Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced that the Greensville County Water and Sewer Authority will receive $2.6 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) for infrastructure improvements to support development of the Mid-Atlantic Advanced Manufacturing Center in Greensville County. “We are pleased to see the federal government partner with local authorities to provide Virginians with better public...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Rural Development has approved a water and waste disposal loan of $1,463,000 and grant of $1,000,000 for the Bland County Service Authority. Warner, Kaine, and Griffith said, “We are pleased by news of this funding, and are proud that local and federal agencies are working together to support Bland County&r...Continue Reading

WASHIGNTON, D.C. – ­U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined nine of his colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee in sending a letter to President Obama regarding U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan. “A timely decision on U.S. force levels is necessary so that our allies and partners can generate forces and make appropriate pledges for the Resolute Support Mission beginning in January 2017,” the bipartisan group of senators wrote. “We urge you to announce any changes to ou...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today on the links between the dramatic increase in U.S. heroin use and opioid addiction and the rise in poppy cultivation and heroin production in Mexico, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the committee, discussed the opioid epidemic in Virginia as well as the importance of working with other countries to stem the “black market” availability of heroin. As witnesses pointed out, an addiction that starts with a...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine today introduced an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prevent the Department of Defense (DoD) from privatizing commissaries at five major installations until a study, requested in last year’s NDAA, to assess the costs and benefits of privatization is completed and properly taken into consideration by Congress. “It would be imprudent for Congress to authorize this privatizat...Continue Reading

Washington – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following joint statement today after the Senate voted 55-43 to repeal a wasteful and duplicative U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) catfish inspection program that is harmful to Virginia seafood producers: “The catfish inspection program is a waste of taxpayer dollars. This unnecessary, duplicative program offers no benefits for safety or consumer health, and simply creates extra burdens for Virginia se...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine delivered the keynote address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ event, “Cybersecurity After Information Sharing,” in which he argued that unanswered doctrinal questions and the effects of budget uncertainty have undermined the United States’ cybersecurity posture. Kaine supported the creation of a commission that would offer lawmakers policy recommendations on how best to strike a balance between ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today applauded Senate passage of bipartisan legislation to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and military construction and facilities. On a bipartisan vote of 89-8, the Senate voted to approve Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations legislation for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) and Transportation, Hou...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine introduced the Access to Birth Control (ABC) Act, legislation to ensure that any woman with a valid prescription is not denied or intimidated when requesting birth control or emergency contraception at pharmacies. “No woman’s access to contraception should be denied at the pharmacy counter after she has made a decision with her doctor,” said Kaine. “I’m proud to sponsor this important piece of legislation that w...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, co-chair of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, introduced the Effective Apprenticeships Rebuild National Skills (EARNS) Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen the nation’s workforce development system through high-quality, registered apprenticeship programs. The EARNS Act would support pre-apprenticeship programs as well as new or expanding programs that provide nationally recognized credentials and help secure...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the summer’s busy travel season rapidly approaching and lines growing longer at the nation’s airports, today U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined 22 of his Senate colleagues in calling for increased funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to help address long wait times and better ensure passenger safety. TSA funding has decreased by nearly $250 million since 2011 even though the number...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined a group of 26 Senators calling on the President to fulfill the Administration’s commitment to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States this fiscal year. So far in the first seven months of FY 2016, only 1,736 Syrian refugees have been admitted to the United States. Kaine has previously called for U.S. resettlement of Syrian refugees and has urged the Administration to establish humanitarian safe zones in Syria....Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine voted to advance $1.1 billion of emergency supplemental funding for the prevention and treatment of the Zika virus outbreak. The provision is expected to be included in the Fiscal Year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act, which is currently being considered by the full Senate. “There’s still a lot we don’t kn...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  In remarks on the Senate floor today, the 62nd anniversary of the historic Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine addressed the importance of having a fully functioning Supreme Court while sharing a sense of how the continued obstruction of President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court has been perceived by many of his constituents across Virginia. “I cannot say why the Senate would be so...Continue Reading

LEXINGTON, VA – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, delivered the 2016 commencement address at Virginia Military Institute (VMI). In his remarks, Kaine urged the cadets to uphold their oaths to protect the Constitution of the United States by never compromising on the “strict moral compass and a passion for integrity” VMI ingrains in its graduates. Kaine cited Congressional members’ unwillingness to take u...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Senate colleagues to introduce the bipartisan Veterans First Act, legislation that would strengthen services for veterans and help change the culture at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). “We owe every veteran – including nearly 800,000 veterans who call Virginia home – timely access to quality health care.  That starts by addressing their medical needs and correc...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement on the Committee’s Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a number of provisions he advocated for to benefit Virginia’s shipbuilding industry and defense community. The bill was reported out of committee today and will now advance to the full Senate for consideration. “I’m proud this bill includes many provi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded Senate passage of the Fiscal Year 2017 Energy and Water Development funding legislation, by a bipartisan vote of 90-8. The first of 12 appropriations bills providing discretionary funding for the federal government, the bill provides funding for projects under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation at the Department of the Interior, the Department of Energy, and the Nucle...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined six of his Senate colleagues in calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to swiftly implement an advisory committee’s recommendations to approve mandatory education and training for prescribers of extended-release and long-acting (ER/LA) opioids, which were praised by the Washington Post’s editorial board. The Senators also asked the FDA to broaden the scope of the agency’s existing risk management strategy to incl...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following joint statement today on Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld’s announcement that Metrorail service will undergo a year-long overhaul to fix systemic safety problems.  “For years, we have been waiting to see a take-charge management plan to deal with Metro’s safety issues and we appreciate the General Manager’s release of a proposed repair plan today that grasps the urgency ...Continue Reading