In The News

Help is on the way. For the Harrisonburg Police Department, that help will come in the form of a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a press release announcing the grant Monday afternoon from the offices of Virginia’s two U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. The grant comes from the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services grants, which are meant to fund law enforcement jobs and expand community policing and crime prevention initiati...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced Monday that Virginia will receive $875,000 in U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services grants to fund law enforcement jobs and expand community policing and crime prevention initiatives. The City of Bristol will be awarded $375,000 to fund three officers and the Harrisonburg Police Department will be awarded $500,000 to fund four officers, according to a written statement. “We’re v...Continue Reading

More of a historic powerhouse than an economic or political one, St. Augustine has a good bit of the world’s attention on all those fronts this week with a royal visit and as host of the U.S.-Spain Council. With St. Augustine celebrating its 450th year as a European-settled city, King Felipe VI of Spain made the city part of his first official visit as king to the United States. For the same reason — and to include the king — the honorary chairman of the U.S.-Spain Council, Sen...Continue Reading

A growing number of Democratic lawmakers are openly questioning whether toppling Syria's Bashar al-Assad should still be a priority amid steady gains by the Islamic State. The issue came to a head Sept. 16 as a key Senate panel held its first IS hearing since the first batch of 54 US-trained rebels was routed in late July by al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra as soon as it entered Syria. Reports that Russia is beefing up Assad's forces with tanks, troops and artillery has only a...Continue Reading

U.S. Senators Mark Warner, D-Va., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., co-sponsored legislation Wednesday that would make Navy veterans who served off the Vietnam shore during the war there eligible for care for Agent Orange exposure. If passed, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act would clarify an existing law so that these "Blue Water" veterans would be fully covered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs if they served within 12 miles of shore, according to a joint statement released by the senators...Continue Reading

Three years after the Benghazi attack, the Obama administration and Republicans in Congress still haven't agreed on where to build a consolidated Diplomatic Security training center that both say is critical for protecting American embassies and consulates around the world. The question has prompted an increasingly nasty congressional turf battle, though a government audit circulated last week could help settle the case for a National Guard base in southern Virginia over a Federal Law Enforcemen...Continue Reading

The president's task force on seafood fraud recommended some fixes earlier this year to prevent the sale of fake Chesapeake blue crab — but those fixes don't go far enough, Virginia lawmakers say. So on Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner joined with U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, to urge President Barack Obama to take a more comprehensive "bait to plate" approach and track crab meat all the way from the source to the consumer. Doing so, the lawmakers said, would protect ...Continue Reading

CAPITOL HILL— U.S. senators of both major political parties tell VOA the United States must help address Syria’s humanitarian crisis and the massive outpouring of migrants from the war-ravaged country. “As a nation we bear some responsibility for what’s happening,” said Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The Europeans have been very good in stepping up, but we are going to have to also,” said ...Continue Reading

The Iran deal rose and fell in Congress on some longstanding divisions — but the debate also showcased some new, influential foreign policy voices emerging in both parties. Particularly in the Senate, the deal challenged lawmakers to devise a process for Congress to decide whether the agreement should be implemented through a rare and unorthodox resolution of disapproval vote. The two-month review process also gave lawmakers a chance to influence not only how their colleagues wou...Continue Reading

Congress will likely pass a short-term continuing resolution to fund the federal government and avert a shutdown while it works on a larger budget deal. That's according to U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va, who spoke at a banking breakfast hosted by the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce Friday. Kaine said he believes Congress will not reach a funding deal by the end of September — the end of the federal fiscal year — and will instead pass a resolution to fund the governm...Continue Reading

A Democratic senator is demanding answers from the Obama administration on the expanding scope of the war with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the legal underpinnings of its plans to defend Syrian rebels from attacks, which could bring the U.S. into war with other groups.   "I understand your Administration is considering revising the existing Rules of Engagement (ROE) to explicitly allow for the defense of U.S.-trained Syrian fighters against attacks," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine has co-sponsored legislation that would encourage companies to hire trained apprentices, citing Newport News Shipbuilding as an example of how to train workers for high-demand technical jobs. Kaine, the son of a Kansas ironworker, has touted the skilled trades as one way to boost the U.S. economy and the fortunes of those who don't desire or can't afford a four-year college degree. He is co-chairman of a Senate caucus on career and technical education. He joined three senators in...Continue Reading

Sometimes it’s not about preventing the next crime. It’s not about the big headlines or major arrests. Sometimes, changing a law just makes sense. It’s hard to argue that there’s a better example than Sen. Tim Kaine’s new bill, the Responsible Transfer of Firearms Act. Understandably, if you sell a gun to someone who isn’t allowed to have one under federal law, that’s frowned on. Even so, there’s usually no penalty attached. If your friend gets out...Continue Reading

In Virginia, it might be considered a lone cry in the forest, but U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D) is again trying to do something to stem gun violence through intelligent regulation. He is pushing legislation that would hold accountable anyone who sells firearms to people who already barred by federal law, including felons, fugitives and those with a documented history of mental illness, among others. Kaine’s latest action comes after Alison Parker, reporter for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke and Adam Wa...Continue Reading

The backlog of unanswered calls, emails and records requests has doubled inside a troubled day care program for U.S. Army parents. A newly released internal audit details late payments, bureaucracy and poor customer service inside the U.S. Army Fee Assistance Program, which is operated by the U.S. General Services Administration. The audit was released six weeks after problems with the program were revealed in a News4 I-Team investigation. The Army Fee Assistance Program was established to ...Continue Reading

While the timing closely follows the shocking on-air shooting of a WDBJ (Channel 7) crew, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine said the idea behind a new gun bill he rolled out Tuesday reflects something he’s been ruminating on for months. “I had a couple of epiphany moments over the summer,” said Kaine, a supporter of universal background checks who made a public appeal for action as recently as April during the anniversary of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings. “We just couldn’t see...Continue Reading

Federal legislators return to Washington today after a five-week recess, and the infamously dysfunctional Congress will be scrambling to avoid a partial shutdown when the government runs out of money Sept. 30. Most of the congressmen and senators representing Hampton Roads - where almost half the economy is built on federal dollars - say such a possibility should be avoided at all costs. But there's no guarantee, they said. Not that the budget will be the only thing on their plates this month - ...Continue Reading

MORE THAN a year after the United States began airstrikes against the Islamic State, the results are mixed: The terrorists have been pushed back in some parts of Iraq and Syria but have expanded their territory in others, and they continue to attract recruits and inspire the creation of affiliates in countries from Afghanistan to Libya. The Obama administration has slowly ramped up its commitment of troops, its cooperation with allies and its range of operations. To all appearances, a solid majo...Continue Reading

Pese a los avances y leyes para asegurar el acceso de las minorías y grupos vulnerables a la obtención de vivienda, aún hay brechas que acortar, dijeron políticos que asistieron el martes 1 de septiembre a la inauguración de la Conferencia Nacional de Vivienda Justa 2015, realizada del 1 a . El Secretario del Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los Estados Unidos (HUD) Julián Castro dio la bienvenida al ex vicepresidente estadounidense W...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine reiterated his support for President Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran, on Tuesday, the same day two of his Democratic colleagues announced their support for the deal as well. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) became the 32nd and 33rd Democrats in the Senate to join supporters. That leaves 11 Senate Democrats undecided, including Virginia’s Sen. Mark R. Warner. The president is one vote away from blocking a GOP effort to defeat parts of the plan. &ldqu...Continue Reading