In The News

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is worried about the unemployment rate for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. At a recent Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing, he noted former service members face major hurdles in translating their military service into meaningful civilian careers. Kaine, who has a son in the Marine Corps and has heard hardship stories from veterans while on the campaign trail, successfully pushed major sections of his proposed Troop Talent bill into this year's Nation...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine sat with Wythe County business and education leaders Tuesday morning and discussed a variety of topics ranging from the shifting role of education in America to how to improve communication in Washington. Kaine, who has a long-time friendship with Wytheville Mayor Trent Crewe and has visited the area many times, was open and relaxed during the 90-minute meeting, much of which focused on education. The senator said he is passionate about technical and career education. “...Continue Reading

Business and community leaders told U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine during a roundtable discussion Tuesday that workforce training and drug addiction are two major issues facing local employers. Kaine, a Democrat and former Virginia governor, met with the group at the United Way Virginia Highlands during a swing through Southwest Virginia Tuesday and today. He said he has become involved in workforce training in the Senate because employers cannot locate enough workers. He has found that companies are looki...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine started the second leg of his statewide tour Monday by holding a roundtable discussion with community leaders in Roanoke. The Democrat talked about facing economic uncertainty, pushing to champion career and technical education, and raising the minimum wage, among other issues. The talk with about 20 women was lively and informal. Last week Kaine made stops elsewhere in Virginia, including Martinsville, Charlottesville and Newport News. Kaine said Monday he was interested in ...Continue Reading

"Cooperation" was the buzzword at Thursday’s groundbreaking for the Commonwealth Crossing Business Center. Sen. Tim Kaine praised the cooperation between Henry County and Martinsville in developing the new industrial park and advocating for it when obstacles arose. That occurred when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers balked at issuing a grading permit until a company committed to the site and could show plans for it, yet a company would not relocate to the site without the approved permit. ...Continue Reading

The key to economic development in Southside Virginia is a continuing focus on education and workforce training, according to U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and state Sen. Bill Stanley. Warner said the work being done to provide workforce training at Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) and New College Institute (NCI) is a crucial component in area economic development. Thursday’s groundbreaking at Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre is “just the first step,” Warner s...Continue Reading

A long-awaited groundbreaking for Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre on Thursday was the result of cooperation and collaboration, according to state political leaders who spoke at the event. Speakers included Sen. Tim Kaine, Del. Danny Marshall and U.S. Reps. Robert Hurt (5th District) and Morgan Griffith (9th District). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a long-sought grading permit for the business center on April 4. Previously, the corps had been reluctant to issue the permit due to...Continue Reading

Members of Virginia’s congressional delegation say Fort Pickett will be the home of a training center for U.S. diplomatic personnel assigned to high-threat areas around the globe. The announcement was made Thursday by the Obama administration. The Fort Pickett facility will be called the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center. Gov. Terry McAuliffe says the center will provide training for up to 10,000 students annually. He said the General Services Administration has said the center will...Continue Reading

With fiscal 2014 fiscal more than halfway over and November midterm elections rapidly approaching, focus in Washington has once again turned to across-the-board budget sequester cuts that went into effect in March 2013. Sensing an opportunity to possibly ease — or erase — the cuts that are slated to last until fiscal 2021, Department of Defense (DoD) officials are putting the spotlight on long-term sequestration pitfalls, such as the Navy’s aircraft carrier fleet being cut from...Continue Reading

Your job, after graduating college, is to work really hard. In 10 years, maybe you can buy a house. It was that austere depiction of life after college that pushed Paul Singh, founder of Disruption Corporation, an asset-management firm in Arlington, Va., toward entrepreneurship. "Your future isn't in your control if you go down as a salary man," he said during a Wednesday panel discussion at a National Journal and The Atlantic town-hall event on millennials in Richmond, Va., underwritten by Micr...Continue Reading

