Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined 44 of their Senate colleagues to introduce the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 to restore and strengthen the landmark Voting Rights Act. “There is no more sacred right as an American than the right to vote. Unfortunately, more than 50 years after the enactment of the landmark Voting Rights Act, and particularly after the Shelby County decision, many Americans still face barriers to fair par...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) were joined by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and six other Senators in introducing legislation that would allow states that expanded Medicaid after 2014 or expand in the years ahead to receive the same full federal matching funds as states that expanded earlier under the terms of the Affordable Care Act. The States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2019 is also co-sponso...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-IN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), co-chairs of the Senate CTE Caucus, announced that the Senate passed their resolution recognizing February 2019 as Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. The resolution was cosponsored by a total of 50 bipartisan Senators.  “Career and technical education provides students with hands-on experience and real-world skills to better prepare th...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), along with Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-MD), wrote a letter to the WMATA Board of Directors in support of maintaining Metrorail’s current overnight safety maintenance schedule, to ensure that critical safety work is completed as soon as possible and to prevent more daytime single-tracking. Warner, Kaine, Cardin, and Van Hollen agree with oversight officials that riders’ safety ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after voting against advancing S. 311:                                                                                 “...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine applauded the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for awarding $2,296,533 in federal funding to communities in Southwest Virginia through its Partnership for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) program. “We are thrilled to support this economic investment in Southwest Virginia,” the Senators said. “This funding aims to stimulate the local economy by promoting jo...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $524,670 in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for Centra Health, a regional nonprofit healthcare system based in Lynchburg. This funding will allow Centra Health to expand medication assisted treatment (MAT)  for patients struggling with addiction.  “Substance abuse has had a devastating effect on our communities,” the Senators said.  “...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after a judge’s ruling regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s plea agreement: “A judge has confirmed what we've known for some time – that when Secretary Acosta was a federal prosecutor, his office violated survivors’ rights under federal law when giving serial sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein what the Miami Herald calls ‘the deal of a li...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement on the government funding bill becoming law, averting another shutdown. The legislation fully funds the government through September 30th and includes numerous provisions the Senators championed to benefit Virginia, including a salary boost for federal workers and more funding for Chesapeake Bay restoration. “We’re relieved hundreds of thousands of federal employees won’t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent the Acting Secretary of Defense a letter raising concerns over the President’s plans to take $3.5 billion from the Department of Defense’s military construction budget to build a border wall. In the letter, Kaine requested a list of projects that will lose funding as a result of the President’s emergency declaration and highlighted the maintenance backlog that has left ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) were joined by every member of the Virginia congressional delegation in urging U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to relocate the F-22 Flight and Maintenance Formal Training Units (FTU) to Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton Roads. Originally located at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Michael in October of 2018, the squadron is being temporarily held at Eglin Air Force Base...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, Ron Wyden, and Patty Murray to introduce the Emergency Relief for Federal Contractors Act of 2019, a bill to ensure that federal contractors affected by a government shutdown can withdraw funds from their retirement savings without being penalized. “For 35 days, many federal contractors suffered steep financial costs because of President Trump’s shutdown,” Kaine said. “This bill provid...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Service Committee, joined Senator Brian Schatz to introduce legislation to allow doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to discuss and potentially recommend medical marijuana to veterans in states that have established medical marijuana programs. The bill will create a temporary, five-year safe harbor protection for veterans who use medical marijuana and their doctors and direct the VA to research the ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, joined Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Gary Peters to introduce the Marketing and Outreach Restoration to Empower (MORE) Health Education Act of 2019 to counteract Trump administration sabotage efforts that have diverted funds and slashed health care enrollment advertising and marketing by 90 percent since the President took office. The MORE Health Education Act would ensure that...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senator Bob Menendez to introduce the Keep Americans Safe Act, commonsense legislation to ban the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of gun magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition. These high-capacity magazines are designed for shooting en masse and have been used in some of the country’s deadliest mass shootings. This week marks the anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Dou...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded Senate passage of a historic lands bill — S. 47, the Natural Resources Management Act — that permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a program that protects and preserves Virginia’s public lands. Sens. Warner and Kaine have been strong advocates for permanent reauthorization of LWCF. Authorization for the Fund expired at the end of last fiscal year. “...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on the nomination of William Barr to be Attorney General: “I will oppose the nomination of William Barr to be Attorney General. I have deep concern, based upon the memo he wrote the Trump Administration and his testimony before the Judiciary Committee, about his views on the Mueller investigation and whether he will make sure its full results are shared with the public.”   ###  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As another round of debt ceiling brinksmanship approaches on March 1, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Jeff Merkley today introduced new legislation aimed at ending Congress’ abuse of the debt ceiling, using it as a political hostage. The Protect our Citizens from Reckless Extortion of our Debt and Irresponsible Tactics (Protect our CREDIT) Act of 2019 would change how the debt ceiling is raised, enabling the executive branch to initiate a process to rais...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement on the Trump Administration's decision not to submit a report to Congress determining who is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi: “Virginia resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered and dismembered by the Saudi government four months ago. The Trump Administration has blatantly turned ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement: "Lieutenant Governor Fairfax should resign. The allegations against him detail atrocious crimes, and he can no longer effectively serve the Commonwealth. We cannot ever ignore or tolerate sexual assault.” ###