Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after President Biden released his American Families Plan. The proposal calls for key investments to strengthen Pell Grants, lower the cost of tuition at community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions, and take other steps to expand access to quality higher education. “For too long, the rising cost of college—fueled by chronic state and federal disinvestment—has barred our nation’s students from being able to access a quality college degree. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing higher education even further out of reach, particularly for our nation’s underserved students.

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after President Biden signed an executive order requiring all federal contractors pay to a $15 minimum wage. “President Biden’s executive order is an important step toward building back a stronger economy and securing fair pay for hardworking people across the country. Raising the minimum wage is good for workers, families, businesses, and the economy. Because of President Biden’s executive order, working people across the nation will see and experience the widespread benefits of increasing the minimum wage.

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) released the following statement in response to President Biden’s executive order to promote workers’ collective bargaining rights. “The Biden Administration continues to demonstrate its commitment to protecting and promoting workers’ right to organize. This executive order will provide additional momentum for the significant and long-overdue changes to U.S. labor law that are critical to defending workers against decades of anti-union attacks and rebuilding the middle class. I applaud President Biden’s consistent focus on workers’ rights and will continue working with the Administration on behalf of workers.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to address the child care crisis and ensure that working families can find and afford high-quality child care. Representative Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan joined Congressman Scott in introducing the House bill, along with 64 cosponsors. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Senator Mazie Hirono joined Senator Murray in introducing the Senate bill, along with 23 cosponsors.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 51, the Washington D.C. Admission Act, which would admit the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth as our nation’s 51st state. “Today the House of Representatives once again affirmed that the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth should become the 51st state in the Union, finally empowering D.C. residents with voting representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and full local self-government. Statehood for D.C. is long overdue for the more than 700,000 disenfranchised American citizens who currently live in the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) today reintroduced H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. The historic legislation would empower the federal government to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs, put an end to Americans paying three or four times more for medicine than people in other countries, reverse years of unfair price hikes, and cap seniors’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2,000 per year.

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) and Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (NC-05) released the following statement announcing the start of a bipartisan effort to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which is the nation’s primary federal workforce development legislation. Today, the Committee held a bipartisan roundtable to discuss opportunities to strengthen WIOA and confront the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “America’s workforce development programs are critical to the success of workers, employers, and our economy.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement: “While nothing will bring George Floyd back to his family and loved ones, the verdict was just. Derek Chauvin was afforded the due process that George Floyd was denied and found guilty by a jury of his peers. This verdict is a start, but it does not absolve Congress and the federal government of our responsibility to reform policing across the country, and it is a reminder of the need for the Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act."