Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, on the 19th anniversary of the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) introduced the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act, legislation to enact at the federal level a series of commonsense gun violence prevention measures approved by Virginia’s elected officials. The bill includes provisions to mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms, prevent children from accessing firearms, prohibit the sale of assault weapon...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement regarding the deaths of Cerina and Justin Fairfax: “We are keeping Cerina and Justin Fairfax’s family—especially their two children—in our prayers as we all process this shocking and horrifying news. We urge any Virginians impacted by domestic violence to call the police or the National Domestic Violence Hotline for support.” The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 a...Continue Reading

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner (both D-VA), joined Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Angus King (I-ME), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and 22 of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Stop Corporations and High Earners from Avoiding Taxes and Enforce the Rules Strictly (Stop CHEATERS) Act, legislation to provide additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to strengthen and expand tax collection services and systems and crack d...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement ahead of the Senate’s votes on resolutions that would block the transfer of select weapons to Israel: “When the Senate votes soon, I will vote to block the transfer of bombs and bulldozers to Israel, in keeping with my years-long position on these types of transfers. While I’ve voted many times to transfer weapons to Israel that are cri...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on USS Gerald R. Ford breaking the record for the longest carrier deployment since the Vietnam War: “The sailors of USS Gerald R. Ford said goodbye to their families in Norfolk last June thinking they would be back before the holidays. But after being ordered from the Mediterranean to...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and a group of their DMV colleagues pressed the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Administrator Bryan Bedford for answers on two recent reports of equipment failure at the FAA Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility that caused evacuation of the facility, hospitalization of FAA personnel, and groundings and delays for aircraft at the covered airports in Virginia and Maryland. Concerned about the Pot...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn a final rule by the Trump Administration to politicize and destabilize the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program by allowing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to limit eligibility and disqualify certain public service employers—a cl...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, six additional U.S. Democratic Senators — Senators Merkley (OR), Gillibrand (NY), Van Hollen (MD), Kelly (AZ), Warnock (GA), and Kim (NJ) —will join Sens. Booker (NJ), Kaine (VA), Murphy (CT), Schiff (CA), Baldwin (WI), and Duckworth (IL) in filing War Powers resolutions that can be used to force a vote to stop the war in Iran. War Powers resolutions are privileged, meaning they can be brought to the Senate floor for a vote by any senator ten calendar days after the...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In light of the extended deployment of Virginia-based Navy ships, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan encouraging him to use the appropriate tools and authorities to ensure ship repair workloads in the Commonwealth remain level, and that the Navy works with industry to prepare for upcoming maintenance demand. The Ford’s near historic deployment, emergency repairs, and c...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement regarding Virginia Tech President Tim Sands’ 12 years of service at the university: “I’m deeply troubled by the sudden departure of President Tim Sands at Virginia Tech. He has been an exceptional leader for over a decade—a period of significant growth for the university, including through its deepened partnership with Carilion Clinic in the R...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and Mike Lee (R-UT), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to encourage the Trump Administration to support free, transparent, and credible upcoming elections in Guatemala. The senators’ letter comes during a critical year for Guatemala’s democratic institutions, when the makeup of the Constituti...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement: “Before President Trump started his illegal and unpopular war of choice, the Strait of Hormuz was open and free of violence, gas was significantly cheaper, and thousands more people—including thirteen American servicemembers—were alive. “This temporary ceasefire agreement—which is already being vio...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement calling on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to bring the Senate back into session this week to address the Iran war, following social media posts by President Donald Trump in which he threatened to commit war crimes against Iranian civilians: “I ask Senate Majority Leader Thune to call the Senate back into session this week. The Presid...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement after President Donald Trump released his Fiscal Year 2027 discretionary budget request to Congress: “Americans across the country are getting crushed by rising costs on energy, food, housing, and everything in between. Instead of ending his war of choice with Iran that is actively driving prices even higher, President Trump is once again revving up a chainsaw to slash important gove...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a new report finding that Medicaid cuts have put ten hospitals in Virginia at risk of closure, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) underscored the devastating effects of the Republican budget law on communities across the Commonwealth. “From Southwest to Northern Virginia, hospitals across the Commonwealth are now at risk of closure because of Republicans’ tax giveaway bill for the ultra-wealthy,” said the senators. “While the rich got trillions in...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, led 50 representatives and senators in sending a letter to President Trump that condemns the administration’s ongoing blockade of Cuba. In their letter, the lawmakers outlined how these policies are exacerbating a humanitarian crisis and called for a new approach th...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new congressional analysis finds that Virginians have already paid $254 million more at the pump as a result of President Trump’s war of choice in Iran, part of a broader nationwide increase in gasoline costs totaling an estimated $8.4 billion for American families. The report shows the national average price of gasoline has now risen above $4 a gallon, with fill-up costs reaching $145 for the top-selling pickup truck, $58 for the top-selling SUV, and $52 for the top-selling...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement regarding President Donald Trump’s update on the Iran war: “Tonight, more than a month into an illegal and unwise war against Iran, President Trump decided to finally attempt to offer the American public an explanation. That attempt fell way short. Having apparently learned nothing from 25 years of tragic wars in the Middle East, Trump ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) are pressing the administration to significantly boost funding for Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities, warning that years of underinvestment will increasingly leave Virginia veterans without the care access they’ve earned. In a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas Collins, the senators urged the administration to align its Fiscal Year 2...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) led their colleagues in a letter pressing the Trump Administration about its decision to ease sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil exports and its lack of planning regarding the economic fallout of President Donald Trump’s war of choice against Iran. Since the war began, the price of U.S. crude oil has risen by more than 40 percent, and the average price of gasoline has risen by more than a dollar per gallon as a r...Continue Reading