Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined a group of Senators in urging the U.S. Department of Defense and the State Department to take steps to protect deployed servicemembers, their families, and other Americans abroad from the threat posed by the Zika virus. Zika has been linked to microcephaly and other brain malformations and disorders in babies born to women infected during pregnancy. “The World Health Organization estimates that between three to four m...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on Senate passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act: “Today Congress passed a landmark bipartisan bill to strengthen federal oversight over toxic chemicals. This bill creates new obligations to study chemicals before they are allowed onto the market and makes more information on chemicals available to the public. Most notably, it clears away a bureaucratic obstacle that has prevented regulation of asbestos, ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, introduced two amendments to the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) focused on the war against ISIL. The first measure, encourages a revision of the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed in the wake of September 11, 2001 by sunsetting the 2001 AUMF two years after the new Administration takes office, and requiring the new Administ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will award $2,764,351 to George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia Department of Health for heart-related diseases and diabetes research and nurse training programs. “We applaud HHS  for providing our universities and state officials with the resources to make breakthrough discoveries and bolster training program...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $17,978,616 in federal grant funding for Head Start programs throughout Virginia. “We know early childhood education plays a critical role in our education system,” the Senators said.  “Today’s funding will benefit our communities, our economy and our children’s future.” Both as Governors and Senators, W...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced that the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) are awarding $736,284 to Virginia housing authorities and local VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) to help homeless veterans find affordable and stable housing.  “We owe our veterans the best-quality care and support in their communities and we are pleased to see governments at all levels working together to address it,...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and U.S. Representative Robert Hurt announced that the towns of Chatham and Gretna will receive $48,100 in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants and loans for the purchase of police vehicles. The USDA awarded Community Facility Loans and Grants funding to the following towns: Town of Chatham will receive a grant of $15,600 Town of Gretna will receive a loan of $21,200 and a grant of $11,300 In 2015, USDA Rural Devel...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – On National Gun Violence Awareness Day, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine announced his support for two pieces of legislation to address gun violence – one that would lift a de facto twenty-year ban on firearms safety and gun violence prevention research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and another that would dramatically strengthen background record checks on all private and online firearm sales. “I’m proud to support the CDC Research on Firearms Safety or Gun V...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine joined 27 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterating their call for action on the Miners’ Protection Act before Congress’ summer recess. Warner and Kaine are original cosponsors of the Miner’s Protection Act and with nearly 10,000 retirees, Virginia has the fifth largest population of coal miner beneficiaries in the nation. “Seventy ...Continue Reading

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