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FOR DECADES, the nation’s leaders were at a stalemate, unable to enact real reform, even though we knew that our health care system was not working for too many Americans.
Before reform, millions lost their health insurance every year. Often, individuals with pre-existing conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, were unable to afford insurance, if they could obtain it at all.
The critically ill hit the lifetime limit of what their insurance policy would cover, forcing them to pay out of pocket for the rest of their care. Families were declaring bankruptcy because of unpaid medical bills. Young adults were getting kicked off their parents’ insurance when they graduated college.
Issues:Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the final rule updating the levels of permissible beryllium exposure to workers. The nearly 70-year-old old standard for workers exposed to beryllium has failed to protect workers from contracting chronic beryllium disease and cancer.
“OSHA’s beryllium rule, which took 18 years to develop, reduces permissible exposure levels by 90 percent, and is estimated to prevent 900 premature deaths due to the ravages of chronic beryllium disease and cancer over the next 10 years,” said Ranking Member Scott. "I also applaud OSHA for listening to the pleas of shipyard workers and the Steelworkers Union at the Newport News Shipyard by expanding the rule to cover shipyards. The protective health standard was also supported by the Newport News Shipyard and Shipbuilders Council of America, demonstrating their concern for improved workplace safety."
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added a total of 156,000 jobs in December, with the unemployment rate at 4.7 percent.
“When President Obama took office eight years ago, 3.6 million jobs had already been lost due to the recession. Today’s December 2016 jobs report demonstrates that our economy is undoubtedly stronger, and since early 2010, the economy has added a total of 15.8 million private sector jobs. This progress is largely due to the actions taken by the Obama Administration to bring our economy out of recession. I commend the Obama Administration for all it has done to level the playing field for our nation’s working people and those struggling to find work.
January 5, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would exempt from coverage under the REINS Act any rule which pertains to workplace health and safety made by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, or the Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, that is necessary to prevent or reduce the incidence of traumatic injury, cancer or irreversible lung disease.
I am offering the amendment because we should not be creating obstacles to the protection of life and limb. We should be concerned about repealing such workplace rules. Actually, this concern is not theoretical. There was a report from the chairman of the Freedom Caucus that actually calls for the repeal of multiple safety and health rules.
January 4, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 21, the so-called Midnight Rules Relief Act, which amends the Congressional Review Act. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overrule regulations promulgated by the executive branch. That law expects a deliberative approach to considering each and every rule.
H.R. 21 would allow Congress to consider a joint resolution to simultaneously disapprove of multiple regulations all at once when such rules are issued in the last 60 legislative days of a session of Congress during the final year of a President's term. In this case, the 60 legislative days reach-back would apply to rules issued as far back as June of last year, almost 7 months before the end of the President's term. To call rules issued that long ago a midnight rule is a particular misnomer.
January 3, 2017
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H. Res. 5.
This rules package contains a special provision exempting the Affordable Care Act from normal budget rules, giving the Republicans an easier path to repealing the Affordable Care Act without an alternative.
The reason this exception is needed is because the regular budget process in the rule provides that, when legislation is passed which increases spending, it must be paid for to avoid increasing the deficit.
ObamaCare actually saves money. Under the normal rule, repealing it would have to be paid for. The exception in the rule will allow for the repeal without offsetting the cost of that repeal, costing billions, possibly hundreds of billions to the deficit. And what do we get with a repeal?
Issues:Health Care
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – On Monday, January 2, 2017, Congressman Bobby Scott will be closing his Richmond District Office due to redistricting.
As a result of court-ordered redistricting, the boundaries of the Third Congressional District of Virginia have changed. Effective on January 3, 2017, Congressman Scott will no longer represent the following localities in the United States Congress: the cities of Petersburg and Richmond, and the counties of Charles City, Henrico, Prince George and Surry. At the start of his new term on January 3, 2017, Congressman Scott will represent the following localities in the new Third Congressional District: the county of Isle of Wight, all of the cities of Franklin, Newport News, Portsmouth and parts of Chesapeake, Hampton, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, December 7, 2016, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) received the “Restoring the Balance” award from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan national organization committed to improving the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures. Congressman Scott, the Ranking Member of House Committee on Education and the Workforce, received the award in recognition of his leadership in negotiating and advocating for the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replaced the No Child Left Behind Act.
Issues:Education
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on his No vote on H.R. 2028, the Further Continuing and Security Assistance Appropriations Act, 2017:
“I am disappointed that House and Senate Republicans could not advance a more responsible bill to fund the federal government. Continuing Resolutions are inherently bad policy and hinder the work of the federal government. Considering the uncertainty that surrounds the incoming administration, I think it is more responsible for this Congress to enact a yearlong omnibus appropriations bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2017.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Members Bobby Scott (D-VA), Sandy Levin (D-MI), and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) of the House Committees on Education and the Workforce, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce respectively, made the following joint statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an order to delay the consideration of House v. Burwell:
“This decision to delay the consideration of House v. Burwell until after Inauguration Day puts millions of Americans at risk of losing their health insurance coverage next year. Republicans have relentlessly attempted to repeal and undermine the Affordable Care Act since the law was enacted. If the incoming Trump Administration decides not to defend the legality of the ACA’s cost-sharing subsidies in court, the lower court ruling stands; and we would see the undermining of the insurance market as a whole – both the coverage of those American families who rely on the financial assistance, as well as those who purchase coverage on their own.