Chair's Press

WASHINGTON, March 7 – Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), with Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging, Tim Kaine (D-Va.),...

WASHINGTON, March 7 – Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), with Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging, Tim Kaine (D-Va.),...

WASHINGTON, March 7 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Thursday issued the following statement after Boehringer Ingelheim announced that it would cap patient copays for all of its inhalers at $35 starting on June 1, 2024. The company also announced that it will lower the...

WASHINGTON, March 5 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Thursday, March 7 at 11:00 a.m. ET will lead the committee in a hearing titled, “The Older Americans Act: Supporting Efforts to Meet the Needs of Seniors.”“Today in America, it is no secret that too many seniors are...

WASHINGTON, March 3 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), released the following statement on the minibus agreement announced Sunday by Congressional leadership: Over the past year, one of my top legislative priorities as Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee has been to...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29 – According to a new report, commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has failed yet again to take basic steps to combat fraud in its massive contracting enterprise. Among other findings, the report showed the DOD often...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 – Ahead of this morning’s hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on the retirement crisis in America, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the committee, released a stunning new report exposing the depth of the crisis, while also exploring solutions that will allow all Americans to...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 – The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) will tomorrow at approximately 12:30 p.m. ET hold a markup on the renomination of Acting Secretary Julie Su to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. The committee will also consider the nominations of Moshe Marvit to become a Member of the...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 – The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), will hold a hearing on Wednesday, February 28 at 10:00 a.m. ET titled, “Taking a Serious Look at the Retirement Crisis in America: What can we do to expand defined benefit pension plans for workers?” “At a time when more...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 – BlackRock, the asset management firm, is attempting its largest acquisition in 15 years with its purchase of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a private equity firm which manages $100 billion in infrastructure assets around the world. In response, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 – As discussions on a new proposed front-of-package label rule that would better inform consumers about the health impacts of their food are underway at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to FDA...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 – As the traditional May 1st “college decision day” approaches, education leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, along with 106 of their colleagues, today wrote to Secretary Miguel Cardona of the U.S. Department of Education to call on the department to urgently address the operational issues with the new Free...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 – The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), will hold a hearing Thursday, February 8 at 10:00 a.m. ET titled, “Why Does the United States Pay, by Far, the Highest Prices in the World for Prescription Drugs?” with the CEOs of Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson,...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) released today a new report detailing the rigged system that allows Big Pharma to charge Americans the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. The HELP Committee Majority Staff uncovered how three U.S....

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) announced today that Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato and Merck CEO Robert Davis have reconsidered their positions and have agreed to join Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner at a hearing the committee will...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) today held a press conference to discuss the committee’s decision to vote to issue subpoenas for Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato and Merck CEO Robert Davis to provide testimony about why their companies charge...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) last Thursday, with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), introduced the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act to take on corporate greed by raising taxes on companies that pay their top executives at...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 – At a time when the United States pays, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), announced today that the committee will, on Wednesday, January 31, hold votes to issue subpoenas for Johnson...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 – The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), will hold a hearing Thursday, January 18 at 10:00 a.m. ET titled, “Addressing Long COVID: Advancing Research and Improving Patient Care.” “The impacts of this pandemic are still being felt by millions of families,” said...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 – Sen. Bernie Sanders, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today released the following statement in support of Acting Secretary Julie Su’s renomination to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor: I strongly support Julie Su's renomination to serve as Secretary of Labor....