Ranking Member's Press

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 22 – Senators today reached agreement on short-term legislation to prevent an end to a successful program driving faster treatments and cures to children with rare diseases. Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) called on the House to quickly pass the...

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 22, 2016 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate education committee, today released the following statement about the decision by the U.S. Department of Education to terminate federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, a national institutional...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 22 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander’s (R-Tenn.) prepared remarks for today’s hearing, “Exploring Current Practices in Cosmetic Development and Safety,” are as follows:  Today’s hearing is an opportunity for the committee to learn about how cosmetics and...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20—Today U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said that under the FDA’s proposal to regulate laboratory-developed tests, which Alexander pointed out are already regulated by an arm of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), “the biggest loser, it seems to me, would be Americans who stand to benefit...

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 15, 2016 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on Senate Democrats’ resolution in support of a “public option,” meaning a government-run health care plan: "The Democrats are trying to cure the Obamacare disease using the same prescription that created the...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14—A group of eight United States Senators today introduced emergency, one-year legislation that would give states the authority to allow Americans who rely on Obamacare subsidies to have more options to buy health insurance unavailable on the failing Obamacare exchanges, and waive any penalty if they do not find a plan that...

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 6 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said “there is no excuse whatsoever for Democrats to block $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus” after Senate Democrats voted against funding to protect babies from Zika-related birth defects for a third time. “You don’t need...

MARYVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 31, 2016 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said Tennessee has been awarded $1 million in two federal grants to help prevent opioid abuse, including by raising awareness about the dangers of sharing medication and overprescribing of opioids. “Each year, more than 1,000...

*** “Last December, with broad support and the President’s signature, Congress reversed the trend toward a national school board and restored control of public schools to states and communities. Now the Secretary is heading in the exact opposite direction. His proposed regulation would give Washington, D.C., control over state...

“Next year Tennesseans will be paying an intolerable increase—on average between 44 and 62 percent more for their Obamacare plans than they paid last year …. And if you, the policyholder, don't pay all of it, then you, the taxpayer, will, because a large portion of Obamacare premiums are subsidized with tax...

NASHVILLE, August 24, 2016 – Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement on the administration’s release of its final “blacklisting” regulations implementing the president’s 2014 executive order: “These regulations will bury federal contractors and subcontractors...

NASHVILLE, August 23 – Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) made the following statement on the premium increases ranging from 44 to 62 percent made final today for all three plans on Tennessee’s Obamacare exchange: “Tennesseans cannot afford 44 to 62 percent Obamacare price increases that will force them to...

NASHVILLE, August 23  – The chairman of the Senate labor committee today called the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) policy reversal to now allow “student assistants” at private colleges and universities to unionize a “shameless attempt to increase union membership that may destroy student assistant...

“You would think that if President Obama, a Republican House, and a bipartisan Senate all are for this, we could get it done. That’s why I’m optimistic.” – Lamar Alexander NASHVILLE, August 21 – Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today joined FOX News Sunday to underscore Tennessean Doug Oliver’s...

“Not only is Tennessee’s free community college program a model for other states, but our state is setting an example for others with its assistance to students in filling out the complex, dreaded FAFSA so they can take advantage of Tennessee Promise.”  NASHVILLE, August 19, 2016 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)...

NASHVILLE, Tenn., August 18, 2016 – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said the recent $71.6 million, five-year grant to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) puts Vanderbilt “front and center” in the president’s Precision Medicine Initiative to drive treatments and...

WASHINGTON, August 16 — Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requesting the agency to disapprove the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC ) proposal to collect compensation and hours...

WASHINGTON, August 13 — Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) made the following statement after the Secretary of Health and Human Services formally declared the Zika virus a public health emergency in Puerto Rico: “In July, Senate Republicans attempted to pass a bill that would have provided $1.1 billion to...

“Today’s unprecedented news that two of the state’s biggest health insurers are asking for a second opportunity to increase their rates to stay in business in Tennessee – on top of double digit increases requested earlier this year— is only the most recent proof that Obamacare is spiraling out...

“We believe the timeline we put forth … is what Congress intended when we wrote the new Every Student Succeeds Act. We have heard from teachers, principals, school leaders, district superintendents, chief state school officers, researchers, parents, and other stakeholders that the timeline we set forth in this letter will lead to more...