Committee on Education and Workforce
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May 23, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
As the Representative of Hampton Roads, Virginia, I support the significant increase in Navy shipbuilding in the NDAA. But while we consider national defense, we must also consider school construction.
Yesterday, U.S. banks reported $56 billion in first quarter profits. At the same time, our teachers are being forced to go on strike for a living wage and adequate funding for our public schools. But when the majority pushed its tax bill through Congress, it was the banks, not teachers and not the schools, that received the biggest benefit.
H.R. 2475, the Rebuild America's Schools Act, would be a step forward in correcting our priorities by investing desperately needed funding into our public school infrastructure. This $100 billion proposal, which is barely 5 percent of what was spent on the tax cut for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, would go towards repairing crumbling public school buildings to ensure that every student has access to safe, healthy, and high-quality learning facilities.
May 21, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis. “The National Labor Relations Act guarantees workers the right to collectively stand together to improve their wages and working conditions. However, today the Supreme Court ignored the plain text of the law and held that employers may force workers into signing arbitration agreements that waive the right to pursue work-related claims together. By undermining the right of workers to collectively seek recourse for wage theft, discrimination, and other workplace violations, the Court’s conservative bloc has rolled back a key provision of the National Labor Relations Act.
May 21, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for allowing me to speak on this very important issue, and I thank her for leading this Special Order on this important topic, which is gun safety, especially as it relates to school safety.
Keeping all students and educators safe is a top priority. On Friday, we had another tragedy. A small town that few could point out on a map is now infamous. Santa Fe High School, near Galveston, Texas, experienced a mass shooting, leaving 10 dead: Eight students, two teachers. Several students said to the media, they knew this would eventually happen to them.
Our thoughts and prayers are with those students and with the families suffering from acts of gun violence, but enough is enough.
May 16, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, there is a lot wrong with this bill, but as ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I am particularly concerned about its impact on students.
SNAP eligibility is tied to eligibility for other vital Federal programs, so the proposed cuts in SNAP eligibility will also cut access to free school meals for 265,000 children.
May 15, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5242. This legislation under consideration today will improve our understanding about the role of school resource officers. But we must acknowledge that this bill barely scratches the surface of what is actually required to keep our schools safe, and I urge this body to do more.
In the wake of February's tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, many have called for a so-called Federal focus on hardening of our schools, which includes increasing Federal dollars to hire more police officers and embracing the most harsh punishments for school discipline, and even allowing school teachers to carry firearms, despite the overwhelming evidence that many of these initiatives do more harm than good.
May 8, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after two of Virginia’s Marketplace insurers proposed significant premium increases for 2019. The insurers specifically attributed the premium hikes to the Republican repeal of the individual mandate and other initiatives adopted by the Trump administration, such as their plan to weaken the Obamacare Marketplace by loosening restrictions on junk health plans that undermine patient protections. “In response to repeated Republican attempts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA), I warned that the schemes would raise costs and the ultimate cost of their efforts would be paid by consumers. Unfortunately, we are now seeing the bill come due. As the insurers specifically spelled out, the significant premium hikes proposed for 2019 are a direct consequence of the politically motivated actions taken by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans.
May 4, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 164,000 jobs in April, with the unemployment rate at 3.9 percent.
“The latest jobs report shows that our economy remains relatively stable, but the work is far from over and there are those in Congress working to undermine these economic gains. On average during President Obama’s last full year in office, the economy added roughly 195,000 jobs a month, far more than the 164,000 jobs added last month. Just a year ago, the House Republicans voted to pass the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA), which would have caused almost 14 million Americans to lose health coverage this year.
April 25, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleague from Virginia, Congressman Garrett. I want to thank him for organizing this evening's Special Order, but first I want to commend him for his work as a Virginia State senator for making April 23 Barbara Johns Day in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
This April 23, Monday, marked the first official recognition of this important day in the Commonwealth.
Almost 64 years ago, the Supreme Court struck down lawful school segregation in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. What few people know is that Virginia was one of the four cases decided that day. There were three other States, and Washington, D.C., had another case that was decided the same day.
Virginia's involvement in Brown v. Board of Education stood out because that effort was led by a student, namely Barbara Johns. She was only 16 years of age. This stalwart figure in the struggle for equal education stood up to challenge the notion that African Americans should receive separate and unequal education under the law.
April 19, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and nine other Democrats submitted a public comment to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) about their request for information on whether to retain, rescind, or modify the 2014 Election Rule. The Obama-era rule streamlined the NLRB’s process for union elections, eliminating unnecessary litigation and delays which companies have used to suppress workers from organizing. Ranking Members Scott and Murray have repeatedly asked the Board for relevant information on how the 2014 Rule was working so the public can see whether it needs to be changed. The limited evidence the Board has produced clearly disproves business groups’ critiques of the rule—making it clear that this attempt to roll back the rule is simply a political attempt to make it harder for workers to join a union.