist, noted the symbolism. The Concert for Valor on Veterans Day saluted the Americans who did their duty when their nation called. The Capitol dome served as the backdrop for the solemn ceremony. The music outside the Capitol honored veterans, yet the men and women elected to serve inside the stately edifice have shirked their obligations. McCartney referred specifically to the congressional role in authorizing war. The campaign against the Islamic...Continue Reading

With Congress returning to Washington today, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine predicts the Senate soon will debate and likely vote on whether to authorize using American troops against the Islamic State terror group. Kaine and others in Congress have objected to President Barack Obama's use of airstrikes against the terrorist group, also known as ISIL, in Iraq and Syria without getting congressional approval. They argue only Congress has the constitutional authority to decide whether the U.S. can take offens...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is demanding a vote authorizing military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria during the lame-duck session, calling it the “height of public immorality” to delay congressional approval. Congress should take up military authorization “right now in the lame duck,” said Kaine, who has emerged as one of the top Democratic critics of President Obama’s strategy, during a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center on Wednesday. “There&rsq...Continue Reading

A Virginia building tile company with a Danville factory is among those U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said could be hurt by new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, the senator said in a letter written last week. Columbia Flooring, the Danville branch of Mohawk Industries, manufactures hardwood flooring for the larger corporation. The plant, which employs about 300 workers, has plans to add 40 more sometime this year. During a tour of the plant last year, manager Bert Eades said the floori...Continue Reading

The Navy will be moving more than 500 jobs from Washington to Norfolk over the next five years, top officials announced Thursday. Navy representatives said all but a small group of the Navy’s Military Sealift Command staff will be relocating to the organization’s headquarters in Norfolk by 2019. The move will include 455 civilian employees, 30 active duty officers and 22 active duty enlisted positions. “Consolidation in Virginia will help us streamline all of our processes,&rdq...Continue Reading

The long slog to attract federal money for projects to prepare Hampton Roads for sea level rise has been punctuated by small advances. In June came the announcement of a two-year pilot project, with support from the White House, to study local adaptation to sea level rise. Then U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine organized a well-attended forum at Old Dominion University on the topic. Now, Kaine is reaching out to federal agencies to encourage them to support the effort. In a letter last week to 11 agencies, in...Continue Reading