Press Releases
Democratic Education Leaders Call for Inspector General Investigation of Education Department’s Use of Private Collection Agencies
02.05.18 WASHINGTON, DC [02/05/18] - Today Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Bobby Scott, Susan A. Davis, and Senators Kamala Harris, Patty Murray, and Elizabeth Warren called on the Inspector General of the Department of Education to examine whether the use of private collection agencies to collect defaulted student loans is a waste or misuse of taxpayer dollars. The Education Department uses private collection agencies to collect payments from struggling student loan borrowers who have defaulted on th… Continue Reading
Scott, DeLauro, Murray, Casey: Occupational Safety and Health Administration Is Abandoning Its Core Mission by Rejecting Safety Recommendations to Protect Vulnerable Meat and Poultry Plant Workers
02.02.18 Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta raising questions about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) decision to reject health and safety recommendations for workers in meat and poultry plants, including ensuring workers have access to bathroom facilities. The recommendations by the independent Government Acco… Continue Reading
Top Democrats Demand DOL Share Estimates about Effects of Harmful Proposed Tip Rule
02.02.18 WASHINGTON - Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-05), vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressman Mark Takano (CA-41), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), vice ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, sent a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary R. Alexander Acosta requesting the Department… Continue Reading
Ranking Member Scott Statement on January Jobs Report
02.02.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 200,000 jobs in January, with the unemployment rate at 4.1 percent. "Today's job report shows that while our economic recovery remains stable, too many working people and families are still struggling to get ahead and make ends meet. During President Obama's last year in office, the economy added over 2 million jobs, yet during President Trump's f… Continue Reading
DOL Proposed Tip Rule is Harmful: See What People Are Saying...
02.01.18 Under the Department of Labor's (DOL) proposed tip rule, employers will benefit at the expense of workers. And in the wake of allegations that DOL withheld estimates that workers would lose billions as a result of the rule, it's clear the administration does not have the interest of working people in mind. Don't just take our word for it-read what the groups are saying: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: "The Trump Labor Department lied in claiming that they could not produce… Continue Reading
Rep Takano: DOL Must Withdraw Proposed Tip Rule
02.01.18 Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Committee on Workforce Protections, called on the Department of Labor (DOL) to withdraw its proposed tip pooling rule, which would allow employers to pocket or redistribute the tips earned by workers. This morning, a Bloomberg BNA report revealed that senior DOL officials hid an internal economic analysis that found the rule would cost workers billions of dollars in tips. "The Department of Labor's decision to hide an … Continue Reading
Ranking Member Scott Calls on DOL to Withdraw Harmful Proposed Tip Rule
02.01.18 WASHINGTON - Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement after Bloomberg Law reported that the Department of Labor (DOL) withheld a legally required economic analysis for its proposed rule to allow employers to pocket tips of workers. "I am deeply troubled by allegations that the Department of Labor (DOL) may have withheld estimates that workers would lose billions in tips each year under the Department's proposed … Continue Reading
Ranking Member Scott on the SOTU and the Reality for America’s Students and Workers
01.30.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after President Trump delivered this State of the Union Address before Congress. "During President Trump's first year in office, his administration and Congressional Republicans have subjected students and workers to a constant barrage of attacks. Under President Trump's leadership, the administration has moved to allow employers to pocket workers' tips, jeopardized workplace safety, and made it harder for workers t… Continue Reading
At Hearing, Democrats Highlight Importance of Investments in Education Research
01.30.18 WASHINGTON - Today, the full Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing entitled, "Protecting Privacy, Promoting Policy: Evidence-based Policymaking and the Future of Education." There is broad, bipartisan consensus that educational research-when collected, stored, and used responsibility-is an invaluable tool that improves teaching and learning. Unfortunately, public investments in education research are not as robust as research investments used to advance policy and practice in o… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on the 9th Anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
01.29.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the nine-year anniversary of the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law that empowers workers to recover lost wages due to pay discrimination by extending the time period in which an employee can file a claim. "Last week, hundreds of thousands of women and men took to the streets to demand equal rights, including workplaces free from discrimination and harassment. As we commemorate the passage of the L… Continue Reading
Scott, Committee Democrats Join More than 180 House Members to Press for Stronger NAFTA Labor Standards
01.24.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) joined 183 House Members in sending a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer raising concerns about the need to address Mexico's labor conditions in NAFTA renegotiations. The Members urged the administration to negotiate provisions that address Mexico's policies of wage suppression and lack of independent unions, which leads to unfair competition for U.S. workers and outsourcing. "Trade agreements must ensure that as trade and compe… Continue Reading
Democratic Committee Leaders Urge DOJ & FBI to Investigate Fake Public Comments
01.24.18 WASHINGTON - Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) today requested the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to expand a previously requested investigation into the potentially illegal submission of fake comments to… Continue Reading
Top Democrats Ask DOL for Public Hearing on Proposed Tip Rule
01.23.18 WASHINGTON - Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-05), vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressman Mark Takano (CA-41), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), vice ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, sent a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta requesting the DOL hold publ… Continue Reading
Scott on the Administration’s Continued Attempts to Promote Discrimination
01.18.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announcement on its decision to create a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Office for Civil Rights: "Today, the Trump administration announced its decision to create a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Office for Civil Rights. This announcement must be examined as part of the administration's broader pattern of promoting di… Continue Reading
More than 150 Democrats Ask Trump to Invest in Public School Infrastructure
01.17.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) and 153 House Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to invest in the critical infrastructure that affects every city and town in the nation - our public schools. Too many of the more than 50 million students and six million staff who learn and work in our public schools spend their days in facilities that fail to make the grade. "To address this crisis, the federal government should partner with states and te… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Meeting with Secretary DeVos to Discuss Discipline Disparities
01.11.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after a meeting with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to discuss priority issues for House Democrats. Today's meeting was the first meeting between the Ranking Member and the Secretary. "My discussion with Secretary DeVos today reaffirmed for me that we share a common goal - to ensure all students are supported to achieve their full potential. Secretary DeVos and I will not always agree on the best ways to achie… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Medicaid Work Requirement Waivers
01.11.18 WASHINGTON - Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration's guidance to state Medicaid directors encouraging work requirements designed to bar Americans from accessing health care services. "The administration's guidance today paves the way for states to establish work requirements for Medicaid recipients. This action is another attempt to erode popular programs on which families across the country de… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Passage of Anti-Worker Bill
01.10.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed S. 140 [239 to 173]. Hidden in the package of non-controversial tribal water supply and lands legislation, was the poison pill H.R. 986, the so-called "Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act." "The so-called 'Tribal Sovereignty Act' strips hundreds of thousands of workers employed at Indian-owned enterprises-such as casinos, hotels, and mines-of their voice in the workplace and the p… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on December Jobs Report
01.05.18 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 148,000 jobs in December, with the unemployment rate at 4.1 percent. "The latest jobs report shows that our economic recovery remains stable, yet there is still work to be done. Unfortunately, in the first year of the Trump administration, Congressional Republicans prioritized cutting taxes for the wealthy and undermining the Affordable Care Act … Continue Reading
Democratic Health Leaders Raise Concerns about Undermining Comprehensive Health Care
01.04.18 WASHINGTON – Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ways and Means Ranking Member Richard Neal (MA-01), and Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor issued a proposed rule to rollback health coverage protections by expanding association health plans. “Today, the Administration took further steps to undermine the health and well-being of the American people. The Depa… Continue Reading