In The News

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called attention to both the challenges and the opportunities presented by the Fairfax County school system’s growing minority population while visiting Lake Anne Elementary Wednesday. Students at the Reston elementary school speak 54 languages, principal Brendan Menuey told Kaine. More than a quarter of the school’s students have limited proficiency in English, and Parent-Teacher Association meetings are translated into Spanish and Arabic. “School s...Continue Reading

Senator Tim Kaine visited the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington on Tuesday to meet with President Timothy Sands in an effort to learn more about the university’s research initiatives. “It is important for me to see first-hand the great research projects that are being funded through the partnership you have with different federal agencies,” said Kaine in a press release. "I can use this knowledge during budget deliberations." While current estimates of budget cuts aime...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON — Some of Virginia’s top political leaders are taking issue with President Barack Obama’s authorization of Syrian airstrikes without congressional approval. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., says the United States shouldn’t be participating in the strikes against Islamic State terrorists because Congress hasn’t authorized them. But Kaine also finds it “kind of unfathomable” that Congress would take a recess until mid-November without voting on the u...Continue Reading

In Hampton Roads, forecasts of rain — such as the occasionally heavy precipitation Wednesday — almost inevitably mean an expectation of flooding. In places including Hampton, Newport News, Virginia Beach and, of course, Norfolk, streets and other low-lying areas are inundated with nearly every passing storm. Sea levels are steadily rising, and parts of the Tidewater are sinking, meaning that land once thought safe and dry is now threatened. Continual expansion of suburbs and shopping...Continue Reading

Dick Cheney’s spirit inhabits the Oval Office. Barack Obama — the imperial president — relies on the 2001 congressional authorization of the invasion of Iraq as approval for his military intervention against the Islamic State. The move ought to offend all who believe presidents lack unlimited power. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., continues to assert Congress’ role in the waging of war. The Iraq resolution has nothing to do with the present danger. The Islamic State may claim Iraq...Continue Reading

Hours after U.S. forces launched airstrikes against Islamic State terrorists in Syria, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine accused Congress of abdicating its responsibility to approve such military actions. Kaine, a strident critic of President Barack Obama's use of offensive attacks without legislative support, said in a speech Tuesday he's convinced the Islamic State poses a significant threat to the United States and must be stopped - but he argues that alone doesn't justify the president overstepping his co...Continue Reading

Hours after the U.S. and allies for the first time launched airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va., warned Tuesday that without giving President Barack Obama clear authorization for such action, Congress is essentially accepting the “Cheney doctrine” of pre-emptive warfare. “The president has indicated that these missions are justified by the 2001 and 2002 authorizations by Congress. I think that this argument is an extremely creative ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON — One US senator believes his colleagues will provide funds to fight the Islamic State (IS) group, but he wants the strikes to cease unless Congress formally authorizes them. Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, predicts Congress will inflate the 2015 overseas contingency operations (OCO) budget during a November-December lame duck session. The House approved $79.4 billion for war monies, but that was before the ...Continue Reading

“The president shouldn’t be doing this without Congress,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Tuesday of strikes against the Islamic State group, and “Congress shouldn’t be allowing it to happen without Congress.” Otherwise, Capitol Hill is embracing the policy of preemptive war favored by former Vice President Dick Cheney that it rejected back in 2001, right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he said at a Center for American Progress Action Fund event. Kaine, who ...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Tuesday that Congress should be debating authorization for airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) "right now," as the U.S. began bombing targets in Syria Monday night. Kaine has led calls for President Obama to seek congressional authorization for the strikes against ISIS. On Tuesday, he said that the military mission had changed, requiring a new authorization. "I think the mission has now switched to an offensive mission," Kaine said on MSNBC, ...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on Tuesday urged the White House to seek congressional authorization to conduct airstrikes on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or call off the military campaign against the terrorist group. “If we’re going to engage this mission we got to do it right or not do it. And if we don’t get Congress on board with it, we aren’t doing it right,” Kaine said during a speech at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, stepping up his criti...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) intensified his calls for Congress to debate the authorization of expanded U.S. military operations in the Middle East Tuesday: failing to take up the issue later this fall, he said, would essentially be an endorsement of the Cheney Doctrine of preemptive war they'd once rejected. "If we’re going to engage this mission we got to do it right or not do it. And if we don’t get Congress on board with it, we aren’t doing it right," Kaine said during a speech a...Continue Reading

The hardest call during my first year in the Senate was my vote to authorize military force in Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons against his citizens.  When I was sworn in on January 3rd, 2013, I expected difficult votes.  But I did not anticipate such a profound vote within my first nine months.  Only the 18 Senators who serve on the Foreign Relations Committee had to take that vote on September 4, following President Obama’s decision to a...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine said Thursday he believes in the approach President Obama has laid out to combat the Islamic State terrorist group, including plans to arm and train Syrian rebels to aid in the fight. That proposal, approved by Congress this week, has drawn skepticism from both ends of the political spectrum. Some legislators believe the plan is too limited to be effective while others worry it will end up backfiring. But Kaine, D-Va, said working with rebel groups in Syria is an important pi...Continue Reading

Every teacher at some point gets tested by their students. Someone will act up in class or do something because they think they can get away with it. How that teacher handles the situation most of the time sets the tone for the rest of the school year. In many ways, it’s the same with our country’s foreign policy. There comes a time when threatening speeches just aren’t enough, you need to take action. That’s why, with a few qualifiers, we support the legislation Virginia...Continue Reading

Tim Kaine won his seat in the Senate in 2012. It has taken him only two years to establish himself as one of the chamber’s most informed members regarding war powers. Kaine believes, rightly, that presidents must seek congressional authorization for military interventions. Although responses to direct attacks on American interests sometimes must be launched before Congress can act, presidents still must seek advice and consent. Kaine believes that President Barack Obama needs congressional...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a proposal Wednesday authorizing President Obama to use military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) but barring ground troops except for rescue missions. Kaine, perhaps the most outspoken voice among Senate Democrats calling for Congress to authorize action, is introducing the bill one day after Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey raised the possibility that ground troops could be used to fight ISIS. The proposal from Kaine w...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine is introducing a limited war authorization against ISIS, even as Congress is set to jet out of town without an authorization vote before the elections. The Virginia Democrat, who has led the push for Congress to go on record, would limit the use of ground forces in the conflict to rescue missions and to go after high-value targets. The authority against ISIS, also known as ISIL or the Islamic State, would expire after a year. He also proposes to repeal the 2002 authorization to us...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine is giving voice to his longstanding concern that Presidents aren’t paying careful enough attention to the War Powers Act and what the Constitution says about the role of Congress when war looms, with legislation would specifically authorize the use of force against the Islamic State (aka ISIL or ISIS). As it happens, he's doing so on Constitution Day. Kaine said his intention is to be specific and to narrowly define that authorization, to focus on key objectives President Ob...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine has introduced a congressional resolution that would authorize the use of military force against the Islamic State, known as ISIS, but would prohibit using American ground troops. Kaine has been a vocal opponent of President Barack Obama’s view that he can launch offensive military strikes against the terrorist group without congressional approval. The Virginia senator said Congress must not ignore its responsibility under the Constitution to decide when the U.S. should...Continue Reading