Press Releases
Chairman Miller's Statement After Bipartisan White House Health Reform Summit
02.25.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, released the following statement today on President Obama’s bipartisan health insurance reform summit. Miller, who chairs one of the three committees that developed the House health reform bill, participated in the summit and spoke on the vital need to reform the way insurance companies treat their customers. “This was a remarkable meeting and I am honored to have been a part of it. “I belie… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller Statement on Inconsistent State Policies on Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
02.24.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee issued the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Education released information collected from states over the past six months on the state laws, regulations, policies and guidelines in place on preventing abusive restraint and seclusion in schools. The information released via the Department of Education shows inconsistent state and local policies, which could lead to further … Continue Reading
Charter Schools Can Be Critical Tool for Education Reform, Witnesses Tell House Panel
02.24.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - As Congress begins efforts to rewrite and strengthen the nation’s federal education laws, lawmakers should examine ways to expand students’ access to high-performing charter schools, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today. While charter schools are not the silver bullet for fixing struggling schools, high performing charter schools offer many low-income and minority students the opportunity to receive a high quality education. “High performing charter sc… Continue Reading
Backlog of Mine Operator Appeals of Safety Violations Undermines Worker Safety, Witnesses Tell House Committee
02.23.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - A flood of mine owner appeals of health and safety violations are delaying tougher penalties for the country’s most dangerous mines and undermining efforts to protect miners, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today. “MSHA’s stronger emphasis on safety is saving lives and reducing injuries,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of committee. “Some of the largest mining operations have responded by challenging tougher sanctions at a staggering rat… Continue Reading
Lawmakers Announce Plan for a Bipartisan Overhaul of Education Law
02.18.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democratic and Republican leaders of the House Education and Labor Committee today made an announcement about their plans for a bipartisan reform of the nation’s primary federal education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) - currently known as No Child Left Behind. U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the committee, John Kline (R-MN), the senior Republican of the committee, Dale E. Kildee (D-MI), the chairman of the subcommittee on elementary an… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller Statement on Recovery Act Anniversary
02.17.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and a key architect of the education pieces of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, issued the following statement today on the law's one-year anniversary: "One year ago, our nation was headed toward an economic collapse, shedding an average of 600,000 jobs a month. State and local budget cutbacks were putting teachers' jobs - and our students' education - in peril. Our economy was i… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller Statement on First Lady’s Initiative to End Childhood Obesity
02.09.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today issued the following statement after First Lady Michelle Obama announced her “Let’s Move” initiative to end childhood obesity. Miller will help lead the effort in Congress to reauthorize the federal school meal and child nutrition programs - one of four pillars of the First Lady’s initiative. “The First Lady has set the stage for dramatic improvements in children’s health by lending her… Continue Reading
USDA Takes Meaningful Steps to Improve School Meal Safety, Says Chairman Miller
02.05.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Last night, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced new efforts to improve the safety and quality of all foods purchased and served in the federal school meal programs, including changes recently called for by U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA). These initiatives come after recent investigations by USA Today revealed serious flaws in federal efforts to protect foods served in schools, including revelations that some fast-food chains, like McDonald’s, are stronger in checking… Continue Reading
Economy Headed in Right Direction, Senate Should Quickly Approve Jobs Bill, Chairman Miller Says
02.05.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the nation’s unemployment rate fell from 10.0 percent in December to 9.7 in January. “Today’s news that the rate of job loss continues to improve shows that the Obama administration’s efforts are moving our economy in the right direction. In the last months of the Bush administration we were losi… Continue Reading
Bipartisan Legislation to Prevent Abuse in Schools Clears House Committee
02.04.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House Education and Labor Committee today passed bipartisan legislation to make classrooms safer for students and school staff by preventing the misuse of restraint and seclusion. The Committee passed the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247) by a vote of 34 to 10. A U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last spring exposed hundreds of cases of schoolchildren being abused as a result of inappropriate uses of restraint and s… Continue Reading
Dept. of Labor Promoting Economic Recovery, Stronger Worker Protections, Sec. Solis tells Congress
02.03.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis told the House Education and Labor Committee today that the U.S. Department of Labor is both helping the economy recover and improving American workers’ lives by strengthening basic workplace protections, and training workers for new and better jobs.“In an especially difficult economy, a responsive Department of Labor is essential to assisting and standing up for workers,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and L… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller Meets with First Lady to Discuss Ending Childhood Obesity
02.02.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee today met with First Lady Michelle Obama, Cabinet members and congressional leaders to discuss ending childhood obesity. Miller will help lead efforts in the House to rewrite the nation’s child nutrition laws this year. He issued the following statement:“Nothing is more important than our children’s health, but for too many families, healthy meals fall to the wayside as they struggle to make en… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller Statement on President’s Budget
02.01.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, released the following statement today on President Obama’s budget for Fiscal Year 2011:“Last week President Obama presented his vision for how we can continue to rebuild our economy and our middle class. His budget delivers on that vision, making smart investments in working families while working to reduce the deficit responsibly.GOOD JOBS FOR WORKERS“Right now, we are focused on the twi… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller: President Obama Presents Vision of Stronger America
01.27.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - In his first State of the Union address tonight, President Barack Obama discussed his administration’s efforts to rescue the economy and laid out a strong framework for rebuilding America’s middle class. President Obama also called on Congress to pass key pieces of legislation under the House Education and Labor Committee’s jurisdiction, including the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and comprehensive… Continue Reading
Miller: New Administration Proposals Are Welcome Help for Middle Class
01.25.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the White House’s Task Force on Middle Class Families unveiled new proposals to help strengthen the middle class by helping families struggling to pay for college and save for retirement. Several of the proposals, including an initiative to further reduce student loan repayments and new protections to provide workers with greater transparency and disclosure on their 401(k) style retirement plans, build on bills championed by U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman o… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller Statement on Race to the Top Expansion
01.19.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today after President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced plans to strengthen efforts to improve the nation’s schools by expanding the Race to the Top grant program. Their proposal includes a funding request of $1.35 billion for the program in the FY 2011 budget and allowing districts to apply for funds, along with states. Today marks the… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller Applauds Vilsack for Releasing Funds to Improve Quality and Safety of School Meals
01.14.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today after U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the release of $25 million in grants for school food service equipment to help support high quality and safe school meal programs. Congress invested in these grants as part of a one year extension of the child nutrition programs enacted last October to address immediate challenges schools and food se… Continue Reading
Chairman Miller Statement on AFT Plan to Improve Teacher Evaluations
01.12.10 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today after Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced a new plan for teacher evaluations and development. “No other factor matters as much to students’ success in school than the effectiveness of their teachers. If we are serious about regaining our global competitiveness, we need a seismic shift in the way we think about… Continue Reading
New Report Shows Health Reform Will Create Up to 4 Million American Jobs
01.08.10 WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), and George Miller (D-CA), the chairmen of the three committees with jurisdiction over health policy in the U.S. House of Representatives, issued the following statement today on a new report released by the Center for American Progress showing that the health reform legislation pending in Congress will significantly lower health care costs for businesses, add as many as 4 million jobs over the next decade, and increase… Continue Reading
Waxman, Rangel, Miller Statement on Senate Health Reform Vote
12.24.09 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), and George Miller (D-CA), the chairmen of the three committees with jurisdiction over health policy in the U.S. House of Representatives, issued the following statement today after the Senate approved legislation to reform the nation’s health insurance system.“We commend our colleagues in the Senate for this crucial vote, which brings health reform closer to reality than at any time in the past 70 years. While there… Continue Reading