Press Releases

  WASHINGTON, D.C., April 29 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today announced a bipartisan, full committee working group to identify ways to improve electronic health records (EHRs).  “After $28 billion in taxpayer dollars spent subsidizing...

On Workers’ Memorial Day, Murray calls for Congress to support the Protecting America’s Workers Act (Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee delivered remarks on the Senate floor on Workers’ Memorial Day to remember those who...

Murray writes letter to eight Washington state insurers about failure to provide approved contraception, accurate information on Washington Healthplanfinder Murray: “A lack of consumer awareness and transparency about what is covered for women is unacceptable.” (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and...

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is calling on health insurance companies to follow the requirements for contraceptive coverage under ObamaCare.  Murray wrote to eight insurance companies offering coverage on the ObamaCare marketplace in her home state of Washington on Tuesday raising concerns about the results of a report from Northwest Health Law...

(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 Continuing America’s Leadership: The Future of Medical Innovation for Patients. In her opening statement, Murray called for Congress to work to find ways to...

* * * “Our task is to help ensure that the exciting new technologies being developed and discoveries being made are reaching patients, and that the NIH is equipped to support the early-stage research required to make these advancements and that the FDA is equipped to review them.” –Lamar Alexander  WASHINGTON,...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, a bipartisan group of 29 Senators led by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), wrote a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff to express concern over continued delays in establishing updated final advice to pregnant women on seafood...

Murray: “In Congress, we need to be looking for ways to make sure our economy and workplaces work for all families – not just the wealthiest few. Expanding access to paid sick days couldn’t be more important to achieving that goal.” (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) launched #HFAnow: Share Your Story a new tool to hear from workers and business owners in Washington state and across the country on why paid sick days are so important. This effort is the latest in Senator...

SMYRNA – A Senate education bill reforming No Child Left Behind could lessen federal control in the education system and help calm heated debates about Common Core standards, said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, the bill's sponsor. The legislation passed unanimously this past week out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension...

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander concluded his weekly communication to constituents with words likely to prove prophetic. Referring to the Senate education committee agreement last week to fix the No Child Left Behind Act, he wrote: “We’ve got a long way to go, but we are off to a good start.” There’s reason for the tempered...

Says Board action is an "outrageous move that will jeopardize worker rights and job growth"  * * * WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) request for legal briefs to examine the question...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21 – The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, introduced earlier this month by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to fix “No Child Left Behind,” last week passed the committee unanimously and is receiving broad support from...

WASHINGTON — Score one — no, make that two — points for bipartisanship. It doesn’t happen often, but U.S. Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander managed to get two potentially controversial bills passed out of their committees last week with large, bipartisan majorities. In both cases, the votes were unanimous. Defying the...

Last month the Senate passed a measure during the midnight hours that has one lawmaker pretty pumped up. The issue: paid sick days for all Americans. It’s something Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) feels "really strongly about.” And after 15 Republican senators voted in favor of her amendment during a budget vote-a-rama, she sees an...

While most of the Senate spent the week wrestling with a human trafficking bill and arguing over the confirmation of a new attorney general, the Senate education committee was collegially zipping through its rewrite of No Child Left Behind. The bill includes toxic education topics like testing and school performance ratings. It’s been...

Murray: “I am hopeful that we can keep this momentum going and get this done.”  Bipartisan agreement unanimously passes HELP Committee, moves to Senate floor  Murray amendments passed through committee with strong bipartisan support (Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)...

* * *  “The consensus that the committee found is the same that Senator Murray and I found. That consensus is this: Continue the law’s important measurements of academic progress of students but restore to states, school districts, classroom teachers and parents the responsibility for deciding what to do about improving student...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) offered an amendment at the HELP Committee markup of the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 to help schools and communities in the aftermath of violent or traumatic events. Murray’s amendment would authorize the...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) offered a bipartisan amendment at the HELP Committee markup of the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 to improve and expand early learning programs. The amendment would create a competitive grant program for states that...