Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Worker Safety and Health
Scott, Cartwright, Casey, and Manchin Introduce Bills to Protect Miners, Strengthen Safety Standards
04.05.17 WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), Congressman Matt Cartwright (PA-17), and Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2017, H.R. 1912 and the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2017, H.R. 1903. These bills would reform the federal program that provides benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung disease and provide the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) with improved tools to investiga… Continue Reading
Griffith, Scott Request Black Lung Health Clinic Funding
04.03.17 Monday, April 3, 2017 - Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, led a letter to President Trump requesting an increase in funding for black lung health clinics. The Members in the letter requested, "$10 million for the black lung program, which is a $3.3 million increase over the $6.7 million funding level historically." The funding for the black lung health clinics has not increased in the past 5 ye… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on the Trump Administration Rolling Back Workplace Rule, Giving Serial Labor Law Violators a Free Pass
03.27.17 WASHINGTON, DC - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after President Trump signed a Resolution of Disapproval (H.J. Res 37) which overturned the rule implementing the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order (EO). This rule would have ensured that contractors disclose their labor, safety and civil rights violations, and that federal agencies evaluate those violations which are serious, willful, repeated, and pervasive when determining whether a contractor should… Continue Reading
Committee Democrats Urge Senate to Press Acosta on Upholding DOL Mission
03.21.17 WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Committee on the Education and Workforce Democrats sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions regarding the upcoming nomination hearing of Mr. R. Alexander Acosta, President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of the Department of Labor. Specifically, they want to know how Mr. Acosta intends to carry out the DOL's mission to "foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners [.]" "During Mr. Acosta's upcoming… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on President Trump’s FY18 Budget
03.16.17 WASHINGTON, DC - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the White House released an outline of its Fiscal Year 2018 budget priorities, known as the "skinny budget." "This budget proposal is yet another broken promise from the Administration to the American people. Cutting $54 billion from programs that help protect and support working families to learn and earn is no way to grow the national economy or put people back to work. Working families deserve a budget … Continue Reading
Scott Statement on the Rollback of Workplace Safety Protections
03.01.17 WASHINGTON - Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House voted 231-191 to pass H.J. Res 83, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) Resolution of Disapproval that would overturn an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule clarifying that employers have a continuing obligation to record injuries and illnesses. "Some unscrupulous employers are already cooking the books by failing to record the most serious wo… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Andrew Puzder
02.15.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement today after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor: "The Department of Labor has a responsibility to ensure our nation's working people earn a living wage, come home safe at the end of the day, and retire with dignity. Committee Democrats had serious concerns with Mr. Puzder's nomination from the beginning, which we raised in a letter to Senators Alexander and Murray. I hope that … Continue Reading
House Democrats Introduce Bill to Strengthen Worker Health and Safety Law
02.08.17 WASHINGTON- This week, Democrats on the House Education and the Workforce Committee reintroduced the Protecting America's Workers Act, legislation that strengthens and modernizes the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The bill would give the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) tools to ensure that employers promptly correct hazardous working conditions, protect workers from retaliation when they blow the whistle on unsafe working conditions, and hold employers accountab… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Republican Efforts to Dismantle Critical Worker Protections
02.02.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) spoke on the House Floor against H.J. Res. 37 - a measure that would dismantle President Obama's Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order which ensures that taxpayer funds are not awarded to government contractors who willfully and repeatedly engage in labor law violations, such as wage theft or maintaining unsafe workplaces. H.J. Res. 37 passed by a vote of 236-187. Below are Ranking Member Scott's remarks. "Mr. Speaker: Before I address the … Continue Reading
Scott, Committee Democrats Urge Senate to Fully Account for Puzder’s Business Record
01.31.17 WASHINGTON - Today, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), and other Committee on the Education and the Workforce Democrats sent a letter to the leaders on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, urging them to conduct a complete and thorough investigation of Andrew Puzder, President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. Secretary of Labor. In light of Mr. Puzder's past statements and business practices, there are serious concerns about whether he would fulfill this critical mission i… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Latest Administration Action to Protect Workers
01.17.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) released the final rule on Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmental Mines, which will cover nearly 250,000 American miners at almost 12,000 metal and nonmetal mining operations. "Lives and limbs will be saved by MSHA's updated mine examination rule for operators of metal and nonmetal mines and quarries. The rule will require operators to inspect for … Continue Reading
Scott, Murray, Franken, Wilson, and Courtney Commend OSHA for Efforts to Address Workplace Violence Against Healthcare Workers
01.10.17 WASHINGTON - U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN), U.S. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24), and U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) issued the following statement after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced new actions to prevent violence against healthcare workers. These actions follow the findings of an April 2016 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report examining the prevalence of workpla… Continue Reading
Scott Applauds Final Rule to Protect Workers from Beryllium Exposure
01.06.17 WASHINGTON - Today, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the final rule updating the levels of permissible beryllium exposure to workers. The nearly 70-year-old old standard for workers exposed to beryllium has failed to protect workers from contracting chronic beryllium disease and cancer. "OSHA's beryllium rule, which took 18 years to develop, reduces permissible exposure levels by 90 percent, and is estimated to prevent 900 premature deaths due to the ravages of ch… Continue Reading
Democrats Push For New Standards to Protect Workers from Violence on the Job
07.18.16 WASHINGTON - Today, Ranking Members Bobby Scott (D-VA), of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, and Patty Murray (D-WA), of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions led a bicameral letter to Department of Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez requesting protections against violence for working Americans. On April 14, 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report outlining actions needed to reduce and mitigate the incidence of workplace violence in h… Continue Reading
New GAO Report: Workers in Meat and Poultry Industry Face High, Persistent Rates of Injury and Illness
05.25.16 WASHINGTON - Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), and Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), released the findings of a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on actions needed to address continued hazards in the meat and poultry industry. The report found that workers in meat and poultry plants continue to face unsafe working conditions, and confirms that many injuries and illnesses go underreported as workers may fear for their jobs if they repor… Continue Reading
House Democrats Issue Joint Statement on 3rd Anniversary of Bangladesh Rana Plaza Collapse
04.22.16 WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI), Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), and Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Joe Crowley (D-NY), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Jackie Speier (D-CA) today released the following joint statement ahead of Sunday's three-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh. The collapse killed 1,134 workers and injured approximately 2,500 more in the… Continue Reading
Scott, Murray, Wilson and Courtney Unveil New Report on Workplace Violence against Healthcare Workers
04.14.16 WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), U.S. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24) and U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) unveiled the findings of a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on actions needed to reduce and mitigate the incidence of workplace violence in healthcare facilities. Although healthcare facilities are perceived as a place to get well, many who are employed in these facilities face elevate… Continue Reading
Scott on Silica Rule: Most Significant Worker Health, Safety Protection in 40 Years
03.24.16 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released the final rule to curb lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease in America's workers by limiting their exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The rule is comprised of two standards, one for Construction and one for General Industry and Maritime: "This sta… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on FY16 Omnibus
12.18.15 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on House passage of H.R. 2029, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2016, which fully funds the federal government through September 30, 2016, provides a two year implementation delay of the excise tax on high-cost employer sponsored health insurance plans, makes important investments in students and does not hinder the Department of Labor's ability to enforce rules that protect workers. The… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Conviction of Don Blankenship, Former Chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company
12.04.15 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after a federal jury found Don Blankenship, Former Chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company, conspired to violate mine safety and health standards at Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine, where 29 miners died in an April 2010 explosion: “While I am pleased that there is some measure of justice for the miners and their families at Upper Big Branch mine - and commend the U.S. Attorney and his team for their … Continue Reading