Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined their colleagues in reintroducing the Equality Act—historic, comprehensive legislation to protect LGBTQ+ Americans from discrimination, just as religious, racial, and ethnic discrimination are already illegal everywhere in the United States. The legislation comes as over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across America this year—a new record. “It’s disturbi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) in reintroducing the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, legislation to ensure that victims of gun violence have their day in court and that negligent gun companies and gun sellers are not shielded from liability when they disregard public safety. The bill would repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), passed by Congress in 2005, which gives ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) today announced the introduction of bicameral legislation to redesignate the National Historic Site known as “Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial” to its original name “Arlington House.” The bill was cosponsored by Virginia Representatives Bobby Scott, Gerry Connolly, Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer Wexton, and Jennifer McClellan, and by D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced the Supporting Teaching and Learning through Better Data Act, legislation to help address teacher workforce shortages by strengthening data collection on the teacher workforce. There are several existing mechanisms for collecting data on the teacher workforce, but the data is often inaccurate and incomplete, making it difficult for policymakers and sc...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI)—Senate co-leads of the Child Care for Working Families Act—in urging congressional action to address the continued child care crisis and coming funding cliff, pointing to a new report released today by The Century Foundation (TCF). TCF’s report finds that on Septembe...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the Nicaragua Political Prisoner Support Act to support the 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners who were banished by the Ortega dictatorship and are now currently in the United States. This bill would allow the political prisoners to access basic services offered under the Office of Refugee Resettlement like other refugees are eligible to do.    “These Nicaraguans are political leaders...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined their colleagues in introducing the bipartisan Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2023 to help more Americans access telehealth services. The CONNECT for Health Act would expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, make permanent telehealth flexibilities that were enacted during COVID, make it easier for patients to connect with their doctors, ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) in introducing a Senate resolution in honor of Juneteenth. Full text of the resolution is available here or below. “Commemorating June 19, 2023, as ‘Juneteenth National Independence Day’ in recognition of June 19, 1865, the date on which news of the end of slavery reached the slaves in the Southwestern States. Whereas news of the end of slavery did not reach the frontier areas of the United States...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) in introducing the Working Families Tax Relief Act, legislation that would cut taxes for low- and middle-income American workers and families by expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The American Rescue Plan, which Warner and Kaine helped pa...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and other colleagues in introducing the Right to Contraception Act, legislation to codify Americans’ right to contraception, which the Supreme Court first recognized more than half a century ago in Griswold v. Connecticut. Enshrining the right to contraception into federal l...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) along with Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-MD) issued the following statement regarding legislation to reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs: “The three airports of the Washington metropolitan area have worked in tandem for decades to connect the nation’s capital to destinations around the world while serving as centerpieces of the region’s economy. We will strongly oppo...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in introducing the Advancing Inclusion and Representation in the Workforce of Aviation and Transportation Systems (AIRWAYS) Act to address the nation’s aviation workforce shortages by supporting the education, recruitment, and development of pilots, aviation maintenance workers, and aerospace manufacturing workers. Aviation workforce shortages can result in longer delays, a smaller number of sche...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statement ahead of a Senate Commerce Committee markup on legislation to reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs: “The single runway at DCA is already the most congested in the country. Ahead of the Senate Commerce Committee markup this morning, we want to be clear that we will strongly oppose any FAA reauthorization that expands the number of flights or passengers into an...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner (both D-VA) and Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin (both D-MD) wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post urging their colleagues to oppose changes to the current slot and perimeter rules at Reagan National Airport (DCA), which govern the number of flights that can safely operate out of DCA and the distance of those flights. There are efforts to change these rules in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill, which ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Seapower, joined Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and a bipartisan group of his colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) in pressing the Navy on how it plans to meet the required 31-minimum fleet of amphibious ships. The Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requires the Navy to maintain at least 31 amphibious ships, but the 30-year shipbuilding plan released by the Navy in...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $4,285,652 in federal funding to make infrastructure improvements at airports across Virginia. The funding was awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) FY 2023 Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which funds airport infrastructure projects such as runways, taxiways, airport signage, airport lighting, and airport markings. “Our local airports make it easier to travel and play an important...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), introduced the Assuring that the Fact-Finding Examination Continues to Track (AFFECT) Human Rights in Venezuela Act, bipartisan legislation to help support human rights in Venezuela. The bill would direct the U.S. government to support extending the mandate of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission (FFM) in Vene...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $17,744,862 in federal funding to enhance beach access at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island National Seashore. Specifically, these federal dollars will be used to relocate the existing public recreational beach to a more stable part of the island. This funding will also go towards constructing a new access road, four new parking lots, new boardwalks, and paving for...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement regarding the confirmation of Shannon R. Saylor to be the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia—which operates courts in Alexandria, Newport News, Norfolk, and Richmond—for a term of four years: “Throughout his time in the Army, as a police officer, and with the Eastern District of Virginia, Shannon R. Saylor has demonstrated an unwavering commitment ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced bipartisan legislation, which would extend the U.S. government’s authority to impose sanctions on the Nicaraguan regime through December 31, 2028. The bill would also expand sanctions to include Nicaraguan officials responsible for violations of the human rights of religious believers, direct the U.S. State Department to enforce sectoral sanctions, and direct State to work with allies and partners to...Continue Reading