Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today called for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to improve its oversight of the pharmaceutical supply chain.  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has repeatedly found that FDA does not police...

WASHINGTON – Following today’s release of the Fiscal Year 2009 national student loan default data showing that for-profit colleges continue to have the highest default rate in higher education, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) reiterated his call for reform and stronger oversight of the for-profit education...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today said he was pleased to see the President finally shift his focus to jobs. Enzi noted that in the past two months, the Administration put out 1225 new regulations. He said complying with these new rules will...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) chaired an executive session in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to vote on the Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act (CHGME), which provides critical resources to children’s hospitals for pediatric residency programs, and the Combating Autism...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined with Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), to express their strong opposition to “quickie election” rule changes proposed by...

WASHINGTON – Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) released the following statement on today’s ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act:  “The 11th Circuit is wrong in its assessment of the individual mandate.  At...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a report today that shows access to child-only health insurance plans has declined significantly since passage of the new health care law.  Enzi said the Department of Health and Human Services has...

“In the decade before the Affordable Care Act was passed, relentlessly increasing health insurance premiums imposed a heavy tax on families and small businesses.  Over those ten years, premiums for family, employer-sponsored coverage more than doubled.  Small businesses simply couldn’t afford it anymore and began dropping...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing today on health insurance premiums, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that the new health care law passed last year is already driving up insurance premiums.  He said that Congress should work on lowering health care...

WASHINGTON—Today, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, issued the following statement on Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s acceptance of the Institute of Medicine’s guidelines for women’s preventive health services: “I...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing today on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) user fee programs, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that he supports bipartisan efforts to reauthorize the programs. “The prescription drug and medical...

WASHINGTON – In advance of tomorrow’s Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee first hearing on FDA User Fee legislation, the Committee’s Chairman and Ranking Member Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) released the following joint statement expressing their commitment to a bipartisan...

WASHINGTON – With next week’s 21st Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) approaching, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the IDEA Full Funding Act, which would fulfill the federal government’s 36-year-old commitment to cover 40% of the excess cost of educating students with disabilities. “This bill...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced a bill (S.1376)  to close a loophole in the Affordable Care Act that would have Americans with similar incomes, ages and medical histories paying very different amounts for private health...

In January, I wrote Mayor Bloomberg regarding New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow project, encouraging him to select a design for the fleet that would be accessible for the thousands of New York residents and visitors who use wheelchairs. New Yorkers and tourists - whether they're disabled veterans or people like Karl Nguyen, the Californian suffering...

*As Prepared for Delivery* The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will come to order.  The title of this hearing is “Lessons from the Field:  Learning from What Works for Employment for Persons with Disabilities.”  The purpose of today’s bipartisan hearing is to learn from a diverse group of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing today on employing people with disabilities, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that it was important to help small businesses identify, recruit, retain, and advance qualified individuals with disabilities.“Wonderful...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing on defined benefit retirement systems today, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, called for a greater inclusion of retirement and benefit issues in the Administration’s plan to reduce regulatory burdens and...

*As Prepared for Delivery* I want to welcome everyone to the latest in our series of hearings focusing on retirement security.  Today, we are going to take a close look at the important role pensions can play in building a strong, vibrant middle class, both in terms of the economic security they provide to retired Americans and because of the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, urged the Institute of Medicine to consider the impact of federal benefit mandates on the cost of health insurance and on access...