Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN), Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) issued the following statements on President Obama’s changes to the Head Start Program: “Despite claims of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging an immediate appeal of a U.S. District Court decision that...

*As Prepared for Delivery* “Today’s roundtable will focus on moving beyond NCLB—the current iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—and towards reauthorization of the law for the needs of the 21st Century. Over the last two years the Committee has held 10 hearings on the full range of issues covered...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing today on the Elementary-Secondary Education Reauthorization Act, Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said that more changes were needed for the school reform legislation that was reported out of the HELP Committee last...

WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement after a federal district judge blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s effort to make Americans aware of the health risks of cigarettes through graphic warnings that, when finalized, will...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said a new report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), in conjunction with recently released data from HHS, shows that twenty-four companies received almost half of the funding for the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today said while he supports efforts to help struggling graduates with their student loan debt, he is disappointed that the President has chosen to blame Congress for failing to act before working to find a...

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 after the Committee reported the Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act of 2011:“Today’s markup of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was an...

WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, announced that the bipartisan Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act passed out of committee by a bipartisan vote of 15 to 7.  The legislation, which overhauls the No Child Left Behind Act, will now be sent to...

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...