Press Releases

~ Letter follows surge of COVID-19 cases at detention center in Farmville, Va. ~ WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) urged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop the transfer of individuals in ICE custody – such as the ones that recently resulted in a spike of more than 50 COVID-19 cases at the ICE detention facility in Farmville, Va.  In a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, the Senators u...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Ben Cardin, and Chris Van Hollen released the following statement upon House passage of legislation to make D.C. the 51st state: “Virginia and Maryland’s neighbors in D.C. deserve the representation that states have. Today, the House took a historic vote to pass legislation to make D.C. the 51st state. Leader McConnell should bring this bill up for a vote in the Senate immediately. There is no good reason hundreds ...Continue Reading

More than ten prohibited people a day are sold guns by dealers who do not wait for completed background check WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, ahead of the fifth anniversary of the funeral service for the victims of the mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined 23 of his Senate colleagues to introduce legislation to close a current loophole that allows gun sales to proceed if a background check is not completed after 72 hours, even if the gun...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (D-VA) applauded $767,139 in federal funding from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to support telehealth services at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va. The funding was made possible through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to help health care providers provide telehealth services to patients at home or in m...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amid nationwide protests against police violence against African-Americans and widespread calls for systemic changes, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are urging Senate leaders to find a bipartisan path forward and enact meaningful police reform. Specifically, the Senators are calling for hearings in the Judiciary Committee on both the Justice in Policing Act, introduced by Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine applauded $11,297,535 in federal funding for public transportation in Williamsburg and Blacksburg. The funding, for the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority (WATA) and the town of Blacksburg, was authorized by the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act supported by Senators Warner and Kaine. “As more Virginians begin ...Continue Reading

Bill Would Extend Deadline for NDRC Awardees, including Minot & Norfolk, to Spend Funds to 2025 WASHINGTON – Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) today introduced legislation to extend the deadline for National Disaster Resiliency Competition (NDRC) awardees to utilize the program’s funding until September 30, 2025. This three-year extension will help ensure awardees, including the City of Minot, North Dakota, and the City of Norfolk, Virginia, are able to fully im...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the Supreme Court’s decision in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California:  “President Trump’s decision to end DACA plunged hundreds of thousands of innocent young people into legal limbo and wreaked havoc upon nearly every area of American life. I’m so thankful the Court has put an end to this Administration’s ill-conceived broken promise....Continue Reading

Lawmakers call for probe of discriminatory CBP directive to detain and question Americans of Iranian origin following killing of General Soleimani WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representatives Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) and Francis Rooney (R-FL) led the introduction of a resolution denouncing discriminatory treatment of Iranian Americans. This bicameral, bipartisan resolution comes after earlier this year, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) offic...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement applauding Senate passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA): “The Great American Outdoors Act is a historic, bipartisan win for Virginia and the environment. I’m proud of the leadership displayed by my colleague and friend, Senator Mark Warner, who helped usher this bill to passage and championed the parks maintenance provisions in this package. These funds will address the deferred maintenance backlog in o...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, issued the following statements after the U.S. Senate passed their resolution supporting GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance (S.Res.511). “GAVI remains a leading organization in providing critical support to advance global health security by ensuring access to life-saving vaccines and immunizations,” Rubio said. “I’m happy to see the Senate unanimou...Continue Reading

You can watch video of Kaine’s floor speech here. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine delivered a floor speech calling for passage of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. Last week, Kaine joined Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris to introduce the legislation, the first comprehensive legislative approach to ending police brutality and changing the culture of law enforcement departments. The bill would hold police accountable in court for misconduct, increase transpare...Continue Reading

Telehealth Use Among Medicare Beneficiaries Up More Than 11,000% In Just Over A Month WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) in calling for the expansion of access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic to be made permanent. Provisions from the CONNECT for Health Act, legislation cosponsored by Senators Warner and Kaine, that have allowed Medicare beneficiaries in all areas of the co...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: “No one should be fired because of who they are or whom they love. I am so relieved the Supreme Court recognized that basic truth today and grateful for the brave men and women who brought forth these cases.”   ###

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today applauded $61,731,853 in federal funding for public transportation in Hampton Roads. The funding, for Hampton Roads Transit, was authorized by the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act supported by Sens. Warner and Kaine. “Throughout this crisis, our community’s transportation systems have been forced ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after the Committee passed the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes numerous provisions he championed to benefit Virginia’s defense community, shipbuilding industry, and military families. The Committee also adopted Kaine’s amendment to prevent the use of military force against American citizens exercising their first...Continue Reading

Agrees to Investigate Specific Concerns Raised by Sens. Warren, Kaine, Sanders, Baldwin, Casey and Duckworth Amid Growing Worker Illnesses and Deaths Letter from DOL OIG (PDF) | Senators' Initial Request (PDF) WASHINGTON, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, along with Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-I...Continue Reading

~ Raise questions regarding the program’s implementation, lack of distributors able to serve rural food banks ~ WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) expressed concern with the disproportionately small share of food that Virginia has received under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Farmers to Families Food Box program and the lack of approved distributors able to meet the needs of food banks in rural areas. In a letter to US...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced the Coronavirus Relief Flexibility for Students and Institutions Act to fix several implementation issues with the higher education emergency relief fund in the CARES Act by providing institutions of higher education and students with the increased flexibility Congress intended. This bill would make an additional 7.5 million students eligible for emergency f...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Kirsten Gillibrand led their colleagues in a letter urging Senate leadership to include support for digital-native news outlets in future COVID-19 response legislation. During this pandemic, these outlets have provided information to Americans on health and safety measures and reopening protocols in communities across the country. Digital-native outlets rely primarily on advertising revenue, yet the pandemic has caused a severe drop in this re...Continue Reading