Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Gerry Warburg, Professor of Public Policy and Assistant Dean for External Affairs here at the Batten School at the University of Virginia. And I'll be very brief so we can maximize our time with our distinguished guest today. And I'll note obviously we're on the record today, on the record with press, working press in the room. It's my distinct privilege and personal pleasure to introduce, on behalf of President Sullivan and Dean Harry Harding, Senator Tim Kaine to the Batten School. It's a privilege because Senator Kaine will today help lead a discussion in this classroom. A virtual classroom, if you will, Senator. A meeting of the public policy challenges of the 21st century class on war powers. Senator, our focus is on policy history and on tactical options. Lessons learned from past policy successes. And frankly, failures. So your recent bipartisan initiative with Senator McCain is very much on topic. Frank Batten, our founding donor, was committed to the idea that citizen leadership would be required from all sectors of society, the private sector, non-profits, and government service. The students have studied very closely your Senate speech. And the excellent 2008 Miller Center report detailing options for reforming the War Powers Act. And their questions will most likely focus on tactics and strategy. Now, it's a personal pleasure to welcome the Senator, because Tim Kaine embodies many of the characteristics we educators seek to encourage. And he hails from the Senate, an institution where I was fortunate enough to spend three decades of my life. >> Hm. >> Working over the course of the years with colleagues like Jerry Connelly, then a staffer, not a Congressman. And Chris Van Hollen, then a junior staffer, not a Senior Congressman. And together the three of us marveled at the fact that somehow, Senator Caine managed to get named to both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And the armed services committee and become a sub-committee chairman in his first year. No mean feat that. Now this result should not surprise us. Tim Caine has served us well at virtually every level of government. As Mayor of Richmond, City Councilman, as Governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and most recently, in the U.S. Senate. Tim Cain is a man of deep faith. Like so many of you at Battan he found time to supplement his college education as a volunteer. He traveled overseas on mission helping the poorest of the poor in Honduras. So he learned at an early age the importance of being a hands on policy maker as he seeks to improve people's lives. And regardless of your politics, I'd submit that Tim Kaine is also a man of courage, evidenced by his brave stance on the U.S.-Iran Multilaterial Negotiations, and the fact that he has taken on war powers, the thorniest of interbranch issues in his very first year. So Senator, we all look forward to learning from you today, and to engaging with you. Please join me in welcoming Senator Kaine to the Batten School. >> Thank you guys. [APPLAUSE] Thank you guys, thank you. >> Thank you, thank you. >> Thanks so much. [APPLAUSE] I can't tell you how excited I am to be here. I, I love UVA. I loved Frank Batten. Frank Batten was an amazing man. I don't know how many in this room had a chance to, to know him before he passed, truly remark, one of the remarkable Virginians of the 20th century. And and I'm talking to you today about something that is not just a passion for me, but a near obsession and forgive me if I get so wound up about it, but it is something I care deeply about. What I'd like to do is talk to you about this, this question, this Constitutional question about war and who is responsible for it, the President or Congress. I want to share history, I want to share what I think is kind of the problem or the challenge, I want to share what Senator Kaine and I have put on the table as a potential solution. And the solution that we proposed is drawn very heavily from work that was done here at the University of Virginia at the Miller Center. Governor Baliles, I believe is with us in the Miller Center, did a study on this a number of years ago, that I've been very focused on ever since he presented it to me.
