Press Releases
Rep. George Miller Statement on Today's Events in Wisconsin and Idaho
03.09.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement tonight in reaction to Republican moves in Wisconsin and Idaho today to strip workers and teachers of their rights. "Republicans are not listening to the voters, they are listening to the billionaire Koch brothers and other GOP special interest backers whose sole mission is to take away the rights of workers -- the only check on the excessive us… Continue Reading
Miller Calls for Urgent Action to Rewrite Education Law
03.09.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce committee, today called for Congress to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) this session of Congress, stressing the urgency in fixing the law so it works in the best interest of students and the country’s economic stability and global competitiveness. The comments came during an Education and the Workforce Committee hearing today where U.S. Secretary of Education Arne D… Continue Reading
Rep. George Miller Statement on U.S. Trade Rep. Kirk’s Senate Testimony
03.09.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk testified on the status of several trade agreements today before the Senate Finance Committee today. “I applaud the U.S. Trade Representative for embracing the principle that trade agreements must keep faith with American workers. Regrettably, the administration’s embrace of the Korea-U.S. Free … Continue Reading
Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana Workers Testify That Ending Workers’ Rights Harms Working People and Middle Class
03.08.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Workers told House Democrats at a hearing today that the Republican assault on their rights occurring in several states and Washington, D.C. would do serious damage to America’s middle class and the fragile economic recovery. “I firmly believe that workers rights built our nation’s middle class in the last century and made the United States the greatest economic power in the history of the world,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), co-chair of the House Democratic S… Continue Reading
Rep. Miller Statement on February Jobs Numbers
03.04.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, issued the following statement today after the Department of Labor announced that the economy created 222,000 private-sector jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent. “Today’s report shows that our nation’s job market continues to improve, though we still have lots of work ahead of us. This progress is more reason why Congress must reject Repub… Continue Reading
Mine Safety Legislation Needed to Help Protect Miners, Obama Administration Official Tells House Panel
03.03.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lessons learned since the worst coal mining disaster in four decades require legislative action to close loopholes in the law in order to hold dangerous mine operators accountable for putting workers at risk, the nation’s top mine health and safety regulator said today at a congressional hearing. “Almost one year has passed since we lost those 29 miners at Upper Big Branch. We have learned much in that time,” said Joseph A. Main, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Mi… Continue Reading
VIDEO: Congressman Miller: The Time to Fix our Education Law is Now
03.02.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - At a hearing focused on the federal role in education policy, Congressman George Miller (D-CA), senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee, called for Congress to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as soon as possible. Miller called for a more outcomes based approach to federal education policy and a need for an upgraded and aligned data system. (Click here to watch the video) “This hearing makes a gr… Continue Reading
GAO: Similar Target Date Funds Vary Widely, Increased Scrutiny Needed to Assist Participants and Plan Sponsors
02.23.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - As target date funds are becoming an increasingly popular investment option in 401(k) and other retirement plans, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that wide variations in objectives of target date funds with the same target date could result in significant differences in retirement security at the end of a career. In 2007, the Department of Labor allowed employers and other plan sponsors to make target date funds a default investment option for their participan… Continue Reading
Rep. Miller: Stripping of Workers’ Rights ‘An Assault on Working People Everywhere’
02.22.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today on efforts in Wisconsin and other states to take away public workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain. “Efforts by Republican governors in Wisconsin and other states to strip the fundamental rights of workers are an assault on working people everywhere. I strongly urge Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow Republican governor… Continue Reading
Miller: With GOP's Spending Bill, Americans Racing to the Unemployment Line. Facts about H.R. 1
02.19.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller, the senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee, today issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year. “The Obama administration has encouraged Americans to race to the top; Now we have Republicans telling Americans to race to the unemployment line. With cuts to Head Start, our most vulnerable s… Continue Reading
GOP Spending Bill Eliminates Worker Job Training and Workplace Safety Programs
02.16.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Republican spending bill on the House floor would end vital workforce services like job training for returning veterans, local business services to help match them with qualified workers and even shut down a website that helps employers keep their workers safe, a congressional committee learned today. “No one is in favor of wasteful spending or outdated government regulations that don’t work. Instead of indentifying real government waste - like subsidies for big oil or ta… Continue Reading
House Panel Learns that Republican Spending Bill Slashes Safety, Puts Workers at Risk and Threatens Jobs
02.15.11 WASHINGTON, D. C. - The Republican spending bill being debated on the House floor this week will slash health and safety inspections and even shut down a federal agency’s website, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee learned today. House Republican spending bill proposes to cut the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by 18 percent, which would result in approximately 8,000 fewer workplace hazard inspections and 740 fewer whistleblower discrimination investigations. “I… Continue Reading
Congressman Miller: ‘GOP Spending Bill Puts Working Families’ Futures at Risk’
02.14.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, today released the following statement after House Republicans issued their proposed Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. “With this effort, House Republicans are telling America’s working families that their future is on the chopping block. From our youngest children to workers in need of training and w… Continue Reading
Health Reform Law Beginning to Work for Businesses, Families and the Economy
02.09.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Early evidence is showing that the nation’s health reform law is beginning to work to expand coverage and control costs for businesses and families and has not hindered the economic recovery, according to testimony received in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce today. “The Affordable Care Act is now the law of the land and it is working,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the committee. “The new law has unquestionably begun to deli… Continue Reading
Bill to Prevent Industrial Dust Explosions Re-Introduced in the House
02.08.11 WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Rep. John Barrow (D-GA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), the senior Democrat of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, reintroduced legislation today to prevent workplace explosions caused by combustible industrial dusts. Three years ago yesterday, a massive explosion the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Ga. killed 14 workers, injured dozens and caused millions of… Continue Reading
Job Creation Must be the Top Priority for Congress
02.04.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said that while the economy is moving in the right direction, job creation must be at the top of Congress' agenda. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the nation's unemployment rate dropped from 9.4 percent to 9.0 percent in January. The nation also logged another month of private-sector job creation. In the last year, 1.1 million private-sector jobs h… Continue Reading
Pell Grant Scholarship Remains at Highest Levels in History
02.01.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With millions of students relying on federal student aid and scholarships to make the dream of a college degree a reality, today U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Education announced the Pell Grant scholarship award for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year. The maximum award, $5,550, reflects historic investments made by Democrats in the most recent Congre… Continue Reading
Mine Safety Proposal Significant Step in Right Direction to Protect Miners’ Lives, Says Rep. Miller
01.31.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and author of the Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act, issued the following statement after the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a proposal to revamp the ‘pattern of violation’ sanctions. While the ‘pattern of violation’ penalties have been in the law for 33 years, they have never been used against a dangerous mining operation because … Continue Reading
Families and Businesses Cannot Afford GOP Repeal of Patient Protections, HHS Report Confirms
01.28.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Millions of individuals, families and small businesses will see health insurance premiums 14-20 percent lower beginning in 2014 under President Obama’s health reform law, according to a new analysis by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released today. These lower premiums would be in addition to tax credits that families and businesses may receive, and reverses the current trend where premiums have doubled over the last decade. “Today’s report confirms tha… Continue Reading
Lawmakers Reintroduce Legislation to Protect Student Athletes from Concussions
01.26.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Democratic lawmakers today reintroduced legislation to set minimum safety standards for concussion management in public schools across the country. The legislation, Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act, is modeled after state action in Washington, Oregon, and other states that have passed laws to help reduce the risk of concussions in youth sports. It would, for the first time, make sports safer for student athletes by asking school districts to implement a concu… Continue Reading