Press Releases

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 know about the Zika virus,...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 correcting VA inefficiencies,” Kain...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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, President Obama announced that the 52nd class of U.S. Presidential Scholars will include 20 recipients for outstanding scholarship and accomplishment in career and technical education (CTE) fields. Last year, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, co-chair of the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus, led a successful, bipartisan effort to expand the Presidential Scholars program to include CTE. This year marks the first time the prestigious recognition will be awarde...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development will receive $3,140,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Trust Fund (HTF). The funding is aimed at preserving the supply of low-income housing and increasing homeownership for low-income families across Virginia. “We’re pleased that families across the Commonwealth will continue to have access to ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) report on the deadly 2015 Metro smoke incident at L’Enfant Plaza: “More than fifteen months after the smoke incident at L’Enfant Plaza, we are extremely disturbed that many of the safety hazards that allowed that deadly accident to occur have not yet been addressed. As the report states, responsibility for this incide...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – In response to recent attempts of legislatures in states like North Carolina to limit the rights of LGBT people and transgender students, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), along with 38 Senate Democrats, urged the Department of Education to release comprehensive guidance on the full scope of protections afforded to transgender and gender non-conforming students in our middle schools, high schools, and colleges. In recent years, both the Department of Educa...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Representative Rob Wittman, joined by Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Representative Randy Forbes, sent a letter to President Obama Friday supporting Governor Terry McAuliffe’s appeal of the administration’s decision not to issue a major disaster declaration after severe storms and tornadoes hit Virginia on February 24th. The deadly storms caused significant damage throughout the Commonwealth, especially in Sussex, Appomattox, and Essex Counties, stretching ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today on the executive actions President Obama announced to reduce gun violence: “We’ve seen tragedies in countless cities and towns including Charleston, Newtown and Blacksburg. In Roanoke last year, we saw a horrific shooting take the lives of two young journalists. It’s also important to remember that countless instances of gun violence occur outside the purview of the mainstream media – d...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine attended a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on counter-ISIL operations and Middle East strategy with Defense Secretary Ashton Carton and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford.  Senator Kaine raised objections to the continued reliance on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the broad interpretation of international law to justify expanding U.S. military action. With news this week of ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine attended a Senate Aging Committee hearing examining the harmful impacts that price hikes on decades-old prescription drugs have had on patients, hospitals and the health care system. During the hearing, Kaine introduced one of the witnesses, Berna Heyman, a resident of Williamsburg who was diagnosed with Wilson disease in 2005 at the age of 60. Heyman was able to manage her condition effectively with Syprine until 2014, when Valeant Pharmace...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined 24 of his Senate colleagues in calling for additional federal resources to test drinking water in schools for lead and other contaminants. The Senators voiced concerns that many schools do not have the resources to test whether drinking water is contaminated with lead or other toxins from service lines or plumbing systems. “Lead contamination in Flint, Michigan and communities across the country has highlighted the issue of lead and ot...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine met with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, who currently serves as chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Kaine has urged the Senate’s Republican leaders to abandon their pledge to deny Garland a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing or vote, despite his extensive judicial experience.  ###

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement: “Today I voted against an amendment to the Energy & Water appropriations bill to cut all funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). Over the past five years, ARC has used approximately $365 million to leverage nearly ten times as much in private investment in things like infrastructure, education incentives, and job-creating economic development in Appalachia. This has helped reduce the number ...Continue Reading