Ranking Member's Press

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 6 – After Senate Democrats yesterday blocked a simple up or down vote to override President Obama’s veto of a Congressional Review Act resolution that would stop the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ambush election rule, Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), House Education and the...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 2015 – Senate Democrats today refused to allow the United States Senate to vote on overriding the president’s veto of a Congressional Review Act resolution that would stop the National Labor Relations Board’s ambush election rule.  A Senate majority voted to stop the rule on March 4. A House...

“Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National institutes of Health, has told us that a properly functioning records system is essential both to help assemble the genomes of one million individuals and for doctors to be able to use a patient’s genetic information when they write a prescription for individual patients.”...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 7 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate education committee, today released the following statement recognizing “Teacher Appreciation Week,” being celebrated this week:  “This week we honor the 3.4 million teachers who work so hard each day so our nation’s...

WASHINGTON, April 30 – Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today led a group of nine Republicans on the Senate health committee in urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to immediately finalize all guidance regarding the approval of biosimilar drugs.  Alexander was joined by Sens. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Johnny...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 29 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on the unanimous ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission must take steps to reconcile discrimination complaints before suing employers: “The Supreme Court in a unanimous decision...

  WASHINGTON, D.C., April 29 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today announced a bipartisan, full committee working group to identify ways to improve electronic health records (EHRs).  “After $28 billion in taxpayer dollars spent subsidizing...

* * * “Our task is to help ensure that the exciting new technologies being developed and discoveries being made are reaching patients, and that the NIH is equipped to support the early-stage research required to make these advancements and that the FDA is equipped to review them.” –Lamar Alexander  WASHINGTON,...

Says Board action is an "outrageous move that will jeopardize worker rights and job growth"  * * * WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) request for legal briefs to examine the question...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21 – The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, introduced earlier this month by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to fix “No Child Left Behind,” last week passed the committee unanimously and is receiving broad support from...

* * *  “The consensus that the committee found is the same that Senator Murray and I found. That consensus is this: Continue the law’s important measurements of academic progress of students but restore to states, school districts, classroom teachers and parents the responsibility for deciding what to do about improving student...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 14 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today voted for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, legislation that will permanently put an end to the formula, passed by Congress in 1997, that dramatically capped Medicare payments to physicians and has since been temporarily overridden by Congress...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN), Senate Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil...

* * *  “Consensus is this: Continue the law’s important measurements of academic progress of students but restore to states, school districts, classroom teachers and parents the responsibility for deciding what to do about improving student achievement.  This change should produce fewer tests and more appropriate ways to...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 7 – Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today announced a bipartisan agreement on fixing “No Child Left Behind.” They scheduled committee action on their agreement and any amendments to begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 14. Alexander...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 2 – The Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act, introduced by Senate and House leaders last month to provide legal certainty for employers offering innovative employee wellness programs, is receiving broad support from business leaders and health care industry experts.  The bill was introduced last...

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2015 – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) and Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) denounced President Obama’s veto today of their Congressional Review Act...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 26 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today introduced a budget amendment to promote the research, development, and approval or licensure of the most cutting-edge, safe and effective medical treatments, devices, and cures for American patients and...

* * * “I voted for a long-term serious proposal to simplify the maze of student loan repayment options and make it easier for students to manage their loans relative to their income. I voted against an unserious and unfair proposal to raise taxes and increase the debt just to save former students about $1 a day on their loans, on average, and...

“FDA has struggled to regulate the most cutting-edge medical products. The disparity between the pace of scientific discovery and FDA’s scientific knowledge is threatening America’s position as a global leader in medical innovation.”  –Lamar Alexander  WASHINGTON, D.C., March 24 – At the second...