Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today after final Senate passage of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act by a vote of 68 to 32. Kaine has discussed the need for immigration reform at events across Virginia, including in Roanoke, Leesburg, and Reston, and in remarks he delivered in Spanish on the Senate floor:     “Today the Senate passed compre...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Following yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor, Senator Kaine joined 40 other senators to introduce the Respect for Marriage Act. The bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and provide equal treatment of all married couples. Feinstein, Nadler Reintroduce Legislation to Repeal DOMA Respect for Marriage Act Repeals Discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a senior member of th...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine today released the following statement following the outcomes of Hollingsworth v. Perry and United States v. Windsor at the U.S. Supreme Court: “Today’s Supreme Court decisions are an enormous victory for thousands of committed couples and their families across the country and a major step toward marriage equality. In ruling the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, the Court has affirmed the principle that every legally married cou...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan: “Today, the President laid out a series of steps to address the negative effects of carbon pollution on our environment.   I applaud the focus and am studying the details of the proposal with care. “I believe the scientific consensus that we must reduce our reliance on carbon-based energy.   America has reduced carbon ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today in response to the United States Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder: “The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the validity of the Voting Rights Act preclearance requirement but specify that Congress must grapple anew with the appropriate geographic application of the technique raises serious concerns, particularly with regard to how voting rights will be protected in the interim in pl...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined administrators, students, and financial aid officers at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond today to discuss his efforts to avoid the doubling of interest rates on undergraduate subsidized Stafford loans on July 1, from 3.4% to 6.8%. Kaine is a cosponsor of the Student Loan Affordability Act of 2013 to keep student loan interest rates at their current 3.4% rate for the next two years. "We are trying to come up w...Continue Reading

Tim Kaine, a Democrat, represents Virginia in the Senate.  President Obama is expected to make a decision in the next few months on the Keystone XL project. As the debate heats up, I worry that the shorthand used in talking about the issue obscures the real point.  I’m a pro-pipeline senator. As a former mayor of Richmond, a city with a gas utility, I think it makes no sense to be anti-pipeline. But I oppose the Keystone XL project. Although the president’s decision is tech...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, today met with Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Eric Shinseki to discuss significant issues facing veterans today including the disability claims backlog, education, health care access, and unemployment.  “Today I had the opportunity to meet with Secretary Shinseki on critical issues facing our veterans and the VA including the disability claims backlog and the tragic rate of veteran suicides....Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine today signed onto the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act – legislation that would end the ban on prescription drug price negotiations for the government’s largest health care program. “Every corner pharmacy negotiates for prescription drug prices so it makes no sense that the federal government isn’t allowed to do the same,” said Kaine. “At a time when we continue to look at every line item of the b...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, today lauded important provisions he advocated for Virginia’s defense community that were included in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2014. The bill was reported out of committee yesterday on a bipartisan vote of 23 to 3.  Prior to the markup, Kaine sent a letter to Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) voicing support for these priorities and advocating for necessary ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) today announced that the Senate Armed Services Committee has incorporated their proposals to strengthen military whistleblower protection laws to ensure that victims of sexual assault and other misconduct are protected from retaliation. Sen. Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, successfully worked to have the whistleblower protections included during the committee’s markup of an annual defense authori...Continue Reading

Washington, D.C – In a letter sent to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jon Tester (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jim Risch (R-ID), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Chris Coons (D-DE) expressed grave concern about the June 4, 2013 decision by an Egyptian court to sentence 43 Egyptian...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an open session of the Armed Services Committee National Defense Authorization Act markup today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine voted in favor of Senator Carl Levin’s amendment to require an independent review by the next higher level of the chain of command in cases where a commander decides not to prosecute a sexual assault allegation. The proposal also addresses the issue of retaliation by making acts of retribution a crime and establishing a process to hold commande...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, delivered the following opening remarks today at the Subcommittee’s markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014: “I want to commend the chair and the ranking for the work into the mark and especially clearing through so many amendments, these are important amendments. We’ll have a vigorous debate tomorrow, I’m proud to support reporti...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine today delivered remarks in Spanish on the Senate floor to voice his support for the bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act and strongly urge his colleagues to come together to pass the commonsense proposal. “Let’s show this country and the world that this is not a Republican bill and it is not a Democratic bill but it is a strong bipartisan bill.  It is time that we pass comprehensive immigration reform,” said ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement today after final passage of the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 (the Farm Bill) by a vote of 66 to 27. Last week, Kaine voiced his support for passage of a long-term farm bill during discussions with local farmers in Charlottesville and Gordonsville. “With Senate passage of a long-term farm bill, Virginia’s agricultural community is one step closer to the certainty it deserves to...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today met with top Pentagon officials to discuss issues facing Virginia’s defense community. During meetings with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Kaine addressed the ongoing impact of sequestration and continued furloughs for thousands of Virginians, his priorities for the Commonwealth in upcoming discussions of the National Defense Authorization Act, and ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, today pressed top military officials on the escalating crisis of sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact in the military. Kaine also outlined his concerns this morning in an op-ed in the Virginian-Pilot. During the first panel of the hearing, Kaine questioned Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, Service Chiefs and Service Judge Advocates General and described the damaging impacts he bel...Continue Reading

I’m proud to represent the state that’s more connected to the military than any other. Communities across the Commonwealth are defined by the servicemembers and their families, installations, shipyards, airfields and historical battlefields. So when we’re faced with the issue of sexual assault in our Armed Forces, it shakes the military culture – and the surrounding communities – to the core.   And while there are all sorts of effects we feel today as a result ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tim Kaine participated in a roundtable with local farmers in Charlottesville today to discuss the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 (the Farm Bill), which was voted out of committee with bipartisan support, and how it will help Virginia farmers and local markets. Kaine expressed his support for a full five-year arm bill to provide farmers in Virginia and across the nation with the long-term certainty they deserve. "The uncertainty surrounding the farm ...Continue Reading