Press Releases

~ This is the first time moving costs would have serious tax implications for some civilian federal employees ~ WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) called on the U.S. General Service Administration (GSA) to do more to help federal workers manage the burden of new taxes on relocation expenses. The tax bill passed last year eliminated the deduction for job-related moving costs, as well as the exclusion for reimbursements or in-kind contributions made by e...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine called on Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie to address the lack of timely payments of housing stipends to veterans through the Post-9/11 GI Bill, causing undue financial burden on veterans and their families. Warner and Kaine explained that the failure to ensure prompt payments has caused some veterans to be displaced from their homes, hurt their ability to afford basic necessities, and prevented them from pursuing...Continue Reading

~ Bipartisan legislation will award Congressional Gold Medals to Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden for their groundbreaking contributions ~ WASHINGTON – Today, bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) to award four African American women scientists the Congressional Gold Medal for their work at NASA Langley passed the U.S. Senate with unanimous support. The bill would give this distinction to Katherine John...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal agency that oversees tobacco regulation, announced new changes to protect young people from tobacco products: “We have seen an alarming increase in young people using e-cigarettes because of kid-friendly flavors and irresponsible marketing by e-cigarette manufacturers, and ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) today introduced the Revitalizing American Priorities for Infrastructure Development (RAPID) Act, which would encourage greater participation in the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program by expediting projects meeting certain specifications and ensure Congress, applicants, and the public are well-informed about projects seeking funding. “The TIFIA program is an invaluabl...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, released the following statement on sanctions announced by the U.S. Treasury Department on 17 Saudis for involvement in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder: “The sanctions announced by the Treasury Department are an important, but insufficient step towards holding Saudi Arabia accountable for the state-sponsored murder of Virginia resident and journalist J...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $4,799,911 in federal funds to boost broadband access in Southwest Virginia and on the Eastern Shore. The funding, awarded through the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Community Connect Grant Program, will be used to construct and expand broadband access in rural and underserved communities.   “Broadband access is vital to the economic success of the Commonwealth and the nation...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2018 to protect veterans and low-income families from housing discrimination. Many veterans and low-income families pay their rent through vouchers, and as it stands now, landlords can discriminate against them, denying housing based on how they pay rent. The Fair Housing Improvement Act would expand ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after Amazon announced that half of its new headquarters will be based in Arlington, Virginia: “I’m thrilled that our skilled workforce helped persuade Amazon to bring a major new headquarters and its tens of thousands of jobs to Virginia. Congratulations are in order to Governors McAuliffe and Northam and the local leaders who worked to ensure that this deal includes investmen...Continue Reading

View Photos Here  WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, met with American servicemembers at Naval Station Rota in Spain today. During his visit, Kaine highlighted the importance of U.S.-Spanish military cooperation and thanked the troops for their service. “American troops stationed in Rota play an invaluable role in supporting U.S. Naval operations in the Mediterranean and Africa. I’m glad t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and 30 senators in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opposing the Trump administration’s decision to delete a section including reproductive rights from the Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. In the letter, which was supported by 11 prominent human rights and reproductive rights o...Continue Reading

~ Funds will increase access to opioid treatment and medical specialists ~  WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced that two Virginia organizations have received nearly $500,000 in federal funds to expand access to health care services for patients in rural and underserved areas through the use of telemedicine. “Communities across Virginia have been hit hard by opioid abuse. Too often, those seeking treatment for addiction struggle to ge...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement regarding President Trump’s proposal to revoke the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision by executive order: “President Trump took an oath to support the Constitution. An executive order to eliminate birthright citizenship would be a violation of his oath of office. And it reveals who he is—a man who longs to return to the days when African Americans and membe...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released the following statement: “I’m encouraged that HHS, through the Innovation Center created by the Affordable Care Act, embraced my recommendation to create a pilot program to test new ways to bring down drug prices. I urge interested stakeholders to weigh in with their feedback by providing comments for the Administration to review as it continues to ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine celebrated key provisions from their bills to address the opioid crisis becoming law. The comprehensive substance abuse treatment bill, known as the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, was just signed into law by President Trump after it passed the Senate 98-2 and the House 393-8. The legislation includes four proposals from Warner that initially passed out of the Senate Finance Committee as pa...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, released the following statement on Saudi Arabia’s claims regarding the death of Jamal Khashoggi:   “Saudi Arabia’s state-sponsored murder of Virginia resident and esteemed journalist Jamal Khashoggi while visiting its consulate in Istanbul demonstrates a combination of brutality and lies that must not be tolerated. After claimi...Continue Reading

USTR previously offered specific product exclusions for American businesses that could face undue harm, but failed to do so with new tariffs  WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine led ten of his colleagues in sending a letter to the Trump Administration’s lead trade official asking why the Administration’s latest round of Tariffs on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods did not include exclusions to protect American businesses. For earlier rounds of tariffs, ex...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine put out the following statement after Governor Ralph Northam announced state agencies will begin accepting applications on November 1, 2018 from Virginia adults newly eligible for health coverage under Medicaid expansion: “I’m excited that we are moving even closer to hundreds of thousands of Virginians finally getting access to quality health care. Virginians waited a long time for this, and I encourage all those who are eligibl...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined 34 colleagues in calling on the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect students from lead in school drinking water. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows an estimated 41 percent of public school districts did not test for lead in school drinking water, and a third of districts that were tested showed elevated levels. “Lead is a neurotoxin, and any amount of exposur...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, released the following statement sixteen years after the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) for the war against Iraq was signed into law: “Sixteen years ago today, based on faulty intelligence, Congress authorized war against Iraq. Despite the brave service of U.S. troops, the war represented a massive failure by our political leaders. And yet the Iraq...Continue Reading