Federal recognition of six Virginia Indian tribes has been lingering in Congress for nearly two decades. Among the six are the Monacan Indian Nation based at the foot of Bear Mountain in Amherst County. The tribes are one step closer to receiving federal recognition after years of battling one problem or another in pursuit of that elusive goal. It’s the same recognition that has been granted to nearly 600 other tribes around the United States. Federal legislation introduced by Virginia Sen...Continue Reading

After Sen. Timothy M. Kaine spoke Monday to the class of Larry J. Sabato, a University of Virginia professor and political analyst, a student from Midlothian came up to say hello. The student wasn't interested in talking about the Democrat's tenure as governor, or his work in the Senate. Instead, he wanted to talk about Kaine's time on Richmond City Council and to tell Kaine how proud he is to be from the Richmond region. Kaine said the student's comment -- that he's proud to be from Richmond --...Continue Reading

Newport News Shipbuilding and NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton are feeling the pinch of budget uncertainty in Washington, but Sen. Tim Kaine says Congress might clear that up in the coming weeks. The Virginia Democrat toured both facilities Tuesday, and at the shipyard brought an influential colleague to share the sights. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairs the seapower panel of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Kaine is member of that panel, and they spent four hours at the sprawling yard,...Continue Reading

Congress must adopt a more civil, collaborative approach to budgeting and policy to eliminate economic uncertainty for businesses, U.S. Sen. Timothy M. Kaine said Monday. He kicked off a two-week tour of Virginia with an appearance the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Commonwealth Breakfast. “We would all acknowledge that the [economic] recovery has not been as fast as we would want,” Kaine told about 200 people gathered at the Holiday Inn on Emmet Street. “...Continue Reading

The stage might have belonged to U.S. Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, but the class belonged to professor Larry J. Sabato. That, however, is about to change. While Kaine explained his heart change on same-sex marriage to the 400-plus students at the University of Virginia’s Introduction to American Politics — “My kids said, ‘Equal is equal, Dad, it isn’t that hard’” — Sabato sat on a folding chair offstage for the last time. “I’ve been doing the...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) spoke to professor Larry Sabato's politics course at the University of Virginia, marking the final high-profile guest speaker in Sabato's tenure of teaching the course. This is the final semester Sabato is lecturing after 35 years. "There's a time for everything. We all get older and you have to say goodbye," Sabato said. Kaine has appeared in the course a few times before. "I've been the subject of many a Larry Sabato prediction over the years, just doing what I do, ...Continue Reading

The towering Varina-Enon Bridge with its cascading cables that carry Interstate 295 across the James River is clearly seen from the acres of corn and wheat grown on the historic Varina Farms in eastern Henrico County. The farm was once famous for the tobacco crop from which the Varina region got its name. The tobacco, similar to the Spanish Varinas variety, was John Rolfe’s crowning achievement and contribution to the settlement’s survival in the 1600s. His wife, Pocahontas, had her ...Continue Reading

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine rolled-up his sleeves and volunteered in Henrico County Saturday. He, along with 30 volunteers, spent the morning repainting an elderly couple’s home. They teamed up with “Operation Paint Brush,” an organization that has been painting homes of people in need for nearly 15 years. "It's one of the best things you can do. Some of my most enjoyable moments in my adult life have been volunteering and you get to meet neat people and learn about them and hopeful...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine stopped by Fredericksburg on Friday for a wide-ranging discussion with a small group of women business owners and professionals. Kaine, D–Va., sitting at the head of a table at Kybecca restaurant, talked about the proposed federal minimum wage increase, immigration reform and issues facing women entrepreneurs. Melissa Harris, who founded Foodshed Magazine and Flavor Magazine, told Kaine that she felt the need to bring a “token male” with her to venture capit...Continue Reading

Revisiting a project from when he was lieutenant governor, Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va., will launch his new “Citizen Day” initiative in the Richmond area this weekend, hoping to highlight causes and organizations that are helping Virginians in need. “It’s good to be able to connect with this public service motive and do it in a way that can draw attention to the cause,” Kaine said in an interview Tuesday. “By doing this, I can both have fun and, hopefully, sh...Continue Reading