In The News

The discussion was pretty free-wheeling, when Sen. Tim Kaine gathered with members of UVa’s One Less group last December to talk about what to do about sexual assaults on campus. But he learned something then that, as of today, looks as if will  reshape federal education policy. Over two hours back in December, the senator and the students wrestled with the tough questions of whether colleges or the police and courts ought to deal with such cases. The students looked hard at their own...Continue Reading

William and Mary Professor Distinguished Visiting Professor Lawrence Wilkerson started scanning the 159 page deal on Iran's nuclear program before the sun came up. Shortly after the deal was announced, a contact in Geneva shot him a copy of the agreement, which Wilkerson said was a monumental step forward in curtailing the Iranian regime's ability to produce a nuclear weapon. But Wilkerson said Congressional support would be important for the deal, which he thinks will be critical in d...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON — Senator Angus King, the prudent independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, flipped through his copy of thenuclear agreement with Iran on Wednesday, pointing to scores of notes in the page margins. “The first step for me is to read the agreement word for word,” Mr. King said, noting that he also would seek to consult with a former weapons inspector and a nuclear physicist or two. Seeking clarity on the written deal is one of several steps Mr. King says...Continue Reading

Last December, in the wake of the now-discredited Rolling Stone article on campus sexual assault, I went to the University of Virginia to meet with members of One Less, a group that advocates for survivors of rape and sexual assault on campus. I needed their advice. According to the Justice Department, young women between the ages of 16 and 24 consistently experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence. Even though Rolling Stone would soon be retracting the piece, there was no denying ...Continue Reading

Una legislación federal que ayude a prevenir el aumento de víctimas de violaciones y acoso sexual será discutida muy pronto en el senado, luego de que elementos claves para la enseñanza sobre relaciones saludables en las escuelas públicas, fueran incluidos en un proyecto de ley sobre educación presentado esta semana.Esta adición fue aplaudida por los senadores Tim Kaine y Claire McCaskill, quienes presentaron en febrero la Ley de Enseñanza ...Continue Reading

On Tuesday in Cincinnati, Major League Baseball pauses for its mid-season All-Star Game. In that same spirit, let’s recognize the political all-stars in Virginia who have had notable performances so far this year. Just as Tuesday’s game will have both rival Yankees and Red Sox on the same team, our All-Star roster includes both Republicans and Democrats. If you’re counting, we’re fielding five Republicans, two Democrats – and two who don’t fit in either party....Continue Reading

Kaine and Warner, both Democrats, are Virginia’s senators. In 2012, Virginia exported nearly $38 billion of goods and services. With dramatic growth in advanced industries across the commonwealth — from cybersecurity and big data, to energy and manufacturing — Virginia is well-positioned to succeed in the coming decades. Trade is an important part of that equation. Various international organizations, including the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, state as a p...Continue Reading

Welcomed legislation introduced in Washington this week by lawmakers representing both West Virginia and Virginia would correctly ensure the promise of lifetime health care and pensions to retired miners and their families The Miners Protection Act was introduced Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito , R-W.Va., U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. The legislation would specif...Continue Reading

Over the July 4 recess, I led a bicameral congressional delegation to Kuwait, Iraq and Turkey to visit American troops and diplomatic personnel and assess the war against ISIL and the dire humanitarian situation in the region. I believe Congress has two primary jobs regarding the battle against ISIL — to authorize the war and provide appropriate budgetary support to succeed. We have yet to do either. For nearly a year, I have been pushing Congress to do its constitutional job and authorize...Continue Reading

The Pamunkey Indians, Pocahontas’ tribe, had an obvious, historical and reasonable claim to federal recognition. But this is Virginia, where no Native American tribe has ever received federal acceptance. And this is 2015, where naked avarice and decades of institutional racism still provide the fuel necessary for opposition. Overcoming a fierce campaign by MGM, which is opening a casino in Prince George’s County, Md., the Pamunkeys won due recognition from the U.S. Bureau of Indian A...Continue Reading

