Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the executive actions President Obama announced to reduce gun violence: “We’ve seen tragedies in countless cities and towns including Charleston, Newtown and Blacksburg. In Roanoke last year, we saw a horrific shooting take the lives of two young journalists. It’s also important to remember that countless instances of gun violence occur outside the purview of the mainstream media – d...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine attended a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on counter-ISIL operations and Middle East strategy with Defense Secretary Ashton Carton and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford.  Senator Kaine raised objections to the continued reliance on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the broad interpretation of international law to justify expanding U.S. military action. With news this week of ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine attended a Senate Aging Committee hearing examining the harmful impacts that price hikes on decades-old prescription drugs have had on patients, hospitals and the health care system. During the hearing, Kaine introduced one of the witnesses, Berna Heyman, a resident of Williamsburg who was diagnosed with Wilson disease in 2005 at the age of 60. Heyman was able to manage her condition effectively with Syprine until 2014, when Valeant Pharmace...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined 24 of his Senate colleagues in calling for additional federal resources to test drinking water in schools for lead and other contaminants. The Senators voiced concerns that many schools do not have the resources to test whether drinking water is contaminated with lead or other toxins from service lines or plumbing systems. “Lead contamination in Flint, Michigan and communities across the country has highlighted the issue of lead and ot...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine met with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, who currently serves as chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Kaine has urged the Senate’s Republican leaders to abandon their pledge to deny Garland a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing or vote, despite his extensive judicial experience.  ###

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement: “Today I voted against an amendment to the Energy & Water appropriations bill to cut all funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). Over the past five years, ARC has used approximately $365 million to leverage nearly ten times as much in private investment in things like infrastructure, education incentives, and job-creating economic development in Appalachia. This has helped reduce the number ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.  - U.S. Senator Tim Kaine applauded Senate passage of the bipartisan Energy Policy Modernization Act (S. 2012), which will bolster energy efficiency, renewable energy and land conservation across the nation. It is the first comprehensive energy bill since 2007. “I was proud to support this bipartisan energy bill, both for its good substance and for the good-faith bipartisan process that led to its passage today,” Kaine said. “I was pleased to have sponsore...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on Senate passage of a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the activities and financing of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through Fiscal Year 2017, which includes proposals Kaine supported to strengthen security at Virginia’s airports: “I’m glad the Senate was able to pass a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. With 66 public airports in Virginia and 45 m...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and 40 of their colleagues wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran calling for immediate passage of President Obama’s emergency supplemental funding request of $1.9 billion for prevention and treatment of the Zika Virus outbreak. Specifically, the new letter calls for the Senate Appropriations Committee to mark-up the President’s emergency fu...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined a half-dozen of their Senate colleagues to introduce the States Achieve Medicaid Expansion (SAME) Act of 2016. The bill would ensure that states that choose to expand eligibility for Medicaid after 2014 are eligible for the same level of federal matching funds as states that expanded earlier under the terms of the Affordable Care Act. “States across the country have already expanded Medicaid in a way...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released the following statement today regarding the upcoming April 14 deadline to apply for the Department of Transportation FASTLANE grant program: “Congress established the FASTLANE grant program specifically to fund transportation infrastructure projects of great national significance, and the regional delegation worked to...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine hiked to the summit of The Stony Man Trail in Shenandoah National Park (SNP) today to celebrate the National Park Service (NPS) Centennial and to encourage fellow Virginians to “Find Your Park” throughout the year. Kaine started his day at SNP Headquarters near Luray to meet with SNP Superintendent Jim Northup, SNP Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Flynn, park rangers, NPS staff and community leaders. They discussed preservation work and p...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, along with several of their Senate Democratic colleagues, secured an amendment to the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) reauthorization bill to strengthen U.S. airport security, especially in non-secure “soft” target areas at airports like check-in and baggage claim areas. The amendment was approved by a strong, bipartisan vote of 91-5. The legislation, which comes after the recent wave of terror attacks in Europe, wou...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine are seeking to attach a new proposal to strengthen security at Virginia’s airports – especially in non-secure “soft” target areas like check-in and baggage claim areas – to the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill. The Senate proposal, which comes after the recent wave of terror attacks in Europe, would also update federal security programs to provide active shooter train...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will award $7,433,425 in grants to support health care services in Portsmouth, early childhood education in Prince William and Lynchburg and biomedical research at Virginia Commonwealth University. The funding was made available through HHS’s Health Care Cluster Program and Head Start Projects Program. “This federal funding will help close the ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the passing of Virginia State Senator John Miller: “John Miller was a longtime friend and a true public servant who dedicated so much of his career to serving Virginians. I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife Sharron and all those in the district that he loved so much.” ###

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement on the U.S. Army making a long-term religious accommodation for Captain Simratpal Singh. Captain Singh, a decorated Sikh American Army officer, will be allowed to serve without having to abandon his articles of faith:   “For the past three years, I have pressed the Department of Defense to rescind a policy that effectively deterred practicing Sikhs ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) are urging congressional leaders to increase funding to address the maintenance backlog facing the country’s National Parks. “With a nearly $6 billion maintenance backlog attributable to the type of repair, rehabilitation and cyclic maintenance projects that receive funding through the Interior appropriations bill, it is imperative that the noteworthy increases provided last year be sustained or increased,” ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine joined a bipartisan group of 42 current and former Senators and 164 current and former House members from 38 states as well as the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands in filing an amicus brief in support of the Obama administration’s historic ‘Clean Power Plan’ (CPP). The CPP will reduce carbon pollution and address climate change, save consumers $155 billion by 2030, create jobs, and prev...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with Representatives Rob Wittman, Randy Forbes and Morgan Griffith, sent a letter to President Obama supporting Governor Terry McAuliffe’s request that the administration declare a major disaster declaration in response to the severe storm and deadly tornadoes on February 24, 2016. The storms impacted 12 localities in total and had a particularly destructive impact on Sussex, Appomattox and Essex Counties. &ldqu...Continue Reading