Chair's Press

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today after the Senate confirmed five nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The HELP Committee held confirmation hearings for the nominees in May and earlier this...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, released the following statement today on the 23rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Harkin was the Senate sponsor of the ADA and delivered the first-ever Senate floor speech in American...

WASHINGTON D.C. – A bipartisan coalition of senators on the U.S. Senate committee overseeing health policy today urged Senate action on their legislation to help prevent another compounding crisis like the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that has led to 61 deaths and 749 illnesses, as well as protect the nation’s drug supply chain for...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Senate HELP Committee Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced a bipartisan bill to re-authorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), legislation first passed by Congress in 1998 and overdue for...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released the following statement after Senate approval of a proposal that will lower interest rates for all borrowers who have taken out, or will take out, a new federal student loan after July 1, 2013. As...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement responding to a speech delivered by President Obama on the economy today.  Harkin, as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, authored the Rebuild America Act, far-reaching legislation that called for investments in areas...

Earlier This Year, Sen. Harkin and Rep. George Miller Introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which Would Raise the Minimum Wage to $10.10 and Index it to Inflation Increasing the Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Increase GDP by Nearly $33 Billion and Generate 140,000 New Jobs Over Three Years Due to Increased Consumer Spending WASHINGTON,...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today after the HELP Committee approved two nominees—Kent Hirozawa and Nancy Schiffer—to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The HELP Committee has now...

*As Prepared for Delivery* “Today’s hearing is the result of a bipartisan deal that was reached to allow for a fully-confirmed National Labor Relations Board for the first time in a decade.  A fully-confirmed, fully-functional Board will be a huge step forward for workers, employers, and our country.  Indeed, I hope that this...

WASHINGTON, D.C.--U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) released the following statement today after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Earlier this year, the Senate HELP Committee passed its own ESEA...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA)—working with U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Richard Burr (R-NC), Angus King (I-ME), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Tom Carper (D-DE), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Dick Durbin (D-IL)—introduced a bipartisan compromise, the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today after the Senate approved the nomination of Thomas Perez to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor. The HELP Committee held a hearing for Perez in April and favorably reported his...

After Year-Long Investigation, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin Releases Report Showing ADA’s Promise of Integration is Not Being Met for Many Americans with Disabilities Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision Ruled That Unnecessary Segregation of Individuals with Disabilities is a Violation of the ADA—but HELP Committee...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today on the National Labor Relations Board: “The National Labor Relations Board safeguards essential protections—like the ability to form a union, secure fair wages, and...

Legislation Would Protect Pensions for A Variety of Employers in Iowa, Kansas, and Across the U.S., including Electric, Agricultural, and Broadband Cooperatives; 20 Private Schools in Iowa; the United Way of Central Iowa; the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Central Illinois; and 136 Kansas Co-Op Employers with 9,870 Active Employees Bill is...

*As Prepared for Delivery* “I would like to thank all of you for coming to the latest in our ongoing series of hearings on the retirement system.  Today, we are going to focus on the fact that most people employed by small businesses simply are not being offered good retirement benefits.  And we are going to look at whether we can...

*As Prepared for Delivery* WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin today delivered a speech on the floor of the Senate on presidential nominations, including President Obama’s nominations to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and for the Secretary position at the Department of Labor (DOL). The Senate HELP Committee held...

Harkin Statement on NLRB, Labor Secretary Nominations WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, released the following statement after Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed for cloture on President Obama’s nominations to the National Labor Relations Board...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), today joined with 21 of their Senate colleagues to call on federal officials to investigate allegations that so-called “debt relief” companies have been using...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement after a Harkin-sponsored measure that would return federal student loan interest rates to 3.4 percent for one year failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the Senate. “I am deeply...