Press Releases

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.

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the arrest of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd: “Today former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was charged with the murder of George Floyd after days of protests and demonstrations in Minnesota and across our nation. I share in the pain and grief for Mr. Floyd’s family and that of the millions of Americans who witnessed another video of a senseless and avoidable death of an unarmed black man at the hands of law enforcement. For several minutes, as a police officer kneeled on his neck, Mr. Floyd cried out that he could not breathe – a cry that has become all too familiar.

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.

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.

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.

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced he would veto HB795/SB235 - legislation from the Virginia General Assembly that would expand access to association health plans and undermine core protections of the Affordable Care Act in Virginia. “I commend Governor Northam for vetoing HB795/SB235 – legislation that would expand access to association health plans and undermine core protections of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

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.

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.