Press Releases
May 15, 2020
WASHINGTON – Today, Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement ahead of the 66th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. “This year’s anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education comes at a pivotal and perilous moment in the fight for educational equity. Last month, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that students have a constitutional right to a basic education. But the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the unequal distribution of resources and opportunity that prevents many low-income and Black students from getting the education they deserve.
May 15, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – In a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) called on the Education Department to abandon its plan to divert emergency education funding, which was intended to provide COVID-19 relief for public schools, toward private school vouchers. The letter comes after the Department announced its intention to use a vast majority of the $300 million it received for discretionary grants under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to create a program that mirrors the Department’s longstanding, widely rejected proposal to create a federal school voucher program.
May 13, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott issued the following statement after House Democrats introduced a fifth legislative package—the Heroes Act—in response to the COVID-19 crisis. “As result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our students and schools are facing unprecedented educational and financial challenges, our workers are experiencing unemployment rates not seen since the Great Depression, and our public health care system is straining to meet the demand for testing and treatment of this deadly disease.
May 12, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) applauded the introduction of H.R. 6800, The Heroes Act, in the House of Representatives today. The Chairmen of the three Committees worked together to draft the health care provisions in the bill, which continue the House’s work of providing the necessary resources and support to respond to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
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.