Press Releases

NASHVILLE, March 10 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on the selection of Dr. Scott Gottlieb to head the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):  “It’s critical to have the right person in charge of the FDA, an agency that affects virtually every American and...

Mylan has faced “well-deserved scrutiny” for radical EpiPen hikes   Murray, Senate Democrats repeatedly pressed Mylan and the FTC for answers   FTC now examining Mylan’s business practices, efforts to block approval of generic EpiPen competition—LINK   Senators write to “commend” the FTC and urge...

Decision by President Trump, Sec. DeVos to revoke transgender guidance has caused “chaos” for educators seeking to comply with Title IX law—LINK   Due to revocation, SCOTUS has sent transgender “bathroom rights” case back to lower court—LINK   Today, Senators seek answers from Sec. DeVos for...

Senate passed resolution to roll back flexibilities for accountability, reporting standards and state plan submission requirements   Murray: “Today, Republicans stepped away from this bipartisan agreement, weakened the Every Student Succeeds Act, and retreated from the law’s commitment to strong federal guardrails we agreed to put...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement after meeting with President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta. Acosta is President Trump’s second nominee for Secretary of Labor. His first nominee, Andrew Puzder, withdrew his nomination under fierce opposition...

WASHINGTON, March 9 — The Senate today voted for local school boards over a National School Board and affirmed that Congress writes the law, not the Department of Education. The Senate sent to President Trump’s desk a resolution to rescind the department’s final regulation for implementing the accountability provisions of the...

(Washington, D.C.) – Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter today to President Trump’s Secretary of Labor nominee Alexander Acosta asking him to voluntarily provide three years of tax returns to ensure the HELP committee has the opportunity to...

(Washington, D.C.) – Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today delivered the following floor speech urging her colleagues to reject a Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would weaken the Every Student Succeeds Act and give Secretary DeVos a blank check to...

WASHINGTON, March 8 — Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said that the Senate is poised to overturn an Obama administration education regulation that “is in direct violation of the law that 85 senators voted for just 15 months ago.” In a speech on the Senate floor, Senator Alexander today said:...

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) issued the following statement after the Senate passed H.J.Res. 58, a resolution to overturn the Obama Administration Department of Education’s rule regulating teacher preparation programs.   "This is a win for kids because Washington’s good intentions...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 7 –Senate health committee chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on the American Health Care Act, legislation introduced in the House to begin the process of repealing and replacing Obamacare: “One especially encouraging aspect of the House bill is that it would help...

Murray vows to “fight back against” House GOP bill that guts Medicaid, investments in mental health care and opioid epidemic fight   Trumpcare doubles down on defunding Planned Parenthood   Murray: “Bill is a wish list by and for the extreme politicians who insist on telling women what to do with their own...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U. S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement on House Republican legislation to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and undermine the health care system.   “Trumpcare falls miles short of the promises...

Led by Murray, Senate Dems took to Senate floor to speak against Republican-led vote to eliminate “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” rule   “Fair pay” rule is critical step to safeguard workers, taxpayers, and level playing field for businesses—LINK     Workers, advocates, unions all support rule—ACLU:...

Marathon Pharmaceuticals announced plans to sell recently approved treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at prices exponentially higher than are justified by research and development costs     In new letter, Senator Murray and colleagues question the dramatically high price Marathon expected patients to pay for a compound that...

WASHINGTON – Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, applauded the passage of a resolution which would block implementation of the Obama administration’s flawed...

There is an Obamacare emergency in our state, and Tennesseans are right to care about the damage Obamacare is doing. Last year, BlueCross BlueShield — the oldest and largest insurer in Tennessee — pulled out of Memphis, leaving Humana and Cigna as the only insurance companies on the Memphis exchange for 2017. Last month, Humana...

On Nov. 29, 2016, the United States Department of Education released its final regulation for implementing the accountability provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act – here is the problem with this rule: it specifically does things or requires states to do things that Congress said in our law fixing No Child Left Behind that the...

President Trump and senior Administration officials have expressed skepticism of unemployment statistics in the past   Bureau of Labor Statistics provides independent, unbiased data on key economic indicators   In new letter, Ranking Members of eight key Senate committees urge President Trump to commit to providing objective data on...

Regulation specifically violates federal law by doing what Congress told the department not to do WASHINGTON, March 2 — A group of 10 senators led by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) this week introduced a resolution to rescind the Department of Education’s final regulation for implementing the...