Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced that the City of Norfolk and Norfolk Public Schools will receive a $22,948,800 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to pay for demolition and new construction of the Camp Allen Elementary School. The new school will serve 571 students in pre-K through fifth grade, and address capacity issues and the deteriorating facility of the current Camp Allen Elementary School. Funding for this competitive grant is provi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.  - U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement in response to the President's commutation of Chelsea Manning and his pardon of James Cartwright: “The President’s clemency powers undoubtedly carry a heavy burden on every Administration. However, based on the limited information I know about these unique cases, I disagree with the President’s decisions. Any release of classified information is a serious risk, especially for Americans serving over...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, participated in a hearing on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as Secretary of Education. Kaine questioned DeVos on her level of support for the American public education system and its workforce, following her past remarks that public school is a “dead end” and “government really sucks.” Kaine – a ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) called on two of President-elect Trump’s Cabinet nominees to make funding for the rehabilitation of Arlington Memorial Bridge a top priority in the next Administration. In a letter to Congressman Ryan Zinke, nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and Elaine Chao, nominee for U.S. Secretary of Transportation, the Senators argued the bridge is in need of immediate attention to prevent it from falling into a permanent...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement on the nominations of General James Mattis to be Secretary of Defense and Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State after participating in their confirmation hearings this week: “I will support the nomination of General James Mattis to be Secretary of Defense. In his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, he demonstr...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, participated in a confirmation hearing for Gen. James Mattis, President-Elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense. During the hearing, Kaine pressed Mattis on whether he believes we need a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). With Mattis requiring a special Congressional waiver in order to serve in the civilian post of Defense Secretary only three years after lea...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on last night’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Resolution vote to begin a fast-track process of repealing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a replacement:   “Last night, Senate Republicans moved our country one step closer to health care chaos. I voted against the budget resolution because I believe it’s health care malpractice – as well as economic malpractice –  to jumpstart...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committees, participated in a confirmation hearing for former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, President-Elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State. During the hearing, Kaine pressed Tillerson on his lack of awareness of the President-Elect’s foreign financial interests and their potentially harmful impact on U.S. foreign policy, as well as on ExxonMobil’s history of promoting and fu...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), launched a new online tool for Virginians to share how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped them, as well as ways they would like to see the law improved. Kaine, speaking on the Senate floor last night as part of a push to denounce Republicans’ efforts to repeal the ACA without any replacement, read a letter he received from the Harris family of Crozet, Virginia. In t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following an announcement that House Republicans will attempt to defund Planned Parenthood in legislation that will be considered through the Senate’s “fast-track” reconciliation process to repeal the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan calling on Congressional Republicans to drop attacks on the nation’s largest women’s health care provider and put the health and wellbeing of women ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Kirsten Gillibrand, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, applauded the U.S. Army decision this week to reform its policy to allow brigade-level commanders to permit Sikh servicemembers to serve without having to abandon their articles of faith. Previously, the Army granted religious accommodations at the Secretary level; such accommodations were often short-term and required a lengthy approval process, during which time Sikh ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senate colleagues in introducing a bill requiring President-Elect Trump to release his recent tax returns in order to give the public honest insight into the President-Elect’s and future presidential candidates’ actions, values and foreign business dealings.  “Transparency is a fundamental pillar of democracy, and we should not ignore the important precedent of disclosing tax returns set by presidential candida...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, DC – At the start of the new Congress, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar, Richard Blumenthal, Jeanne Shaheen, Tammy Baldwin, Angus King, Sherrod Brown, Patrick Leahy, and Al Franken today introduced legislation to lower prescription drug prices for seniors. The lawmakers have introduced the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, which would allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. Current law only allows for bargaining by pharmaceutical compa...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During remarks on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and Senator Chris Murphy introduced the lead amendment to stop Republican efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and strip health care away from tens of millions of Americans. Sen. Kaine and Murphy’s amendment would prevent the Senate from considering fast-track legislation that increases health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs for Americans, reduces the number of Americans with ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined 22 of his colleagues in sending a letter to Chairman Lamar Alexander calling for the confirmation hearing for Secretary of Labor nominee Andrew Puzder to include outside witnesses who can provide the Committee with knowledge of and context on Puzder's business practices and values regarding the treatment of workers. "Mr. Puzder's tenure at CKE and his...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine led a group of moderate Senate Democrats urging Republican Congressional leadership to discuss meaningful improvements to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before rushing to fast-track a repeal of the landmark health care law that would strip 30 million Americans of health care insurance. In a letter sent to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Health Education Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, and Finance Committee Cha...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on the passing of former Virginia State Senator Charles “Chuck” Colgan:  “I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of my friend Chuck Colgan, and I extend my condolences to his family. Throughout his career as a businessman and public servant, Chuck set an inspiring example of how we should do all that we can to serve our community. There are few Virginians who have contributed as much to the...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senate Democratic colleagues in sending a letter to President-elect Donald Trump outlining specific steps his Administration should take to help Congress bring down the cost of prescription drugs.   “It is undeniable that more and more families are struggling to access medications, and in many cases, are forced to choose between paying for prescription drugs and other necessities, like food and shelter. The American public is fed ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), along with 32 of their Senate colleagues, sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump urging him to oppose any efforts to restrict federal funding from supporting Title X family planning centers. “The economic security of women and their families is directly tied to a woman’s access to reproductive health care, including birth control and counseling,” wrote the Senators in the letter. “Despite num...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, who will join the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) next year, visited an opioid/methadone treatment facility in Newport News to discuss how recent legislation will help address the opioid epidemic hitting Virginia, which claimed more lives in the state in 2014 than vehicle crashes and has been declared a public health emergency. Kaine toured the facility, which is a residential and day treatment program for r...Continue Reading