Chairman's Press
Alexander on Supreme Court Ruling Obama Recess Appointments Unconstitutional
Washington, D.C., June 26 -U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the committee overseeing labor policy, released the following statement on today's ruling by the Supreme Court, which held that the president's January 2012 appointments to the National Labor Relations Board are unconstitutional: "The unanimous Supreme Court decision today is a powerful rebuke to the Obama administration and a reminder to others that the Constitution gives the Senate powers the executive… Continue Reading
06.25.14
Harkin, Alexander, Murray, Isakson Praise Senate Passage of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Urge Swift House Approval to Send Long-Overdue Update to President’s Desk
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 25-The Senate coauthors of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) today hailed the Senate passage of the bill, which seeks to update and improve the nation's workforce development system, and together urged the U.S. House of Representatives to take up the bill and pass it swiftly. The bill-which was approved by a vote of 95 to 3-modernizes and improves existing federal workforce development programs, helps workers attain skills for 21st-century jobs, provides… Continue Reading
06.23.14
Alexander, Kline Statement on Corinthian Colleges
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following joint statement in response to the agreement reached between the Department of Education and Corinthian Colleges Inc.: "We are glad to see that the agreement reached between Corinthian and the Department of Education will keep the doors from being shut on 72,000 students who are in the midst of earning th… Continue Reading
06.23.14
HELP Committee Senators Harkin, Alexander, Burr, and Casey Press CDC for Details About Possible Anthrax Exposure at CDC Lab
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 23-Following a recent incident at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in which upwards of 75 staff may have been exposed to live anthrax, members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee today requested information from the agency about the lapse in safety protocols that led to the potential exposure, and asked for steps the CDC is taking to prevent future incidents. In a letter sent to CDC Director Tom Frieden, Committee Chair… Continue Reading
06.19.14
Senators Alexander, Bennet Would Cut 100-Question Student Aid Form to 2 Questions
WASHINGTON, June 19 - Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) today released a draft bill to simplify the process of applying for and receiving federal financial aid to attend college, allow year-round use of Pell Grants, discourage over-borrowing and simplify repayments. The bill would reduce to a single postcard-called the "Student Aid Short Form"-the questions any student must answer to apply for federal financial aid and inform high school students in their junior ye… Continue Reading
06.18.14
Senators Ask FDA about Expanded Access Program in Response to Patient Concerns
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK), and Richard Burr (R-NC) sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Hamburg asking for comprehensive data on the risks and benefits associated with the Expanded Access, or "compassionate use", program. Expanded Access allows patients to access non-FDA approved therapies which are outside of clinical trials to treat serious or immediately life threatening conditions. The full text of the letter is below: June 16, 2014 M… Continue Reading
06.12.14
Alexander: Democratic “Gag Rule” on Important Amendments Has Moved from Senate Floor to Committees
*** "Offering amendments on behalf of the people who elected us is a job I'm proud to do. If senators aren't willing to do what they're elected to do, no one is making them be here." -Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., June 12 - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today called on his Senate colleagues to schedule a markup that was reportedly postponed to avoid forcing senators to vote on amendments to the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bi… Continue Reading
06.11.14
Alexander Votes NO on “Wasting a Week on a Political Stunt While Veterans are Standing in Line at Clinics Waiting for Us to Act”
*** "College graduates don't need a $1-a-day subsidy to pay off their $27,000 loan, which is the average for a four-year degree. They need a job." -Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., June 11 - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate education committee, today voted against moving to the Senate Democrats' "political stunt" on student loans, saying the Senate shouldn't "waste time on it when veterans are standing in line waiting for us to take up a bipartisan p… Continue Reading
06.09.14
Alexander: Senate Democrats’ Political Stunt Would Raise Taxes, Increase Debt to Offer $1-a-Day Subsidy on Some Old Student Loans
*** "College graduates don't need a $1-a-day taxpayer subsidy to help pay off a $27,000 loan, which is the average federal loan for four-year degrees. They need a good job." -Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., June 9 - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate education committee and former U.S. Secretary of Education, said today that Senate Democrats' proposal "raises individual income taxes by $72 billion and could add up to $420 billion in new federal deb… Continue Reading
06.08.14
Alexander: Republicans Want to Work With President on “Real Student Debt Problems”
"Last year, the President and Congress worked together to cut nearly in half interest rates on all new student loans for undergraduates. Hopefully he will work that way again instead of joining Senate Democrats' political stunt to give some former students a $1-a-day subsidy to help pay off loans while raising income taxes by $72 billion and increasing the federal debt by up to $420 billion." -Lamar Alexander Nashville, June 8 - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican o… Continue Reading
