Tim Kaine in 2016 Vice Presidential prospects
On Homeland Security:
Inspired to follow current events during the Vietnam war
Q: Have you always had a passion for politics?A: My family was very non-political as I grew up, but it was a tumultuous time in the era of civil rights advocacy and the Vietnam War.
We read morning and evening newspapers every day and cared deeply about what was happening in our country and world.
Source: Rockhurst High School, PNonline.org, Q&A on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 31, 2016
On Education:
Protect LGBT students at schools, including gender identity
In May, Kaine wrote a letter to Education Secretary John B. King Jr. urging him to issue a clarification that LGBT students are protected from discrimination under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs
and activities. Less than two weeks later, the Education Department issued guidance that transgender students must be permitted to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
Source: Politico.com, "Education Letter," on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 25, 2016
On Drugs:
Against decriminalizing marijuana at state or federal level
Kaine's regressive and repressive views and votes on marijuana recently earned him into a "hall of shame" over at StopTheDrugWar.com. Just last month, they consolidated NORML's congressional scorecard, and displayed the names of 26 current US senators
to whom they have given an "F" rating. Unsurprisingly, only four were Democrats; unfortunately, one of those four prohibitionists is Tim Kaine. He said: "I wouldn't vote for a law at the federal or state level that would decriminalize marijuana."
Source: MarijuanaPolitics.com, "Prohibitionist VP": 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 23, 2016
On Education:
Individualized learning, not charter schools
Most policy debate these days seems to be about charter schools or testing. But I'm convinced that the most important reform has been under our noses since 1975, when legislation was passed to guarantee children with diagnosed
disabilities receive individualized learning plans tailored to meet their specific needs. Let's use the insight gained through advances in educating kids with disabilities to leverage new technologies and teaching methods that can individualize learning.
Source: DianeRavitch.com, "Kaine Loves Schools," on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 23, 2016
On Government Reform:
Public companies should publish their political spending
Existing SEC rules have enabled public companies to keep their political spending below their shareholders' radar screen. For one, public companies can engage in political spending that does not register in any public record by
channeling such expenditures through intermediaries like the US Chamber of Commerce. [There was a] political ad sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce against Tim Kaine, who won a Senate race in Virginia.
Source: N.Y. Times, "Let Shareholders Know", on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 23, 2016
On Immigration:
Urges US to accept more Syrian refugees
The United States traditionally accepts at least 50 percent of resettlement cases from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). However, we have accepted only approximately 700 refugees since the beginning of the Syrian conflict,
an unacceptably low number. While the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees, we must also dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees that we accept for resettlement.
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 23, 2016
On Crime:
Kaine's Project Exile disproportionately impacted blacks
As Richmond mayor from 1998 to 2001, Kaine was a vocal supporter of Project Exile, crediting it with reducing the city's murder rate. Its goal was to literally live up to its name by making illegal gun possession a federal,
not a state, crime, which allowed prosecutors to send convicted felons, most of them black, to a distant federal penitentiary for at least five years.
Source: Reuters, "USA Election," on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 22, 2016
On Environment:
We must protect resources like oyster reefs and clean water
Public policy functions best when it treats this planet not just as a trove of resources to tap until exhausted, but as a sacred responsibility. In May of 2015, I joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for a service project focused on oyster reef
restoration. The healthier an oyster population is, the cleaner the water source will be. I also strongly support reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has supported over a quarter of a billion dollars in conservation in Virginia.
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 22, 2016
On Corporations:
Protect banking industry's ability to serve consumers
Kaine was one of 70 senators who signed a one-page letter asking Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray to try to "prevent any unintended consequences that negatively impact community banks and credit unions or unnecessarily limit
Source: Politico.com, "Banking Letter," on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 21, 2016
On Drugs:
Supported Senate bill to fight opioid epidemic
I've seen firsthand how significant an impact the opioid and heroin abuse epidemic is having on communities and families in Virginia. More Virginians now die from these overdoses than car accidents, and law enforcement currently lacks the tools to save
more lives. I'm pleased this bill will encourage co-prescribing of naloxone -- a life-saving drug -- alongside opioid prescriptions and also implements a measure to protect the elderly from medication abuse.
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 13, 2016
On Welfare & Poverty:
Secured funds to help homeless vets find good housing
Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs will award $166,336 to the Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority to help homeless veterans find affordable housing. "The brave
men and women who have worn our nation's uniform deserve to know that their country will take care of them when they return home,"said both Senators. "This will help homeless veterans in Hampton find a safe and affordable place to live."
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 2, 2016
On Government Reform:
Citizens United erodes democracy and undermines elections
The Supreme Court's ruling will allow the money of corporate interests to flood the political process, will undermine free and fair elections and further erode voters' confidence in our system of Democracy.
