Press Releases
Reps. Esty and Miller Urge HHS to Help Ensure Smooth Transition for New Health Insurance Policyholders
12.19.13 WASHINGTON, DC -Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, today requested that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) augment its consumer education efforts to ensure that policyholders with new coverage provided through the Health Insurance Marketplace have a smooth transition and know who to contact if they experience any difficulties. In a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Reps. Es… Continue Reading
Miller Urges Banks to Comply with CFPB Request, Disclose Secret Campus Banking Contracts
12.17.13 WASHINGTON--Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) today released the following statement in response to a call from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to American financial institutions, which asked for public disclosure of all contracts with colleges and universities that allow the banks to aggressively promote debit cards to students: "I join the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's call to banks to disclose their campus banking contracts. Investigations by the media and federal agenc… Continue Reading
Miller Releases GAO Report Assessing Alternatives to Improve Retirement Spend-Down Options
12.15.13 WASHINGTON—Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, released the following statement regarding today’s publication of a GAO report that examines strategies to help American workers make sound financial decisions throughout retirement. Recent research has found that Americans are primarily saving for retirement through 401(k) plans, but 35 percent of all Americans—including 70 percent of lower-income households—may outlive their retirement… Continue Reading
Miller Statement Lauding New Affordable Care Act Enrollment Numbers
12.11.13 WASHINGTON-Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on Education and the Workforce Committee, released the following statement on this morning's announcement of the November enrollment numbers in the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces: "After a slow start, the Affordable Care Act is proving to be a game changer for the many Americans who had previously been uninsured or underinsured. The 2.3 million Americans who made it through the online process of applying and being de… Continue Reading
Miller Stands with Fast Food Workers, Calls for Increasing Minimum Wage
12.04.13 WASHINGTON-Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee, released the following statement in response to nationwide protests by fast food workers who are calling for fair wages. "All across the nation, voters, public officials, and hard-working, low-wage earners are taking decisive action to win a fair wage. Today's protests are further proof that support for increasing the minimum wage is sweeping the country. These courageous workers, … Continue Reading
Pell Grants Remain Vital to Ensuring College Access, Require ‘Balanced Approach’ to Address Budgetary Shortfalls, House Panel on Higher Education Learns
12.03.13 WASHINGTON-Pell Grants remain vital to a robust American economy by expanding college access and affordability, and strengthening the program requires a thoughtful approach that does not balance budgetary shortfalls on the backs of needy students, members of a House subcommittee on higher education learned today. "Serving approximately nine million hard working students, the federal Pell Grant program is the single largest source of federal grant aid, which supports college students," said Rep.… Continue Reading
Miller Meets with Colombian President to Discuss Labor Rights Abuses
12.03.13 WASHINGTON-Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, today joined fellow Democratic lawmakers in a meeting with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to discuss labor and human rights abuses in Colombia. "The long-standing challenge of securing labor rights in Colombia continues to this day," Rep. Miller said after the meeting. "Together with Rep. McGovern, I traveled to Colombia last summer to examine the implementation of the Labor A… Continue Reading
Miller Seeks to Prevent Abuse of Workers During Qatar World Cup Preparations
12.02.13 WASHINGTON-Today Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior House Democratic lawmaker in charge of worker safety and labor rights issues, sent two letters pressing for details on the efforts being taken to ensure that the migrant workers currently building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are being adequately protected from abuse. A growing number of accounts of squalid living and working conditions for workers at Qatar's World Cup-related construction projects have emerged in … Continue Reading
Democratic Lawmakers Press for Stronger Workplace Safety Rules for Military Exchange Suppliers in Bangladesh
11.26.13 WASHINGTON-Democratic lawmakers last week urged support for a defense bill provision that would require U.S. military exchanges and commissaries to hold its clothing suppliers to stronger fire and worker safety standards in Bangladesh, in line with requirements recently adopted by the Marine Corps Trademark and Licensing Office for its licensing contracts. In a letter to the leaders of the House Committee on Armed Services, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education a… Continue Reading
Committee Democrats Welcome New Communications Director
11.26.13 WASHINGTON - Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, announced today the hiring of Julia Louise Krahe as the Committee Democrats' new communications director. "Julia brings a lot of experience to the table and I'm delighted to welcome her to the committee staff," said Miller. "Her professionalism, strategic thinking, and experience on and off the Hill will ensure that critical issues before our committee, such as growing and st… Continue Reading
