Chair's Press

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today after President Obama appointed Joshua Gotbaum as Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).  Mr. Gotbaum’s nomination was unanimously approved by the Senate...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement regarding an announcement made today by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it is opening a docket to solicit comments on how to proceed with the menu labeling requirements in the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement after President Obama appointed Donald Berwick as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “Dr. Berwick is a recognized pediatrician, a talented Harvard...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today on the first report submitted to Congress by the new National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council.  The Council was created under the recently passed health reform...

“I welcome everyone to this important hearing.  Nine years ago this September, two planes were flown into the World Trade Center, and the twin towers fell.  In a burst of flame and debris, nearly 3,000 people were killed.  And all of our lives were changed forever.   “We will never forget the images burned into our...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released the following statement today on the Trust for America’s Health new report “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future.”  The report shows that, among other things, adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, and declined only in the...

Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today applauded the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (OCIIO) for beginning to accept applications into the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP).  This program was created to provide a bridge for employers, including...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced the panel will hold a hearing titled “Examining the Continuing Needs of Workers and Communities Affected by 9/11.”   The goal of this hearing is to learn more about the health needs...

“For more than 50 years, the Federal government has provided students with grants and loans to help pay for college.  That’s a public-private partnership between the government and students.  It is an investment premised on the idea that a higher education will improve life for the borrower, and also will strengthen our...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report raises significant concerns about the return on federal investment in financial aid at for-profit colleges and universities.  The report, titled “Emerging Risk?: An Overview of Growth, Spending, Student Debt and Unanswered Questions in For-Profit Higher Education,”  was unveiled today by...

To view the report, click on the link "For Profit Emerging Risk Report" under "Related Files".

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement praising regulations issued today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that would implement a new Patient’s Bill of Rights under the health reform bill, The Affordable...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced the witnesses for the first hearing in a series intended to examine federal education spending at for-profit higher education institutions.  The series will examine a broad range of issues related to the...

“I want to welcome everyone to today’s hearing.  We’re here today to talk about worker misclassification, an issue of critical importance to millions of working men and women across the country. “We all know that these are very difficult times for our economy, especially for working families.  Millions of Americans...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Education proposed a broad set of rules and definitions to strengthen the federal student aid programs.  The Department is proposing, among the regulations, a requirement that proprietary institutions of higher education and...

“Thank you all for attending this important hearing.  The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – more accurately called an oil well blowout – is an unprecedented environmental and human disaster.  On April 20, the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers, a terrible tragedy.  The explosion set about a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement after President Obama signed an executive order establishing the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council.  The Council was authorized under the new health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Harkin, who...

Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement in honor of the 47th anniversary of the signing of the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963.  Harkin is a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen penalties for discrimination, and has introduced the Fair Pay Act, which would require...