It is a major victory for oil companies, banks, health insurance companies and other special interests that already use their power to drown out the voices of regular Americans.
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: DNC press release, "Campaign finance"
Jun 28, 2016
On Government Reform:
Citizens United encourages lobbyists to influence votes
We have seen how armies of corporate lobbyists descend on Capitol Hill to fight everything from health care and financial regulatory reform to efforts to lower energy costs and reverse the effects of global climate change. This ruling undermines the
free speech rights of citizens whose views will be drowned out by wealthy corporate interests whose aim will not just be to influence which candidates get elected -- but how they vote once they are in office.
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: DNC press release, "Campaign finance"
Jun 26, 2016
On Immigration:
Supported 2013 Senate immigration reform package
I was proud to join a majority of my Senate colleagues to pass a historic comprehensive immigration reform package in 2013, as well as speak about its importance in Spanish on the Senate floor. I support efforts to expand the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) programs. For far too long, our immigration system has placed undue burdens on legal immigrants and kept millions of others living in the shadows of our society.
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
Jun 23, 2016
On Free Trade:
Global trade is a reality; need more good trade deals
[On free trade, Kaine says], "But the fact remains--Virginia is a global gateway, and that status is important to me as Congress debates whether to give the president the tools to negotiate more trade deals to cement American leadership in a global
economy. Global trade is a reality. The question is whether the U.S. wants to write the rules for trade or suffer under rules written by others." (Sen. Tim Kaine, "Kaine: Virginia Is A Global Gateway," Richmond Times-Dispatch, 5/18/15)
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: DailyKos, "Free Trade and Tim Kaine"
Apr 26, 2016
On Free Trade:
Pass TPP and create true free trade for U.S.
Kaine joined a bipartisan group of 11 senators to write a letter to the TPP negotiators on Jan. 15, 2014: "We are concerned about Canada's program that severely limits US chicken exports. Despite ratification of NAFTA, Canada has continued to impose
restrictions on imports of US chicken products. We urge you to work to address this long-standing, unjustified issue during the TPP negotiations, and to fully engage the other eleven participating countries to create true free trade for U.S. poultry."
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: DailyKos, "Free Trade and Tim Kaine"
Apr 26, 2016
On Principles & Values:
Catholicism & Quakerism influence his political views
Kaine has reflected on how Catholicism informs his views on race, poverty and cultural diversity, which he calls "God's rich tapestry." During a C-SPAN interview,
Kaine said one of the spiritual phrases he lives by is by George Fox, who founded Quakerism: "Walk cheerfully over the earth, answering that of God in everyone."
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: Heavy.com, "Wife, kids, parents"
Apr 26, 2016
On War & Peace:
Iran is the real threat; Israel can make peace with Arabs
After spending six days in the Middle East, Kaine said he believes that Israel's emerging cooperation with some of its neighbors is cause for optimism. Kaine spoke with officials in Israel, the West Bank and Turkey, as well as with nongovernmental
organizations.Kaine said that in previous trips to Israel, he often came away frustrated with the prospect of Israelis and their Arab neighbors living in peace. "When you talk with senior leadership, you tend to hear the same thing over & over again.
Source: Washington Jewish Week on 2016 Veepstakes
Jan 20, 2016
On War & Peace:
Iran is the real threat; Israel can make peace with Arabs
After spending six days in the Middle East, Kaine said he believes that Israel's emerging cooperation with some of its neighbors is cause for optimism. Kaine spoke with officials in Israel, the West Bank and Turkey, as well as with nongovernmental
organizations.Kaine said that in previous trips to Israel, he often came away frustrated with the prospect of Israelis and their Arab neighbors living in peace. "When you talk with senior leadership, you tend to hear the same thing over & over again.
There is kind of a staleness to the conversation frankly," he said. Often, one side just wants to blame the other, Kaine noted. During his trip, he was encouraged to realize that "some countries really view Israel as a partner," he said. "There is
growing cooperation between Israel and many Arab nations in the region, the Gulf state nations," specifically Saudi Arabia, as well as Jordan & Egypt. Many of the Arab leaders he spoke with pointed to Iran as a real threat to them, not Israel, he said.
Source: Washington Jewish Week on 2016 Veepstakes
Jan 20, 2016
On Crime:
Opposes death penalty as a Catholic, but upholds VA law
[Kaine commented on his Catholic faith]: If faith is central to Kaine's political identity, it is also a source of personal pain for an otherwise unfailingly upbeat campaigner. He grows solemn when the topic is capital punishment, the point at which
Kaine's political ambitions appeared to trump his moral convictions. Kaine adroitly defused the issue, promising voters he would not block the state's death penalty machinery, despite his personal beliefs.