06.05.14
Praise for Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to Improve America’s Workforce Development System
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Since a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators announced a deal to improve the nation's workforce development system through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), a broad array of labor, business, and workforce development leaders, as well as governors and mayors from around the country, has expressed support for the proposal. Read a summary of the bill here. Excerpts from letters of support sent to the bipartisan, bicameral group are immediately below, and … Continue Reading
06.04.14
Alexander to Burwell: Republicans Are Ready to Repair Damage Obamacare Has Done
*** "Republicans would like to repair the damage that Obamacare has done. We would like to prevent future damage, and as responsibly and rapidly as we can, we want to move in a different direction to put in place proposals that provide more freedom, more choices, and lower costs. We trust Americans to make those decisions for ourselves. We believe that is the American way." -Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., June 4 - In a speech on the Senate floor this afternoon, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander … Continue Reading
05.23.14
Alexander, Senate Committee Direct FDA to Meet With Doctors, Patients, Pharmacists on Compounding Law
*** "The purpose of the compounding law is to end confusion and improve communication so we can help prevent another tragic meningitis outbreak. If FDA isn't sitting down with doctors, patients and pharmacists and communicating how it is implementing the law, then I will stay on FDA until it does." -Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., May 23 - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced that, at his request, the Senate Appropriations Committee is directing the Food and Drug Administra… Continue Reading
05.22.14
House, Senate Leaders Press Obama Administration On Backlog of Medicaid Applications Due to HealthCare.gov Challenges
WASHINGTON, DC - Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions yesterday sent a letter to Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, regarding the backlog of Medicaid applications in the states. Due to the technology failures of HealthCare.gov, many states have been forced to complete Medicaid applications by hand, creating a significant backlog. In … Continue Reading
05.22.14
Fincher, Black, Alexander Introduce Legislation to Protect Small Business Employees from Higher Premiums, Job Losses Related to Obamacare
WASHINGTON, May 22 -Representatives Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) and Diane Black (R-Tenn.), and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today introduced legislation to protect small businesses from Obamacare's job-killing mandate to provide employees government-approved health insurance or pay a fine. Fincher said: "Across the 8th District, I've heard from working class men and women who are struggling to make ends meet as their health care premiums have sky-rocketed under Obamacare. This study will pro… Continue Reading
05.22.14
GOP Senators Welcome Administration’s Major Reversal on Electronic Health Records Deadlines
WASHINGTON, May 22 - Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) welcomed the administration's reversal this week on electronic health records deadlines, after officials earlier this year refused to grant providers additional time to comply with regulations as groups nationwide requested. In a proposed rule released Tuesday night, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it would give hospitals and … Continue Reading
05.21.14
Bipartisan, Bicameral Group Announces Deal to Improve American Workforce Development System
(Washington, D.C.) - Today, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers announced that they have reached a deal to improve the nation's workforce development system through new legislation, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The bill, which will now be considered by both the House and Senate, modernizes and improves existing federal workforce development programs, helps workers attain skills for 21st century jobs, and fosters the modern workforce that evolving American business… Continue Reading
05.15.14
Alexander and Hatch Highlight GAO Report Showing Majority of International Grants at the Department of Labor are Missing Documentation
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Ranking Member on the HELP Committee, and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, today highlighted a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled, International Labor Grants: Labor Should Improve Management of Key Award Documentation, which found that the Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) has failed to maintain proper documentation for awarded grants. The report, which … Continue Reading
05.15.14
Are ObamaCare Processing Center Employees Being Paid To Do Nothing?
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15 - U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Lamar Alexander, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), sent a letter to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week pressing for information on "an alarming report that hundreds of employees of Serco, a company awarded up to $1.25 billion in federal taxpayer dollars to process paper applica… Continue Reading
05.15.14
Alexander: “No National School Board for 3- and 4-Year Olds”
*** "Under my proposal, in Tennessee, we'd have about $440 million a year. If we were given this kind of flexibility, we could increase the vouchers for child care from 39,000 to 139,000; or the state-funded voluntary preschool program, from 18,000 4-year olds to 109,000; or we could expand Head Start, from 17,000 children to 56,000; we could create Centers of Excellence-otherwise leave to Tennessee to figure out what works best for Tennesseans." -Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., May 15 - U… Continue Reading
