Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) urged U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to remove an Army policy that currently bars Sikh Americans from serving in the military if they choose to wear beards and turbans as part of their faith. The request comes after a recent news report that several members of the Sikh community have won exceptions from the military, but many others have failed and face an uphill battle. The Defense Department’s decades...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement following the vote to advance a proposal to keep subsidized Stafford student loan rates at 3.4%:   “I am extremely disappointed the proposal to keep subsidized Stafford student loan rates at 3.4% was stopped by a filibuster. I have long supported measures, including the Student Loan Affordability Act, that would have prevented the doubling of these rates. “More than 179,000 students in Virginia rely...Continue Reading

ADVISORY: KAINE TO HOLD FIRST TWITTER & FACEBOOK TOWN HALL  WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, July 17, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine will hold his first Twitter & Facebook town hall to answer questions about his first six months in the Senate and get feedback on issues that matter to Virginians, including the economy and job growth, immigration reform, measures to reduce gun violence and support for veterans. Questions can be submitted now on Twitter and Facebook using #AskTim.&n...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today introduced Alexandria resident Patricia Millett at a confirmation hearing in support of her nomination to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. In their remarks, both Senators noted Millett’s extensive legal experience and public and community service. “I recommend the confirmation of Patricia Millett without reservation, and it is a pleasure to speak on behalf of a Virginian with such extensi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, today discussed his first overseas congressional delegation visit to Afghanistan, Jordan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Germany. During the July Fourth work week, he joined Senators Cornyn (R-TX), Cochran (R-MS), Sessions (R-AL), Boozman (R-AR), and Fischer (R-NE), to meet servicemembers in each country and discuss developing situations in Syria, Egypt and Iran, a...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of Virginia’s Congressional Delegation today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Labor Acting Secretary Seth D. Harris expressing unified support for a proposal to obtain a federal grant to support the Hire Vets Virginia initiative. All thirteen members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation signed the letter expressing interest in the proposal submitted for the National Emergency Grant on behalf of the Commonwealth. The letter reads, in part: “Virg...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Herndon Mayor Lisa Merkel, town officials and local business owners today for a tour of Herndon small businesses. During the tour, Kaine discussed steps he has taken – including his support for the Marketplace Fairness Act and his work to pass a Senate budget – to provide greater certainty and a level playing field for small businesses throughout the Commonwealth. Today’s tour included stops at the Green Lizard Cycling, Art...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today after final Senate passage of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act by a vote of 68 to 32. Kaine has discussed the need for immigration reform at events across Virginia, including in Roanoke, Leesburg, and Reston, and in remarks he delivered in Spanish on the Senate floor:     “Today the Senate passed compre...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Following yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor, Senator Kaine joined 40 other senators to introduce the Respect for Marriage Act. The bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and provide equal treatment of all married couples. Feinstein, Nadler Reintroduce Legislation to Repeal DOMA Respect for Marriage Act Repeals Discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a senior member of th...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine today released the following statement following the outcomes of Hollingsworth v. Perry and United States v. Windsor at the U.S. Supreme Court: “Today’s Supreme Court decisions are an enormous victory for thousands of committed couples and their families across the country and a major step toward marriage equality. In ruling the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, the Court has affirmed the principle that every legally married cou...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan: “Today, the President laid out a series of steps to address the negative effects of carbon pollution on our environment.   I applaud the focus and am studying the details of the proposal with care. “I believe the scientific consensus that we must reduce our reliance on carbon-based energy.   America has reduced carbon ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today in response to the United States Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder: “The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the validity of the Voting Rights Act preclearance requirement but specify that Congress must grapple anew with the appropriate geographic application of the technique raises serious concerns, particularly with regard to how voting rights will be protected in the interim in pl...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined administrators, students, and financial aid officers at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond today to discuss his efforts to avoid the doubling of interest rates on undergraduate subsidized Stafford loans on July 1, from 3.4% to 6.8%. Kaine is a cosponsor of the Student Loan Affordability Act of 2013 to keep student loan interest rates at their current 3.4% rate for the next two years. "We are trying to come up w...Continue Reading

Tim Kaine, a Democrat, represents Virginia in the Senate.  President Obama is expected to make a decision in the next few months on the Keystone XL project. As the debate heats up, I worry that the shorthand used in talking about the issue obscures the real point.  I’m a pro-pipeline senator. As a former mayor of Richmond, a city with a gas utility, I think it makes no sense to be anti-pipeline. But I oppose the Keystone XL project. Although the president’s decision is tech...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, today met with Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Eric Shinseki to discuss significant issues facing veterans today including the disability claims backlog, education, health care access, and unemployment.  “Today I had the opportunity to meet with Secretary Shinseki on critical issues facing our veterans and the VA including the disability claims backlog and the tragic rate of veteran suicides....Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine today signed onto the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act – legislation that would end the ban on prescription drug price negotiations for the government’s largest health care program. “Every corner pharmacy negotiates for prescription drug prices so it makes no sense that the federal government isn’t allowed to do the same,” said Kaine. “At a time when we continue to look at every line item of the b...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, today lauded important provisions he advocated for Virginia’s defense community that were included in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2014. The bill was reported out of committee yesterday on a bipartisan vote of 23 to 3.  Prior to the markup, Kaine sent a letter to Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) voicing support for these priorities and advocating for necessary ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today announced that the Senate Armed Services Committee has incorporated their proposals to strengthen military whistleblower protection laws to ensure that victims of sexual assault and other misconduct are protected from retaliation. Sen. Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, successfully worked to have the whistleblower protections included during the committee’s markup of an annual defense authori...Continue Reading

Washington, D.C – In a letter sent to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jon Tester (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jim Risch (R-ID), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Chris Coons (D-DE) expressed grave concern about the June 4, 2013 decision by an Egyptian court to sentence 43 Egyptian...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an open session of the Armed Services Committee National Defense Authorization Act markup today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine voted in favor of Senator Carl Levin’s amendment to require an independent review by the next higher level of the chain of command in cases where a commander decides not to prosecute a sexual assault allegation. The proposal also addresses the issue of retaliation by making acts of retribution a crime and establishing a process to hold commande...Continue Reading