In The News

A bipartisan delegation of Virginia lawmakers are correctly calling for the creation of a statewide task force to address the growing heroin epidemic in the Commonwealth. Heroine abuse — once a crime associated just with big cities — is now becoming prevalent in smaller towns, cities and neighborhoods. That’s why we welcome and strongly encourage the efforts of these 12 Virginia lawmakers to address this problem. The bipartisan group of legislators, including U.S. Rep. Morgan G...Continue Reading

I met the former field marshal in February during my first trip to Egypt. On that trip I discovered that Egypt’s citizens are locked in a debate over whether last summer’s events were a move forward on the path to democracy or a step back to authoritarianism. As a US senator who understands the value of a strong US-Egypt partnership, I view the current chapter in Egypt’s history as an opportunity to put the country on a positive trajectory, and a chance to mend the relationship...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON (WAVY) – Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined WAVY News 10 Today Thursday to talk about the Veterans bill passed by the Senate and what it means for the future of the VA. The bill tackles several issues involving waiting times at the VA and leadership issues. Kaine said the bill not only gives significant funding for the training of more medical professionals, but also gives funding for additional facilities to make them more convenient for Veterans. “But probably the core of the ...Continue Reading

Both Senator Warner and Senator Tim Kaine have recommendations to replace a retiring Roanoke federal judge. Judge Samuel Wilson is retiring August 1. Warner and Kaine sent a letter to President Obama yesterday recommending two people from our area for the job. Ward Armstrong served in the House of Delegates from Henry County for 20 years. Elizabeth Dillon is an attorney in Salem. Warner and Kaine say the Virginia State Bar rated both of them as highly qualified. ###

Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va., has joined a bipartisan group of senators to introduce legislation aimed at improving veterans’ access to health care and address the challenges facing the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 would allow veterans to see private doctors outside the VA system if they experience long wait times or live more than 40 miles from a VA facility for a two year period. The measure...Continue Reading

Northside High School senior Tyler Langhorn recently became the first from his school to earn a certificate of general studies while also getting his high school diploma. He's also on track to be getting an associate degree later this spring or summer, another first. Part of how he accomplished such a feat was dual enrollment. More and more high school students are taking college courses before they even head off to college campuses. With the number of students taking the courses increasing (bot...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine said Friday he’s encouraged by the bipartisan push Congress is making to bring about much-needed reform at the scandal-rocked U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “I’m very strongly supportive of it and look forward to working with them to make it happen,” he said. Kaine, D-Va., was a co-sponsor on a bill submitted this week that seeks to expand VA facilities, reduce wait times for medical care and make it easier to axe poorly performing department higher-u...Continue Reading

(Reuters) - Seventy years after D-Day, Carl Proffitt Jr. can still remember the bodies of soldiers washing up on France's Omaha Beach in the Allied invasion that helped turn the tide against Nazi Germany in World War Two. One of the dwindling band of World War Two veterans who gathered on Friday at the National D-Day Memorial to mark the anniversary, Proffitt was in the first wave of infantry put ashore on Normandy's Omaha Beach in the teeth of German gunfire. "If there was such a thing as hell ...Continue Reading

One of the headaches many families have with the Affordable Care Act is the way it figures when an employer's health plan is affordable, Sen. Tim Kaine told his fellow Senators today. Obamacare says people can buy their own insurance with the help of federal subsidies if the cost of coverage otherwise exceeds 9.5 percent of family income. The problem is that employer coverage is deemed affordable when the employee-only coverage comes in at less than 9.5 percent. Family coverage which usually cos...Continue Reading

Expressing alarm at increased reports of heroin use in Virginia, a dozen members of the state’s congressional delegation are asking Gov. Terry McAuliffe to set up a task force to address the problem. “Not a week goes by without a local newspaper or TV news program in Virginia reporting on the death of yet another heroin addict. Many localities are on track to see double the number of heroin overdose deaths over last year,” the lawmakers wrote in the June 4 letter. “Unlike...Continue Reading

When Senators talk, Washington officials listen -- or so some heavy hints from Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia and John Cornyn of Texas suggest.  The two, one a Democrat, the other a Republican, teamed up last month to call on the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission to survey service men and woman about their preferences about compensation. Now, the commission says a survey sounds like a good idea. It will ask 68,000 active duty servicemembers, 60,000 reservists, an...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON (WAVY) – Sen. Tim Kaine has joined 13 senators to introduce the Restoring Veterans’ Trust Act of 2014, a bill that would fix problems at the VA. Kaine (D-VA) introduced the bill with senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mark Begich (D-AK), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Martin Henrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Jack Reed (D-RI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Walsh (D-MT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). Th...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined thirteen of his Senate colleagues Tuesday to introduce the Restoring Veterans’ Trust Act of 2014; legislation to correct underlying problems in access to medical care at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “This legislation is an important step toward restoring the confidence of our veterans and the American public,” said Kaine. “By providing the VA with direct hire ...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine visited the Fredericksburg area Monday to take in two important learning opportunities: a new Asymmetric Warfare Training Center at Fort A.P. Hill and a dual-enrollment program for high school students at Germanna Community College. Lt. Col. Pete Dargle, the commander of the Army post in Caroline County, led a tour for Kaine and members of the Military Affairs Council of the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce. The $96 million Asymmetric Warfare Training Center, which opened i...Continue Reading

A “critical” step in developing a major new marine terminal was realized Thursday when U.S. senators voted to transfer land at Portsmouth’s Craney Island to the state, Virginia Port Authority’s CEO and executive director says. Language contained in the Water Resources Development Act transfers 320 acres for the 512-acre project’s first phase; the state already owns the balance, according to the authority. “Having the ownership of the land transferred to the co...Continue Reading

Lawmakers serving the region are taking renewed and necessary steps to promote clean coal technology. At the same they are correctly voicing opposition to the new and unprecedented emission rules the Obama administration is expected to roll out early next month that will directly impact coal-fired power plants. In addition to killing good-paying jobs and harming the economies of coal-producing states, the new EPA rules — due out possibly as early as June 2 — also are expected to caus...Continue Reading

This year, the old guard is placing six to seven thousand more graveside flags this memorial day than last year. "It's sad you know," cemetery visitor Rob Monson says, "It makes you feel privileged to have that many people that would sacrifice themselves for this country." Space in the famous cemetery is running out, and after ten years of back and forth discourse, a historic "land swap" will be brokered by congress. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia says, "this has been a complicated project but we...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has signed as a co-sponsor of legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate designed to boost large scale federal and private sector investment to develop "clean coal" technologies. Kaine said he is a co-sponsor of the Advanced Clean Coal Technology Investment in Our Nation (ACCTION) bill "because it recognizes that the solution to our energy and climate challenges is American innovation. Coal is a reliable and abundant fuel source, yet one which gener...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine joined up with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., to introduce legislation creating a tax credit of up to $1,000 a year to help foster families cover the cost of caring for a foster child. "Caring for foster children can be more expensive than caring for one’s own biological children because foster children have often been through traumatic physical and emotional circumstances that require additional care and resources to address," Kaine said. While governor, Kaine and his wife An...Continue Reading

A 36-year-old District of Columbia man, working in his spare time, is helping to lead a quiet grass-roots campaign that has had surprising success building support in the U.S. Senate for a bill that would make the District the 51st state. Shoe-leather lobbying by Josh Burch’s group, Neighbors United for D.C. Statehood, has played a key role in raising to 17 the number of senators jointly sponsoring a bill that would create New Columbia. Most of the Senate Democratic leadership, led by Majo...Continue Reading