Source: Washington Post, "Moral convictions" on 2016 Veepstakes
Jan 7, 2016
On Homeland Security:
Help "Blue Water" veterans harmed by Agent Orange
Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to ensure thousands of Navy veterans from the Vietnam War, known as "Blue Water" veterans for their service in waters off the coast, who were exposed to
the powerful toxin Agent Orange will be eligible to receive disability and health care benefits they have earned for diseases linked to Agent Orange exposure.
The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act would clarify existing law so that Blue Water veterans would be fully covered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) if they served within the "territorial seas," or approximately 12 miles offshore,
of Vietnam. The bill would make it easier for the VA to process Vietnam War veterans' claims for service-connected conditions and alleviate a portion of the VA's backlog by reinstating presumptive coverage of Agent Orange benefits to these veterans.
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
Sep 16, 2015
On Immigration:
Give millions of families an earned pathway to citizenship
Kaine said, "Two years, where after a strong bipartisan effort, we've waited for action--any action--by the House. Not just taking up our bill, but their own bill, and in a conference finding a compromise, which we can do. It's time that the House act.
It's time that the Senate and House sit down together and do comprehensive immigration reform. We can give DREAMers and millions of other families who continue to live in the shadows an earned pathway to citizenship. It's time to pass that reform."
Source: Augusta Free Press on 2016 Veepstakes
Jun 19, 2015
On Civil Rights:
Property rights important when mapping pipeline routes
Griffith, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, and U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner were asked about the proposed Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines, surveying for routes without a property owner's permission and natural gas exports.
None expressed opposition to the pipelines. All emphasized that constituents' concerns about the projects should receive careful consideration by both the companies that want to build the pipelines and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Source: Roanoke.com, "Eminent Domain," on 2016 Veepstakes
Mar 22, 2015
On Principles & Values:
Authenticity as Senator means expressing religiosity
Three deeply religious senators spoke at a panel discussion on Capitol Hill about the interplay between religion and politics, and how their faith shaped their personal and political lives. "One stereotype
would be, 'I'm a religious person and my job is to enact my religious beliefs on others.' The other is 'I'm a religious person and I should keep that out of the public sphere,'" Virginia Democrat
Tim Kaine said. "I should authentically be who I am, just like I would share that I'm a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs," said Kaine, a Catholic educated at an all-boys Jesuit high school. Kaine described how he began sending money to a
Jesuit mission in El Progreso, Honduras, as a junior in high school. While at Harvard Law School, he took a nine-month break to teach there on a mission trip.
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: Rollcall.com, "Religion Shaped"
Aug 17, 2014
On Government Reform:
Time to rethink Patriot Act
More than a dozen years after Congress authorized the use of military force against nations, groups or individuals involved in or aiding the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, attacks, Sen. Tim Kaine said it's time to rethink that declaration. "The Bush and
the Obama administrations have said, 'If a group pops up that affiliates with al-Qaida, even if they had nothing to do with 9/11... this authorization," Kaine said. Kaine said new scrutiny would likely lead to reconsiderations of the Patriot Act.
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
Jan 27, 2014
On Corporations:
Fix the tax code to help businesses without lobbying clout
The tax code--both corporate and individual--needs to be simpler. The current complexities suggest that the code isn't driven by policy, but instead by the power of special interest lobbying muscle. Since many people--certainly the poor and
working families--can't match the lobbying clout of special interests, the complexities in the individual tax code generally work to benefit others to their disadvantage.
Since many businesses also don't have full-time lobbyists, the complexities in the corporate and individual tax codes generally work to benefit others to their disadvantage. Some small businesses (including the vast majority of farms) are doubly affected
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 31, 2013
On Civil Rights:
Same-sex couples should have the same legal rights
Kaine sought to lay out a middle ground position on same-sex marriage. "The underlying issue is, should committed couples have the same legal rights and responsibilities, and the answer to that is an unequivocal yes," Kaine said, noting that he had
campaigned against a 2006 amendment adding a gay marriage ban to the Virginia Constitution. "I believe in the legal equality of relationships," Kaine continued. "The debate about, 'is it marriage? Is it civil union? Is it domestic partnership?'
I just kind of let that one go and say committed couples should be treated the same by law."But reporters pressed Kaine on whether marriage is a civil right; Kaine responded, "Relationship equality is a civil right." Asked whether gay couples should
be given marriage licenses, he said, "There should be a license that would entitle a committed couple to the same rights as a married couple." But would that be called a marriage license? "I think the labels get in the way of the issue," Kaine said.
Source: Washington Post on 2016 Veepstakes
May 8, 2012
On Civil Rights:
2005: No gay adoption; 2011: gay adoption okay
As a former Democratic National Committee chairman, Kaine was asked whether he thought support for gay marriage should be added to the party's official platform this year. He said he thought the party could unite around "relationship equality" but did
not directly answer the question.Questions surrounding gay couples have long followed Kaine. A year ago, he said that he believed gay couples should be able to adopt if a judge determined that it was in the best interests of a child.
