In The News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tears welling in her eyes, Syrian refugee Amineh Sawan said Thursday that Americans are too focused on the use of chemical weapons by the regime of President Bashar Assad. "My brother's family survived the chemical weapon attack the day of the attack," the 23-year-old said, her voice trembling. "Seven days later they were killed with a mortar shell. If you take away the weapons, Assad still has so many weapons to kill us." Amineh Sawan and her cousin Heba Sawan, 24, survi...Continue Reading

A member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday said the U.S. needs to make sure it gives the current diplomatic initiative with Iran a solid chance before passing a new sanctions bill that could cause talks to fail. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the U.S. has an obligation to those who would be doing the fighting in a U.S. war with Iran to try and resolve the issue over Iran's nuclear program diplomatically. "I'll state on the record right now that if there's no other way to stop Iran ...Continue Reading

With support waning for Iran sanctions legislation, top US Iran negotiator Wendy Sherman and Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen testified on the Iran nuclear deal to the Senate foreign relations panel Tuesday. Despite sinking prospects for the Iran sanctions bill he co-sponsored, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Robert Menendez (D-NJ) expressed continued deep skepticism about the terms of the interim Iran nuclear deal which went into effect on Jan. 20, and to be looking for ways to cons...Continue Reading

Last week in the State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said the following about foreign threats: We have to remain vigilant. But I strongly believe our leadership and our security cannot depend on our outstanding military alone. As commander in chief, I have used force when needed to protect the American people, and I will never hesitate to do so as long as I hold this office. But I will not send our troops into harm's way unless it is truly necessary, nor will I allow our sons and ...Continue Reading

Paul McHale is a former member of Congress (1993-99) from Pennsylvania, former assistant secretary of defense (2003-09), and a retired Marine colonel with 33 years of active and reserve service; he was the senior U.S. adviser to the Afghan National Police in 2007 We need a national debate, and legislation recently introduced by Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and Tim Kaine (D., Va.) provides the opportunity. This bipartisan legislation focuses on a long-overdue reassessment and likely repeal of th...Continue Reading

Invoking his youth, bending metal for his father, Sen Tim Kaine joined up with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to form a bi-partisan caucus focusing on career and technical education “From growing up working in my Dad's small ironworking shop to creating Governor’s Career and Technical academies, career and technical education has always been a passion of mine,” said Kaine. Kaine, who as a missionary in Honduras learned about the important of individualized instruction as he restruct...Continue Reading

On the fifth anniversay of the day the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law, Sen. Tim Kaine took a moment to push again for the Paycheck Fairness  Act he has co-sponsored. The act details what employers must show to demonstrate that there are business reasons for differences in what men and women are paid for the same work. It formally bars retaliation when an employee complains of discrimination over pay, and  allows punitive and compensatory damages if an employee can pro...Continue Reading

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) met with business owners in Leesburg’s Catoctin Crescent business zone Friday to gain perspective on the town’s economic development plans. Shortly after 2:30 p.m. several town representatives including Mayor Kristen Umstattd, Vice Mayor David Butler and Economic Development Commission Vice Chairman Don Chapman gathered at Mama Lucci’s restaurant on Industrial Court to join Kaine on the tour. Councilwoman Kelly Burk said she was excited the senator was ...Continue Reading

Virginia's U.S. senators, both Democrats, will join House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) in pressing to preserve just one element of the late Gabriella Miller's legacy.U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D) and Mark Warner (D) made public Monday their support for the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, bipartisan legislation named after the Loudoun County child cancer advocate who died from the disease last year at the age of 10. The bill, as it passed the House, proposes to shift $13 million per year ...Continue Reading

More than a dozen years after Congress authorized the use of military force against nations, groups or individuals involved in or aiding the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine said it's time to rethink that open-ended declaration. The authorization, passed by Congress three days after the attacks that killed 2,977 people in New York City, Washington, D.C., and rural Pennsylvania, has been used by the last two presidents to broaden the war on terrorism beyo...Continue Reading

Virginia’s U.S. senators are signing on to an effort to boost pediatric research funding. Democratic Sens. Timothy M. Kaine and Mark R. Warner will today announce their support for the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, named for a girl from Leesburg who had an inoperable brain tumor and died in October. The move also marks bicameral, bipartisan cooperation among Virginia’s congressional delegation. In the House of Representatives, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, champion...Continue Reading

Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) urged the Obama administration to ensure that El Salvador’s upcoming elections are “free and fair.” The two senators wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry asking him to do what he can to help the Feb. 2 presidential elections go smoothly in El Salvador. “We write to encourage the Department of State and U.S. Embassy in San Salvador to take all appropriate efforts to ensure a free, fair and transparent vote,” the senators wrote in a letter sent ove...Continue Reading

BERRYVILLE — Sen. Tim Kaine visited Clarke County High School on Friday to learn more about its Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. He also reviewed local efforts to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The Virginia Democrat said he wanted to boost CTE and will try to start a CTE caucus in the Senate this year. “It’s a part of education I believe is not getting the attention it should,” he said, although he added that the program seemed...Continue Reading

HINTON — Time has snuck up on Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., or at least he feels it has when recalling the last time he met with a room full of Rockingham County poultry growers. It was as lieutenant governor in spring 2004 when he met with local residents after it was announced that Pilgrim’s Pride was selling or shutting down its Hinton plant. “There was a real sense of, ‘what do we do?’” Kaine said. “There was a lot of people that had a lot of anxiety a...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine visited the Valley Friday and stopped in Hinton as one of the main topics he touched up on was the farm bill. Many different issues were brought up at Friday morning at the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative. One of the biggest issues Kaine said could have the biggest impact in the Valley is the farm bill. He said the biggest hold up on a farm bill deal continues to be the food stamp program. The Senate has passed their own version of the bill; however, congressional Republicans...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine said Thursday he thinks the federal government is ready to let the development of Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre proceed. “That’s my hunch,” Kaine said while visiting Martinsville, based on a meeting he and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner recently had with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Both senators are Democrats and former Virginia governors. The industrial park is planned off U.S. 220 south of Ridgeway near the North Carolina line. The project is stalled ...Continue Reading

On Wednesday, Danville economic development leaders, businesses owners along with Virginia Tech educators discussed ways to bring businesses and jobs to Danville. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and Martin Briley, president and chief executive of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership also attended the Economic Development Summit at the Institute for Advanced Learning in Danville.The day-long summit hosted by the city of Danville and Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce focused on Danville&rs...Continue Reading

Senator Tim Kaine paid a visit to the University of Virginia Wednesday to discuss a new bill he's proposed along with Senator John McCain. It is called the War Powers Consultation Act, and Kaine says it was heavily influenced by a UVA committee. The bill is aimed at improving communications between the president and Congress when sending troops into battle. Kaine says the legislation was largely influenced by a 2007 study done at UVA's Miller Center.  He says one of the most important thing...Continue Reading

Regional cooperation remains a key part of the Danville area’s economic success. “Partnerships are everything,” Martin Briley, president of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, told a group of about 140 people who attended the day-long economic development summit at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. Briley was the keynote speaker at lunch, explaining how the group he leads disperses money in the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, passes leads about com...Continue Reading

Five years ago, the War Powers Commission at the University of Virginia proposed legislation that would require the president to get permission from Congress to commit U.S. troops to combat operations lasting more than a week. The proposal could become reality this year, as Congress discusses a bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va., and John McCain, R-Ariz., based on the proposal. Kaine was at the university’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy on Wednesday a...Continue Reading