Press Releases

~ Point to bipartisan legislation as solution to address the long-term park maintenance backlog ~ WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) urged the Trump Administration to reconsider dramatic entrance fee increases that the Department of Interior has proposed at 17 iconic national parks across the United States. In Virginia, this proposal would increase fees at Shenandoah National Park to $70 per vehicle during peak season. In a letter to Secretary Ryan Zinke, the ...Continue Reading

Senators: delay “jeopardizes the health and safety of the residents” WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine joined their colleagues in sending a letter to Administration officials from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) requesting agencies expedite and better coordinate the ongoing power restoration efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The Senators said the Administration’s curren...Continue Reading

“I have a hard time understanding your opposition to our resolution as anything other than ‘we do not want Congressional oversight.’”  **HD Video** WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, pressed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis on the need for a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and nine other colleagues in a letter to Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke requesting he withdraw his proposal to dramatically increase national park entrance fees at 17 national parks pending further review. According to the proposal, Shenandoah National Park visitor fees would increase dramatically from $25 to $70 per vehicle during peak season. “The National Park Service describes the fee increas...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement on the ongoing conflict between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq: “I am dismayed by the conflict between our close allies the Kurds and Arabs of Iraq.  The parties must come together immediately and in good faith to negotiate the future of their shared land in line with Iraq’s co...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner  and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) are now accepting applications for the position of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to succeed Dana Boente, who resigned on Thursday effective upon the confirmation of a successor. After receipt of applications, the Senators will select from the list of qualified attorneys to recommend for President Trump’s nomination. The White House will then nominate individuals to be considered by the Senate ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asking him to bring legislation that would reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to the floor for a vote as soon as possible. CHIP, which covers 66,000 children and 1,100 pregnant women in Virginia alone, is set to run out of funding on January 31 if Congress fails to reauthorize the program. Families in Virginia rely on CHIP to cover doctor v...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) to introduce the Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act, which would invest $45 billion for prevention, detection, surveillance and treatment of opioids and opioid addiction. This legislation would address a number of the critical shortcomings in the approach to combating the opioid epidemic, includin...Continue Reading

**View photos of the event, here**  WASHINGTON, D.C. –Yesterday, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, co-chair of the Senate Military Family Caucus, and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined military spouses and business leaders in Arlington for a summit on improving employment opportunities. Co-hosted by Blue Star Families, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, and Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the group—which included military spouse Katie McMaster—...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner introduced the Virginia Wilderness Additions Act, a bill to add a total of 5,600 acres to two existing wilderness areas within the George Washington National Forest in Bath County, Virginia. A wilderness designation is the highest level of protection for public land under federal law. These additions were recommended by the U.S. Forest Service in 2014 and endorsed by members of the GW National Forest Stakeholder Collaborative, a...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, in a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis, has asked for explanations on the Department of Defense “advise and assist” missions and details on the legal authorities that justify them following the October 4th attack in western Niger that resulted in the deaths of four American soldiers. Kaine has called for a debate on U.S. military operations in Africa and ...Continue Reading

~ Letter to HHS, DEA follows Washington Post/“60 Minutes” investigation on the opioid crisis ~  WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined 30 of their Senate colleagues in writing to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) requesting information on the impact of the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act highlighted in a recent report from the Washington Post and &ldq...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement on the passage of the partisan Senate budget resolution, which Republicans are using as a vehicle to push through President Trump’s tax proposal with only 50 votes and without the input of both parties “Senate Republicans held this vote on a sham budget to pave the way for their partisan tax plan. Based on what little we know about it, their tax plan could increase taxe...Continue Reading

**You can watch Kaine’s full speech here[s3.amazonaws.com].**  WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, delivered a floor speech highlighting how President Trump’s decision to not certify the Iran Nuclear Agreement jeopardizes U.S. diplomacy and raises the risk of war. Kaine criticized President Trump for undermining the deal despite IAEA verification that Iran is in compliance and confirmatio...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced that President Trump signed their bipartisan Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act, into law. The law reauthorizes current research and improve public health programs for early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss in newborns, infants, and young children.  “I&rsquo...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined HELP Committee Ranking Member Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and six other committee members in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Candice Jackson following up on the Department of Education’s decision to revoke guidance that directs schools on how to handle investigations of sexual assault̵...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) today introduced legislation to create Medicare-X, a public plan that would offer families, individuals, and small businesses additional, low-cost health insurance choices and create more competition in the marketplace. The Medicare-X Choice Act would build on the Medicare framework to establish a public insurance plan offered on the individual and small business health exchanges, allowing Americans to choose among...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement today following President Trump’s decision not to make the certification required under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act: “President Trump is making a dangerous mistake.  Just last week, the President’s own military and national security advisors testified to Congress that sticking with the JCPOA is in U.S. national security interests....Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today on President Trump’s decision to end cost-sharing reduction payments and destabilize the health care marketplace: “It's outrageous that an American President is deliberately raising health care costs on people across the country out of a blind opposition to the ACA. President Trump's decision to end the CSR payments wi...Continue Reading

Kaine raises concerns over proposed tax increases across the Commonwealth WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine voiced his concern with the Republican tax proposal after a new analysis shows hundreds of thousands of Virginia’s families could face a tax increase under the proposal. According to the Government Finance Officers Association, 37 percent of households in Virginia received an average deduction of $11,288 in their taxes from the state and local tax (SALT) deductio...Continue Reading