Ranking Member's Press

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement after the Senate confirmed Chai Feldblum to continue serving as a Commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The HELP Committee approved Feldblum’s...

“Today’s hearing is the fourth in our series examining critical issues in postsecondary education ahead of the reauthorization the Higher Education Act.  I said at our first hearing that we would spend time examining each player in the regulatory ‘triad’ that oversees colleges.  Today we will take a close look at...

Mr. President, I rise today to speak about one of the most important jobs the Senate must do before we go home for the holidays—extend federal unemployment insurance benefits.  This is a program that has helped tens of millions of Americans weather the storm of the difficult economy over the last several years.  It has helped...

"It’s great to be back at the Center for American Progress, a real intellectual center of progressive policy development. "In March 2007, Eleazar Torres Gomez, a 46 year old father of four, was working as a washroom operator at a Cintas Corporation facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When Eleazar attempted to dislodge a clothes jam he was swept into...

Investigation Represents the First Comprehensive Report to Connect Dots Between Federal Contracts and Labor Law Violations Forty-Nine Contractors Engaging in Significant Labor Law Violations Received $81 Billion in Taxpayer-Funded Contracts in 2012 Alone  WASHINGTON, D.C.—An investigation into the federal contracting process...

*As Prepared for Delivery* “Today I am very pleased to welcome Dr. David Weil as the nominee to administer the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor.  The Wage and Hour Division oversees some of the most fundamental protections for American workers: it ensures that people are paid fairly in accordance with our minimum wage...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and 31 Senate Democrats sent a letter urging Congress to preserve federal unemployment insurance for another year. If Congress fails to act, more than 1.3 million long-term unemployed workers will lose their...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on the November employment numbers, showing the unemployment rate dropped from 7.3 percent to 7.0 percent in November, with more than 200,000 jobs added to the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech addressing income inequality and the need to raise the minimum wage. In November, the President expressed his support for a...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)—Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and Senate author of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act—renewed his call for the Senate to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement after President Obama signed several bipartisan health bills into law today, including the landmark Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA), which Harkin introduced and led to passage in the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In an effort to stabilize the economy and prevent 1.3 million Americans from having their federal jobless benefits cut off, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today to introduce the Emergency...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and HELP Committee members Senator Al Franken (D-MN), Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) today hailed Senate passage of legislation to help...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Since its introduction on Wednesday, a broad range of advocates and experts has expressed support for Senate HELP Chairman Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) Strong Start for America’s Children Act, a bill that would expand access to high-quality early learning programs for children from birth to age five. This major...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, today announced that three bipartisan health bills have been approved by Congress and now head to the President’s desk.  The CHIMP Act Amendments of 2013 passed last night as part of a package that also included the HELP Committee-cleared...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement in response to the President’s announcement that Americans may keep their current plans for one year without penalty.  “If it had been up to me, I am not certain I...

“Today’s hearing is the third in our series examining critical issues in postsecondary education as the Committee looks to reauthorize the Higher Education Act.  The topic we’ll discuss today is of paramount importance, and is arguably the bedrock of federal higher education policy: our federal financial aid programs and...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the Senate approved the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act (CHGME).  Harkin, Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Committee Members Robert P....

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released enrollment numbers for the first month of the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. “I appreciate the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) introduced the  Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act. The legislation provides a non-refundable $500 tax credit for the purchase of a hearing aid, or $1,000 if two are needed,...