Ranking Member's Press

Washington, D.C., June 24 –U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the senior Republican on the committee overseeing labor policy, today released the following statement on the announcement that the Supreme Court will decide on the constitutionality of the president’s January 2012 appointments to the National Labor Relations...

On January 4, 2012, President Obama made three so-called recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) while the Senate was not in recess. These appointments were unprecedented—no other president has made recess appointments while the Senate was in session. A year later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of...

WASHINGTON– Members of the Tennessee United States congressional delegation today announced that their inquiry into whether the administration awarded Medicare contracts to businesses not licensed in Tennessee has resulted in the finding that 30 of 98 suppliers were not licensed and will have their contracts voided. On May 21, Senators Lamar...

Washington, D.C., June 19 – All Republican members of the Senate health committee today sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg requesting details on the agency’s promotion of the new health care law, saying, “The upcoming enrollment period and coverage availability under PPACA appear...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today delivers the Weekly Republican Address, assuring Americans that Senate Republicans “will work hard with the President and the House” on the long-term student loans solution all agree on, while making clear that Republicans have “a major disagreement” with...

Washington, D.C., June 14 –U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced he is cosponsoring a bill to reverse the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision establishing a sweeping new legal standard that allows unions to form micro bargaining units, or “micro-unions,” for the purposes of collective bargaining with...

Washington, D.C., June 14 –Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today praised the signing into law of legislation that he said would “reduce farmers’ costs by reducing the average waiting time for the FDA to approve generic animal drugs by 450 days and eliminating a backlog of applications.” Alexander, the Ranking Republican on...

Washington, D.C., June 12 –U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today voted against sending to the Senate floor a bill introduced by Senate Democrats that he said would “establish a national school board.” In a party-line vote, Democrats voted 12 to 10 to send the bill to the floor. Alexander offered as an alternative a proposal...

WASHINGTON, June 12 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) defended states’ rights on common core education standards when he voted Tuesday against requiring states to obtain approval from the U.S. secretary of education on their education standards and tests. Referring to the Democratic education bill, the subject of the committee...

Over the last decade, the U.S. Department of Education has become so congested with federal mandates that it has become, in effect, a national school board. If you remember the childhood game “Mother, May I?,” then you’ll have a pretty good sense of how the process works – states must come to Washington to get...

Washington, D.C., June 11 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today offered a proposal to fix No Child Left Behind, saying, “what we’re trying to do is free the states to help children in 100,000 schools meet their needs in individual ways…the real difference is whether we think the responsibility is here in Washington...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, along with Committee members Richard Burr (R-NC) and Bob Casey (D-PA), today applauded the Obama administration for using its new tools under the recently-reauthorized...

***   “Last November, FDA Commissioner Hamburg testified, “We have a collective opportunity and responsibility to help prevent further tragedies. If we fail to act, this type of incident will happen again. It is a matter of when, not if, I'm afraid. If we fail to act now, it will only be a matter of time until we're all back in...

Washington, D.C., June 7 – U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) this week sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius, calling for the agency to investigate the recent news report that California may be...

Washington, D.C., June 6 – In a floor speech today [VIDEO HERE] before the Senate vote on the Republican student loan bill which would set all student loan rates to a single market-based rate, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said “we don’t have a...

Washington, D.C., June 6 – Republican senators today introduced a better schools plan that they said would move out of Washington and back to states decisions about whether schools and teachers are succeeding or failing. U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Pat Roberts...

WASHINGTON — THIS summer, more than nine million undergraduates will take out an average of $6,700 each in federal loans to pay for college next year. They will borrow, on average, $24,803 to earn their degrees. While this continues to be one of the smartest investments they will ever make, Congress should take one step toward making it an...

*** “It would be a colossal failure of leadership if the president does not take advantage of Republican and Democratic solutions to rescue seniors from the tragedy of a bankrupt Medicare program, such as the proposal Senator Corker and I have made.” –Lamar Alexander Washington, D.C., May 31 –U.S. Senator Lamar...

Washington, D.C., May 31 –U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today released the following statement regarding President Obama’s call for Congress to prevent rates on subsidized Stafford Loans from doubling on July 1: "Senate Republicans support a...

*** “We believe a systematic, independent investigation of the matter is necessary to confirm the facts in the case, as well as to detail to what extent any laws, regulations, or internal guidance were not adhered to.” –Letter to HHS Inspector General Washington, D.C., May 30 –Senate Ranking Members Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)...