In The News

Two historically African-American cemeteries along the Richmond-Henrico County line have been approved for funding to help protect them. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s board of trustees on Thursday approved the allocation of $400,000 from its preservation trust fund for 76 acres consisting of the East End and Evergreen cemeteries, which have fallen into disrepair. The foundation uses a mix of public and private money to protect more than 750,000 acres across the state. “We&rsquo...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON (NEWSPLEX) -- Four members of the U.S. Senate have introduced legislation to help students make smarter decisions when it comes to financing higher education. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both of Virginia, along with Dean Heller of Nevada and Cory Gardner of Colorado say the Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act would promote financial literacy with comprehensive counseling services for those who get federal financial aid. "In January, Senator Kaine and I ...Continue Reading

Nearly $600,000 from the federal government has been released for construction of the Lynchburg Regional Airport’s new control tower, slated to be finished by the end of the year. Built in 1963, the existing tower is in need of replacement. According to Lynchburg Regional Airport Director Mark Courtney, the tower has outlived its usefulness. “With the combination of airline service, flight training and business jets coming in and out, the modern tower is essential to our mission and ...Continue Reading

Arlington’s elected officials are speaking out in favor of today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion. Rep. Don Beyer, County Board member Katie Kristol and U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine — all Democrats — today praised the Supreme Court’s 5-3 decision to strike down a Texas law that greatly restricted abortion providers there. Beyer called the decision a victory for “common sense and justice for women” in a statement: Common...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, including Tim Kaine (D-Va.), announced a proposal to help keep guns from terrorists The bipartisan announcement is a measure that would prevent people who are on no-fly lists from buying guns. The senators mentioned Tuesday that the measure would have an element of due-process — a check to prevent innocent people from being put on watch lists. The announcement comes one day after Congress rejected proposals to keep guns out of e...Continue Reading

A group of nine senators on Tuesday unveiled a bipartisan compromise aimed at keeping guns out of terrorists' hands in the wake of the June 12 Orlando shooting. The legislation spearheaded by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, would prohibit people on the government's no-fly list and the government's selectee list used for extensive screening at airports from purchasing a gun. The bill would allow U.S. citizens and green-card holders to appeal a decision blocking his or her purchase of a firearm, and ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON — Signaling a possible breakthrough in the long stalemate in Congress over tightening the nation’s gun laws, a bipartisan group of senators called on Tuesday for banning gun sales to terrorism suspects on the government’s “no-fly” list. The proposed measure, while modest, puts new muscle and momentum behind what would be one of the few restrictions placed on gun ownership in the past 20 years. The push for the compromise bill, led by Senator Susan Collins...Continue Reading

Virginia and D.C. lawmakers announced Monday plans to keep open the crumbling Arlington Memorial Bridge, which will have to close in 2021 if it is not repaired. U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Virginia Democrats, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser toured the bridge Monday morning before making their announcement. “We just took a pretty sobering tour of America’s most iconic bridge,” Mr. Warner said at a press conference. “Arlington Memorial Bridge was built for a 75-...Continue Reading

Two-dozen U.S. senators on Monday will urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to scrap a policy that bans blood donations from many gay men, saying that the mass shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando last week underscored how the policy discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation. “The atrocities in Orlando are now understood to be the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, where 49 victims were killed and another 53 were wounded, most of them critically,” said a copy of ...Continue Reading

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — While Father’s Day stands as the most prominent holiday being celebrated Sunday, some across the country are celebrating an entirely different kind of holiday. June 19, 1865 marked the end of slavery in the South in the United States. Since then the holiday has been celebrated throughout the country. Sen. Tim Kaine (D) issued a statement on the holiday Sunday afternoon. “On this day 151 years ago, people celebrated the end of slavery in the Sout...Continue Reading

El senador demócrata Chris Murphy pronunció un maratónico discurso de más de 15 horas seguidas que concluyó el jueves 16, exigiendo que la Cámara Alta vote sobre medidas de control de armas y así cerrar el vacío legal que permite la venta de armas a supuestos terroristas. Señaló que eso ocurrió con Omar Mateen, el autor de la matanza en un club de Orlando, Florida, que dejó un saldo de 49 muertos y 53 heridos la ...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) slammed his colleagues on Monday, arguing they are sidestepping a vote on the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) because they are worried about the potential political fallout.  "Members of Congress have chosen to avoid a vote on the theory that either a yes or a no vote carries political risk. In my view, that is a shameful abdication of responsibility," Kaine said during his commencement speech at the Virginia Military Institute.  ...Continue Reading

Senate Democrats led by Chris Murphy of Connecticut ground the Senate floor to a halt Wednesday, vowing to speak as long as necessary to force the Senate to take action to address gun violence. U.S. Senator Time Kaine added his voice to the renewed push for legislative action to combat gun violence during the more than fifteen-hour filibuster. Kaine reflected on how Virginia has been affected by gun violence. "We've got scar tissue in my Commonwealth, we've got scar tissue in this country and we...Continue Reading

Just after 11 AM on Wednesday, June 15th, Democratic Senator from Connecticut Chris Murphy seized the Senate floor and embarked on a nearly 15-hour long filibuster in order to secure a vote on gun-control legislation. He was joined by more than 35 of his colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, including both of Virginia's Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. Virginia's senators are among those who saw tragedy happen in their state multiple times, both pointing to the Virginia Tech...Continue Reading

A little before 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 16, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut yielded the floor of the United States Senate after a nearly 15-hour filibuster against gun violence. It was the ninth longest Senate filibuster in U.S. history. Murphy, along with some of his Democratic colleagues, used the time to argue for stricter gun control — specifically, to expand universal background checks to cover gun show and Internet sales, and to prevent people on terrorist watch lis...Continue Reading

A group of 27 lawmakers are correctly urging Congress to vote on the Miners Protection Act before they leave Washington for the summer recess. The proposed legislation would address the impending loss of health and pension benefits for thousands of our coal miners, as well as the looming multi-employer pension crisis facing hundreds of thousands of other working Americans. The Miners Protection Act, if approved by Congress, would specifically protect both the health care and pension benefits for...Continue Reading

Two pieces of legislation before the U.S. Congress deal with firearm safety and research and background checks. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine announced his support for the bills on Thursday, which is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. "I'm proud to support the CDC Research on Firearms safety or Gun Violence Prevention Act and the Fix Gun Checks Act - two commonsense pieces of legislation to reduce gun violence in our communities and ultimately save lives," said Kaine. "Congress cannot be complacent w...Continue Reading

What are the most practical and effective steps we can take to reduce gun violence in the U.S.? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. Answer by Tim Kaine, U.S. Senator from Virginia, on Quora: As tragedies in Virginia and across the country have shown, the gun laws in our country have done little to stem senseless gun violence. Congress cannot be complacent when thi...Continue Reading

It was late 2014 that the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center had the worst average wait times of any of the agency's hospitals nationwide. In the three years before that, the hospital saw its workload jump by nearly a third, courtesy of aging Baby Boomer veterans and lots of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines coming home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since that time, however, the staff at the Hampton VA has worked hard to reduce the logjam, with patient wait times being dr...Continue Reading

Critics in the Senate charge that, of all the foreign forces operating in Syria today, the Russians are on the most solid legal ground. Damascus has invited Russia to make its deployment, whereas neither Congress nor Syria has ever explicitly authorized any American military involvement there. KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: Early this week in Germany, President Obama announced a big increase in U.S. ground forces in Syria, which currently number around 50. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BARACK OBAMA: I...Continue Reading