Press Releases
Chairman Scott, Rep. Adams Call on Secretary Scalia to Take Immediate Action to Protect Workers Against COVID-19
03.06.20 WASHINGTON - Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) and Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Chair Alma Adams (NC-12) called on Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Eugene Scalia to take immediate action to protect U.S. workers against COVID-19. In a letter to the Department, the Committee leaders asked Secretary Scalia to direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard in response to the emerging COVID-1… Continue Reading
GAO Report Finds Lax Government Oversight Allowed Coal Mine Executives to Dump Nearly $1 Billion in Debt on U.S. Taxpayers
02.26.20 *Subcommittee on Workforce Protections will hold a hearing on the report today at 2:00 p.m.* WASHINGTON - A new report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) today revealed that since 2014, the bankruptcies of just three coal companies - Alpha Natural Resources, James River Coal, and Patriot Coal - shifted $865 million in liabilities to the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (Trust Fund) and American taxpayers. In each case, the report found that the Department of Labor failed to … Continue Reading
Chairman Scott: NLRB’s Joint Employer Rule Erodes Workers’ Most Basic Workplace Rights
02.25.20 WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, issued the following statement after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced a final rule to narrow its standard for determining whether two or more entities are joint employers under the National Labor Relations Act. "Workers can only negotiate for higher pay, better benefits, and safer working conditions if all companies with control over their employment are required to be at th… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Honors Public Schools Week, Calls for Investments in School Infrastructure
02.25.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement to honor Public Schools Week. "Strong public schools are the foundation of success for young people across the country. But in many American communities, students, teachers, and parents continue to suffer the consequences of our failure to prioritize funding for public education. "On average, K-12 school facilities are nearly 45 years old and are being underfunded by $46 billion each year, with high-poverty and majority B… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Calls on Trump Administration to Withdraw Proposals Supporting Taxpayer-Funded Religious Discrimination
02.21.20 WASHINGTON - Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) sent four letters to the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Education (ED), Labor (DOL), and Justice (DOJ) expressing strong opposition to the administration's sweeping set of proposed rules that would allow religious discrimination against employees and students in federally funded programs and violate the religious liberty rights of individuals accessing federally sponsored social service progra… Continue Reading
Committee Advances Bipartisan Solution to Ban Surprise Billing
02.11.20 WASHINGTON - Today, the Committee on Education and Labor advanced the Ban Surprise Billing Act (H.R. 5800), a bipartisan proposal to protect patients from devastating surprise medical bills. The legislation builds on various bipartisan solutions to shield patients from unexpected out-of-pocket health care costs. "Surprise medical billing is a troubling and all-too-common product of our complex health care system. The status quo is unacceptable. Patients are getting hit with astronomical bills a… Continue Reading
Ban Surprise Billing Act: What People Are Saying
02.11.20 WASHINGTON -Surprise medical bills - which are large, unanticipated out-of-pocket expenses that insured patients incur through no fault of their own - have a devastating financial impact on patients and their access to health care. The Ban Surprise Billing Act (H.R.5800) is a bipartisan agreement to protect patients from surprise medical bills. Here's what people are saying about this proposal: 23 Patient and Consumer Organizations: "The Ban Surprise Billing Act offers robust protections for a… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on President Trump’s FY 2021 Budget Proposal
02.10.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the White House released its Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021) budget priorities. "President Trump's budget proposal is another shocking demonstration of the administration's willingness to break its promises to the American people. Just two days after President Trump pledged that he would not cut Social Security or Medicare, the president released a FY 2021 budget proposal that cuts more than $1 trillion over the next deca… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Foxx Unveil Bipartisan Proposal to Ban Surprise Billing, Markup Scheduled Tuesday
02.07.20 WASHINGTON - Today, Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) and Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (NC-05) unveiled the Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bipartisan agreement to protect patients from devastating surprise bills. The Committee is scheduled to markup the legislation on Tuesday, February 11. "Patients across the country know the frustration, anxiety, and financial hardship that comes with a surprise medical bill," said Chairman Scott. "There is bipartisan agre… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on January Jobs Report
02.07.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 225,000 jobs in January with the unemployment rate at 3.6 percent. "During his State of the Union address, President Trump touted his administration's record on job creation, claiming that 'jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting.' Yet the economy added more private-sector jobs in the last 35 months of the Obama administration than … Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Celebrates the House Passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act
