Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after the Coast Guard enacted a new policy calling swastikas and nooses ‘potentially divisive’—a significant downgrade from their previous classification as hate symbols—in the Guard’s workplace harassment guidance: “This policy must be reversed immediately. Allowing racism and antisemitism to fester in our armed forces is wrong, harmful to our military readi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Mark R. Warner (both D-VA), and John Fetterman (D-PA) and U.S. Representatives Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-03) and Bobby Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Labor, reintroduced the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act, legislation that would help miners who have suffered from black lung disease access the workers’ compensation and benefits they are entitled to receive under the federal Black Lung Benefits Program. This leg...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Reverand Raphael Warnock (D-GA) led a group of Democratic Senate colleagues in writing to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to push back on new HHS guidance that rescinds telework as a reasonable accommodation for qualified employees with disabilities. This policy change has already directly harmed HHS employees, including an...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following joint statement in support of a new proposal unveiled this afternoon to reform and strengthen Virginia’s child welfare system: “As former Governors, we know that Virginia’s economy and future depend on investments in the well-being of our youngest generations. That’s why we are pleased to see this new proposal to meaningfully reform Virginia’s child welfare system and better support children a...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner (both D-VA) and U.S. Representative John McGuire (R-VA-05) applaud the advancing of the Wintergreen Emergency Egress Act, bipartisan legislation to issue a right-of-way to add an additional emergency route and road to enhance public safety in Wintergreen, Virginia—a popular tourist destination off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Nelson County. The Wintergreen community currently has only one entrance and exit route, presenting a significant...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) released the following statement regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs’ plans to abruptly eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions this month: “Back in March, when I sounded the alarm about staffing levels at the new Veterans Affairs (VA) facility in Chesapeake, VA Secretary Doug Collins called me a liar. While I don’t expect an apology, America’s veterans—who will be forced to wait longer to see fewer doctors because of Col...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) released the following statement ahead of tomorrow’s unveiling ceremony of the Barbara Rose Johns statue at the U.S. Capitol: “There is a line in the Book of Isaiah, ‘And a little child shall lead them,’ that reminds me of Barbara Rose Johns and the incredible bravery and leadership she displayed when she walked out of Moton High School in Farmville. I’m thrilled that millions of visitors to the U.S. Capitol, including many young people, wi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $620,060 in federal grant funding for infrastructure upgrades to three Virginia airports. This funding is awarded through the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration Airport Infrastructure Grant (AIG) program for FY26, which is made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that the senators helped negotiate and pass. “This investment in Virginia airports will help open doors for travel...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement ahead of a vote on a three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits proposed by Senate Democrats. The credits are set to expire at the end of the year after Republicans failed to extend them as part of the budget bill they passed this summer to cut taxes for billionaires. “Later today, the Senate w...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and Ranking Member of the SASC Subcommittee on Seapower, released the following statement after the House passed the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): “I’m glad that the House voted to pass this year’s defense bill, which includes important provisions that will support servicemembers, military families, Virginia’s defense community, and our allies. However, I’...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement regarding the aviation safety provision in the final, conferenced Fiscal Year 2026 defense bill: “I was proud to work alongside the families of those who lost loved ones in the January 29 crash near DCA to secure a provision in the Senate-passed annual defense bill to require all DOD aircraft that operate near commercial airports to be equipped with broadcast...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) applauds the Senate passage of the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization (SCAM) Act, bipartisan legislation he cosponsored to counter foreign cyber scams and hold transnational criminal organizations accountable for human trafficking, forced criminality, and cyber-enabled fraud schemes targeting Americans. “Transnational criminal organizations across the world are stealing billions from Americans by forcing human trafficking victims to com...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN) applauded the inclusion of their bipartisan bill to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) against Iraq in the final conferenced version of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Senate and House voted to include Kaine and Young’s legislation as amendments to the FY26 NDAA. “It has been more than half a century since the United States repealed a war autho...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), who lived in Honduras in 1980 and 1981 and serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and eleven Democratic Senators introduced a resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández, the former two-term President of Honduras who was sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $8 million for drug trafficking and weapons conspiracy charges. The resolution emphasizes how...Continue Reading

VIDEO AVAILABLE HERE WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Michael Bennet (D-CO) reintroduced the Medicare-X Choice Act, legislation that would create a public option by building on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicare frameworks. The Medicare Exchange (Medicare-X) plan would offer families, individuals, and small businesses affordable health insurance, decrease the number of uninsured Americans...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced over $20 million in federal funding for Virginia fire departments, localities, and organizations. This funding is awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and made possible by the Fire Grants and Safety Act, legislation supported by Sens. Warner and Kaine that reauthorized the Assistance for Firefighters (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Resources (SAFER) grant programs. The ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act of 2025 to prohibit the use of federal funds for any use of military force in or against Venezuela without explicit Congressional authorization. “We shouldn’t stumble into an unnecessary war with Venezuela—risking U.S. servicemembers’ lives—with no congressional authorization and incomplete in...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rand Paul (R-KY), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) filed a War Powers Resolution to block the use of the U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress. President Donald Trump said yesterday that there would be strikes on land “very soon.” The War Powers Resolution is privileged, and may be called up for a vote on the Senate floor...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative James R. Walkinshaw (D-VA-11) and U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner (both D-VA) introduced bicameral legislation to rename a United States Postal Service facility in Fairfax, Virginia in honor of the late Congressman Gerald E. “Gerry” Connolly, whose decades of service and leadership transformed Northern Virginia and inspired a generation of public servants. The bill designates the USPS facility located at 10660 Page Avenue, Fairfax, VA 22030 as th...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and U.S. Representatives Eugene Vindman (D-VA-07) and David Valadao (R-CA-22) introduced the Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation to expand access to digital skills training for American job seekers. “As Americans face a rapidly-changing job market, it’s crucial they be empowered with the digital skills they need to succeed in the contemporary workforce,” said Senator Kaine. “I’m proud to introduce thi...Continue Reading