Chair's Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and John Rockefeller (D-WY), Chairman of the Commerce Committee joined by a group of 36 Senators today called on the National Mediation Board to provide fair...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced today that the Committee approved two key Administration nominees during this morning’s Executive Session. David Michaels of Maryland to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and...

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the United States Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing to address employment challenges that service members face when returning from a tour of duty. The hearing focused on the enforcement of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights...

"Today we are taking up the President’s nominees for a number of positions that perform important roles in our society – defending workers’ rights, protecting the Constitutional right to counsel, and preserving our rich national traditions in the humanities. I thank Senator Enzi and his staff for working cooperatively with us to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), today released the following statement reacting to the U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly jobs report.    According to the report, the economy lost 263,000 jobs in September and the unemployment...

*As Prepared for Delivery* WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) today delivered the following opening remarks at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee’s Executive Session on pending nominations. The Committee met to consider the nominations of M. Patricia Smith, of New York, to be Solicitor at the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee, today announced that the Committee had approved the following pending nominations and sent them to the full Senate for consideration: M. Patricia Smith, of New York, to be Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor Joseph...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, three Chairmen – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Congressman George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced landmark legislation...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today joined the entire Republican membership of the HELP Committee in writing Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to voice opposition to the nomination of Patricia Smith to be Solicitor of the U.S. Department of...

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Kennedy delivered the following statement on the floor of the United States Senate in advance of the minimum wage increase that will go into effect tomorrow, July 24th. Senator Kennedy led the fight for this increase and his bill was passed earlier this year and signed into law in May. Below is a transcript of...