Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) introduced The Foster Care Tax Credit Act yesterday, legislation to provide tax relief for foster families to help cover the costs of caring for a foster child.  The Foster Care Tax Credit Act would help cover the costs of caring for children in foster and kinship care by establishing a tax credit of up to $1,000 each year. The bill, introduced during National Foster Care Month, would also direct the ...Continue Reading

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Robert Menendez, Barbara Boxer and Ben Cardin  introduced legislation today repealing the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) Against Iraq that passed in 2002.  The legislation was introduced following a hearing yesterday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the AUMFs for Iraq and Afghanistan. "The open-ended nature of the Authorizations for the Use of Military Force in both the wars in Iraq a...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today praised the committee’s Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes key provisions Kaine supported that benefit Virginia’s defense community. The bill was reported out of committee today with a bipartisan vote of 25 to 1. Prior to the markup, Kaine sent a letter to Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) voicing support for these priorities and a...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today announced Senate passage of the House-approved Water Resources Development Act, sending the bipartisan legislation to the President for his signature. The final legislation successfully included Warner-Kaine amendments which resolved issues specific to three Virginia water projects: One advances the Craney Island expansion at the Port of Virginia, a second authorizes funding for Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration progr...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern, South and Central Asian Affairs, released the following statement today expressing disappointment about Russian and Chinese action at the UN. “Today I commend the international community and the UN for bringing to a vote a Security Council resolution that would have empowered the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute war crimes in Syria, no matter the p...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine questioned officials from the Department of Defense and State Department on the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). Kaine expressed serious concerns about the breadth and indefinite mandate of the AUMF approved by Congress nearly 13 years ago in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and urged Congress to take action to refine the open-ended authorization.  &ld...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markup in the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine applauded the inclusion of an amendment mirroring the Servicemembers’ Compensation Empowerment Act, a bill Kaine recently introduced with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to ensure military servicemembers’ preferences on pay & benefits are considered by the Military Compensation and Retirement Moderniz...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine signed on as a co-sponsor of the Advanced Clean Coal Technology Investment in Our Nation (ACCTION) Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp to stimulate large-scale federal and private sector investment to reduce carbon pollution through advanced clean coal technologies. “I am proud to cosponsor the ACCTION Act because it recognizes that the solution to our energy and climate challenges is American innovation.  C...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markup in the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine expressed his support for an NDAA provision that would pave the way for an expansion of Arlington National Cemetery: “Thank you Madam Chairwoman, and just briefly – one provision in the package before us that I want to draw attention to and also provide some thanks for is this ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – In an effort to tighten rules on corporate tax avoidance through “inversions,” U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined a group of 13 Senators today to introduce The Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2014, legislation to address the practice of reincorporating offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes. The bill is designed to prevent the loss of billions of dollars in revenue through corporate tax-driven inversions, a loss that would add either to the deficit or to the tax burden of...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern, South and Central Asian Affairs, released the following statement today on India’s election: “The people of India marked another milestone on their seven decade long democratic journey, completing the largest election in world history. They made their choice clear. On behalf of the United States Senate, I congratulate the Bharatiya Janata Party on its victory and con...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern, South and Central Asian Affairs, released the following statement on the London 11 Ministerial meeting: “I applaud the communique released by the ‘London 11’ Core Group of the Friends of Syria.  The communique broadly condemns Assad’s actions, including the Syrian regime’s decision to hold an illegitimate election on June 3.  I was pleased...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, introduced the Credentialing Improvement for Troop Talent (CREDIT) Act of 2014 to help servicemembers acquire credentials that would ease their transition into the civilian workforce. The legislation would expand the authority of the military Tuition Assistance (TA) Program to cover credentialing expenses by authorizing the use of funds to pay for licensing fees and additional expenses such as train...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) , Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bob Casey (D-PA), Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Roy Blunt (R-MO) sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy calling on the agency not to include companies that have voluntarily upgraded their facilities in the draft rule that will be released later this summer to limit pollution from ceramic tile manufacturing. The EPA is scheduled to propose National Emi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine co-sponsored the Supporting College Access and Success Through Dual Enrollment Act, legislation to help students earn college credits in high school in order to cut the cost of earning a college diploma. Kaine has long-supported dual enrollment programs as a tool to help bring down college costs for families. The Supporting College Access and Success Through Dual Enrollment Act would provide grants to states to expand programs that all...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine hosted a roundtable discussion at the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission today with Virginia Deputy Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue, Northern Virginia county and local officials, members of the Virginia General Assembly, representatives of Northern Virginia regional transportation bodies, and policy experts to discuss regional transportation priorities and options to pay for much-needed infrastructure. Throughout the discussion, t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Continuing a bipartisan effort to honor the service of civilians assisting the U.S. mission in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and John McCain (R-AZ) and Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to introduce the bipartisan Afghan Allies Protection Extension Act. The legislation, co-sponsored by Senators Kaine, Shaheen, McCain, Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ron Kirk (R-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Rob Portman (R-OH...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement to recognize Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Kaine, who recently hosted an Asian American roundtable with community leaders and small business owners, praised the many contributions of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community to the country. “The story of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our nation’s history has been one of struggle, resolve and lasting accomplishments. The...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine praised the announcement that Virginia poultry exports will resume to the People’s Republic of China after seven years. In March, Warner and Kaine wrote to Ambassador Max Baucus encouraging him to support efforts to end the ban on Virginia poultry exports, which has cost Virginia poultry producers millions of dollars in lost export opportunities annually. “This is great news for Virginia poultry growers,” s...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine today visited Fort Pickett, Virginia and Nottoway County’s Pickett Park, which was recently selected as the site for a new Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC) to train U.S. diplomatic and government personnel assigned to high-threat posts around the world. After a multi-year exhaustive search, the Administration determined Fort Pickett is the best site to meet the State Department’s operational requirements, and take a...Continue Reading