Ranking Member's Press

“We are holding this hearing today because at the end of the year there will be a vacancy at the National Labor Relations Board resulting from the departure of Member Nancy Schiffer. I would like to take a moment to thank Ms. Schiffer for her service. The President has nominated an exceptionally well-qualified and dedicated public...

WASHINGTON, DC— Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) led a group of Congressional Democrats today in calling for the Obama Administration to strengthen its oversight of food and beverage companies and ensure that they are making progress on reducing unhealthy food marketing to children. In a letter sent to...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With e-cigarette use among middle and high schoolers still on the rise, nine Members of Congress responded to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing that adolescents who had used e-cigarettes were more likely to express intentions to smoke conventional cigarettes than those who...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the HELP Committee, announced the release of a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY)...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) today released for public comment a draft bill that would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed the review process for life-saving sunscreen ingredients and provide more certainty to makers of over-the-counter...

WASHINGTON, DC— Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today called on the Obama Administration to issue a strong final rule on menu labeling. Harkin and DeLauro were the chief sponsors of menu labeling legislation for nearly a decade, and as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) applauded the announcement of $250 million in federal funds to support early education through a joint effort by the Department of Education (ED) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Part of the new Preschool Development Grants competition, the funding was secured by Harkin...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Senate HELP Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL); and four of their Senate colleagues today asked President Barack Obama to immediately provide more information on current efforts by the Administration to better protect students and ensure that the situation with Corinthian does not repeat...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Thirteen Members of Congress today called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take immediate action to protect young people from predatory e-cigarette marketing and distribution tactics that are straight out of big tobacco’s playbook. According to the journal Pediatrics, the number of children aged 12 to17...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, today released the following statement applauding the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) implementation...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The bipartisan Autism CARES Act and Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014 will be the 15th and 16th HELP Committee bills to become law this Congress, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Committee, announced today. The Senate cleared the measures last night and both bills were recently passed by the House of...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new White House Executive Order (EO) to strengthen the federal contracting system by promoting compliance with federal labor law echoes many recommendations from a 2013 report issued by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, that revealed widespread labor...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the White House announced that President Barack Obama will sign an Executive Order to improve the federal contracting system by taking new steps to ensure that companies paid by taxpayers provide safe and fair workplaces for American workers. The Executive Order will require prospective federal contractors to disclose...

Top Eight For-Profit Colleges Received $2.9 Billion in Post-9/11 G.I. Bill Funds Between 2009 and 2014 and Nearly 25 Percent of all Post-9/11 GI Bill Funds Last School Year Seven of Top Eight For-Profit Colleges Receiving Post-9/11 G.I. Bill Benefits Are Under State or Federal Investigation WASHINGTON, D.C.—Two years after a...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement in recognition of the 24th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA is a signature achievement for Harkin, who authored the bill and was its chief sponsor in the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—On the fifth anniversary of the last minimum wage increase, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Representative George Miller (D-CA), and Senator Al Franken (D-MN) held a press conference to outline the growing pay cut currently faced by millions of minimum- and low-wage workers as a result of Congressional Republicans’ refusal...

“Since the establishment of state land-grant universities, our country has rightly recognized higher education as an essential public good. States have played a critical role to an affordable college education, through investing in higher education, being a key player in oversight, and developing strategies to increase degree...

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 HELP Committee approved seven bipartisan bills at a Committee markup today. The approved bills include: the Promoting Physical Activity for Americans Act; the Paul D....

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to recent workplace trends and supporting research that suggests uncertain work schedules can have broad negative consequences for working families, leading Democratic members of Congress today introduced legislation to stem abusive scheduling practices directed primarily at hourly workers. In some of the...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today issued the following statement after President Obama signed into law the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The bill seeks to update and improve the nation’s workforce development and...