Chair's Press

*As Prepared for Delivery* “The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will come to order.  The title of this hearing is ‘The Americans with Disabilities Act at 22:  A New Generation of Iowans Approaches the Labor Force with High Expectations.’ “Later this month, on July 26, in celebrations...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act: “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is a rigorous, resounding confirmation of the constitutionality...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, heralded final passage of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (S.3187), bipartisan HELP Committee legislation that would ensure that the FDA can approve...

WASHINGTON--Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, spoke on the floor of the Senate to urge his colleagues to invoke cloture on the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. Below is the full text of Harkin's statement, as prepared for delivery: "Mr. President,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) today released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (S.3187), which would reauthorize the user fee...

WASHINGTON, DC– Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) today announced a bipartisan agreement on the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, S...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, spoke on the floor of the Senate in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill to help close the wage gap. Today, an American woman makes an average of 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man.  In Iowa, that figure...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions applauded the Walt Disney Company for updating its nutritional standards and for announcing new guidelines ensuring that junk food won’t be advertised on Disney’s kid-targeted TV programming and websites: “I...

WASHINGTON—Today, Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY) of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee issued a joint statement welcoming Senate passage of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), bipartisan HELP Committee legislation that would ensure that the FDA can...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today joined Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) and a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing legislation so that families and students will gain a more accurate picture of exactly how much college will cost them before deciding which school to attend.  Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health,...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, spoke on the floor of the Senate to call for passage of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), a bill which passed out of the HELP Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. Below is the full...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to the announcement by Education Secretary Arne Duncan of a new resource document aimed at reducing the use of seclusion and restraint practices in schools: “I am pleased that...

WASHINGTON—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today expressed his disappointment at the failure of a Senate cloture vote on a measure that will keep interest rates on federal student loans from doubling in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.  Harkin helped develop and is...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, sent a letter to National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Terence Flynn, requesting his resignation after the NLRB Inspector General uncovered Flynn’s repeated ethics violations. The Inspector General’s...

WASHINGTON—Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today called for bipartisan support for a measure that will keep interest rates on federal student loans from doubling in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.  Harkin helped develop and is one of the lead cosponsors of the Stop...

WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today released the following statement calling for the resignation of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Terence Flynn after the NLRB Inspector General revealed additional evidence that Flynn violated ethics rules by...

WASHINGTON, DC –In an effort to prevent the cost of college loans from doubling for millions of students, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have teamed up to introduce the Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act, a short-term remedy that will freeze the interest rates on subsidized federal...

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Ranking  Member Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) today said the Committee’s markup of FDA user fee reauthorization reflected a strong  bipartisan effort.  “Today’s markup of the user fee agreement...

WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Representative George Miller (D-CA), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) reacted to a new Government Accountability Office report  on workplace safety, released at a HELP Committee...

*As Prepared for Delivery* “We are here today to discuss the important issue of workplace safety and, specifically, why it takes so long for OSHA to issue a new safety standard.  We are going to hear from GAO about a new study finding that there are alarming delays in this process.  But before I get into what the report says, I...