Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine joined 40 of their colleagues to write a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald raising serious concerns about the implementation of the Veterans Choice Card program, which was created as part of the Veterans Choice, Access, and Accountability Act of 2014, passed last year. The program was established in response to the nationwide crisis of veterans’ access to care but has yet to be implemented as Cong...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined a dozen colleagues in introducing legislation, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act of 2015, that would guarantee full pay for federal workers at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who could be furloughed because of a lapse in federal funding or agency shutdown. “Now, with terrorist threats around us, the most extreme voices are threatening to shut down a key part of our national governmen...Continue Reading

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA - Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations & Armed Services Committees, concluded a two-day visit to Colombia focused on political, economic and security issues, including the Colombian government's ongoing negotiations with the FARC. In addition to meeting with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Kaine met with Colombian senators, business leaders, members of civil society, and U.S. and Colombian military personnel. On Friday, Kaine met wi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine today urged federal regulators to move quickly to finalize and publish new safety regulations on oil trains. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is currently considering proposed new regulations from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), but final regulations are not expected to be released until this spring. In urging OMB to act sooner rather than later, Sens. Warner and Kaine pointed to last weekend’s oil train der...Continue Reading

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committee who is currently in Colombia on a Congressional delegation, released the following statement on the appointment of Bernie Aronson as U.S. Special Envoy to the ongoing Colombia-FARC peace negotiations in Havana, Cuba: “Today I had the honor of meeting with President Santos as Secretary Kerry announced that the U.S. will appoint a Special Envoy to participate in the Colombia...Continue Reading

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, and John Cornyn concluded a three-day visit to Honduras focused on economic and security challenges facing the country, as well as President Obama’s proposed $1 billion aid package for Central America. In addition to meeting with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, the Senators spoke with business leaders, members of Honduran civil society, and U.S. o...Continue Reading

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, concluded a two-day visit to Mexico today that included meetings with Mexican government officials, counterparts in the Mexican Congress, business leaders and representatives from civil society and non-government organizations to discuss economic and security issues. Kaine is visiting Latin America with Senator John Cornyn of Texas this week. In a meeting with Foreign Minis...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today announced that Virginia housing authorities have received more than $30.4 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Capital Fund Program. The funds will allow local public housing authorities to build, repair, renovate and/or modernize public housing in Virginia by making large-scale improvements, such as replacing roofs or making energy-efficient upgrades to replace old...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With federal funding that provides health care coverage to more than 10 million children nationwide through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) set to expire, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine today joined 38 of their Senate colleagues to introduce legislation that would extend CHIP funding through 2019. If Congress fails to extend CHIP, funding for the program will lapse in September 2015, leaving millions of children and pregnant women nationwide...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement on today’s Senate confirmation of former Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter as the nation’s Secretary of Defense: "In voting to approve Ash Carter as our next Secretary of Defense, the Senate has confirmed a proven leader with deep Pentagon experience and a firm commitment to our servicemembers. Ash Carter is the right person to navigate the comple...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Rob Portman (R-OH), co-chairs of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, introduced the Career Ready Act of 2015, legislation that would help ensure students are college and career-ready by strengthening school counseling programs and encouraging states to keep track of career readiness factors implemented in school districts. The Career Ready Act of 2015 amends the Elementary and Secondary S...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner along with U.S. Congressmen Rob Wittman (R-01), Bobby Scott (D-03), Gerry Connolly (D-11), and Don Beyer  (D-08) reintroduced legislation to grant federal recognition to six Virginia Indian tribes. The bill, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2015, was introduced by Kaine and Wittman in the Senate and House, respectively. The bipartisan delegation introduced an earlier version o...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on the draft Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against ISIL announced by President Obama today. For more than seven months, Kaine has been a leading voice urging the administration to seek a specific authorization for military action against ISIL while pressing his Congressional colleagues to debate and vote on the mission – a mission he believes goes beyond the intent of existing authorizati...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on the draft Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against ISIL announced by President Obama today. For more than seven months, Kaine has been a leading voice urging the administration to seek a specific authorization for military action against ISIL while pressing his Congressional colleagues to debate and vote on the mission – a mission he believes goes beyond the intent of existing authorizations from 2001 and...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on Senate confirmation of Michael Botticelli as Director of National Drug Control Policy: “Drug abuse impacts families and communities across Virginia, and I appreciate Mr. Botticelli’s commitment to combatting this epidemic through expanded access to overdose treatments, education, and criminal justice system reforms,” said Kaine. “After meeting with Mr. Botticelli in July to discuss the opi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) today to introduce the Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act, a common-sense bill that bans the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition and are designed for shooting en masse. “It’s clear from the tragedies at Virginia Tech, Newtown, and far too many other horrific shootings in our nat...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the nomination of Dr. Ash Carter as Secretary of Defense, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine reiterated his call for the President to send a draft Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to spur Congress to debate and vote on the mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). “It is still my hope that the White House will send to us a draft Authorization for the Use of Military Force,” said Kaine. “I don’t...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere  hearing today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine questioned Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson and Assistant Secretary For Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tomasz Malinowski on the regional impact of U.S.-Cuba policy changes. “What about the regional reaction?” Kaine asked. “I have worried over time that the U.S. position v...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined his Democratic colleagues to advocate a clean bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and block Republican attempts to play politics with the agency’s funding and risk a shutdown of the critical agency over disagreements with the President’s immigration actions. “Republicans are threatening to stop funding DHS unless we reverse the President’s immigration actions,” Kaine said in remarks on ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement on Pope Francis’s approval of a martyrdom declaration for Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero:  "I am thrilled by the Vatican's announcement today of a martyrdom declaration for Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was murdered in 1980. I worked in neighboring Honduras in late 1980-81 and came to know of Archbishop Romero's powerful Christian advocacy for the poor and his courageous witne...Continue Reading