Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after his “NO” vote on the passage of H.R. 3236, the Surface Transportation & Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act, in the House of Representatives: “Dressing up a short term extension of the Highway Trust Fund with an important V.A. bill does not overcome the importance of enacting a long term, six-year transportation reauthorization that provides the certainty states and local governments need to plan transportation projects.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the Iran Deal: "I am currently in the process of reviewing the Iran deal. In my review I will consider not what could or should have been in the deal, but how the deal compares to the alternative of no deal at all. It is important to remember that this agreement is not just with Iran, but with the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, Germany and other industrialized nations to ensure that if Iran violates any aspect of the agreement, economic sanctions can snap back into place.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after his ‘NO’ vote on passage of H.R. 3038, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015, in the House of Representatives: “With the most recent of a series of short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund set to expire at the end of the month, we need legislation which provides for a long term investment in our infrastructure to create jobs, rebuild America, and ensure that states and local governments have the certainty they need to plan critical projects.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges: “Today’s decision should not be a surprise. When the Court declined to grant cert in Bostic v. Rainey, which overturned Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban, it became clear that the Supreme Court was following a long history of consistent jurisprudence on marriage, beginning with its 1967 decision in Loving v. Virginia. The Loving Court unanimously stated marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man.’ And today’s decision ensures that this basic right is now available to all same-sex couples no matter where they reside in our nation."

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Two years after beginning an intensive, comprehensive review of the federal criminal justice system as the leaders of the Over-Criminalization Task Force, Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) today introduced bipartisan, state-tested legislation aimed at safely reining in the size and associated costs of the federal criminal code and prison system. The Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act of 2015 takes a broad-based approach to improving the federal sentencing and corrections system, from front-end sentencing reform to back-end release policies. It is also the first bill that addresses the federal supervision system – ensuring that probation does a better job stopping the revolving door at federal prisons.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the top Democrats from the House Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means committees issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a core tenet of the Affordable Care Act in King v. Burwell. Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) are the lead Democrats on the committees with jurisdiction over the Affordable Care Act: “Today, the Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed that the American people, no matter where they live in this country, still have the right to access quality, affordable health insurance. Legal experts had always considered the case attacking the Affordable Care Act to be legally frivolous.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, June 25th, Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) will announce the introduction of the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act of 2015. Representatives Sensenbrenner and Scott led the House Judiciary Committee’s Over-criminalization Task Force during the 113th Congress. The task force was charged with assessing the entire federal criminal justice system and making recommendations for improvements. Over the course of 18 months, the task force held ten hearings and heard testimony from numerous stakeholders, including experts in the federal, academic, and nonprofit sectors.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott issued the following statement: “I commend the Governor for his decision today to order the removal of the Confederate Battle Flag from specialty Virginia license plates. The flag’s contemporary use has always been controversial; particularly in light of the fact that many Southern states opted to display the flag in some form or another in direct protest of racial integration in the 1950s."