Press Releases
Scott, Foxx, Murray, Alexander Request Briefing from Department of Education on FAFSA Data Retrieval Tool Outage
03.16.17 WASHINGTON, DC - Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, respectively, and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), chair and ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, respectively, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today asking for more information about the cause and scope of the outage of the Internal Revenue Services'… Continue Reading
Adams Statement on the Budget Blueprint’s Impact on HBCUs
03.16.17 WASHINGTON, DC -Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) released the following statement after the administration announced their "skinny" budget. "Less than three weeks ago, this administration claimed it is a priority to advocate for HBCUs but, after viewing this budget proposal, those calls ring hollow," said Congresswoman Adams. "This budget slashes critical funding for institutions, students, and their families. "With a 13% cut to federal education funding amounting to a nearly $4 billion rescis… 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, Murray Criticize Secretary DeVos on Rushed and Problematic State Plan Template
03.13.17 WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, released the following statement today on Secretary DeVos' state plan template, which does not require stakeholder engagement or public comment, raising a number of initial concerns about whether this template complies with the Every Student Succeeds Act. "We are disa… Continue Reading
Shea-Porter Statement on Huge Coverage Losses Under Republican Health Care Bill
03.13.17 WASHINGTON, DC- Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) released the following statement after the independent, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its analysis of the Republican health care bill, the American Health Care Act (AHCA). "Today's estimate by the independent Congressional Budget Office that 14 million Americans would lose their insurance next year under the Republican health plan should be the nail in the coffin for this draconian proposal, which would not only ta… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on CBO Analysis of Republican Bill to Repeal the Affordable Care Act
03.13.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Congressional Budget Office announced that 24 million more Americans would be uninsured under the Republicans' Pay More For Less bill. "The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed what we already knew - that millions of Americans would lose access to affordable health insurance under the Republican plan. This proposal was put together without considering the fundamental principles of arithmetic. By skewi… Continue Reading
Polis Statement on U.S. Department of Education’s Closed-Process for ESSA Implementation
03.13.17 WASHINGTON: Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Education's new application template for states to develop their accountability plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The Department of Education's guidance follows the U.S. Senate's passage of H.J. Res 57, a resolution to overturn key accountability protections in ESSA. The new template removes a key requirement that states consult stakeholders when drafting the state plan. "Elim… Continue Reading
Scott, Murray Call on Secretary DeVos to Implement Every Student Succeeds Act As Congress Intended
03.10.17 (Washington, D.C.) -Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today inquiring about the Department's proposed state template and encouraging the Department to make sure the plan complies with the federal guardrails the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) puts in place… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on February Jobs Report
03.10.17 WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after he Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added a total of 235,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate at 4.7 percent. "President Trump claimed he was handed 'a mess' by the Obama Administration, but we know that is not accurate. Under President Obama the unemployment rate was cut in half while GDP and median income rose. The economic growth reflected in today's jobs report shows Presi… Continue Reading
Polis Statement on Senate Passage of Resolution to Unravel School Accountability Measures
03.09.17 WASHINGTON: Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., released the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate passage of H.J. Res 57, a resolution to overturn key accountability protections in the Every Student Succeeds Act. "The Senate's vote today represents another example of Republicans chipping away at our bipartisan work on the Every Student Succeeds Act," Polis said. "The accountability provisions in the law represent critical civil rights protections for students and go hand-in-hand with the Depart… Continue Reading
Scott Denounces Senate Move to Weaken Public Education
03.09.17 WASHINGTON - Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the Senate voted 50-49 to undermine civil rights protections in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). "Faithful implementation of the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act should not be a partisan issue. States and school districts want the stability and consistency provided by the Department of Education's consensus-driven regulations that Congressional Republicans h… Continue Reading
Committee Republicans Pass Health Care Proposals That Would Harm Working Families
03.08.17 WASHINGTON - Today, the Committee on Education and the Workforce held a markup on H.R. 1101, the Small Business Health Fairness Act, H.R. 1304 the Self-Insurance Protection Act, and H.R. 1313, the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act. These three proposals would weaken insurance protections for consumers, shift costs onto working people, and undermine civil rights and privacy protections of employees. "H.R. 1101, H.R. 1304, and H.R. 1313 do nothing to help insulate the American people from… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Republican ACA Repeal Bill
03.06.17 WASHINGTON - Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after Republicans finally released their proposal to Make America Sick Again. "The Republican bill to repeal the ACA is fundamentally flawed, because it purports to cover pre-existing conditions without an individual mandate. In states that have tried this, the markets have gone into total chaos. Furthermore, the tax credits proposed are likely to be insufficient for low-inc… Continue Reading
Committee Democrats Push DeVos on Protections for Transgender Students
03.02.17 WASHINGTON - Earlier today, Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Workforce, and Rep. Susan Davis (CA-53), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, led Committee Democrats in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos about the recent actions taken by the Trump Administration reversing critical guidance for protecting transgender students. The Members pushed Secretary DeVos to explain the discrepancy i… 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
Bonamici Defends Consumer Protections for Student Loan Borrowers
03.01.17 WASHINGTON, DC [03/01/17] - Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), the Vice Ranking Member of the Education Committee, stood up for student loan borrowers as the House passed a bill that threatens important federal protections for borrowers. The Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome (SCRUB) Act creates an unbalanced process for repealing federal rules and jeopardizes important protections for workers, families, and the environment. Bonamici offered an ame… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Proposed Delay of Critical Retirement Savings Protection
03.01.17 WASHINGTON - Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor proposed a 60-day delay of the important "conflict of interest" rule, which would simply protect workers' hard-earned retirement savings and ensure that financial advisors act in the best interests of their retirement clients. "The Trump Administration's proposed delay of this important rule would continue an unacceptable status-quo that is erodin… Continue Reading
Committee Learns Republican Healthcare Proposals Would Harm Working Families
03.01.17 WASHINGTON - Today, the Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on H.R. 1101, the Small Business Health Fairness Act, and discussion drafts for the Self-Insurance Protection Act and the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act. These three proposals would weaken insurance protections for consumers and shift costs onto workers. The hearing also served as a distraction from the fact that Congressional Republicans still have no plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). "While… Continue Reading
Scott Statement on Executive Order on HBCUs
02.28.17 WASHINGTON - Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the President signed an executive order on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). "Every President since Jimmy Carter has issued an executive order to strengthen HBCUs, and it is encouraging that the White House is honoring this tradition. For more than 150 years, HBCUs have been the cornerstone of postsecondary education for African-American communities a… Continue Reading
Polis: CTE Programs Must Emphasize Equity, Provide Opportunity for All Students
02.28.17 WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, delivered the following statement during a hearing on career and technical education. Rep. Polis emphasized the need for a full bipartisan reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act. Key Excerpts from Rep. Polis' Remarks: "Unfortunately, after harmful sequestration cuts, public funding for CTE is at historic lows. It is c… Continue Reading