Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today joined Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) and a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing legislation so that families and students will gain a more accurate picture of exactly how much college will cost them before deciding which school to attend.  Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health,...

The Hill Op-Ed - Passing FDA bill will save lives By Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) As work in our nation’s capital slowly grinds to a halt because of election-year politics, several members of Congress are quietly working on bipartisan legislation that will help patients, create jobs and save lives.  The legislation...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  During remarks made in support of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) User Fee Reauthorization Bill (S. 3187), Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said this legislation represents a strong bipartisan approach in making important changes to...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, spoke on the floor of the Senate to call for passage of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), a bill which passed out of the HELP Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. Below is the full...

Staring down steep tuition hikes, students at the University of California have taken to carrying picket signs. As far as I can tell, though, none has demanded that President Barack Obama accept a Grand Swap that could protect their education while saving them money. Allow me to explain. When I was governor of Tennessee in the early 1980s, I...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to the announcement by Education Secretary Arne Duncan of a new resource document aimed at reducing the use of seclusion and restraint practices in schools: “I am pleased that...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing on addressing the importance of balancing work and family in today’s economy, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said for too many Americans, the daily struggle is not how to balance a job, but how to get a job.  Enzi...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a debate today on addressing rising student loan interest rates, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said if the Senate was serious about finding bipartisan solutions to the student loan issue, its leaders should send the legislation through...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senior Republicans in the Senate and House today questioned whether a Health and Human Services’ (HHS) $3.8 billion loan program to create non-profit health insurers would result in greater competition and lower costs.  In a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the members noted that the Department’s...

WASHINGTON—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today expressed his disappointment at the failure of a Senate cloture vote on a measure that will keep interest rates on federal student loans from doubling in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.  Harkin helped develop and is...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, sent a letter to National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Terence Flynn, requesting his resignation after the NLRB Inspector General uncovered Flynn’s repeated ethics violations. The Inspector General’s...

WASHINGTON—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today called for bipartisan support for a measure that will keep interest rates on federal student loans from doubling in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.  Harkin helped develop and is one of the lead cosponsors of the Stop...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a debate today on addressing rising student loan interest rates, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said he was disappointed that President Obama and Senate Democrats would keep rates low by taxing small businesses and reducing job...

WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today released the following statement calling for the resignation of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Terence Flynn after the NLRB Inspector General revealed additional evidence that Flynn violated ethics rules by...

WASHINGTON, DC –In an effort to prevent the cost of college loans from doubling for millions of students, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have teamed up to introduce the Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act, a short-term remedy that will freeze the interest rates on subsidized federal...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Ranking  Member Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) today said the Committee’s markup of FDA user fee reauthorization reflected a strong  bipartisan effort.  “Today’s markup of the user fee agreement...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today said he was disappointed that the Senate turned its back on America’s small businesses and employees, and chose to support the bureaucrats at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).  Senator...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  During a debate on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ambush elections rule today, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that the agency’s reckless actions are threatening America’s small businesses. “It is...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Senate will debate the legislative challenge to the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) “ambush elections” rule early next week. The resolution of disapproval sponsored by Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee,...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Representative George Miller (D-CA), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) reacted to a new Government Accountability Office report  on workplace safety, released at a HELP Committee...