That marked a shift from when Kaine ran for governor in 2005, when he said he opposed any unmarried couples -- gay or heterosexual -- being able to adopt children.
Kaine wouldn't say whether his position on gay marriage differed
from Obama's, which the White House has said is "evolving." Kaine said, "People like to ding the president on that word but the answer is, it's exactly what's happening in society."
Source: Washington Post on 2016 Veepstakes
May 8, 2012
On Homeland Security:
Repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell": let gays serve in military
Kaine said, "People like to ding the president on that word 'evolving' but the answer is, it's exactly what's happening in society." Kaine did support repealing the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" law prohibiting openly gay people from serving
in the military. And he noted that public attitudes on the overall topic were shifting, so much so that if the gay marriage amendment were on the Virginia ballot again, the vote would most likely be a lot closer. (It passed 57 to 43 in 2006.)
Source: Washington Post on 2016 Veepstakes
May 8, 2012
On Immigration:
Comprehensive immigration policy instead of xenophobia
Q: Do you agree with the Justice Department legal challenge filed today to Arizona's law [enforcing immigration laws at the state level because of a lack of enforcement at the federal level]?
KAINE: I do I think the Arizona law comes out of a frustration with a broken federal immigration policy, but the way to fix it is for senators and House members of both parties to do what they said they had been doing,
they should have done years ago and come up with a comprehensive immigration policy at the federal level.
The solution isn't for states to go one-off and enact harsh policies that really, you know, show a real xenophobic face about who we are. We need to fix this, fix it at the federal level, that is what the president is set on doing.
Source: RealClearPolitics.com on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 6, 2010
On War & Peace:
Afghanistan war was not a war of Obama's choosing
MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: Keep in mind, for our federal candidates, this is a war of Obama's choosing. This is not something the United States actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.
TIM KAINE, DNC CHAIRMAN: Those comments were outrageous to say that the Afghanistan war was a war of Obama's choosing, ignores 9/11, ignores
President Bush going to a bipartisan Congress and getting their support for going after the terrorists who did us harm, ignores the international coalition that joins with us. But in another way, as outrageous the statements are, they are also,
I think, a logical extensions of what the Republican Party's game plan is which was blame the president for anything and oppose him on everything.
Source: RealClearPolitics.com on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 6, 2010
On War & Peace:
Iraq was a wrong choice; Afghanistan was no choice
Q: What do you think of the Afghanistan policy?
KAINE: You look at Afghanistan much like you look at what the president has done in Iraq. The wars were for very different motives. I think the president was right that Iraq was a wrong choice and I applaud the way he has brought the troop strength down.
He has laid out a plan going forward that calls for a reduction of battle troop strength in Afghanistan beginning in 2011.
He has accomplished what he said would do in Iraq and I think the American people are going to see that he will accomplish what he said he would do in Afghanistan. [To say] that the Afghanistan war was a war of Obama's choosing ignores 9/11
Source: RealClearPolitics.com on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 6, 2010
On Drugs:
Reduce sentences but do not decriminalize pot
Questions ranged from topics such as the government treatment of ISIS, to the decriminalization of marijuana. To the latter, Kaine said that while he "support[s] drastic changes in sentencing laws,
I wouldn't vote for a law at the federal or state level that would decriminalize marijuana."
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: The Cosby Bolt, "Tim Kaine Forum"
Jan 21, 2010
On Government Reform:
Yes to disclosing sources of secret donations
"The DISCLOSE Act would make long-overdue changes to our nation's campaign laws by bringing needed transparency to political spending," said Kaine."Allowing special interest
groups to conceal their donors encourages the onslaught of false, negative advertising that Virginians are sick of seeing during political campaigns. Congress needs to step up and make reforms that shine a light on secret money."
Source: 2016 Veepstakes: Senate office press release "DISCLOSE Act"
Jan 21, 2010
On Tax Reform:
As governor, Kaine signed death tax repeal on big estates
As of Sunday, the tax on larger estates in Virginia was repealed. The repeal legislation was passed by the General Assembly last year but did not take effect until July 1 this year. The estate tax repeal will have a big fiscal impact -- an estimated
$250 million over two years. Running for governor in 2005, Kaine promised to try to repeal the tax. The General Assembly, meeting in a special session to consider transportation taxes, approved the proposal in August. Kaine signed it into law.
Source: Richmond.com on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 4, 2007
On Education:
School vouchers divert resources from our public schools
On the day the Supreme Court announced its school choice decision, Gov. Mark Warner released a statement saying he opposed school vouchers because they "divert precious resources from our public schools."
Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine has voiced the same objection.
Source: DailyPress.com, "School Choice", for 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 14, 2002
Page last updated: Nov 30, 2021