Chair's Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has had his hands on a lot of bills, but he believes none has been as far-reaching as the one he's working on now. "I will probably never have a chance to work (again) on something this important as a U.S. senator," the Maryville Republican said. Alexander and the committee he chairs completed work last...

WASHINGTON, April 7 – The Senate today passed the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2016, bipartisan legislation sponsored by the chairman and top Democrat on the Senate health committee to support social and nutrition services – from home-delivered meals to senior centers – for nearly 12 million older...

WASHINGTON, April 6 – Below are the prepared remarks from Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) for today’s executive session: This is our third and final markup of legislation that is part of our innovation, or “cures,” agenda—that is, our effort to take advantage of this exciting time in science...

“The House has done its work. The president has proposed his initiatives. I am hopeful we can take this to the Senate floor soon and ensure the president’s Precision Medicine and cancer ‘moonshot’ initiatives and ideas in the ‘Cures’ bill can become reality this year. …Sometimes we get caught up in bill...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 6 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on the Labor Department’s release of its final rule to redefine and expand the term “fiduciary”: “I am carefully reviewing the final rule released by the Labor Department to ensure that it...

WASHINGTON, April 6 – Below are the prepared remarks from Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) for today’s executive session: This is our third and final markup of legislation that is part of our innovation, or “cures,” agenda—that is, our effort to take advantage of this exciting time in science...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 31 – The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate health committee released legislation to help the bright minds at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spend more time developing life-saving treatments and cures for America’s patients. “In two separate studies, the National Academies found...

Congress has passed a law to help keep hospitals and patients safe from these malicious attacks … Yesterday’s attack, which, unfortunately, is not unique, shows the need for HHS to implement the law with the urgency patients and hospitals deserve.” WASHINGTON, D.C., March 29 – The chairman of the Senate health...

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 23 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement after the Department of Labor released the final version of their proposed “persuader” rule: “If you’re a small business owner and some of your employees just petitioned to form a union, there...

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 23 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on the sixth anniversary of Obamacare being signed into law: “Six years ago, both Republicans and Democrats believed that our health care system was broken and needed to be fixed. At the White House...

WASHINGTON, March 23 – Republican committee leaders in the Senate and House today asked the administration for information about the 316 security breaches on HealthCare.gov catalogued in a new report released by the nonpartisan government watchdog, the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The Senate and House members sent a...

WASHINGTON, March 22 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today led a group of 10 Senate Republicans in asking for more time for Americans to weigh in on the administration’s new proposal to increase by 20 times the employment data it currently collects from each of the 61,000 private employers on their 63...

“If the president is going to going to go around saying we want to keep college costs down… how can you justify an overtime rule that might raise the cost of college by one thousand dollars per student?” WASHINGTON, March 17 — U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today asked U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez why the...

Washington, DC — The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Wednesday approved an amendment based on the bipartisan, bicameral Reducing Unused Medication Act that would allow prescriptions for opioid medications to be partially filled by pharmacists at the request of patients or doctors,...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 17 – The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate health committee today introduced legislation to help the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) “attract top talent during this exciting time in science.” The FDA and NIH Workforce...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 17– Lawmakers in the Senate and House today introduced the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act, legislation that will ensure the Department of Labor pursues a balanced and responsible approach to updating federal overtime rules. The sponsors of the legislation – members of the Senate Committee on...

Senate Republicans introduced a measure Wednesday which would require a federal agency to comply with the same employment data collection rule it plans to impose on private employers. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the main federal agency tasked with resolving workplace discrimination. It introduced a proposal Jan. 29 that...

“This legislation would give the EEOC a dose of its own medicine.” WASHINGTON, March 16 – The chairman of the Senate labor committee today introduced legislation to subject the Obama administration to its own proposal to increase by 20 times the employment data it currently collects from each of the 61,000 private employers...

WASHINGTON, March 16 – The Senate health committee today passed legislation to help address the country’s mental health crisis and help ensure Americans suffering from mental illness and substance use disorders receive the care they need. The committee also passed additional legislation to help tackle the opioid epidemic by...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 14 – Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement after the Senate voted to approve the nomination of Dr. John King Jr. to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education: “We need an education secretary confirmed by and accountable to the United States Senate so...