Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 26 –U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell’s announcement of goals for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, proposed to pay providers based upon quality, rather than quantity of care: “Moving away from fee-for-service...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement on the announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services that the department will shift the Medicare program toward paying providers based on value and quality of care,...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 26 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate education committee, today marked the celebration of “National School Choice Week,” saying:‎ “America's higher education system is the best in the world because our colleges and universities have autonomy and compete for federal...

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., is among 22 Senate sponsors of the American Liberty Restoration Act, S. 203, a bill that repeals the requirement in the Affordable Care Act that requires people to have insurance. "How can we continue to enforce the individual mandate when the law doesn't clearly ensure that millions of Americans are allowed to...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered remarks at a committee hearing on Examining Job-Based Health Insurance and Defining Full-Time Work. In her opening statement, Murray criticized the Republican proposal to redefine a full-time worker under the...

Says Obamacare’s definition of full-time as 30 hours is causing thousands of low-wage workers to lose hours and income * * * “Republicans have talked a lot about wanting to repair the damage of Obamacare. We have also talked about wanting to get results. This bipartisan bill should be an important step to doing both.” –Lamar...

A top Senate Republican says lowering the definition of a full-time employee to anyone who works 30 hours or more per week would lower the nation's work ethic. "It is a strange definition — one that sounds more like France than the United States,” Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Thursday during...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement on the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. “Forty-two years ago today the Supreme Court issued a constitutional guarantee in Roe v. Wade to women across...

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered remarks at a committee hearing on Fixing No Child Left Behind: Testing and Accountability. In her opening statement, Murray highlighted the critical role the federal government plays in ensuring no child falls...

Hatch, Alexander Introduce Bill to Repeal Individual Mandate WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), along with 20 other senators, introduced the American Liberty Restoration Act, S. 203, a bill that repeals Obamacare’s...

*** “Are there too many tests? Are they the right tests? Are the stakes for failing them too high? What should Washington, D.C. have to do with all this?”  –Lamar Alexander WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 21 –U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today gaveled in his first hearing as chairman of the Senate Health, Education,...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 21 –The following are excerpts of remarks prepared by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, for his opening statement at today’s hearing: At the center of the debate about how to fix No Child Left Behind is what to do about the...

*VIDEO* WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2015 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement after President Obama’s annual State of the Union address: “Unfortunately, much of what I heard from President Obama tonight are partisan proposals that don’t have any chance of becoming law – and that...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 20 –U.S. Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) with Senators Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2015, legislation that supports social and nutrition...

President Obama was in the right church but the wrong pew when he proposed providing free community college tuition for some students. The president was right to celebrate the Tennessee Promise to make two years at community colleges or technical institutes tuition free for graduating high school seniors. Using the presidential bully pulpit in this...

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement on the federal court ruling that would strike down a Department of Labor rule to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers.  “Home care workers, including tens...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 15 –U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chair of the Senate labor committee, today made the following statement on President Obama’s call for mandatory paid sick time:  “Americans have great freedom when it comes to work—they can choose the career they like and negotiate with their employer...

There is nothing like a visit from the president of the United States to shine the spotlight on a really good idea. Gov. Bill Haslam's really good idea was to make Tennessee the first state to say to every high school graduate: Two years of community college or technical education are yours, tuition-free. For the last 30 years, Tennessee's greatest...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today commended President Barack Obama’s proposal to expand paid sick days to more workers. Both legislators reiterated their strong support for the Healthy Families Act, a bill to let workers earn paid sick leave to use when they are sick, to care for a sick...

Calls latest court decision “more good news for nearly 240,000 Tennesseans who’ve had access to in-home care threatened” by DOL rule *** “The department should abandon any further attempt to force this rule on the 12 million seniors and individuals with disabilities who rely on in-home care to live independently.”...