Ranking Member's Press

“This is the very first opportunity the administration has to write regulations on the Every Student Succeeds Act. In my view, they earned an ‘F.’…. The effect of this would be to violate the law as implemented since 1970. So the administration may get an “A” for cleverness, but an “F” for...

“If the president wants to go around talking about keeping college costs down, how can he justify a rule that could cost some students in Tennessee nearly $850 per year in increased tuition?” WASHINGTON, May 18 – The chairman of the Senate labor committee said that the final “Overtime Rule” released today...

WASHINGTON, May 17 – The chairman of the Senate’s health committee today voted for legislation to help protect Americans from the Zika outbreak with mosquito abatement, vaccine research and health services. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said, “Today’s vote will help protect mothers and children from the tragic...

“Wellness programs are the only part of Obamacare that everyone agreed on—everyone except the EEOC. The administration is in the strange position of disagreeing with itself.” WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16 – The Senate health and labor committee chairman today said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee; and Sen. Lamar Alexandar (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and Sens. David Vitter (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wy.)...

WASHINGTON, May 13 – Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on the Department of Education’s guidance letter to local school districts regarding transgender student’s use of school bathrooms: "This is the kind of issue that parents, school boards, communities,...

WASHINGTON, May 12 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said today that Tennesseans will save $1.2 billion over the next 10 years because legislation passed by Congress in 2013 tied loan rates to the market, and today’s market rates are at a record low. Alexander, chairman of the Senate education committee and a former...

WASHINGTON, May 11 – The bipartisan group of U.S. senators who sponsored the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013 today celebrated the news that student loan rates will drop from 4.29 percent to 3.76 percent, putting money back into the pockets of nearly 6.4 million undergraduate student borrowers. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.),...

“(The Education Department’s) interpretation appears to go beyond what would be required under a plain language reading of the statute.” – Congressional Research Service WASHINGTON, May 11 – A new report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) finds the Department of Education’s...

“The Wall Street Journal called the new law the ‘largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter century,’ which means that control of Blount County schools is back in your hands – and my role is to be your most aggressive defender.” MARYVILLE, Tenn., May 5, 2016 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander...

“If the president wants to talk about keeping college costs down, how can he justify a rule that may cost the colleges’ students in tuition hikes and cost employees in job cuts?” MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 4 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander today said that the administration’s reported plans to...

KINGSPORT, Tenn., May 4, 2016 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told members of the Kingsport, Bristol, and Johnson City Chambers of Commerce today that he is working on legislation that would "affect virtually every American and be the most important bill Congress considers this year." "Last August, Nashville resident Douglas...

WASHINGTON, May 2 – Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), along with 26 cosponsors, today commemorated the 17th annual National Charter Schools Week, which lasts May 1 through May 7 and congratulates the students, parents, teachers, and leaders of our nation’s 6,800 charter schools. Senate education...

WASHINGTON, DC – Concerned with depleting U.S. capabilities to respond to bioterror threats, House and Senate leaders today pressed HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell on plans within the administration’s emergency spending request on the Zika virus to raid the BioShield Special Reserve Fund for threats unrelated to our national security....

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Pat Roberts (R-Kans.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) today wrote to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt to...

“The national coalition that worked to pass the law is now working to see that it is implemented as Congress wrote it—a state coalition is just as important.” NASHVILLE, April 25 – Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today told a room full of Tennessee education leaders, legislators, teachers and students that...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, introduced bipartisan, budget-neutral legislation to ensure hospitals are fairly reimbursed for their services by the federal government so they are able to remain open and functioning, especially in...

“Focusing on the backlog will force the agency to focus on its core mission of protecting American workers. Giving the public at least 30 days to comment on any new guidance will help ensure that the agency’s guidances are not implemented without giving the public an opportunity to have a say.” WASHINGTON, D.C., April...

WASHINGTON, April 20 – Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement in support of the negotiated rulemaking committee members who refused to accept the Education Department’s proposed “supplement not supplant” regulation, which goes against the law. "I’m grateful for...

WASHINGTON, April 19 – President Obama today signed into law the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2016 – bipartisan legislation to support social and nutrition services, from home-delivered meals to senior centers – for nearly 12 million older Americans. Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said: “This...