Chair's Press

Crossville, Tenn., April 16 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today released the following statement on reports that the administration is revising the Census Bureau’s annual Current Population Survey questions on health insurance coverage: “After unilaterally decreeing...

WASHINGTON, April 11 – In a discussion on the floor of the United States Senate (VIDEO HERE), Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) last night warned that the unionization of college athletes, as permitted by a recent National Labor Relations Board regional director’s decision, would destroy college sports...

WASHINGTON, April 10 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, released the following statement on reports that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will resign and that the president will likely nominate Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Burwell to...

*** “Enabling states and parents will get better results than creating a national school board for early childhood education.” –Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., April 10 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate education committee, today said he was developing legislation that would...

Washington, D.C., April 9 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate labor committee, today released the following statement on his vote against Senate Democrats’ so-called “Paycheck Fairness” legislation that would increase litigation and limit the ability of employers to give working...

WASHINGTON, April 7 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on his vote against Democratic legislation that would extend unemployment benefits without considering Republican proposals to help unemployed Americans: “This bill does not contain a single proposal to help grow the economy or encourage...

Washington, D.C., April 7 – A group of 18 Republican senators today submitted comments opposing the National Labor Relations Board’s proposed rule to speed up workplace union elections, which “poses significant harm to businesses and workers alike in the United States.” The senators write that the rule is essentially a...

WASHINGTON D.C., April 2 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today commended passage by the House of Representatives of legislation to continue the successful children’s hospitals graduate medical education program that supports the training of pediatricians at children’s...

*** “Instead of a law like the one proposed here, which would literally reduce the flexibility that employers can provide their employees to do things like go to their child’s football game or the school play. I think we need more flexibility.” –Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., April 1 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander...

The president is waging a public-relations campaign about income inequality in this country, but rather than focus on growing the economy and encouraging businesses to hire, this administration has fallen back on stale, bankrupt ideas that don’t help workers achieve more. The latest is a rule proposed by the National Labor Relations Board to...

*** “The average community college student in America is receiving about $1,500 more in grants and scholarships than it costs in tuition and fees…. The average in-state tuition and fees [at public four-year universities] are about $8,900, and those students receive on average $5,800 in grants and scholarships, leaving them to pay...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 27 – Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN), and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil Roe (R-TN), today introduced legislation that will protect the rights of...

WASHINGTON, March 26 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement on the ruling by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board that Northwestern University football players are employees eligible to form a...

*** “After the parent, a teacher is the most important person in a child’s life. So, what can we do to create an environment in which the best teachers can succeed?...I’d like to review the requirements we impose from Washington on teacher colleges today and make sure they’re current and that they’re useful and that...

Washington, D.C., March 25– U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today released the following statement before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius: “Obamacare is a thumb in the...

JACKSON, Tenn., March 21 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today released the following statement on the fourth anniversary of Obamacare this Sunday, March 23: “Look back at the health care debate as the president rammed his bill through Congress four years ago and...

Washington, DC – A bipartisan group of senators is urging the FDA to provide further clarity and transparency in its policy regarding medical mobile apps.  Senators Michael Bennet, Orrin Hatch, Tom Harkin, Lamar Alexander, Mark Warner, and Richard Burr urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to further clarify rules for medical...

Washington, D.C., March 14 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate labor committee, today released the following statement on the president’s order to change overtime rules: “The president’s directive—combined with his support for a minimum wage hike, his executive order increasing...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 14 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate education committee, today released the following statement on the administration’s proposed gainful employment rule: “To take 841 pages of regulations to define two words in the higher education law shows exactly what is wrong...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Bipartisan legislation to help American families access safe, affordable, and quality child care has cleared the Senate with strong support from senators on both sides of the aisle. U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and Richard Burr (R-NC) released the following statements today...