02.06.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House voted to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act [224-194]. "Today, House Democrats advanced the most significant upgrade to U.S. labor law in 80 years. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is a bold proposal that makes necessary changes to protect and strengthen workers' power in the workplace. "When workers have the power to stand together and form a union, they have higher pay, be… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Reacts to State of the Union
02.04.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement in response to the State of the Union. "I am disappointed that President Trump's State of the Union address failed to offer meaningful solutions to the critical issues facing students, workers, and families across the country. "The president did not offer a serious plan to reverse the chronic underfunding of public education. Instead, he touted a $5 billion private school voucher program that would function as a tax break… Continue Reading
Scott, Trahan Seek Explanation for Education Department’s Scheme to Deny Full Debt Relief for Thousands of Defrauded Borrowers
02.03.20 WASHINGTON - Today, Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) and Representative Lori Trahan (MA-03) sent a letter to Education Department Secretary Betsy DeVos requesting documents and further information regarding the Department's deeply flawed partial relief formula and the Department's efforts to alter the formula. Two days before Secretary DeVos' testimony before the Committee, the Department unveiled a new formula to process claims by defrauded borrowers … Continue Reading
Congress Seeks Documents on Trump Administration’s Change to Longstanding Rules Protecting Federal Employees
01.23.20 WASHINGTON, DC -Today, Rep. Bobby Scott, the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent a letter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) seeking documents and information about the change proposed to longstanding federal rules ensuring that federal employees who bring complaints for illegal employment discrimination may be accompanied by the representatives of their choice. "As the Ch… Continue Reading
House Health Leaders Call On HHS and DOL to Reduce Confusion and Financial Risks for Medicare-Eligible COBRA Beneficiaries
01.21.20 WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House committees with jurisdiction over health care sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Eugene Scalia regarding challenges facing workers and retirees that can result in unexpected penalties and unnecessary out-of-pocket expenses. Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), Energy and … Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Statement on Proposed Rollback of School Nutrition Standards
01.17.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a proposed rule to reverse nutrition standards for school meals. "The U.S. Department of Agriculture's proposed rule threatens the progress we've made toward improving nutrition in schools. The nutrition standards developed under the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act were specifically designed to align with evidence-based dietary guidelines. By reversing those standard… Continue Reading
Lawmakers Question Education Department and Accreditor About Fake Universities Used to Entrap Foreign-National Students
01.16.20 Text of the Letter to Education Department (PDF) | Text of the Letter to Accreditor (PDF) Washington, DC - House Education and Labor Committee Vice Chair Andy Levin (D-Mich.), House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment Chair Susan Davis (D-Calif.); and United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee; sent letters to the Department of Education and the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools an… Continue Reading
Bonamici Votes to Block DeVos Rule that Hurts Defrauded Students
01.16.20 WASHINGTON, DC - Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Chair of the Education and Labor Committee's Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee, supported a House vote to block a Trump administration rule that would hurt students who have been defrauded by unscrupulous for-profit institutions. Hundreds of thousands of students, including thousands in Oregon, were left with burdensome loans and useless degrees after the collapse of Corinthian Colleges and other for-profit institutions t… Continue Reading
Chairman Scott Stands Up for Students, and Votes to Reverse Devos’ Harmful Borrower Defense Rule
01.16.20 WASHINGTON - Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement as the House voted to pass H.J.Res.76. This resolution, House Democrats' first use of the Congressional Review Act, reverses the Department of Education's harmful Borrower Defense rule, which would deny debt relief to students defrauded by predatory colleges. "The students we are trying to protect are victims of widespread, proven fraud from predatory schools about graduation rates, job placement rates, and t… Continue Reading
House Democrats to NLRB: Protect Graduate Students’ Right to Organize
01.16.20 WASHINGTON - Today, led by Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), 35 House Democrats sent a letter to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) condemning the agency's proposed rule to strip students at private universities of their protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when they work for their school. The NLRB has denied the affected workers an opportunity to comment on this rule in a public hearing. In their letter to the NLRB, Members raised concerns that the proposed … Continue Reading