Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senate colleagues in writing to President Donald Trump warning that repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with no replacement would pull the rug out from under local communities working to combat the opioid epidemic and could endanger millions of Americans just as they are getting treatment. A repeal threatens to cut $5.5 billion in federal dollars that each year go toward treating Americans battling opioid addiction through the Medicaid e...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined a group of 21 Senate colleagues in a bipartisan letter to President Trump after reports that Iran conducted a ballistic missile test late last week. “Iranian leaders must feel sufficient pressure to cease deeply destabilizing activities, from sponsoring terrorist groups to continued testing of ballistic missiles,” the Senators wrote. “Full enforcement of existing sanctions and the imposition of additional sanctions o...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the nomination of Scott Pruitt to be the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): “The EPA needs an Administrator who will follow the best science to keep Americans safe. Scott Pruitt is unwilling to accept the scientific consensus that human-generated CO2 emissions are a significant cause of climate change. This is a fundamental issue for Virginia, a state affected by sea level ris...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General: “I was a civil rights lawyer for 17 years and know that one of the most important roles of the Justice Department is to protect civil rights. This calls for an Attorney General whose commitment to marginalized communities is strong in both word and deed. Unfortunately, Senator Sessions has a long, public record that reflects the opposite....Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today after President Trump announced his nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court: “The importance of an appointment to the highest court in the land and the duty of upholding and defending our Constitution demand a higher threshold for confirmation than for any other appointee. The actions of the Trump Administration over the past week raise the stakes to an even higher level. In c...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, announced that he will again serve as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism as well as join the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity. Kaine previously chaired the Middle East Subcommittee from 2013-2015. He will also continue to serve on the Subcommittee on the Western Hemispher...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on his vote to confirm Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation: “I voted to confirm Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation. She is a mainstream pick with experience in transportation policy. I look forward to working with her to address transportation infrastructure needs in Virginia—particularly those related to the Metro system, Memorial Bridge, traffic congestion, and sea level rise.&rdqu...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have cosponsored a bill to rescind President Trump’s discriminatory executive order barring immigrants from Muslim-majority countries and suspending the U.S. refugee program. “The President’s actions are misguided and do not reflect American values,” said Warner. “It is clear this policy was crafted with no regard to its constitutionality and the negative effects that it would have on law-abiding legal...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the nominations of Dr. Ben Carson to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Congressman Mick Mulvaney to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): “I will oppose Dr. Ben Carson’s nomination. As a former mayor, I know how critical the success of HUD can be for our work to reduce the impact of urban poverty in Richmond and other cities. Put...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine introduced a resolution honoring Fred Korematsu and recognizing January 30, 2017 as “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” for his work and advocacy of the civil rights and liberties of all people, and denouncing President Donald Trump’s executive order establishing a Muslim ban. “Fred Korematsu is a role model for all people of the United States who love the United States and the promises contained in ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine demanded answers about the status of travelers being detained at Dulles International and other airports across the country as a result of President Trump’s executive order.   “In the two days since the issuance of the executive order, there has been widespread confusion and distress, as well as the reported detention of legal permanen...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, released the following statement on President Trump’s executive order on refugee programs: “I am appalled by the cruelty the Trump Administration has demonstrated over the past 24 hours. By indefinitely suspending the Syrian refugee program and imposing a religious test at our borders, he has defied everything our nation stands for. He's also weakened o...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter to President Trump citing the devastating impact his federal hiring freeze will have on veterans and their families, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine urged the President to exempt the entire VA and all veterans seeking federal jobs from his executive order. Warner and Kaine emphasized that the hiring freeze will add to the chronic workforce shortages that are plaguing the VA, and that more administrative and medical support staff are needed at VA facil...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON— U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and 14 other Senators, reintroduced the bipartisan Providing Veterans Overdue Care Act, legislation that would authorize pending leases for 24 Department of Veterans Affairs (V-A) medical facilities in 15 states. The bill seeks to improve veteran’s access to healthcare through the approval of these medical leases, which would allow the V-A to open needed healthcare facilities for whi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH), co-chairs of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, introduced the Jumpstart Our Businesses By Supporting Students (JOBS) Act, a bill that would help students access training for the 5.5 million vacant jobs that are unfilled in part due to a shortage of qualified workers. The JOBS Act would close this “skills-gap&...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education:  “I will oppose Betsy DeVos’s nomination. She failed to meet three requirements I consider essential to serving as Secretary of Education – someone who is pro-public schools, pro-accountability and pro-civil rights. Over 90 percent of our nation’s ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – One day after President Trump issued an executive order to reinstate the Global Gag Rule, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), joined Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME) and 39 other Senators to introduce the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act, which would permanently repeal the harmful policy. The Global Gag Rule, also known as the Mexico City Policy, bans foreign non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. aid from using their ow...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, participated in a hearing on the nomination of U.S. Representative Mick Mulvaney to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Pressing Mulvaney on his record on federal workforce issues as well as recent Trump Administration actions that would hurt federal employees – including 170,000 Virginians – Kaine asked, “How is calling federal employees ‘corrupt a...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine provided testimony at the International Trade Commission (ITC) in support of the United Steelworkers in their case against unfairly traded Chinese imports of truck and bus tires. Kaine represents more than 2,000 Virginia workers at the Goodyear truck and bus tire plant in Danville and over 1,800 of these workers are members of USW Local 831. Danville’s workers are looking for the chance to compete fairly and on a level playing field wi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today after President Trump signed executive orders to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines: “President Trump’s decision on the Dakota Access Pipeline today is particularly concerning given his and Energy Secretary nominee Rick Perry’s longstanding ties to the builder of the pipeline. “I opposed Keystone XL because it would accelerate the development of tar ...Continue Reading