Kaine raising cain over the sequester

Protecting local shipyards brought U.S. Senator Tim Kaine to town. He got a private tour of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. The media was not allowed on the tour, but he spoke with WAVY.com beforehand.

WAVY.com asked Kaine about the 71 thousand department of defense civilians in Virginia who will be furloughed 11 unpaid days -- a total of $237 million to workers -- thanks to the sequester.

"Installation commanders all tell me civilians are important," Kaine said. "They are nurses at our hospitals. They maintain F-22's. Civilians do incredibly important work."

At the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, there are 9 thousand exempt workers from furloughs, but Kaine said 11 days unpaid will likely be 11 days unpaid for thousands.

"Right now, realistically, I do not see a vehicle that will change anything before the end of the fiscal year," he said.

Kaine said that what our government has done is irresponsible.

"Some decisions mean delays, and that will affect repairs, affect shipyard workers, rendering us less safe at a time when what we are doing isn't going to magically make us safer," Kaine said.

Kaine and others have asked Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to prepare a study on what the defense looks like with ten years of full sequester.

"I believe that will fix the problem with the sequester," said Kaine. "The Senate may budge it or the Armed Services. There is no reason to handcuff defense when we are facing increasing threats."

There are real increasing threats, like Syria and developing chemical weapons, Iran with nuclear weapons, North Korea developing nuclear weapons, firing missiles under questionable leadership.

Senator Kaine is also looking forward to full hearings next week on sexual assaults in the military. He is co-sponsoring legislation with Senator Mark Warner to strengthen military whistle blower protections.

A Pentagon Report found 26 thousand military members were sexually  harassed or assaulted last year alone. The same report shows only 34 hundred of those reported the incidents due to fear of repercussions.

Kaine said he thinks this is a huge flaw in our military, and Virginia's two Senators are doing something about it.