Committee on Education and Workforce

WASHINGTON, DC – Key House and Senate Committee leaders announced a bipartisan agreement on legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills and establish a fair framework to resolve payment disputes between health care providers and health insurance companies. The deal was agreed to by House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) and Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX), and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA).

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). “Five years ago, we came together to pass the Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA) with the intent of bringing our country one step closer to achieving equity in education – the promise enshrined in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

WASHINGTON, DC – Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after President-elect Biden nominated California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “I applaud President-elect Biden’s nomination of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra has an extensive career from serving in the California General Assembly, the U.S. House of Representatives – including as a Member of the Education and Labor Committee – and, most recently, fighting on behalf of Californians as the attorney general.

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) finalized a rule to gut nondiscrimination protections by vastly expanding religious exemptions to Executive Order 11246, which prohibit discrimination in hiring by federal contractors. “Today, the Trump administration finalized a rule to weaken anti-discrimination protections in federal contracting. The new rules gives taxpayer-funded contractors, including some for-profit corporations, the power to hire and fire employees for any potentially discriminatory reasons, except race, under the guise of religious freedom.

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statisticsannounced that the economy added 245,000 jobs in November with the unemployment rate at 6.7 percent. “Today’s report signals that economic recovery is continuing to slow as our nation faces one of the worst economic and public health crises in history. As COVID-19 cases and deaths skyrocket in nearly every state across the country, we continue to confront the disastrous impacts of the Trump Administration’s failed response to the pandemic. Let’s be clear: Record-high jobless claims are not a reflection of a successful economy. Just last week, more than 700,000 Americans filed new unemployment insurance claims—continuing to exceed the record-high number of claims under previous administrations (695,000 claims in October 1982). Initial unemployment claims under President Trump for each of the last 37 consecutive weeks have exceeded unemployment claims under any other president in the history of the program.

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby" Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after he was elected the next Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor by the House Democratic Caucus. “I am grateful to my colleagues for providing me the opportunity to continue my role as Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor. It has been an honor to lead this Committee during a critical time in our nation’s history, and to work alongside a diverse coalition of Members representing the interests of students and workers across the country. Our nation is enduring unprecedented challenges, with widening educational achievement gaps, a deep economic recession, and a devastating public health crisis.

WASHINGTON, DC – Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement after Education Department Secretary Betsy DeVos sent letters to the Members announcing the Department’s decision to postpone the 2021 administration of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). “As a result of nationwide school closures, existing achievement gaps are widening for our most vulnerable students, including students from families with low incomes, students with disabilities, English learners, and students of color. In order for our nation to recover and rebuild from the pandemic, we must first understand the magnitude of learning loss that has impacted students across the country.

WASHINGTON, DC – Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture re-proposed a rule to weaken standards in child nutrition programs: “As more than a quarter of our nation’s households with children head into the Thanksgiving holiday struggling to put food on the table, the Department of Agriculture’s rule to undermine nutrition standards for child nutrition programs will only make it harder for children to access healthy food.