Ranking Member's Press

Washington, D.C., July 30 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today released the following statement on the report released by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office detailing failures in the administration’s oversight of the Obamacare exchange website: “It...

  Washington, D.C., July 29– U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate labor committee, today released the following statement on reports that the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel determined that McDonald’s holds joint employer responsibilities of workers at its...

*** “Many states are doing innovative work…. I am interested in how the federal government is getting in the way of state innovation.” –Lamar Alexander   Washington, D.C., July 24 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate education committee, today said the Washington...

Washington, D.C., July 22 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today released the following statement on a federal appeals court ruling that Americans in 36 states, including Tennessee, cannot receive Obamacare subsidies through the federal exchange: “This is yet more evidence...

“Enough is enough: For 83 years, this handout to labor unions has meant that, rather than getting the job done for the lowest cost, taxpayers get charged extra on everything from building roads to painting buildings.” –Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., July 17– U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on...

“[The Supreme Court’s decision] ought to have been a victory for everyone, if it is true in our country that when any American’s religious freedom is upheld, all of us benefit.” –Lamar Alexander  Washington, D.C., Jul 16 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said today that the Senate Democrats’...

WASHINGTON, July 15 - U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today led a group of six Republicans on the Senate labor committee in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez asking how the Department of Labor decided to mandate a wage hike at fast food restaurants at federal sites, including military bases. U.S. Military Exchange Service...

“We need to stop Washington from making it harder for governors to improve their public schools, raise standards, and recruit and keep good teachers.” –Lamar Alexander   Washington, D.C., July 11 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate education committee and former Tennessee...

  WASHINGTON, D.C.—Members of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, led by Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), are pressing for answers following three separate incidents in which select agents were reportedly improperly handled, stored, or transferred by federal...

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 10—The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the results of an undercover investigation into pension advance companies requested by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Ranking Member of the HELP Committee....

WASHINGTON, July 9 – Legislation to update the Workforce Investment Act, overdue for reauthorization for more than a decade, is headed to the president’s desk following overwhelming bipartisan support from both houses of Congress. The Senate and House authors of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) applauded the passage...

WASHINGTON, July 3 – Republican members of the Senate, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), today announced that they filed an amicus brief on behalf of Northwestern University for the case now pending before the National...

NASHVILLE, July 1 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today released the following statement on two new reports by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services that found major systemic problems with verification of eligibility for the Obamacare...

Washington, D.C., June 30 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the Senate health committee, today released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling that the federal government cannot compel employers to provide coverage for abortifacent drugs that violate their religious beliefs: “The...

Washington, D.C., June 30 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released the following statement on today’s decision by the Supreme Court on Harris v. Quinn, in which the court ruled it unconstitutional for home-based personal care providers who receive Medicaid payments for their work to be forced to pay union...

Washington, D.C., June 26 –U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the committee overseeing labor policy, released the following statement on today’s ruling by the Supreme Court, which held that the president’s January 2012 appointments to the National Labor Relations Board are unconstitutional: “The...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 25—The Senate coauthors of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) today hailed the Senate passage of the bill, which seeks to update and improve the nation’s workforce development system, and together urged the U.S. House of Representatives to take up the bill and pass it swiftly. The bill—which...

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following joint statement in response to the agreement reached between the Department of Education and Corinthian Colleges Inc.: “We are glad to see that the...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 23—Following a recent incident at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in which upwards of 75 staff may have been exposed to live anthrax, members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee today requested information from the agency about the lapse in safety protocols that led...

WASHINGTON, June 19 – Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) today released a draft bill to simplify the process of applying for and receiving federal financial aid to attend college, allow year-round use of Pell Grants, discourage over-borrowing and simplify repayments. The bill would reduce to a single...