Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 24 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today led a group of 10 Republican senators in urging the administration to give the public “a reasonable opportunity” to review and respond to its proposed rule to make drastic changes to existing overtime eligibility. Alexander said:...

“If I found myself suddenly at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center emergency room and the doctors there wanted to get my paperwork from the hospital and doctors I usually use —information blocking means that there is some obstacle getting in the way of my personal health information getting sent to them.”– Lamar...

Imagine you’re a veteran who was critically wounded while serving your country. You’ve returned home, struggled through rehab, and now, finally, you’re ready to get on with your life and start a family. Your injury has made it difficult to conceive the old-fashioned way, so you turn to in vitro fertilization—only to discover...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered remarks at a HELP Committee hearing on Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Exploring Barriers and Opportunities within Innovation. In her remarks, Murray expressed interest in innovative ways to help...

“The American higher education system of today is like the American automobile industry of the 1970s. Like the Japanese auto manufacturers that ultimately brought the American auto industry to its knees for a time, there is an emerging market of new or upstart providers of affordable higher education.” – Lamar...

With only 8 percent of salaried workers currently covered by overtime rules, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., says it’s time for the federal government to intervene. After becoming the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in January, Murray is among the leading backers of a White House plan to expand overtime...

Murray: “Boosting wages and expanding economic stability and security is good for families, and it’s good for our economy.”    (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered remarks on the Senate floor in support of the Obama...

Change will help reduce income inequality, jump start local economies   WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama announced last month that the Department of Labor (DOL) intends to raise the salary threshold below which workers must receive overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week. Today, nearly 150 Democrats across both...

This week marks the 50th anniversary of signing of Older Americans Act into law   WASHINGTON, D.C., July 17 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), with Senate health committee members, Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senate Special Committee on...

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 17 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), with Senate health committee members, Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine) commended Senate passage yesterday of the Older...

Thank you, Andrew. It’s great to be here. It’s great to be at AEI, an organization for which I have lots of respect. I also have great respect for our institutions for higher education. As Dr. Kelly said, I was once president of the University of Tennessee. That’s harder than it looks. I remember on my first day on campus a...

Bipartisan bill to fix K-12 education law that expired seven years ago passes Senate by a vote of  81 to 17 WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16 – The Senate today passed by a vote of 81 to 17 the Every Child Achieves Act, the bipartisan agreement by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray...

In the report, Murray outlines several policy solutions that would help women better prepare for retirement  Murray: “The retirement crisis is especially acute for women” (Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the Promoting Physical Activity for Americans Act, legislation that would establish physical activity recommendations for children and adults. The bipartisan legislation would call on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue...

(Washington, D.C.) – Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) submitted remarks for the record in support of a bipartisan amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act that would address inequalities in educational resources. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 46-50. “While...

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16 – The Senate today passed by a vote of 81 to 17 the Every Child Achieves Act, the bipartisan agreement by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to fix the No Child Left Behind law, which is seven years overdue. Alexander said: “Last week,...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the Promoting Physical Activity for Americans Act, legislation that would establish physical activity recommendations for children and adults. The bipartisan legislation would call on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue...

Bipartisan bill to fix K-12 education law that expired seven years ago passes Senate by a vote of  81 to 17   WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16 – The Senate today passed by a vote of 81 to 17 the Every Child Achieves Act, the bipartisan agreement by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered remarks on the Senate floor supporting an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act to strengthen accountability measures. Murray noted that the amendment from Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Senator Cory...

Senate Republicans defeat amendment to protect LGBT students   Murray: “As we debate our nation’s K through 12 education bill, we need to do everything we can to prevent bullying, harassment, and discrimination”   (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking...