Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, led by Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), sent a letter today to Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to express disappointment in the way the Majority has conducted a series of “disorganized and prejudicial” hearings on for-profit...

WASHINGTON – This morning, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) gave the keynote address at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Corporate Disability Employment Summit.  A longtime champion for people with disabilities, Harkin sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act, and as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Three key Republican Senators today asked Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy Chief Counsel Winslow Sargeant to provide specific examples of how his office is protecting small businesses from the onslaught of new regulations that are being implemented as part of the healthcare reform legislation signed...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today praised Senate action to eliminate burdensome IRS reporting requirements for small businesses.  The repeal passed today is identical to a bill sponsored by Senator Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and cosponsored...

WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) released the following statements responding to the proposed rules for calorie labeling on menus in chain restaurants and vending machines announced by the Food and Drug Administration...

Statement of Michael B. Enzi, Ranking Member Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and PensionsMarch 31, 2011A Tragic Anniversary: Improving Safety at Dangerous Mines One Year after Upper Big Branch   Good morning.  This hearing marks a very tragic anniversary.  Almost a year ago today, 29 West Virginia men who went to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing today on improving mine safety, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, questioned the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) record of enforcement, after learning that MSHA knew of problems at the Upper Big Branch...

WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) called on KV Pharmaceuticals to lower the price of Makena, a drug recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent premature birth for women who have had at least one prior preterm birth.  He also applauded...

WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today released the following statement marking tomorrow’s one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, the new health reform law.  As Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Harkin played a central role in shaping and passing the bill, and stood...

Washington, D.C.  –   Marking the one-year anniversary of the most sweeping health care legislation that the federal government has ever produced, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today said reform is turning out to be an empty promise that...

*As Prepared for Delivery* “This is the Committee’s fourth hearing focusing on the federal investment in for-profit higher education companies, and whether our $26 billion annual investment in this sector is a good value for students and taxpayers.   “We have previously taken a look at specific aspects of this sector,...

Washington, D.C.  –  In the fourth of a series of hearings that have singled out for-profit schools to face charges of improper student recruitment practices, excessive profit taking, and poor student outcomes, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today called...

Harkin Fights Efforts to Dismantle Health Care Law WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, submitted testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s hearing, titled “Setting Fiscal Priorities in Health Care Funding.” As the first...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Enzi (R-Wyo), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, spearheaded a letter of 42 Senators to President Obama today urging him to withdraw the nomination of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Center...

Harkin Convenes Hearing on Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today convened the first in a series of hearings to examine how to improve employment opportunities for people with intellectual...

Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to President Obama’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2012: “More spending, more taxes and more borrowing...

Harkin Praises HHS for Commitment to Prevention and Wellness WASHINGTON— Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) welcomed today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of a $750 million investment in disease prevention and wellness, funded through the Prevention and Public Health Fund established by the Affordable...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK), issued the following statement on the new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the state of federal workforce and training programs. Senator Coburn and Senator Enzi...

WASHINGTON – Late yesterday, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate to discuss his ongoing investigation into the for-profit education sector and the cynical and misleading tactics used to enroll students in for-profit schools. Citing documents produced to the HELP...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), a longtime champion of disability rights, this week urged New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to select a wheelchair accessible taxi in the city’s “Taxi of Tomorrow” competition with the goal of making taxis and the city itself friendlier to people with disabilities.  New...