HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — The following is a transcription of an interview with Virginia U.S. Senate Candidate Tim Kaine. To hear the full interview with Tim Kaine and challenger Hung Cao, click here.

Question 1
Let’s start off with our first question that we ask everyone and that’s why do you think you should be reelected?

Tim Kaine: I have spent my career standing up and showing up for Virginians first as a civil rights lawyer in Richmond and now for 30 years as a City Councilman and mayor of my city, Lieutenant governor and governor of my Commonwealth and now senator from Virginia to the US Capitol. I have particularly as a senator, battled hard as a member of the Armed Services Committee to support our nation’s defense, our military families, our veterans, active duty. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I chair the Americas where I work hard to promote trade and be a voice for the growing Virginia Latino population. And then I’m also on the Health and Education Committee where I’ve produced meaningful legislation to reduce the price of prescription drugs to expand mental health resources for frontline healthcare workers, to expand pediatric Cancer Research. I spend my time listening to Virginians hearing about their challenges and their aspirations and walking side by side with them to try to get results for every part of the Commonwealth.

Question 2
What do you think the biggest challenge is that Virginia is facing and how do you plan on addressing it?

KAINE: I think the economy is always the biggest issue in Virginia, you know, has had a strong economy. When I was the Governor of Virginia, we were the best state for business, all four years I was governor. And we recently were again named the best state for business. I think what we’re doing in the Senate by funding infrastructure projects, by funding advanced manufacturing and advancing on clean energy, I think those things are very positive and they’re going to keep Virginia moving forward. I fought hard to make sure we’re getting investments like rural broadband or increased ship and sub building in Hampton Roads. So, at the federal level we can keep the economy strong, but I think the biggest issue that the economy faces is frankly workforce shortages. The unemployment rate is very low. Our birth rate is low. We have to do more to invest in technical skills training. Not everybody needs to go to college. There are high quality career and skills programs we should invest in. We need more affordable childcare, which would free up people to go into the workforce who have great skills and want to work, and then we do need a workforce-based immigration reform, too, that will also, you know, make sure that the nation has the, you know, the workers that it needs.

Question 3
How do you propose to improve healthcare?

KAINE: Well, we’ve already worked really hard to do 2 things. First, bring down the price of prescription drugs. I was the deciding vote in the Senate on the Inflation Reduction Act and half of that bill was focused on bringing down prescription drug prices for seniors. And we are making great success in that, but we have to go even further. We’re not only bringing down the price of drugs like insulin but we’re negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for the first time to make sure that they don’t overcharge us when we purchase medications for the Medicare program. We also need to do more to bring down healthcare premiums. The good news is, right now, the uninsured rate the United States is at the lowest it’s ever been, which is great. And part of that is because we added significant premium support to people, low- and moderate-income people buying health insurance policies, and by passing the Affordable Care Act we’ve also dramatically expanded Medicaid coverage in Virginia. But again, we have to do even more. So, building on the progress of this prescription drug initiative will negotiate even on more drugs to bring prices down. We’ll cap out of pocket costs for seniors on pharmaceutical costs, and then we’ll do more to continue to expand health coverage and provide premium support so people can afford it.

Question 4
And like you mentioned, with the rising cost of prescription drugs and just healthcare in general, a lot of things are rising, and a lot of people are throwing out the word inflation. What should the federal government do to slow that?

KAINE: Well in the aftermath of COVID, which just took a sledgehammer to the global economy and disrupted all supply chains, nations all over the world have dealt with the inflation challenge and it’s been painful. The good news is the U.S. says A dealt with it better than most other nations and B you see the inflation rate now cooling off dramatically. The Fed announced that they were going to reduce interest rates, and they’ve done that once and they’re likely to do it again, which will make it easier for people to get mortgages to buy homes. So, there are some things moving that will be helpful in this, but we still have to do more. I think lowering the price of prescription drugs and continuing to do that is going to be important. I have been a strong supporter of President Biden’s effort to do public service loan forgiveness and generally reduced the debt that folks are paying for student loans. If you take that burden off their pocketbook, they can afford other necessities. And then we also need to do much more to provide support, as I mentioned earlier, for affordable childcare because if you can do that, you can not only save folks money for childcare, but you can enable them to use the skills that they have in the workforce and employers desperately need that right now.

