Ranking Member's Press

BOSTON, MA- Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry today announced $ 3.9 million in federal funding has been awarded to Massachusetts under the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to support food, shelter, rent, mortgage and utility assistance programs for persons facing non-disaster related emergencies. “No one in our Commonwealth...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Governor Deval Patrick met with Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to discuss the renewal of Massachusetts’ Medicaid waiver. The waiver helps hundreds of thousands in Massachusetts receive life-saving health care services. Today’s meeting was the first in what...

WASHINGTON, DC— Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement today in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Riegel v. Medtronic, which prevents injured patients from suing manufacturers of FDA-approved medical devices. “In enacting legislation on...

(As Prepared for Delivery) I commend Senator Dodd for holding this important hearing. Striking the right balance between work and family is never easy. But it’s especially difficult when serious illness or a medical emergency strikes. In these turbulent economic times, workers face great challenges. More and more families are already...

Washington, D.C.---Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry and Representatives Barney Frank, John Tierney, and William Delahunt today introduced bipartisan legislation to provide low-cost health coverage to fishermen and their families in Massachusetts and other coastal states. For Massachusetts, where the Fishing Partnership Plan currently...

(As Prepared for Delivery) In these hard economic times, Americans are anxious about the future. Balancing the demands of work and family is getting more and more difficult every day. Times are especially hard for families facing a health care crisis.It’s difficult enough to deal with a serious illness in your family without the added worry...

I want to thank Senator Sanders for his dedication to this topic and for working so hard on this hearing today. I also want to thank Senators Enzi and Murkowski for their work on this issue. To create a healthy nation we must not only have health care professionals that are excellently trained—we need health care professionals that are...

WASHINGTON, February 12 – The number of primary-care physicians and other health professionals trained in the United States is shrinking, according to Government Accountability Office findings announced today at a Senate hearing. The nonpartisan research arm of Congress was asked to assess the state of primary-care training in the United...

WASHINGTON, DC— On Thursday, February 14th, at 10:00am, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will hold an executive meeting to mark up following pieces of legislation: S. 579, Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2007, S. 1810, Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions...

Washington, DC – Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder (D-CO), original authors of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act, will hail the law’s 15th anniversary, and critique the Department of Labor's new recommendations about the program at a press conference on Wednesday. They will also highlight the...

BOSTON, MA- On Monday, February 11th at 11:30 AM, Senator Edward M. Kennedy will join Governor Deval Patrick, Congressman Capuano, Senate President Murray, Speaker DiMasi and leading Massachusetts researchers to launch the new Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Matching Grant Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. The new competitive grant...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to Department of Labor’s new regulations on the Family and Medical Leave Act. “The Act is a vital protection that has enabled more than 60 million Americans to take time...

WASHINGTON, DC— The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that nearly 600 Massachusetts workers are entitled to federal Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits, which include extended unemployment insurance, job training, and health insurance. The assistance will benefit 478 workers at Alcatel-Lucent in North Andover, 79 workers at RAD...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement in response to the changes to the H-2A visa regulations announced by the Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security. “I’m concerned about the Administration’s approach to these regulations. Increased penalties for employers who...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, the U.S. Department of Education informed Congress that seven Federal Family Education Program lenders will be allowed to resume billing for “9.5% loans,” the category of student loans under which lenders are eligible to receive an inflated 9.5% rate of return. The decision follows the completion of audits...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, released new data from the Congressional Budget Office reaffirming that the Federal Direct Loan Program costs less to taxpayers than the Federal Family Education Loan Program, the program that subsidizes banks to make...

(As Prepared for Delivery) Equal pay for equal work is a fundamental civil right in our society. All workers should have the right to fair pay regardless of their race, gender, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability. Unfortunately, reality has too often failed to live up to this ideal. Prejudice and discrimination too...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Congressman John Lewis, along with more than a dozen Senate colleagues, introduced the Civil Rights Act of 2008, which will strengthen accountability when civil rights and workers’ rights are violated. Recent court decisions have weakened America’s civil rights laws in ways...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to the United States House of Representatives failing to override President Bush’s veto of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. "American families want real solutions...