Press Releases
May 12, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democrats today introduced The Heroes Act, a bold and comprehensive coronavirus response bill that will meet the challenge this pandemic poses to our nation. The more than $3 trillion legislation protects the lives and livelihoods of the American people.
May 11, 2020
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Today, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently approved Virginia’s plan to begin implementing the Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) program, which provides emergency food assistance to students in low-income families in the event of prolonged school closures. The P-EBT program was created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201), which was the second COVID-19 emergency legislative package enacted by Congress on March 18, 2020.
May 8, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) and Rep. Marcia Fudge (OH-11) introduced the End Pandemic Hunger for College Students Act to ensure low-income college students can access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during school closures due to COVID-19. The bill comes as widespread campus closures are exacerbating the financial challenges facing students across the country.
May 8, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April with the unemployment rate at 14.7 percent. “Today’s jobs report reflects the devastating economic reality facing students, workers, and families across the country. The share of workers facing unemployment has risen to heights not seen since the Great Depression.
May 6, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) issued the following statement after the Department of Education finalized a rule to revise standards for schools’ responsibility under the Title IX to respond to campus sexual assault and harassment. “It is alarming that instead of focusing on helping students, educators, and institutions cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department wasted valuable time finalizing a rule that will erode protections for students’ safety.
May 4, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) called on the Department to delay changes to distance education rules as students and schools adapt to virtual classrooms in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 4, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Democrats sent a letter to the Director of the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in strong opposition to the agency’s recent guidance allowing new service, supply, and construction contracts related to coronavirus response to avoid federal affirmative action requirements. The letter was signed by Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Committee on Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (WA-09) and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).
May 1, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) led House and Senate Democrats in introducing legislation to invest $15 billion in America’s workforce training infrastructure as well as career and technical education. The Relaunching America’s Workforce Act authorizes funding to help workers sharpen their skills and quickly re-enter the workforce as the economy emerges from the deepest decline since the Great Depression.
May 1, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Chairs of the House Committees that oversee the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) voiced their strong opposition to a harmful Trump administration rule that would roll backAffordable Care Act (ACA) nondiscrimination protections. In a letter, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) urged HHS Secretary Alex Azar not to finalize this troubling rule and to instead focus on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Issues:COVID-19Health Care
April 28, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s plan to order meat processing plants to stay open and shield companies from liability for the health and safety of their workers. “There is clear evidence that without proper protections from COVID-19, workers in meat processing plants and other workplaces will continue to fall ill and die from this disease. It is profoundly disturbing that President Trump is using his authority to force workers into dangerous conditions without providing enforceable safety standards to protect them from COVID-19.