Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) released the following statement ahead of the Senate’s vote on the Laken Riley Act: “The murder of Laken Riley is a tragedy. I voted yes to debate the Laken Riley Act because Americans deserve commonsense steps to prevent something like this from happening again. As it was originally written, the Laken Riley Act would burden law enforcement officers and make it more difficult for them to keep the individuals who pose the greatest threat to ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) released the following statement after President Joe Biden pardoned Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott: “Don Scott is an inspiration and living example that redemption is possible. Following his release from prison, he rebuilt his life—passing the Virginia bar exam, developing a reputation as an effective civil and criminal litigator, serving in the General Assembly, and then being unanimously elected as the first African America...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and U.S. Representatives Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11), Kweisi Mfume (D-MD-07), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), and Don Bacon (R-NE-02) reintroduced the Saving the Civil Service Act. The bipartisan legislation would protect the federal workforce from politicization and political manipulation. “Every day, our nation’s federal employees go to work for the American people to administer Social Security, Medicare, and veterans’ benefits, protect our...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 after a hostage return and ceasefire deal was reached to end the war between Israel and Hamas, pausing the conflict which started after Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023: “I’m grateful for the Biden Administration’s tireless efforts to negotiate a deal—which I have long called for—to reunite hostage families ...Continue Reading

BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO IS AVAILABLE HERE. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to President-elect Trump and Republicans’ proposals to cut taxes for billionaires and impose broad-based universal tariffs, which would raise costs for American families. Trump and Republicans in Congress are currently negotiating an extension to Trump’s 2017 tax law, which cut taxes for large corporations and the highest-income earners and substantially incr...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on the nomination of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State: “Marco Rubio and I have served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee together since I came to the Senate in 2013. While we do not agree on everything, I’m proud to support his nomination, and I believe he will make an excellent Secretary of State. He is smart, has significant foreign policy experi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $19,886,658 in federal funding for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise in conjunction with the University of Virginia and key partners in the region to enhance resilient infrastructure and help lower energy costs for communities in Southwest Virginia. This funding was awarded through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant Program, which was ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Angus I. King (I-ME), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Peter Welch (D-VT) unveiled an amendment to the Laken Riley Act to improve the ability of the legislation to protect our communities. This amendment would ensure that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers can use their limited time and d...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement on the Biden Administration’s decision to rescind the State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation for Cuba:  “We applaud the Biden Administration’s decision to rescind the State Sponsor of Terrorism designation for Cuba. President Trump’s politically motivated decision t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) have urged the Biden administration to immediately re-designate or extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to the maximum extent allowable under the law for all eligible countries. The senators commended President Biden’s recent action to extend status for El Salvador, Venezuela, Sudan, and Ukraine, while stressing the need to extend these benefits to all remaining eligible TPS countries as the current administration winds...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $3.9 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan for the Community College Workforce Alliance in Disputanta to expand regional workforce training programs to support the Richmond-Petersburg Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APM) cluster and help Virginians get the skills they need for jobs in the advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and biotechnology industries. The APM cluster, which i...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $12,352,167 in federal funding for improvements for airports throughout the Commonwealth. This funding was awarded through the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG) program, which was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that both senators helped pass. “Virginia’s airports are crucial for advancing our economy and connecting us to the rest of the country and the world,” t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $10,797,461 in federal funding for the Virginia Department of Energy to build 392 electric vehicle (EV) charging ports at urban and rural tourism destinations across Virginia. Over half of the 392 chargers will be installed in disadvantaged communities across the Commonwealth to increase EV accessibility for all Virginians. The grant is allocated through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Charging an...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) introduced bills in the Senate and the House of Representatives to designate a unique ZIP code for Fairlawn, Virginia. “For too long, Fairlawn has unfairly missed out on tax revenue that would otherwise fund education, public safety, and public services due to confusion regarding its ZIP code,” said the lawmakers. “Recently, we were dismayed to find that Fairlawn residents facing loss a...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), along with 39 of their Senate colleagues, introduced the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, legislation that would establish statehood for the District of Columbia and grant D.C. citizens full congressional representation. “All Americans deserve to have their voices fully heard in our democracy,” said the senators. “But Virginia’s neighbors in D.C. don’t have the same representation in Congress as other states and are unfairly...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined colleagues in a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Chair of the Senate Finance Committee Mike Crapo (R-ID) urging Senate Republicans to work in a bipartisan way to reduce the deficit and protect the middle class from tax hikes. This letter comes ahead of the upcoming expirations of the federal debt ceiling and many provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). In the letter, the senators u...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, (both D-VA) joined a group of Senate colleagues in reintroducing the Health Care Affordability Act, legislation to lower health care costs for millions of Americans and make permanent the current enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) for Health Insurance Marketplace coverage. The PTCs were created in the Affordable Care Act ...Continue Reading

BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO IS AVAILABLE HERE. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a former civil rights lawyer and constitutional law professor, delivered the second in his series of speeches on the Senate floor to express his strong support for birthright citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and his opposition to President-elect Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship in the United States on the first day of his term. “I believe the constitutional basis for bi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded President Biden’s decision to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling off the coast of Virginia: “We welcome President Biden’s action to protect Virginia’s vibrant coastal communities. We’ve heard from Virginians in Hampton Roads and on the Eastern Shore who have expressed concerns about the risks of offshore drilling on their communities. This action is critical to protecting Virginia’s coastal waters from...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Chris Coons (D-DE) released the following statement regarding the kidnapping of Rafael Tudares, Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González’s son-in-law, in Caracas: “In July, ...Continue Reading