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Sen. Kaine in Hampton Roads to address sequestration

Posted at 12:45 PM, Feb 19, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-19 12:45:04-05

Senator Tim Kaine is in Hampton Roads, talking to workers and service members who will be hit hardest by the budget cuts.

He believes the massive military cuts will be devastating not only to Hampton Roads, but the entire state.

The former governor tells NewsChannel 3 that these cuts affect not only defense spending, but also funding to education and healthcare.

Still - he remains hopeful that Congress will come to a compromise.

The Senator is now in Portsmouth, meeting with other shipyard workers before going to Naval Station Norfolk later this afternoon. And those looming budget cuts are also threatening more than 1,000 children in the Virginia Head Start Program.

If the sequestration budget cuts go through, programs on the Peninsula and the Southside would lose seven percent of their budget.

The Daily Press is reporting, Head Start facilities across the state would have to cut more than 1,400 children from programs.

An estimated 300 jobs would also have to be cut.

The cuts would slash more than $9 million from the program.

The Head Start Program is a federally funded program that serves children, five-years-old and younger, from low-income families.

Head Start offers programs that get children ready for school and teaches them about health, nutrition, and social skills.