In The News

Republican critics have long accused the Obama administration of having no Syria strategy. But with tens of thousands dead and millions more fleeing the country, even some of the White House's closest allies are calling for the administration to do more to lessen the humanitarian crisis in Syria. "I don't hesitate to point out that we're not happy with the way things are going," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in an interview. "I don't view it as a criticism, but I do view it as a prod." In recent w...Continue Reading

The Monacan Indian Nation, Amherst County’s original inhabitants, now is one step closer to receiving federal recognition of its indigenous status. On April 2, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2013 was passed out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to await a vote in the full U.S. Senate. If the legislation passes, it would grant federal recognition to six Virginia Indian tribes, including the Monacan Indian Nation. The bill was introduced by ...Continue Reading

Federal lawmakers representing Southern Virginia applauded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ final approval of a permit needed for Henry County to begin developing Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre. U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats and former Virginia governors, and U.S. Reps. Morgan Griffith and Robert Hurt, both Republicans, got involved in recent months in convincing the corps to grant the permit. In August, the lawmakers introduced the “Commonsense Permitt...Continue Reading

No one could blame area officials if they popped some champagne corks Friday and celebrated. After several years of pursuing a permit to grade the Commonwealth Crossing Business Park, they finally learned Friday that the document had been signed and was on its way here. This has been a long journey that began in 2007 when Henry County bought most of the land for the new business park along the North Carolina line. Additional land was purchased in 2008 to reach the 740-acre total, and the county ...Continue Reading

Sending American service members into battle is the most important decision civilian leaders can make. That is why I entered the Senate with a personal conviction to work on war powers. With nearly one in three Virginians directly connected to the military, decisions about when to use force affect us very deeply. After thirteen years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, we owe it to our troops, and the public, to be clear about how we make these critical decisions. The framers of the Constitutio...Continue Reading

With a trickling waterfall of shiny new coins, a newly minted quarter featuring Shenandoah National Park was launched on Friday. Of the 1,000 people attending the event at Skyline High School, half were students, according to U.S. Mint spokesman Mike White. “Thirty thousand dollars in quarters were exchanged,” he said, with quarter enthusiasts walking away with 120,000 of the coins following the launch. “Usually people are really enthusiastic.” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Min...Continue Reading

Virginia's leaders are supporting the people of Ukraine as they suffer from Russian aggression in Crimea. The former governor of Virginia, turned Democratic U.S. Senator, Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he supports helping Ukraine. The Senate recently approved an aid package for Ukraine after they say, Russia cracked down violently against peaceful protesters in Ukraine. This comes after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine last month. Kaine says it's an issue t...Continue Reading

Back near the end of his term, Tim Kaine had a decision to make. As the governor of Virginia, he had to pick a national park to represent the commonwealth on the back of the quarter. It's like choosing a favorite child, an official state song or, as U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine told a packed high school auditorium Friday, deciding to root for the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech. Out of a slew of choices, including national parks in Jamestown, Yorktown and Appomattox, he picked Shenandoah. "It's j...Continue Reading

The Henry County Industrial Development Authority, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) have agreed upon and executed a long-sought permit from the ACOE that clears the way for development to begin at Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre. The permit, granted by the ACOE under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, was required for Henry County to begin grading at the roughly 740-acre site near the North Carolina line. The final draft was signed by IDA Chairman Len Dillon and sent t...Continue Reading

Less than six months after 10-year-old childhood cancer awareness advocate Gabriella Miller died of an inoperable brain tumor, a federal pediatric medical research bill named in her honor was signed into law by President Obama at a White House ceremony Thursday afternoon. Gabriella, a Leesburg fifth grader, became a widely celebrated activist and successful fundraiser on behalf of childhood cancer awareness during her 11-month battle with brain cancer. In the weeks before her death Oct. 26, she ...Continue Reading

