Press Releases

WASHINGTON – The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee mark up of legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will continue TOMORROW at 8 A.M.  The comprehensive bill reflects 10 months of bipartisan negotiations between Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY), and addresses...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today made the following statement during the Committee’s markup of the Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act of 2011: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your willingness to work with me to get a...

WASHINGTON – Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today announced an agreement to move forward with bipartisan legislation to overhaul the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). “This opportunity is the result of more than two...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today praised Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ decision not to implement the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program because it was unsustainable and fiscally unsound.  Senator...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a field hearing on higher education and employment opportunities for the deaf and hard-of-hearing at Gallaudet University, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that educational institutions like the National Technical Institute for the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today said new Essential Health Benefit mandates will continue to push health care premiums higher.  The Institute of Medicine released a report today laying out a process for Secretary Sebelius to follow...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today said the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) should cancel its recent regulation to require businesses to post a notice of employee rights instead of just postponing it. He said the proposed regulations...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that a new independent survey of employers highlights how the new health care law is failing to deliver on its promise of lowering health care costs. A new health benefits survey from the Kaiser Family...

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, praised the Department of Health and Human Services’ announcement of $100 million in Community Transformation Grants, authorized by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Harkin, the author of the ACA’s prevention and...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), joined by U.S. Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), announced the passage of S. Res 284 designating September 23, 2011, the first day of fall, as “National Falls Prevention Awareness...

EVERYONE knows that today every American’s job is on the line, and that better schools mean better jobs. Schools and jobs are alike in this sense: Washington can’t create good jobs, and Washington can’t create good schools. What Washington can do, though, is shape an environment in which businesses and entrepreneurs can create...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today marked the one-year anniversary of crucial health care protections that have already benefitted millions of Americans.  Established under the Affordable Care Act and known as the Patient’s Bill of Rights, these protections have banned many insurance company abuses, and put...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today said President Obama’s proposed waivers of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law would undermine the policy making authority of Congress.  “I am extremely disappointed that after spending so...

WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following statement after President Barack Obama announced that he would allow states to apply for waivers from certain parts of No Child Left Behind in exchange for state-led efforts to close achievement gaps, promote...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, introduced the Medical-Legal Partnerships for Health Act, which would help connect legal aid attorneys with patients at hospitals and health clinics. For many American families struggling to make ends meet, maintaining a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said he was disappointed the Senate Appropriations Committee rejected an amendment sponsored by Senator Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) that would have stopped the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from pursuing any...

WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), and Representative George Miller (CA-7), Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, today issued the following statement after the Department of Labor announced that it will be re-proposing its rule...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a speech on the floor of the United States Senate today, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that as the Senate considers updates to the No Child Left Behind legislation, it must work to give states a larger role in education. ...

*As Prepared for Delivery* “As part of our ongoing process to reauthorize the FDA user fee legislation this congress, we have convened this hearing to examine the safety and integrity of our pharmaceutical supply chain.  Few issues are more important to the health and safety of Americans than the integrity of our drug supply.  The...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), today joined with Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to call on the Senate to pass legislation to stop federal agencies from placing...