Press Releases
Bonamici, Lee, Wild Introduce Bipartisan Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act
09.17.19 WASHINGTON - Today, Committee on Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services Chair Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03), and Congresswoman Susan Wild (PA-07) introduced the Dignity in Aging Act, H.R. 4334, a bipartisan proposal to reauthorize the Older Americans Act (OAA) that increases funding for vital programs that help aging Americans live independently and with dignity. The Older Americans Act (OAA), originally passed in 1965, is the primary leg… Continue Reading
Committee Report Highlights Inequitable Funding for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs
09.12.19 WASHINGTON - A report released this morning by the Committee on Education and Labor highlights the chronic underfunding of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The report, titled "Investing in Economic Mobility: The Important Role of HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs in Closing Racial and Wealth Gaps in Higher Education" pulls together a mountain of evidence showing that greater federal investment in HBCUs, T… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on EEOC Decision to Abandon Collection of Data on Racial, Gender Pay Gap
09.12.19 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a Notice of Information Collection on the EEO-1 report. The Notice abandons an Obama-era initiative to expand the EEO-1 data collection, known as Component 2, to include data on race and gender pay disparities. "The 2016 revisions to the EEO-1 report (Component 2) are necessary for the enforcement of our nation's anti-discrimination laws. The expanded pay data… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on August Jobs Report
09.06.19 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 130,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate held at 3.7 percent. "Despite a consistently low unemployment rate, today's jobs report adds to extensive evidence showing that millions of Americans are suffering from inadequate wage growth in an economy that is simply not working for everyone. Moreover, President Trump's needless trade war with China ha… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on the Retirement of Congresswoman Susan Davis
09.05.19 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the retirement of Chair Susan Davis (CA-53), Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment. "Throughout her nearly two decades representing California's 53rd Congressional District, Congresswoman Susan Davis has been an effective and tireless advocate for her constituents. Through her leadership on this committee, she has championed efforts to strengthen registered apprenticeship programs, make college more … Continue Reading
GAO Report Reveals Education Department’s Failure to Implement Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
09.05.19 WASHINGTON - A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today reveals that the Department of Education is denying 99 percent of student borrowers applying for loan forgiveness under the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (TEPSLF). Congress established the emergency TEPSLF program last year in response to extremely high denial rates for the original Public Loan Service Forgiveness (PSLF) program, giving the Department specific instructions to simplify and exp… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Department of Education’s Final Borrowers Defense Rule
08.30.19 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Education released a final Borrowers Defense rule. "The Trump administration's Borrowers Defense rule is the latest example of this Department's erosion of consumer protections for student borrowers. Rather than supporting students cheated out of their education, the administration created a gratuitously complex, individualized process for evaluating claims that will shield predatory schools from a… Continue Reading
VIDEO RELEASE: House Democrats to Senate: It’s Time to Pass the Raise the Wage Act
08.30.19 WASHINGTON - This Labor Day weekend, Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) and House Democrats are challenging the Senate to act and pass the Raise the Wage Act. On July 18th, the House overwhelming passed the bill on a bipartisan basis. The Raise the Wage Act would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 by 2025, give up to 33 million Americans a raise, and lift 1.3 million Americans out of poverty. "Over the last six months, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have bloc… Continue Reading
Over 125 House Democrats to DOL: Changes to Apprenticeship System Violate the Law
08.26.19 The Members are requesting a 60-day extension of the public comment period. WASHINGTON - Today, led by Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), over 125 House Democrats sent a letter to the Department of Labor regarding its proposed changes to the apprenticeship system. In the letter, the Members express deep concern over the Department's proposal to establish an al… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Department of Labor Proposal to Weaken Anti-Discrimination Protections in Federal Contracting
08.15.19 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Contracting Compliance Programs proposed a new rule which would gut nondiscrimination protections by vastly expanding religious exemptions to Executive Order 11246, which prohibit discrimination in hiring by federal contractors, including on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity. "The administration's proposal to weaken anti-discrimination protections in f… Continue Reading
