Press Releases

NASHVILLE, Feb. 21 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the senior Republican on the Senate labor committee, today released the following statement on the UAW’s appeal to the National Labor Relations Board of last week’s election at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant:  “Labor laws are written to allow employees to...

Nashville, Feb. 20 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, released the following statement on the White House announcement that President Obama has dropped chained CPI from his budget this year: “Using the most accurate measure of inflation for entitlement spending and tax...

Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 20 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to clarify the administration’s position on patient access to personal health information. The FDA last year said in a warning letter to genetic test...

Washington, D.C., Feb. 18 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate labor committee, today released the following statement on the Congressional Budget Office report finding that the Democrats’ bill to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour with annual increases for inflation could cost as many as 1...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) issued the following statement today following the release of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report regarding the minimum wage and its impact on the economy.  Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the author, along with Congressman...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Democratic leadership and the chairs of the committees involved in drafting the Affordable Care Act have joined a brief defending the use of tax credits on federally-run health insurance Marketplaces in the case of Halbig v. Sebelius in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The brief, submitted by...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Following last week’s announcement that CVS Caremark would begin removing tobacco products from its more than 7,600 U.S. stores, seven United States Senators today urged Walmart – the number one retailer of cigarettes in the country – to do the same, and stop selling tobacco products in its...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Congressman George Miller (D-CA) called for action to better protect students and increase transparency around debit and prepaid card agreements between schools and financial firms.  The lawmakers’ action follows the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released new enrollment figures for the federal marketplaces showing that nearly 3.3 million people enrolled in the...

By Sen. Lamar Alexander February 12, 2014 On the same day that the president discussed income inequality during his State of the Union address, I introduced legislation that would allow $2,100 federal scholarships to follow 11 million low-income children to any public or private accredited school of their parents’ choice.    ...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) wrote to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg today to hold the agency accountable for decisions it makes that have the potential to negatively affect prescription drug overdose...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) sent a letter to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, and Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell. The...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—At a news conference in Washington today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, unveiled the findings of an investigation into the use of seclusion and restraints.  Harkin’s investigation found that under current law, a family whose child has been...

On the same day that the president discussed income inequality during his State of the Union address, I introduced legislation that would allow $2,100 federal scholarships to follow 11 million low-income children to any public or private accredited school of their parents’ choice.         This is a real answer to...

Click the link below to watch a livestream of the event "Senate HELP Committee Chairman Harkin To Unveil New Report on Students Left in Isolation or Physically Restrained in Schools." http://www.senate.gov/isvp/?type=live&comm=help&filename=help021214

“The nominations that we are here to discuss are critically important, both for the Department of Labor and for the countless working families across the country who depend on the programs, services, and protections provided by the Department.  “As I have said on more than one occasion, of all the Executive Agencies, it may be the...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., released the following statement on the Obama administration’s announcement that businesses with fewer than 100 workers would not be required to provide health insurance to their employees in 2015 (or face a fine) and that businesses with more than 100 employees would have...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today sent a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen asking the agency to clarify how it will enforce the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate tax.  Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), John Barrasso (R-WY), John Cornyn (R-TX), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a floor speech today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, talked about the growing retirement crisis Americans face and the need to act now to solve it. Many Americans are vastly unprepared for retirement, with the retirement income deficit—the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—On the heels of an announcement from CVS Caremark that the company plans to pull tobacco products from its more than 7,600 U.S. stores, eight senators—led by Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA)—urged other chain drug stores to follow CVS’ example, remove tobacco products from their shelves, and...