Press Releases

BOSTON, MA- On Monday, February 11th at 11:30 AM, Senator Edward M. Kennedy will join Governor Deval Patrick, Congressman Capuano, Senate President Murray, Speaker DiMasi and leading Massachusetts researchers to launch the new Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Matching Grant Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. The new competitive grant...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to Department of Labor’s new regulations on the Family and Medical Leave Act. “The Act is a vital protection that has enabled more than 60 million Americans to take time...

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today applauded theHouse of Representatives for passing legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act,which includes key higher education reforms he said are critical to expand access tocollege, protect students from bad actors in the student loan industry, and provide...

WASHINGTON, DC— The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that nearly 600 Massachusetts workers are entitled to federal Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits, which include extended unemployment insurance, job training, and health insurance. The assistance will benefit 478 workers at Alcatel-Lucent in North Andover, 79 workers at RAD...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement in response to the changes to the H-2A visa regulations announced by the Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security. “I’m concerned about the Administration’s approach to these regulations. Increased penalties for employers who...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Education informed Congress that seven Federal Family Education Program lenders will be allowed to resume billing for “9.5% loans,” the category of student loans under which lenders are eligible to receive an inflated 9.5% rate of return. The decision follows the completion of audits...

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on President Bush’s budget: “The President fumbled yet another opportunity to put forward a budget that demonstrates real understanding of the challenges our country is facing today and that provides real relief for hardworking Americans. I look...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, released new data from the Congressional Budget Office reaffirming that the Federal Direct Loan Program costs less to taxpayers than the Federal Family Education Loan Program, the program that subsidizes banks to make...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today's jobs numbers show a loss of 17,000 jobs and an increase in the number of long-term unemployed Americans to 1.4 million. In addition, the time that unemployed Americans spent looking for a job rose sharply. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Member ofthe Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today said thatlegislation aimed at overturning the Supreme Court’s decision in a last year’semployment discrimination case, Ledbetter v. Goodyear, would effectively eliminate thestatute of...

(As Prepared for Delivery) Equal pay for equal work is a fundamental civil right in our society. All workers should have the right to fair pay regardless of their race, gender, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability. Unfortunately, reality has too often failed to live up to this ideal. Prejudice and discrimination too...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Congressman John Lewis, along with more than a dozen Senate colleagues, introduced the Civil Rights Act of 2008, which will strengthen accountability when civil rights and workers’ rights are violated. Recent court decisions have weakened America’s civil rights laws in ways...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to the United States House of Representatives failing to override President Bush’s veto of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. "American families want real solutions...

WASHINGTON, DC—Today Representatives Henry A. Waxman, John D. Dingell, Frank Pallone, Jr., Rosa L. DeLauro, and Edward Markey, and Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Patrick J. Leahy, and Christopher J. Dodd, questioned the basis for a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal that was apparently designed to shield pharmaceutical and device...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s introduction of the “Pathway to Covering America: Ensuring Quality, Value, and Access,” a plan to secure health insurance...

Washington, D.C. – Saying “No one should be precluded from visiting theirelected officials, attending hearings, or participating in events in Congress because ofphysical or communication barriers,” U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Memberof the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today sent...

We are here to celebrate a landmark in labor-management relations. The settlement that’s been achieved is an extraordinary achievement that will benefit all the members of the Amtrak community—the employees, the company, the passengers, and the entire country. Compromise is never easy, but I commend both sides for their commitment and...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office asking that it investigate why this landmark patient safety legislation, passed by Congress nearly three years ago, has not been fully implemented. Senator Kennedy said,...

WASHINGTON, DC— At 10:00am on Thursday, January 24, 2008, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will hold a hearing on ensuring workers’ rights to equal pay. The hearing will focus on the decision by the Supreme Court in the case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company,...