Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on his vote to confirm Representative Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior: “I voted to confirm Representative Ryan Zinke to be Secretary of the Interior. He has demonstrated expertise in natural resources policy and mainstream views on the protection of our nation’s lands and waters, which is critically important to our Commonwealth. I appreciated his comments on the need to reduce the maintena...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress tonight: “President Trump’s first month in office has caused deep concern among Virginians. I was pleased that his address tonight was more upbeat than his gloomy and combative inaugural address. It is now time for President Trump to follow through with serious policy proposals. “I’m encouraged by President Trump’s commit...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Washington this week, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Mark Warner (D-VA) released the following statement today urging the release of Aya Hijazi, an Egyptian-American unjustly detained in Egypt since 2014: “We remain deeply concerned about the ongoing detention of Aya Hijazi, a dual U.S. and Egyptian citi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine wrote to FBI Director James Comey, calling on him to use all necessary FBI resources to investigate the recent wave of anti-Semitic incidents across the United States, including a bomb threat to the Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax County yesterday, and work with Jewish communities to assess and address their safety needs. “These reports make it even more important that law enforcement entities, including the Federal Bureau of Inves...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement in response to the recent wave of anti-Semitic incidents across the United States, including a bomb threat to the Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax County yesterday: “I am saddened and outraged by the recent rise of anti-Semitic incidents across our nation, including vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and day schools. Just yesterday, the Gesher Jewish Day ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced nearly $8.4 million in funding for organizations working to provide unaccompanied minors who fled violence in Central America with services including temporary shelters and foster care programs. These grants will help organizations in Arlington, Bristow, and the Shenandoah Valley fund services for the children. “These local organizations have stepped up to help children who found themselves here through no...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced that the University of Virginia (UVA) will receive $2,782,938 in funding to support research on infectious diseases and cancer, as well as promote nursing research. “We are excited that one of the Commonwealth’s leading research universities will receive funding to support breakthrough discoveries on some of the world’s most devastating diseases, as well as help train the next generation of med...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, led a bipartisan resolution that unanimously passed the Senate to designate February as Career and Technical Education (CTE) month. CTE Month provides a chance for students, counselors, educators and administrators to learn more about the educational opportunities available in their communities, and recognizes the importance of CTE in preparing a well-educated and ski...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a recent report accusing the Bashar al-Assad regime of atrocities in Syrian prisons, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined a bipartisan letter from Senate Foreign Relations Committee members to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seeking an update on U.S. plans to demand accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Syrian civil war. “In light of Amnesty International’s report and the exhaustive documentation by Caesar and othe...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 on President Trump’s decision to roll back mandatory guidance on protecting the civil rights of transgender students in public schools: “I am disappointed by the Trump Administration’s decision to roll back protections for transgender students in public schools. All students are entitled to a safe learning environment,...Continue Reading

VATICAN CITY – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine attended a general audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City and spoke with the Pope about the Holy See’s work to address the global refugee and migrant crisis. A photo of the meeting is attached and included below. “I had a chance to visit with Pope Francis to discuss the global crisis of refugees and migrants which is relevant around the world and to my work in the Senate,” Kaine said. “As the Pope stated so clear...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) was joined by Bob Menendez, (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Cory Gardner (R-CO) in reintroducing the Trafficking in Persons Report Integrity Act (TIPRIA), legislation designed to comprehensively reform the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP). The TIP process came under scrutiny after questions were raised over the rankings of certain countries despite failures to meet minimum legal standards prescribed by Congre...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined his Democratic colleagues on the Committee in a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, urging him to take full and appropriate advantage of the State Department’s ‘Dissent Channel.’ In the letter, the Senators said that the White House Press Secretary’s recent statement that Foreign Service Officers who had signed a dissent cable in opposition to the Adminis...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine wrote a letter requesting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials provide details on the operation that may have targeted a church shelter in Alexandria, Virginia, which reports indicate led to the arrest of six Latino men. “This incident is of great concern to me because members of this congregation believe that this church was targeted by your agency,” said Kaine. “I appreciate any detailed information yo...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and 18 of their Senate colleagues to introduce legislation to rescind President Trump’s Executive Order on Interior Enforcement, which directs the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the deportation of a vast majority of undocumented immigrants living and contributing to U.S. communities, penalizes sanctuary cities, and drives undocumented communities deeper into the shadows by charg...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure hospitals are fairly reimbursed for their services by the federal government and are able to remain open and functioning, especially in Virginia’s underserved and economically struggling regions. The budget-neutral Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act of 2017 (S.397) would correct a flawed formula that results in disproportionately low Medicare reimbursement payments to ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, along with more than two dozen original cosponsors, has introduced an updated version of his legislation to ban discriminatory profiling at all levels of law enforcement nationwide. The End Racial and Religious Profiling Act of 2017 (ERRPA), is designed to enforce the constitutional right to equal protection of laws through changing policies and procedures for law enforcement and promoting best practices in community-based law enfor...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, voted against Congressman Mick Mulvaney’s nomination to serve as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In a speech on the Senate floor yesterday, Kaine cited Mulvaney’s record of opposition to bipartisan budget efforts to roll back sequestration, his support for policies that unfairly target federal employees, his willingness to use the full faith and credit of the Un...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to the nomination of Scott Pruitt to be the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Kaine discussed Pruitt’s unwillingness to accept the basic scientific consensus that human-generated CO2 emissions are a significant cause of climate change. Kaine also spoke about the impacts of climate change on Virginia, including rising sea levels in Hampton Roads, as he made the case that ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) along with U.S. Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), John Sarbanes (MD-03), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), John Delaney (MD-06), Don Beyer (VA-08), Anthony Brown (MD-04), and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) introduced a joint resolution to establish the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission. Once Maryland, Virginia, and the District of ...Continue Reading