A bill that would extend federal recognition to the Nansemond Indian Tribe and five others in Virginia passed the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Wednesday. The tribes, which also include the Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock and Monacan, are officially recognized by the state but not by the federal government. “I just hope we can finally get there,” Nansemond Indian Tribal Association Chief Barry Bass said on Thursday. “It’s been a long...Continue Reading

In just 10 years, a little girl from Leesburg left a lasting legacy. What Gabriella Miller lacked in age she made up for in influence, providing the inspiration for legislation steering more money to pediatric disease research that recently won the approval of an oft-gridlocked Congress. Today, President Barack Obama will sign the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, motivating parents and advocates to continue their work. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, and Democratic U.S. Sens. ...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) stopped in Alexandria Monday to hear from MOM’s Organic Market owner Scott Nash (in the yellow shirt) about why he believes it’s important to pay his employees above the current minimum wage. Kaine then spoke with employees and discussed his support for raising the minimum wage – legislation that is expected to come before the Senate this week or next. MOM's Organic Market founder and owner Nash spoke out last week at the U.S. Capitol to highlight the ben...Continue Reading

Virginia should study the effects of Medicaid expansion while taking the federal dollars to do it, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said during an interview Friday. The former governor reiterated his position on a key provision of health care reform during a discussion that also covered the federal debate over raising the minimum wage. Kaine has volunteered for the Remote Area Medical Clinic in Wise County that annually draws thousands for free health and dental assistance that its mostly poor and ru...Continue Reading

They fanned out, facing the ridge, and waited to get shot. The eight National Guardsmen lay as flat as they could in the open creek while the dirt beside them jumped with machine-gun rounds. There were 45 Taliban blazing away above them, firing from two emplacements on the hill in Wahgez, a lawless, black-route district in southern Afghanistan. Still dazed by the rocket that pierced his "bomb resistant" truck and launched this hour-old ambush, First Lieutenant Matt Zeller was low on ammo and dro...Continue Reading

On March 10, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) visited NOVA’s Alexandria Campus to discuss the interconnection between technical education and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields as it relates to future careers in the workforce. STEM programs, like NOVA’s SySTEMic Solutions, equips students with the skills needed in today’s and tomorrow’s workforce. Senator Kaine, along with U.S. Senator Robert Portman (R-OH), recently formed the Senate Career and T...Continue Reading

Last summer, says Sen Tim Kaine, in an essay published by The Roanoke Times, he joined doctors, nurses, dentists and students camped out in tents, trailers and RVs at the Wise County Fairgrounds to volunteer at the Remote Area Medical Clinic (known as RAM), to provide free medical, dental and vision care to rural Virginians who would otherwise go without that care. “While I always look forward to the opportunity to volunteer at RAM, I wish we didn't need one in Virginia,” Kaine wrote...Continue Reading

Last summer, I traveled to the Wise County Fairgrounds in Southwest Virginia to volunteer at the Remote Area Medical (RAM) Clinic - a sea of tents, trailers and RVs that house dentists, doctors, nurses and medical students who provide free medical, dental and vision care to rural Virginians who would otherwise go without that care. While I always look forward to the opportunity to volunteer at RAM, I wish we didn't need one in Virginia. But every year, the volunteers keep coming back because tho...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va., has teamed up with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to lead a bipartisan group of lawmakers in calling on President Barack Obama to develop and submit to Congress a more robust U.S. strategy for addressing the Syrian humanitarian crisis. The call comes on the heels of reports by UNICEF, Save the Children and World Vision that highlight how millions of Syrian children have been affected by the three-year crisis. “One of history’s greatest humanitarian catas...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine was among two dozen Senators to pull an all nighter this week to discuss climate change. And perhaps like those of us (naming no names) who’ve gone through some white nights getting set for a mean calculus exam, he kicked off his comments saying: “This is at the beginning, kind of a math problem folks.” The math, said Kaine, starts with 6 billion. That’s as in tons of greenhouse gases that went into atmosphere in 2005. The math problem (the prof would have ...Continue Reading