Committee Chairs Call on Trump Administration to Abandon Rollback of Anti-Discrimination Protections in Health Care
08.15.19 WASHINGTON - Today, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (MA-01), and Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar urging the Department to withdraw a proposal that would severely undermine civil rights protections under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). On June 14, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services published a proposed rule that would … Continue Reading
Committee Chairs to Secretary DeVos: Weak Oversight of Student Loan Industry is Hurting Students and Families
08.13.19 WASHINGTON - Today, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), and Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (MD-07) sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos expressing deep concern over the Education Department's failure to protect students and families from student loan companies. The letter addresses recent reports that the Department is shielding student loan servicing companies from sta… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on Final “Public Charge” Rule
08.12.19 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security released a final rule to expand grounds for denying legal U.S. residency to immigrants. "The administration's final 'public charge' rule will inflict severe and unnecessary hardship on immigrant families. The rule will force hundreds of thousands of immigrants to choose between forgoing basic assistance for food, shelter, and health care, or risk being separ… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on July Jobs Report
08.02.19 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 164,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate held at 3.7 percent. "After 106 straight months of private sector job growth, workers and middle-class families are still not receiving a fair share of economic growth. Today's jobs report adds to an extensive body of evidence showing that the low unemployment rate is not resulting in sufficient wage growth … Continue Reading
Scott, Cummings, and Norton Seek Compliance in D.C. School Voucher Investigation
07.30.19 WASHINGTON-Today, Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Oversight and Reform Committee Member Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos seeking a response to a document request made in March 2019 for documents and information on the federal private school voucher program in the District of Columbia. "We w… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott to Secretary Perdue: Release Internal Estimates Showing Impact of Proposed SNAP Changes on Free School Meals
07.29.19 WASHINGTON - Today, Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue raising concerns that the Department is concealing internal estimates regarding the impact of its proposed changes to eligibility for food assistance. The letter asks USDA to immediately make public its estimate that more than 500,000 low-income students would lose automatic eligibility for free school meals under its proposed Revision of Categorical Eligibility in the S… Continue Reading
Top Democrats File Amicus Brief Opposing the Unlawful Expansion of Junk Insurance Plans
07.24.19 WASHINGTON - Top House Democrats filed an amicus brief in federal court this week opposing the Trump administration's unlawful expansion of association health plans (AHPs), which purposefully circumvents key consumer protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The brief was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit, which is hearing the administration's appeal of a district court ruling that the administration's attempt to expand is unlawful. In the brief, the Democr… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Praises Passage of Bipartisan Solution to the Multiemployer Pension Crisis
07.24.19 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House voted to pass bipartisan legislation to protect the retirement benefits of more than one million Americans. H.R. 397, commonly known as the Butch Lewis Act, would help shield retirees, families, and communities from the potentially devastating consequences of the multiemployer pensions crisis. "Over the past few decades, construction workers, truck drivers, industrial bakers, coal miners, and other hardwork… Continue Reading
Scott, Adams Introduce Bill to Protect Future Benefits, Health Care for Miners with Black Lung Disease
07.23.19 WASHINGTON - Today, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) and Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Chairwoman Alma Adams (NC-12), introduced the Black Lung Benefits Disability Trust Fund Solvency Act of 2019 (H.R. 3876). This legislation would extend the black lung excise tax, which expired at the end of last year, to fund future benefits and health care for miners suffering from black lung disease. Without revenue from the tax, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is at… Continue Reading
Scott, Neal, and Peterson Oppose Administration’s Unilateral Proposal to Kick Millions off SNAP
07.23.19 WASHINGTON - Following the announcement of a proposed rule this morning from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the Chairmen of the House Committees on Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Agriculture issued statements on the potential of the rule to keep millions of Americans from the temporary food assistance they need. "Despite clear evidence that nutrition is critical to … Continue Reading