Miller Urges Ag Committees to Protect Health of Low-Income Women and Children with Supplemental Food Packages
11.19.13 WASHINGTON - Congress should not add white potatoes to the package of supplemental foods the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program provides for low-income families, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, wrote in a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees Tuesday. Some lawmakers and the potato industry have recently called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider white potatoes' exclusion from … Continue Reading
House Democrats Reintroduce Legislation to Protect Student Athletes from Concussions
11.19.13 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democratic lawmakers today introduced legislation to strengthen k-12 schools' procedures for preventing, detecting, and treating student-athletes who suffer concussions while competing in sports. The Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act would, for the first time, set minimum safety standards for concussion management in public schools across the country with plans that educate students, parents and school personnel about how to recognize and respond to concussions.… Continue Reading
Miller Announces eForum on Adjunct Faculty in Higher Education
11.19.13 WASHINGTON - Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, today announced an eForum to investigate how an increased reliance on contingent faculty by colleges and universities nationwide has impacted the lives of faculty as well as students' higher education. "This eForum is an opportunity for adjuncts and other contingent faculty to inform the Congress about what's happening on the ground with higher education. I think there is a huge … Continue Reading
Career Technical Education Programs Prepare Millions for Modern Workforce, Must Continue to Evolve to Meet High-Skill Demands of Today’s Economy
11.19.13 WASHINGTON - Federal investments in career and technical education programs must ensure that all students are prepared for high-skill, high-wage jobs that meet the demands of today's economy, witnesses told the House Education and the Workforce Committee today at a hearing about the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. "Today's career technical education programs, or CTE, are successfully preparing millions of Americans to succeed in both college and career… Continue Reading
Miller Statement on NLRB's Walmart Action
11.18.13 WASHINGTON--Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, released the following statement today in response to the National Labor Relations Board Office of the General Counsel finding merit in and authorizing complaints for unfair labor practice charges that Walmart violated the rights of its employees as a result of activities surrounding employee protests, including unlawfully threatening employees with reprisal if they engaged in strikes a… Continue Reading
GOP Votes – Again – to Put Insurance Companies Back in Charge of Americans’ Health Care, Charge Women More for Health Insurance
11.15.13 Washington, D.C. - House Republicans voted today yet again to put insurance companies back in charge of Americans' health care, a goal they have sought ever since President Obama's signature legislative achievement ensured that consumers, not insurance companies, would be in charge of their health care for the first time in American history, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) said today. Miller, the senior Democrat on the Education and Workforce Committee, is one of the three principal authors of the Aff… Continue Reading
Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Early Education for America’s Children
11.13.13 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Access and affordability to high-quality early learning programs for nearly 20 million children would be dramatically improved under bipartisan legislation introduced today by U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and Richard Hanna (R-NY), co-chair of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Caucus, and other lawmakers. Decades of research have found that quality preschool leads to… Continue Reading
Rep. Mark Pocan to join Early Ed/K-12 and Workforce Protections Subcommittees
11.13.13 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U. S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee, today announced new subcommittee assignments as Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) takes his seat on the committee. Rep. Pocan will join the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education and the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. In addition to Rep. Pocan's new assignments, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) are moving from the… Continue Reading
Reps. Miller, Courtney ask Inspector General to Investigate Alleged Misconduct in Black Lung Benefits Program that Denied Sick Workers Benefits
11.07.13 WASHINGTON - Today, two members of Congress asked the Department of Labor's Inspector General to investigate claims surfaced in news reports from the Center for Public Integrity and ABC News that some doctors and attorneys working on behalf of the coal industry have engaged in misconduct that has resulted in coal miners being improperly denied health-related benefits and compensation under the federal Black Lung Benefits Program. "According to a year-long investigation of the Black Lung Benefit… Continue Reading
Miller: House Should Vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
11.07.13 WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democratic member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate approved the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation that would ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “Today we saw civil rights in our country take a giant step forward. Senators from across the political spectrum worked together and passed the Employment Non-Discrim… Continue Reading