Question 5
What are your thoughts on the current foreign policy that the United States has with the Middle East and Ukraine?

KAINE: I’m a strong supporter of our allies Ukraine and Israel. I think we do need to provide support for allies, because if you allow a democracy to be illegally invaded by a dictator, you’ll get more of it. And if you allow a democracy to be attacked by a terrorist group, you’ll get more of that unless you defend Democratic allies. So, I believe we need to support Israel and Ukraine, and that’s how I voted. I also believe if we’re providing support, we have every right to say, hey, look, we want to provide this kind of support, not that kind, we hope you’ll use it in a way that furthers humanitarian goals, that brings about a de-escalation of violence rather than escalation of violence. So, I have, while being supportive of allies, I haven’t been shy about stating, you know, here’s the way I think this U.S. support should be used to hopefully bring about peace and de-escalate violence.

Question 6
You’ve been out campaigning, so, what’s the number one concern you’ve heard from voters?

KAINE: You know, I hear a lot of concerns. I think the top three are the economy, healthcare and reproductive freedom. But I also hear from a lot of voters, they just want people in Washington to listen to them. I’ve done 200 campaign events around Virginia since the start of the year, and that that doesn’t count press interviews, it doesn’t count fundraisers, it doesn’t count official Senate work. But I think Virginians know that I listen to them. I have an opponent who has ridiculed Staunton as a Podunk place. He called the Stanton newspaper a Podunk paper. He said it would be ridiculous for him to drive to Abington to do candidate events. And I noticed when I debated him on October 2nd, he didn’t say a single thing about Virginia, any Virginia community, any Virginia problem or person. I am very focused on Virginia in this job. I think the U.S. Senate job is about Virginia. I think my opponent thinks it’s about D.C., but I definitely know that what Virginians want is people who will show up for them. Who will stand up for them and who will listen to them.

Question 7
You mentioned one of the main concerns that you’ve heard from voters is reproductive freedom. Can you go a little in depth on that?

KAINE: Yes, I think the Virginians overwhelmingly believe that women should be able to make their own reproductive decisions and not have the criminal law get in their way. Virginians were very discouraged when the Supreme Court in the Dobbs ruling took away rights that women had counted on for half a century to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions. And so, as I talked to Virginians, they like the fact that Virginia is the last state in the South, that still follows the basic rule of Roe versus Wade, but they’re very worried about proposals that have been supported by many, including my opponent, that would pass national laws that could dramatically restrict rights to abortion, contraception, and IVF. I think the message I’m hearing loud and clear from Virginians is keep the government out of our personal lives, and we don’t need government making our reproductive decisions for us. I strongly support that position, and I am the sponsor and author of the only bipartisan bill that’s currently pending in Congress that would restore the rights that have long been, you know, accepted as protections via Roe V Wade.

Question 8
And our final question to kind of sum everything up, what’s your main goal with continuing to be in the Senate?

KAINE: I think Virginia is doing well as a state, but there’s nothing we’re doing that we can’t do better. So, my main goal is to continue to use my positions on the Armed Services Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, Health Education, Labor, Pension and Budget committees to produce results for Virginians. Whether that’s advancing shipbuilding and sub building, accelerating the development of solar energy and offshore wind, more funds for local projects. I’ve obtained some funding for some key local projects in Harrisonburg to improve the streetscape downtown, to support local cultural institutions. My goal is to go to work every day and produce results for every corner of the Commonwealth. I’ve done that for 30 years and I’m going to keep doing it if I have the good fortune to be reelected.

To find out more information about Tim Kaine and his campaign, visit his website at timkaine.com.