Chair's Press

Washington, D.C. -- TODAY, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Representative George Miller joined AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and thousands of labor activists for a rally to support the Employee Free Choice Act and a pro-working family agenda. The Employee Free Choice Act will protect the democratic right of workers to choose to join a union....

Washington, D.C. -- Tomorrow, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Representative George Miller will join AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and thousands of labor activists for a rally to support the Employee Free Choice Act and a pro-working family agenda. The Employee Free Choice Act will protect the democratic right of workers to choose to join a union....

Today marks an important milestone in our ongoing national struggle with HIV and AIDS. Twenty- five years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first warning about the disease we now know as AIDS. Today, we approve the third extension of the Ryan White CARE Act, the comprehensive legislation first enacted in 1990, for the...

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement: “Saturday marks the longest period in history that minimum wage workers have gone without a raise. For nearly a decade, the prices of everyday necessities like gas, food, and prescription drugs have skyrocketed, while the paychecks of minimum wage...

The message from this election is clear. There’s little doubt that the American people want a change of course in Iraq. But they also want a government that stands with them and their families as they look to the future – jobs that reward their hard work, health care that is good and affordable, and education that continues to open the...

Millions of Americans rely on the drugs that the FDA reviews to protect them from sickness. But now, the FDA itself urgently needs treatment. For too long, the agency has been without a confirmed leader. Science has too often had to take a back seat at the very agency which should be setting the standard for objectivity and integrity. There is also...

Washington, DC: On Thursday, November 16 at 2:00 pm, Senators Kennedy, Schumer, Harkin and Clinton will join leaders and activists from the six states that passed minimum wage initiatives to affirm their commitment to raising the federal minimum wage. Last week, the citizens of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, Nevada and Ohio voted...

BOSTON, MA –Today Senator Edward M. Kennedy joined U.S. Congressman John Tierney and Lynn Mayor Chip Clancy at the Lynn’s GE – Aviation’s plant in celebration of the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) award of the Voluntary Protection Program Star. Senator Kennedy discussed the...

Washington, DC: Today Senator Edward Kennedy and former Senator John Edwards joined the organizers from five of the six states that have minimum wage initiatives on the ballot this year on a conference call: Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nevada and Ohio. The minimum wage measures are expected to pass in all of the states and extensive...

Washington, D.C. -- In a bipartisan letter today to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Arlen Specter, Patty Murray, Robert Byrd, and Jay Rockefeller criticized the current draft regulations on mine safety proposed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration as too weak to protect the nation’s miners, and urged MSHA...

Washington, DC: On Monday, October 23 at noon, Senator Edward Kennedy and former Senator John Edwards will host a press conference call with the organizers from the six states that have minimum wage initiatives on the ballot this year: Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, Nevada and Ohio. The minimum wage measures are expected to pass in all six...

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on the recess appointment of Richard M. Stickler: “This action by President Bush is an affront to the men and women who risk their lives every day in our nation’s mines. After so many lost their lives this year, our miners and their families...

BOSTON, MA- Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy discussed the college cost crunch on Massachusetts students and opened The Education Resources Institute's (TERI) new college access center in Brockton. As ranking member on the United States Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Kennedy has been a lifelong advocate for...

Washington, D.C. -- Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy issued the following statement in response the news that 650 economists, including 5 Nobel winners of the Nobel prize for economics, are urging lawmakers to raise the minimum wage. Senator Kennedy’s bill, which the Republican leadership has blocked, would the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour...

Senator Edward M. Kennedy today praised members of the House of Representatives for its recent vote to reauthorize vital funding for pediatric graduate medical education programs. The Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education Program funds training for physicians in the nation’s 60 independent children’s teaching hospitals....

Washington, D.C. -- A National Labor Relations Board decision today significantly expands the number of employees classified as “supervisors” under the National Labor Relations Act. In practical terms, the decision means that millions of working men and women across the country will no longer have the right to join a union or qualify...

WORCESTER, MA—Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy congratulated the University of Massachusetts Worcester’s Craig Mello who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine. Mello is being honored for his work in turning off the effect of certain genes. Senator Kennedy’s remarks at the press conference held today in Worcester are...

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Inspector General of the Department of Education released two reports detailing abuse and mismanagement of in the federal student loan programs. The first report outlines the results of an investigation requested by Senator Edward M. Kennedy related to abuses in the student loan programs by the Nelnet...

WASHINGTON, D.C--The U.S. Senate on Saturday will return the nomination of Richard Stickler to head the federal mine safety agency to the White House for the second time. “Last month, the Senate took a stand for mine safety by sending back to the White House an unacceptable nomination to lead MSHA, and we are as resolute in our stand today....

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on the House passage of the Older Americans Act: “I commend the House for passing these amendments to the Older Americans Act to strengthen the vital services and programs for our senior citizens, and I urge the Senate to pass it before Congress...