Press Releases
January 18, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announcement on its decision to create a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Office for Civil Rights: “Today, the Trump administration announced its decision to create a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Office for Civil Rights. This announcement must be examined as part of the administration's broader pattern of promoting discrimination. There is no indication that patients’ access to appropriate health care will not be jeopardized. The administration has already issued a rule to allow virtually any employer or institution of higher education to deny preventive health services for women, and continues to take steps to open the door for discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community, those in interracial relationships, and minority religious groups."
January 17, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) and 153 House Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to invest in the critical infrastructure that affects every city and town in the nation – our public schools. Too many of the more than 50 million students and six million staff who learn and work in our public schools spend their days in facilities that fail to make the grade. “To address this crisis, the federal government should partner with states and territories to ensure that public schools in every community are safe, healthy, and modern – particularly in low-income and rural school districts where the need is often most profound."
January 12, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and U.S. Representatives Donald McEachin, Gerry Connolly, Don Beyer, and Bobby Scott sent a letter to the Trump Administration requesting that Virginia be exempted from its offshore drilling proposal, citing local concerns over the risks to tourism, the watermen’s industry, and the country’s Naval operations.
Issues:Energy & Environment
January 11, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after a meeting with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to discuss priority issues for House Democrats. Today’s meeting was the first meeting between the Ranking Member and the Secretary. “My discussion with Secretary DeVos today reaffirmed for me that we share a common goal – to ensure all students are supported to achieve their full potential. Secretary DeVos and I will not always agree on the best ways to achieve that goal. But I am confident there are areas, like expanding access to quality career and technical education including apprenticeships, where we can work together."
January 11, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed S. 139, the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017: “S. 139 is an unprecedented re-authorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that continues to allow the federal government to collect Americans’ emails, chat logs, and browser history without a showing of probable cause."
Issues:Judiciary
January 11, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed S. 140 [239 to 173]. Hidden in the package of non-controversial tribal water supply and lands legislation, was the poison pill H.R. 986. “The so-called ‘Tribal Sovereignty Act’ strips hundreds of thousands of workers employed at Indian-owned enterprises—such as casinos, hotels, and mines—of their voice in the workplace and the protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). At issue in this bill are two solemn and deeply rooted principles. The first is the rights of Indian tribes as distinct, independent political communities. The second is the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively. Rather than attempting to balance these important principles, S. 140 simply strips workers’ of their rights to secure better wages and benefits.
January 4, 2018
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Trump Administration released a 5 year proposal to drastically increase off-shore oil and gas drilling off America’s coastlines, including Virginia: “The proposal released by the Trump Administration to radically expand offshore drilling is bad for Americans, businesses, the economy, the military and the environment. There is a broad, bipartisan coalition of governors, advocacy groups and concerned Americans that are opposed to offshore drilling because of all the risks associated with the practice."
January 4, 2018
WASHINGTON – Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ways and Means Ranking Member Richard Neal (MA-01), and Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor issued a proposed rule to rollback health coverage protections by expanding association health plans. “Today, the Administration took further steps to undermine the health and well-being of the American people."
December 22, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) applauded final Senate passage of their bipartisan 400 Years of African American History Commission Act – legislation establishing a National Park Service commission to commemorate the 400th anniversary in 2019 of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans into English Colonial America, marking the beginning of a new African American culture. The bill now heads to the President’s desk for signature. Scott, Congressmen Don Beyer and Congressmen G. K. Butterfield, former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, led the introduction of similar legislation that passed the House of Representatives this Congress.
December 20, 2017
WASHINGTON D.C. – Representatives Rob Wittman (R-VA), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Bradley Byrne (R-AL), and Joe Courtney (D-CT), were joined by 127 Representatives in sending a letter to Department of Defense Secretary James Mattis supporting a block buy of two Ford-class aircraft carriers in FY2019. “Dual procurement allows our Navy to have the capabilities it needs to protect and defend this nation’s national security. A dual buy would provide predictability and sustainability to the shipbuilding industry. A more reliable procurement process will bring great benefits to the Navy’s shipbuilding programs, and save taxpayers’ money,” Rep. Scott said.