Press Releases

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined nearly 200 members of the Senate and the House of Representatives in filing a U.S. Supreme Court brief explaining that transgender and gender non-conforming students are protected from discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The amicus brief was filed today in the Supreme Court case Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., which could decide whether transgender students ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on the release of a report by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that reviewed wait times across the Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network (VISN 6) and shows Virginia Medical Centers reported wait times that were lower than those calculated by the VA OIG: “The findings in the Department of Veterans Affairs IG report on wait times today are completely unacceptable. Though t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on his vote to oppose Rick Perry as Secretary of Energy: “I opposed the nomination of Rick Perry to be Secretary of Energy. Governor Perry has consistently denied the science of climate change, even spreading the falsehood that there is ‘global cooling.’ When he ran for President of the United States, he proposed eliminating the Department he will now lead. In addition, the largest function of the U.S. D...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement regarding Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s meetings with the Russian Ambassador: “President Trump's chief national security advisor was recently forced to resign because he lied about his contacts with the Russian government. Now there is strong evidence that the nation's chief law enforcement official, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, held meetings with Russian governmental officials and misled the ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced that there will be an additional daily roundtrip flight between Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) and Washington’s Dulles International Airport (IAD). “We are excited to announce this additional flight from Dulles to Roanoke,” said the Senators. “This new roundtrip flight will give travelers more options to connect between Roanoke and Northern Virginia – as well as connectio...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced his new position as co-chair the Senate Military Families Caucus. The Military Families Caucus, co-chaired by U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), serves as a bipartisan forum to address the challenges facing Americans with family members who are serving or have served in the armed forces. Kaine, who has a child in the military, has continually advocated on behalf of servicemembers, ve...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on his vote to confirm Representative Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior: “I voted to confirm Representative Ryan Zinke to be Secretary of the Interior. He has demonstrated expertise in natural resources policy and mainstream views on the protection of our nation’s lands and waters, which is critically important to our Commonwealth. I appreciated his comments on the need to reduce the maintena...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress tonight: “President Trump’s first month in office has caused deep concern among Virginians. I was pleased that his address tonight was more upbeat than his gloomy and combative inaugural address. It is now time for President Trump to follow through with serious policy proposals. “I’m encouraged by President Trump’s commit...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Washington this week, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Mark Warner (D-VA) released the following statement today urging the release of Aya Hijazi, an Egyptian-American unjustly detained in Egypt since 2014: “We remain deeply concerned about the ongoing detention of Aya Hijazi, a dual U.S. and Egyptian citi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine wrote to FBI Director James Comey, calling on him to use all necessary FBI resources to investigate the recent wave of anti-Semitic incidents across the United States, including a bomb threat to the Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax County yesterday, and work with Jewish communities to assess and address their safety needs. “These reports make it even more important that law enforcement entities, including the Federal Bureau of Inves...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement in response to the recent wave of anti-Semitic incidents across the United States, including a bomb threat to the Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax County yesterday: “I am saddened and outraged by the recent rise of anti-Semitic incidents across our nation, including vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and day schools. Just yesterday, the Gesher Jewish Day ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced nearly $8.4 million in funding for organizations working to provide unaccompanied minors who fled violence in Central America with services including temporary shelters and foster care programs. These grants will help organizations in Arlington, Bristow, and the Shenandoah Valley fund services for the children. “These local organizations have stepped up to help children who found themselves here through no...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced that the University of Virginia (UVA) will receive $2,782,938 in funding to support research on infectious diseases and cancer, as well as promote nursing research. “We are excited that one of the Commonwealth’s leading research universities will receive funding to support breakthrough discoveries on some of the world’s most devastating diseases, as well as help train the next generation of med...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, led a bipartisan resolution that unanimously passed the Senate to designate February as Career and Technical Education (CTE) month. CTE Month provides a chance for students, counselors, educators and administrators to learn more about the educational opportunities available in their communities, and recognizes the importance of CTE in preparing a well-educated and ski...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a recent report accusing the Bashar al-Assad regime of atrocities in Syrian prisons, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined a bipartisan letter from Senate Foreign Relations Committee members to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seeking an update on U.S. plans to demand accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Syrian civil war. “In light of Amnesty International’s report and the exhaustive documentation by Caesar and othe...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 on President Trump’s decision to roll back mandatory guidance on protecting the civil rights of transgender students in public schools: “I am disappointed by the Trump Administration’s decision to roll back protections for transgender students in public schools. All students are entitled to a safe learning environment,...Continue Reading

VATICAN CITY – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine attended a general audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City and spoke with the Pope about the Holy See’s work to address the global refugee and migrant crisis. A photo of the meeting is attached and included below. “I had a chance to visit with Pope Francis to discuss the global crisis of refugees and migrants which is relevant around the world and to my work in the Senate,” Kaine said. “As the Pope stated so clear...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) was joined by Bob Menendez, (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Cory Gardner (R-CO) in reintroducing the Trafficking in Persons Report Integrity Act (TIPRIA), legislation designed to comprehensively reform the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP). The TIP process came under scrutiny after questions were raised over the rankings of certain countries despite failures to meet minimum legal standards prescribed by Congre...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined his Democratic colleagues on the Committee in a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, urging him to take full and appropriate advantage of the State Department’s ‘Dissent Channel.’ In the letter, the Senators said that the White House Press Secretary’s recent statement that Foreign Service Officers who had signed a dissent cable in opposition to the Adminis...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine wrote a letter requesting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials provide details on the operation that may have targeted a church shelter in Alexandria, Virginia, which reports indicate led to the arrest of six Latino men. “This incident is of great concern to me because members of this congregation believe that this church was targeted by your agency,” said Kaine. “I appreciate any detailed information yo...Continue Reading