Committee on Education and Workforce
More on Committee on Education and Workforce
June 15, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Bicameral Democratic Health Committee leaders wrote to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma today to reassert their request for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) to help the millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans sign up for health insurance coverage amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 11, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after a federal court ruled that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had “reasonably determined” that workers do not need an enforceable emergency workplace safety standard, or “Emergency Temporary Standard,” to protect them against infection during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 5, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 2.5 million jobs in May with the unemployment rate at 13.3 percent. “Today’s jobs report is evidence of Congress’ strong initial response to this crisis, but it does not diminish the devastating and unprecedented scale of the economic hardship facing workers and families across the country. On average since this crisis began, weekly unemployment claims have been nearly six times higher than the pre-pandemic record set during the Great Recession.
May 29, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after President Trump vetoed legislation, passed in March, to reverse the Department of Education’s Borrower Defense rule. The Department’s rule would deny debt relief to students defrauded by predatory colleges. “Earlier this year, Democrats and Republicans came together to block Secretary DeVos’ Borrower Defense rule that shields predatory schools from accountability and denies relief to student borrowers who were defrauded billions of dollars.
May 27, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, introduced new legislation, the Child Care is Essential Act, to create a $50 billion Child Care Stabilization Fund within the existing Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program.
May 21, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, House and Senate education leaders called on the Education Department to rescind its “equitable service” guidance, which would redirect COVID-19 relief funding away from students in public schools to fund services for students in private schools, regardless of their wealth or residence.
May 20, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Azar, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) called on the Department to take proactive steps to help more than 14 million displaced college students maintain access to health care coverage. In the letter, the Members note that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students who rely on health insurance plans sponsored by their colleges or universities may face a break in coverage as these institutions remain closed.
May 20, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – In a letter to Department of Education Secretary DeVos, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) demanded an explanation for the Department illegally garnishing the wages on student loan borrowers amid the COVID-19—a direct violation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed into law on March 27. In the letter, Chairman Scott notes that as recently as May 6, employers indicated that they could not stop garnishing wages because they had not received a letter from the Department directing them to do so.
May 15, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House passed a fifth legislative relief package—the Heroes Act—in response to the COVID-19 crisis. “By passing the Heroes Act today, the House of Representatives took an important step toward confronting the full scale of this pandemic. The Heroes Act dedicates nearly $1 trillion in emergency relief to help states and local government avert devastating cuts, particularly to education, public safety, and basic services.
May 15, 2020
WASHINGTON – Today, Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement ahead of the 66th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. “This year’s anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education comes at a pivotal and perilous moment in the fight for educational equity. Last month, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that students have a constitutional right to a basic education. But the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the unequal distribution of resources and opportunity that prevents many low-income and Black students from getting the education they deserve.