Press Releases

The Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity when applying for credit (Washington, D.C.) - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and U.S. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) introduced the Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act (FDCA) of 2015, which would amend the...

Lawmakers in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate introduced legislation on Wednesday that would have the effect of barring discrimination against LGBT people in credit if signed into law. The bill, known as the Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act, was re-introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) and in the U.S. Senate by Sen....

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 13 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate labor committee, led a group of 36 Senate Republicans today in a letter to Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez requesting an extension of the comment period from 75 days to 120 days on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed rule to redefine...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.), along with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) today introduced common sense sunshine reforms as a part of S. 1298 to help...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement on the updated recommendations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding gay men and blood donation. “The guidance released today was a step in the right direction,...

Announcement follows Murray-led letter urging HHS to act to ensure insurance companies uphold ACA requirements on women’s health  (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) applauded the announcement by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)...

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander gave the commencement address to the nearly 700 graduates of the Walters State Community College on Saturday. WSCC’s 48th commencement exercise took place Saturday at the Great Smoky Mountains Expo Center. Alexander said his late friend, author Alex Haley, loved commencement exercises. “Everyone is so...

(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) joined with fourteen of their colleagues to urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase consumer protections for patients seeking coverage for mental health and substance use services and...

Lawmakers Write, “Our First Priority Should Be Making Sure We Help These Students Any Way We Can.” Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and seven other Senate Democrats today sent a letter to Secretary of...

* * *  “Nothing used to make me madder as governor than to look up towards Washington and see some member of Congress coming up with a big idea, holding a press conference, passing a law, taking credit for some great leap forward in sending the bill to me as governor. Then the next thing I know, that congressman would be home in...

*** “We are concerned that federal agencies are increasingly using guidance that appears to create new requirements without the benefit of notice and comment but with the expectation that the public comply.” – Senators’ letter to agencies  WASHINGTON, D.C., May 7 – U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)...

It’s very hard to pass a federal law in the United States, and for good reason. Our revolution was against a king; our Founders established a government of elected representatives who would reflect the voters’ will and who were expected to show restraint in making laws. In fact, the Constitution made sure that they were well...

Washington, D.C., May 6 – Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) along with 21 cosponsors, this week introduced a resolution congratulating the students, parents, teachers, and administrators of charter schools across the nation, expressing strong support for public charter schools and marking the 16th annual National...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 6 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said that the government has done a better job of collecting information from colleges and universities than it has in sharing that information with students, and suggested that the federal government should enable its dissemination, rather than try to do it...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 6 – After Senate Democrats yesterday blocked a simple up or down vote to override President Obama’s veto of a Congressional Review Act resolution that would stop the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ambush election rule, Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), House Education and the...

Murray calls for clear and consistent information to help students navigate college options Murray: “Expanding access to higher education couldn’t be more important for students who want to gain a foothold into the middle class.” (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 2015 – Senate Democrats today refused to allow the United States Senate to vote on overriding the president’s veto of a Congressional Review Act resolution that would stop the National Labor Relations Board’s ambush election rule.  A Senate majority voted to stop the rule on March 4. A House...

(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: Realizing the Promise of Precision Medicine for Patients. In her opening statement, Murray highlighted that it is one of her...

“Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National institutes of Health, has told us that a properly functioning records system is essential both to help assemble the genomes of one million individuals and for doctors to be able to use a patient’s genetic information when they write a prescription for individual patients.”...

Following reports of violations, Murray and Democrats call on HHS to ensure ACA contraception coverage provision is fully implemented (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) and 38 Senate Democrats sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services...