Chair's Press

Washington, D.C., June 30 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling that the federal government cannot compel employers to provide coverage for abortifacent drugs that violate their religious beliefs: “The...

Washington, D.C., June 30 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released the following statement on today’s decision by the Supreme Court on Harris v. Quinn, in which the court ruled it unconstitutional for home-based personal care providers who receive Medicaid payments for their work to be forced to pay union...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

WASHINGTON — THIS year, more than 20 million college students will complete the dreaded 108-question Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as the Fafsa. Most do it again every year they’re in school. Some pay someone to help them. Colleges hire thousands of staff members to assist. Too many students are so intimidated...

(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...

*** “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...

*** “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...

*** “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...

“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...

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...

*** “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...

*** “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...

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....

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...

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...

(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...