Press Releases

Senators Murray and Wyden sent a letter to President Trump questioning his sudden decision to replace Reeder at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation   Reeder’s term was set to expire in 2020, just a few years shy of the projected insolvency of PBGC’s multiemployer program    Senators: “In light of your...

Murray: “This is a long-overdue and much-needed step toward overhauling the way harassment is addressed in the United States Congress.”   Murray: “I also want to make very clear that while this legislation is an important step, it is the first step and cannot be the last. There is so much more we need to do to ensure that no...

Secretary DeVos has sidelined investigators tasked with protecting students from predatory for-profit colleges, according to recent media reports   In letter, 29 Senators urge Department to reverse course by adequately staffing the Student Aid Enforcement Unit’s investigations team and resume investigating fraudulent practices by...

Senator Murray, Senator Smith, and advocates and experts from Planned Parenthood, NFPRHA, and the Guttmacher Institute discussed the impact of the Trump-Pence Administration’s proposed domestic gag rule   Murray released a new report showing the harmful impact Title X restrictions would have on family planning services and women’s...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2018 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced the committee will hold a hearing on June 12 at 10:00 am EDT with Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, to examine President Trump’s drug pricing blueprint: “Biomedical research has made it possible to cure Hepatitis...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2018 — The Senate health committee today approved legislation that its Chairman, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said would “help ensure Tennesseans are better prepared to handle threats such as pandemic flu, wildfires, and deliberate attacks with dangerous agents like anthrax.” “Tennesseans want...

Senator Murray discussed the challenges facing the health care workforce and vital health workforce training programs targeted to address them   Murray highlighted Washington state’s leadership in addressing workforce needs for seniors and care in rural and underserved communities   President Trump’s budget proposal would have...

“Rural areas where 60 million Americans live suffer the greatest impact of the shortage of health care professionals. According to the National Rural Health Association, there are only 39 primary care doctors for every 100,000 people living in rural areas, but there are 53 primary care doctors for every 100,000 people in urban...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released the following statement on the 5-4 Supreme Court decision Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, which ruled employers can ban workers from joining together in a legal dispute when their rights are being...

New domestic gag rule would forbid health care providers who receive federal family planning funds from discussing the full range of reproductive health care options with patients   Murray: “Let me be clear: President Trump and Vice President Pence’s opinions have no place in a woman’s conversations with her doctor about her...

Senator Gillibrand today marked 100 days since House passage of key reforms to the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995; Murray joined call for action in Senate   Murray: “…to say we in the Senate are overdue for action is a massive understatement.”   Murray: “… the longer we wait to act, the longer the...

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2018 — Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said today that Senate Democrats’ five month delay in confirming Brigadier General Mitchell Zais as Deputy Secretary of Education was “inexcusable” and “this extremely well-qualified nominee did not deserve to be subject to...

President Trump has nominated Gordon Hartogensis to lead the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation   If confirmed, Hartogensis would replace Director Reeder who was sworn in for a five-year term in 2015   News comes as the nation grapples with multiemployer pension crisis threatening many workers’ retirement...

Senate HELP Committee held second hearing on the 340B program that helps make drugs more affordable for safety net care providers   President Trump delayed a rule to prevent drug companies from overcharging 340B care providers and withdrew guidance that aimed to provide clarity on program rules.   The Trump Administration has cut Medicare...

Murray Urges Senate to Reject Secretary DeVos’ Right Hand Man, Calls for Department of Education to Once Again Stand Up for Students   Murray calls on colleagues to reject Deputy Secretary of Education nominee General Mick Zais   Zais has a controversial history as South Carolina State Superintendent of Education   Like DeVos...

“It very well may be that hospitals and clinics are using the savings to benefit low-income patients as intended. But it is hard to know that until we have more information.”  WASHINGTON, May 15, 2018 — At the Senate health committee’s second hearing this year on the 340B Drug Discount Program Chairman Lamar Alexander...

Contract paid lawyer connected to President Trump over one million dollars as pharmaceutical company sought access to White House   Murray: “It’s important that people have the transparency they need to hold their government accountable, and that must include transparency about how money is spent in efforts to gain attention and...

Following President Trump’s lackluster drug pricing speech, Senator Murray criticized his efforts as “all tweets and no leadership”   Murray: Unless Republicans come to the table to work on substantive solutions, “speech was simply more of the same from a President who hasn’t done the work and hasn’t...

WASHINGTON, May 11 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on President Trump’s drug pricing announcement: “The President’s plan is sweeping, comprehensive and sophisticated. It appears to put patients and taxpayers first. I especially welcome the proposals to...

WASHINGTON, May 11 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on President Trump’s drug pricing announcement: “The President’s plan is sweeping, comprehensive and sophisticated. It appears to put patients and taxpayers first. I especially welcome the proposals to...