Press Releases

“The Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee has produced some of the most significant legislation of any Senate committee this year. In a dysfunctional Congress, among senators with profound ideological differences, our work shows what can happen when you focus on getting results on issues important to the American people."...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 19 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) made the following statement on the complaints filed today by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel, which hold McDonald’s brand corporation liable as a “joint employer”:  “The NLRB general counsel’s complaints...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 19 – House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) issued the following statements after the Department of Education released the framework for an unprecedented college ratings system: “The...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Capping two years of the HELP Committee’s bipartisan accomplishments, Congress this week sent to the President for his signature two additional bills under the jurisdiction of the HELP Committee. When both are signed by the President, they will be the 25th and 26th bills under the jurisdiction of the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Prescription drug overdose death rates in the United States have more than tripled since 1990 and prescription opioid abuse is an ever-growing problem. Following on their creation of a bipartisan Prescription Drug Abuse Working Group earlier this year, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Prescription drug overdose death rates in the United States have more than tripled since 1990 and prescription opioid abuse is an ever-growing problem. Following on their creation of a bipartisan Prescription Drug Abuse Working Group earlier this year, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee...

*** “The surgeon general is known as ‘the nation’s doctor.’ He leads a professional corps of 6,800 commissioned public health officers. …Unfortunately, Dr. Murthy’s experience does not demonstrate the leadership and knowledge of public health that we expect from our surgeons general.”  –Lamar...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 12 – Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) made the following statements after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released its final rule today authorizing “ambush elections,” which shorten the length of time in which a labor union certification is...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement today in support of the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) final rule to reform and modernize the union representation process. “Today the NLRB has taken an important step in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today applauded House passage of the bipartisan Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act. Led by Harkin as chairman, this bipartisan health bill was passed by the HELP Committee in December 2013 and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) to announce their introduction of the Students Before Profits Act to help protect students from deceptive practices and bad actors in the for-profit college sector. The...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued a statement in response to the proposed cuts to multiemployer pensions programs included in the fiscal year 2015 Omnibus by the U.S. House of Representatives. “We in Congress should have done more to help working people in recent years as the middle class has been squeezed by...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, applauded today’s release of a new study highlighting the outstanding return on investment of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Tips From Former Smokers campaign. According...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and HELP Committee members Sens. Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today praised unanimous passage in the Senate of the bipartisan Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 9 – Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and HELP Committee members Sens. Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today praised unanimous passage in the Senate of the bipartisan Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today applauded Senate approval of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) nominee Lauren McGarity McFerran to serve as a Member of the NLRB. “Today I am pleased the Senate took the important step of approving...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, applauded Congressional passage of two bipartisan health bills: the Adding Ebola to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act and the Sudden Unexpected Death Data Enhancement and Awareness Act. Led by...

“Mr. Lopez has been chiefly responsible for the agency’s pursuit of high-profile lawsuits that have been rebuked by the courts."   –Lamar Alexander  WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 3 –U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today voted against the president’s nominee for general counsel of the Equal...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today applauded Senate approval of two Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) nominees – P. David Lopez to serve as General Counsel of the EEOC and Charlotte Burrows to serve as a Member of the EEOC....

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) today applauded unanimous Senate passage of the Adding Ebola to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act. The bill was unanimously approved by the HELP Committee in...