Chair's Press

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...

Washington, DC—Today, the Campaign for Children’s Health Care released a report that finds that there are 9 million uninsured children in the United States, 88% of which are from working families. Senator Kennedy said, “It's simply unacceptable that so many children remain uninsured today. But instead of expanding coverage,...

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Senator Robert Menendez introduced the Honest Medicare Act of 2006 to monitor the Medicare Part D donut hole and its effect on senior citizens.Under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit, also known as Part D, was designed with a coverage gap in the...

Washington, D.C. -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy today commended the Appleseed Foundation on its new report on the status of parental involvement in schools. The report is the first comprehensive analysis of parental participation under the No Child Left Behind Act. “Parents make all the difference in their children’s lives, and...

Washington, DC: Today, Senator Edward Kennedy, joined by a bipartisan group of 13 Senators, introduced the National Competitiveness Investment Act, to encourage innovation in America as a way to create jobs and move our economy forward. Kennedy believes the bill is an important down- payment on the commitment and sustained investment needed to keep...

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on Secretary Spellings’ remarks on the report of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education: “I applaud Secretary Spellings’ call to address the skyrocketing cost of college. Step one of her plan should be to convince the President to...

Washington, D.C.: Today as the National Genetics Policy Summit in takes place Washington, DC., Senator Edward M. Kennedy continues his work on legislation that will better protect patients by ensuring that tests developed in laboratories are of proven validity. Senator Kennedy is committed to preserving innovation in this rapidly evolving area of...

Washington, DC – Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Ranking member of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, member of the HELP Committee, today called on Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the HELP Committee, to a set a time for a hearing on 9/11 health effects and to mark-up...

Washington, DC: Today Senator Kennedy and fourteen other senators wrote a letter to Attorney General Gonzales urging him to pursue every available avenue of appeal to overturn the misguided Court of Appeals decision in the United States of America v. Philip Morris USA Inc. Last month, the U.S. District Court for DC found overwhelming proof of...

BOSTON, MA- Senator Edward M. Kennedy today received the Elsie Frank Elderly Advocacy Award from the Massachusetts Association of Older Americans (MAOA). Senator Kennedy’s nephew, Joe Kennedy III, accepted the award on his behalf. Joe Kennedy said, “All members of my family are taught at an early age that the test of a civilization is...

BOSTON, MA- Senator Edward M. Kennedy today announced a grant of $1,418,846 from the National Institutes of Health to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for research into antigen-specific therapy for autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system. The funds will be made available by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at...

BOSTON, MA- Senator Edward M. Kennedy today announced grant of $1,084,844 from the National Institutes of Health to the Boston University Medical Campus for continued research into rheumatic disease causation and treatment. The funds will be made available by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases at the NIH....

SOUTH BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS- Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy joined employees of United Parcel Service and The UPS Foundation in the awarding of a $25,000 grant to support the extraordinary work of Partners for Youth with Disabilities in expanding their mentoring program. Senator Kennedy has worked tirelessly on behalf of people with disabilities...

Washington, DC: Today Senator Kennedy offered an amendment to the immigration reform bill that would ensure vigilant enforcement of critical labor protections to preserve the health, safety, and well- being of all American workers. While there are good labor protections in the bill designed to protect immigrant workers and ensure that the guest...

Today’s markup focuses in part on one of the greatest public health investments we have made in thiscountry -- the care and treatment of individuals with HIV/AIDS. Almost sixteen years ago, the members of this Committee demonstrated their commitment to the care and treatment of Americans living with AIDS by passing the Ryan White Care Act. It...

(AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY BEFORE HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, PENSIONS COMMITTEE) I’m very pleased that the Committee is taking up the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act today. I commend Chairman Enzi, Subcommittee Chairman Isakson, and Ranking Subcommittee Member Murray for their dedication in pursuing safety protections. I also...

Washington, D.C. - Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) and Senator Mike Enzi, Chairman of the HELP Committee, today introduced a sweeping reform bill to move mine safety and regulation into the 21st Century, reduce safety risks for miners across the country, and respond to the...

For seniors in Medicare, today is Judgment Day -- the day when the misjudgments, the failures and the basic errors of competence in implementing the Republican Medicare law will bite into the savings of some 8 millions seniors across America. Today, a bad situation will get worse, as seniors are hit with financial penalties if they have been unable...

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy urged college students nation-wide to consolidate their student loans before interest rates jump almost 2 percentage points on July 1st. This increase will be one of the largest single-year increases in the 40-year history of the federal student loan programs. Because changes in law that...

Washington, DC: Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, joined by Senators Reid, Baucus, Bingaman, Mikulski, Cantwell, and House Democrats, introduced legislation to block a Department of Energy policy slashing workers’ pensions and healthcare. This legislation would halt a Department of Energy policy that would compel contractors to stop providing...