Senate Democrats are drawing red lines on an Iran deal as negotiators race toward a final agreement. Democrats will be crucial to making sure a deal survives the Republican-controlled Congress, and are outlining what they want to see in any agreement accepted by the United States and its six negotiating partners, collectively known as the P5+1.  Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said the level of inspections allowed at Iran's facilities, including military sites, will be the most closely scrutinized a...Continue Reading

City and community leaders expressed relief after the Army announced Thursday it would cut fewer than 100 people from Fort Eustis over the next two years as part of an effort to trim the Army's ranks by 40,000. They had been bracing for cuts of up to 4,200 at Fort Eustis. Only 94 soldiers are on the chopping block, according to Lt. Col. Richard Stebbins, a spokesman for the Newport News post. The figure comes as a happy surprise after the Army spent more than a year looking at 3,400 active duty ...Continue Reading

The decision this year by state lawmakers to set aside $400,000 as compensation for Virginians forcibly sterilized decades ago marks a small but meaningful gesture of societal penance. The payments, capped at $25,000 per individual, can never fully compensate for the injury the state inflicted on some 7,000 Virginians in the name of eugenics. That doesn’t mean the government shouldn’t try, or that today’s leaders are absolved from acknowledging the barbaric injustices of their ...Continue Reading

One kid's birthday wish turned into a giant community event.  When Camden Eubanks asked his mom for the ultimate water balloon fight party, she had reservations. Camden is home schooled due to his apraxia (which causes issues with speech articulation). He's been in speech therapy since he was 2 years old and has made vast improvement, but sometimes it can still be difficult.  "He's a regular little boy," says his mother. "Camden is a math whiz, loves history, and wants to grow up ...Continue Reading

A six-day trip to Iraq, Kuwait and Turkey left Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine encouraged about what’s happening in the region, but also recognizing the challenges ahead. Kaine returned home over the weekend after leading a congressional delegation to the area, focusing on how the Iraqi government is operating and the battle against the Islamic State. What the group found was an improvement over where things were in Iraq a year ago, Kaine said. Portions of the Sunni and Kurdish populations felt is...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on Monday said that after nearly a year in office Iraqi's government remains a "work in progress" and more needs to be done to unite the country's ethnic groups against Islamic militants. The government led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shiite, has brought about “dramatic changes” throughout the country but many, particularly the nation’s Sunni population, are “still waiting to see examples on the ground,” Kaine told reporters. The Virg...Continue Reading

QUANTICO, Va. — They are American national treasures -- our military wounded warriors. Injuries have taken more than a million out of the fight since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But many are overcoming through the healing power of sports. More than 200 elite athletes competed in this year's Department of Defense Warrior Games, held in Quantico, Virginia. The competition kicked off with an opening ceremony similar to the Olympic Games. The crowd of spectators cheered as t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON — Frodo lived in fear for nine years. He knew when two men showed up at his front door to threaten him in 2006 that his family would continue living in danger because of the three years he spent as an interpreter for U.S. forces in Iraq, including some of the most violent years of the war. “(Militants) said to my parents and my family that we know your son was in the U.S. forces so when we catch him we will kill him,” Frodo said. “I worried about my kids and my...Continue Reading

For Virginia’s American Indian tribes, July 2 likely will go down in history as a red letter, to be remembered as the day the first Virginia tribe gained official recognition from the federal government. Think about that for a second. A tribe from Virginia, the site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World at Jamestown in 1607 — a settlement saved early on by the humanitarian intervention of nearby tribes, is only now, in 2015 gaining recognition by the federal gov...Continue Reading

More than 400 years after their ancestors greeted John Smith and other English settlers, Virginia’s Pamunkey Indians have won recognition from the federal government that they are a Native American tribe. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs announced Thursday that the Pamunkey tribe’s decades-long quest for recognition has been approved, making the tribe of Pocahontas the first in Virginia to receive the coveted designation. Six other Virginia tribes are seeking recognition through an ...Continue Reading