Chair's Press

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 26 – Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on the Trump Administration executive order ensuring faithful implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act – the new education law that Alexander sponsored to restore local control of...

WASHINGTON, April 26 —Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said the Senate is now poised to confirm Alexander Acosta to serve as Secretary of Labor and “begin creating an environment for workers to succeed in a rapidly changing workplace,” after the Senate today voted to end debate on his nomination and move...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 26, 2017 – The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee today voted overwhelmingly to send four bipartisan public health bills to the Senate floor.  Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said: “Today our committee continues its tradition of working together to get results for...

MARYVILLE, Tenn., April 19 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement after Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price announced Tennessee will soon receive nearly $14 million in funding to combat opioid abuse – the first of two rounds of funding to be delivered as part...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., April 19, 2017 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today told members of the Tennessee Association of Manufacturers that President Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee, Alexander Acosta, would soon be confirmed by the United States Senate so “he can get to work creating an environment for workers in Tennessee...

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn., April 18, 2017 — U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today told members of the Kiwanis Club of Elizabethton that he is working to give Tennessee the flexibility it needs to help Tennesseans trapped in the state’s collapsing Obamacare exchange. Tennesseans who buy their insurance on the Obamacare exchange...

WASHINGTON, April 14 – The leaders of the Senate and House health committees today released a discussion draft of bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the Food and Drug Administration user fee agreements.    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Reauthorization Act of 2017 renews FDA's authority to collect user fees...

NASHVILLE, April 13 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement after Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price released a final rule on health insurance market stabilization: “Today’s action by Secretary Price is an important step to begin stabilizing the Affordable...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 5 – At today’s Senate health committee hearing, Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said that Dr. Scott Gottlieb has “impressive qualifications from nearly every perspective” and is the right person to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its “vital mission” for...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 4 — At the Senate health committee’s second hearing on the reauthorization of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fee agreements, Chairman Alexander (R-Tenn.) said that a timely reauthorization is “integral to helping patients and delivering on the promise of 21st Century...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., praised today’s decision by the Trump administration to delay implementation of the Obama administration’s burdensome “fiduciary rule” that would hinder access to retirement planning for middle-income American families. The rule was...

Too many politicians throw up their hands, blame the other guy or say the system's broken when an issue seems unworkable. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., is not one of those. After a House Republican health care bill was pulled last week, the state's senior senator knew that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance market was failing and would...

WASHINGTON, March 30 — The Senate’s labor committee today favorably reported out the nomination of Alexander Acosta to become the next United States Secretary of Labor. Acosta’s nomination is now ready for consideration by the full Senate. “The Secretary of Labor should really be called the Secretary of the Workforce...

With healthcare reform stalled, Sen. Lamar Alexander announced Wednesday he intends to file legislation that would provide temporary relief for millions of people who live in areas where there are no insurers selling policies on the federal health insurance marketplace. Alexander’s proposal would let people who get government subsidies to buy...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 29 – Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) today introduced legislation to rescue Americans with Affordable Care Act subsidies who have zero options for health insurance on the exchanges for the 2018 plan year. “There are 34,000 Knoxville area residents who rely on an Affordable Care Act...

WASHINGTON, March 27 — President Trump today signed a resolution to rescind the Obama administration’s final regulation implementing accountability provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) – a victory for local school boards over a National School Board and an affirmation that Congress writes the law, not the Department...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Trump today signed a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act that blocks a flawed Obama administration regulation related to teacher preparation programs. Introduced in the House by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), chairman of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee, and...

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, issued the following statements after President Donald Trump signed into law a resolution blocking implementation of the Obama...

WASHINGTON, March 27 — Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, respectively, and Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Bobby Scott (D-VA), chair and ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, respectively, and...

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2017 – Senate health committee chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on the American Health Care Act: “The House decision today not to vote changes nothing about the urgency of rescuing 230,000 Tennesseans who buy insurance on Obamacare exchanges that our state insurance...