Media

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) and Congressman Trey Gowdy (SC-04) introduced H.R. 1251, the Federal Defender Ex-Officio Act in the House of Representatives. This bill would add a non-voting Federal Defender representative to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Currently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has two non-voting representatives, but the Federal Defenders lack even one, despite the sizable number of defendants in federal criminal proceedings represented by Federal Public Defender organizations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) introduced several bills targeted at improving the nation’s broken criminal justice system. “The bills I introduced today would make targeted but much needed improvements to our criminal justice system,” Scott stated. “For example, making the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive is just commonsense. There is absolutely no reason that individuals sentenced under the old crack cocaine sentencing laws should not be able to petition a court, which can conduct case-by-case determinations that it is in the interest of public safety, to grant the benefit of reductions enacted pursuant to the Fair Sentencing Act. Research has demonstrated that treating crack more severely than powder cocaine is not based upon any scientific or otherwise empirical evidence of increased dangerousness to the user or to the community. It is time Congress does away with this discriminatory disparity once and for all.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in David King, et al v. Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. The Ranking Members of the House Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce today reiterated their support of the affordability provisions within the Affordable Care Act, as previously noted in an Amicus Brief before the Court. Ranking Members Sander Levin (D-MI), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) released the following joint statement: “Since day one, our commitment has been to provide quality and affordable health insurance for all Americans, regardless of whether a state chose to operate its own marketplace or let state residents purchase insurance in the federal marketplace. Let us be clear: the Affordable Care Act was structured and designed to improve health insurance coverage and access across the entire country

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) led a bicameral group of Democratic lawmakers in filing an amicus brief opposing the District Court ruling that would maintain the outdated exclusion of home care workers from basic worker protections like minimum wage and overtime. “For too long, home care workers have been denied bedrock minimum wage and overtime protections,” said Congressman Scott. “ As this workforce grows, these workers deserve to be recognized as the professionals they are. I hope that the D.C. circuit court will overturn this misguided decision and extend Fair Labor Standards Act protections to the nearly 2 million workers who would benefit from the Department of Labor’s rule.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, released the following statement today after President Barack Obama announced that the Department of Labor will lay out new standards to ensure retirement advisors act in the best interest of their clients when giving investment advice: "Today's announcement by the President is another critical step toward improving every American family's retirement security. Too many middle-class and working families are worried about saving enough for retirement. According to recent data, 71 percent of Americans who are not yet retired say that it is too hard keep up with their bills and also save for retirement. And more than half of American households are at risk not saving enough to maintain their current standard of living in retirement. While we need to do more to help families save for retirement, the very least we can do is safeguard the retirement investments they have already made.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-3), and Don Beyer (VA-8) today wrote Interior Secretary Sally Jewell citing their serious concerns that Virginia and neighboring states are included in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s draft five-year plan for offshore oil and gas development. The Virginia congressmen asked Jewell to reconsider the decision to include portions of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf in the offshore leasing program for 2017-2022. Instead, they suggested that the Interior Department “build on opportunities to expand renewable energy production, such as wind energy,” which has the potential to generate nearly as much energy as offshore drilling and create 50 percent more jobs.