Press Releases

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...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 14 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today voted for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, legislation that will permanently put an end to the formula, passed by Congress in 1997, that dramatically capped Medicare payments to physicians and has since been temporarily overridden by Congress...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN), Senate Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil...

(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 ensure that military-connected children are succeeding in school. In remarks prior to the vote, Murray highlighted that...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement in recognition of Equal Pay Day: “We’re 103 days into 2015, and on Equal Pay Day, that number takes on significant, unfortunate meaning. Today marks just how far into the...

Murray: “Students and parents across the country are looking to us to put politics aside, break through the gridlock, and fix this broken 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 Executive Session to...

* * *  “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 achievement.  This change should produce fewer tests and more appropriate ways to...

When Republicans took control of the Senate after last year's election, Tennessee Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander figured to play more prominent roles. This week they are fulfilling those expectations. As chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Corker is at the center over the struggle between the White House and the Senate over the...

When Republicans took control of the Senate after last year's election, Tennessee Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander figured to play more prominent roles. This week they are fulfilling those expectations. As chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Corker is at the center over the struggle between the White House and the Senate over the...

Fourteen years ago a bipartisan coalition of federal lawmakers passed the controversial and now much-maligned No Child Left Behind Act. Another bipartisan effort this year could reform the law to provide states and local school districts something they've pined for all this time: more local control. A deal crafted by Sen. Lamar Alexander,...

The federal role in local schools would be significantly reduced under a bipartisan proposal released Tuesday by Senate leaders working to replace No Child Left Behind, the country’s main education law. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and ranking Democrat Sen. Patty...