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December 6, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 266,000 jobs in November with the unemployment rate at 3.5 percent. “Today’s jobs report illustrates the central challenge facing our economy. Even as the unemployment rate hits a 50-year low, wage growth for American workers remains modest. It is notable that after a decade of consistent economic expansion, working families across the country are still struggling to cover their basic essentials.
December 5, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam directed his administration to pause efforts to seek federal permission to tie work requirements to Medicaid coverage: “I applaud Governor Northam for his leadership in securing bipartisan support to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and I am very pleased to know that Virginia is suspending efforts to impose harmful work requirements on people seeking coverage under the newly-expanded Medicaid program.
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December 5, 2019
Press Release
Washington, D.C. – Education & Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal released the following joint statement: “Next week, the House of Representatives will pass the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. We have now received enough guidance from CBO to bring the Lower Drug Costs Now Act to the Floor and to reinvest its savings in one of the most transformational improvements to Medicare since its creation.
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December 3, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House Intelligence Committee released its report as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Trump: “The facts are uncontested. President Trump invited Ukraine to intervene in our next presidential election and leveraged desperately needed military aid and a high-profile visit to the White House to promote his scheme.
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November 21, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House voted to pass H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a proposal to protect health care and social workers from workplace violence. The bipartisan legislation forces the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a standard requiring employers to implement violence prevention plans, which are proven to reduce workplace violence.
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November 20, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor abandoned its proposed rule to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to operate patient lifts in health care settings. “The Department of Labor’s decision to abandon its rollback of child labor protections is a victory for the safety of workers and patients.
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November 19, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a rule to undermine nondiscrimination provisions in federally funded health and social service programs. “This proposal to remove some of the nondiscrimination standards for both secular and religious HHS grantees is the Administration’s latest attempt to weaken civil rights protections in federally funded programs.
November 15, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Education agreed to provide documents – which had first been requested in November 2018 – regarding its refusal to provide debt relief to defrauded students under Borrower Defense. “For the past year, we have been asking the Department to explain why they are refusing to provide debt relief to more than 210,000 defrauded borrowers.
November 12, 2019
Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the passing of former Delegate Mary T. Christian: “I was saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Mary Christian. As an educator, the first black woman to serve on the Hampton School Board, and a longtime member of the House of Delegates, Dr. C. was a pillar of the Hampton community.
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November 6, 2019
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement in response to a press report alleging that the Department of Labor illegally diverted taxpayer money away from successful Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs to fund Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs), an unproven concept that would weaken quality standards and worker protections. “We have repeatedly asked the Department of Labor about allegations that it misused money that Congress allocated for Registered Apprenticeship programs. It now appears the Department’s responses have been inconsistent with its actions.
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In The News
March 11, 2016
In The News
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – School nutrition was the topic of discussion at a Norfolk elementary school Friday morning.
Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) talked to students at Richard Bowling Elementary School on East Princess Anne Road.
Representative Scott is a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is tasked with making sure all children have an equal shot at success.
February 9, 2016
In The News
After months of hype about the historic bipartisan consensus that we must make the American criminal justice system less harsh, President Obama finally signed a justice reform bill into law Monday. There’s only one problem: Instead of making the justice system more fair and less punitive, the new law will make it more vindictive and petty. Specifically, it will require people who have been convicted of sex crimes against minors to carry special passports in which their status as registered sex offenders will be marked with conspicuous identifying marks.
The point of International Megan’s Law,in the words of its House sponsor Chris Smith of New Jersey, is to prevent “sex tourism” by making it harder for people to “hop on planes and go to places for a week or two and abuse little children.” In addition to the passport stamp, this goal is supposed to be achieved through the formation of a new federal unit inside of Immigration and Customs Enforcement called the “Angel Watch Center,” which will inform foreign governments when American sex offenders have made plans to visit their countries.
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September 20, 2015
In The News
Bipartisanship is elusive in Washington, especially with an upcoming presidential election. But the widespread consensus behind efforts to fix our nation's broken and costly criminal justice system proves that common ground does exist.
Republicans and Democrats can agree that the driving force behind fixing our criminal justice system should be an approach that delivers the most public safety at the lowest taxpayer cost.
Along with many of our colleagues, we have been working to pass the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective Justice Act. The SAFE Justice Act would implement targeted reforms to the federal sentencing and corrections system, drawing on research and empirical evidence about what truly works to change criminal behavior, protect public safety and control costs.
September 6, 2015
In The News
For far too long, politicians across the nation have chosen to play politics with crime policy by enacting so-called “tough on crime” slogans such as “three strikes and you’re out” or rhymes like “you do the adult crime, you do the adult time.” As appealing as these soundbites may be, they have done nothing to reduce crime — but they have overloaded our prisons.
Research by The Pew Charitable Trusts shows that between 1980 and 2013 our federal prison population skyrocketed from 24,000 to 215,000. The United States now has around 5 percent of the world’s population, yet 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. It has gotten to the point that some recent studies have concluded that our level of over-incarceration is actually counterproductive, meaning that it destroys so many families, creates so many people with felony records and wastes so much taxpayer money that it generates more crime than it stops.
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March 22, 2015
In The News
HAMPTON — Monday marks five years since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly called the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, was signed into law.
The legislation has provided low-cost medical coverage to thousands of Virginians, and millions of Americans. It's meant to lower the cost of health care, while increasing the number of people covered by insurance. Gaylene Kanoyton, president of the Hampton-based Celebrate Healthcare advocacy group, held a party Sunday at Peninsula Soul Food Restaurant, which opened Friday at the former Captain George's Seafood location on Mercury Boulevard, to acknowledge the anniversary and one of the act's "champions" Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News.
February 19, 2015
In The News
Reps. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) have introduced legislation that would allow courts to sentence drug crime offenders on a case-by-case basis. Scott, the top Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, argued the current policy of mandatory minimum prison sentences for nonviolent drug crimes is ineffective.
"Studies of mandatory minimums conclude that they fail to reduce crime, they waste the taxpayers' money, they discriminate against minorities, and they often require the imposition of sentences that violate common sense," Scott said.
February 11, 2015
In The News
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is working, and now is the time to make the law work even better for you — by signing up for insurance in the Marketplace while you have the chance.
If you or members of your family do not currently have access to health insurance through an employer, TRICARE, Medicare, CHIP or Medicaid, then you have until Feb. 15 to sign up for quality, affordable health care insurance via HealthCare.gov.
Already, millions of Americans — including more than 300,000 Virginians — have signed up for health insurance plans through the Marketplace. But we know that even more people could use the Marketplace to get covered.
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February 6, 2015
In The News
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) released the following statement today after the Department of Labor announced that employers added 257,000 jobs last month. January’s employment figures means the economy has now had a record 59 consecutive months of private sector job growth, resulting in the addition of 11.8 million new jobs.
“Today’s jobs report is a sign that our economy is maintaining momentum and continuing to grow. Job creation over the last 12 months is stronger than it has been since 2000, and January capped off the best three-month span for job growth in 17 years.
February 3, 2015
In The News
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Ranking Members of the House Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce decried today’s attempt by House Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – the 56th such attempt since the law’s enactment – and the Republicans’ sustained attack to undermine access to quality, affordable health care for millions of hard-working Americans. Ranking Members Sander Levin (D-MI), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) released the following joint statement after today’s vote:
"Once again, Republicans have tried to rob millions of Americans of their access to dependable, quality health care. Today's vote marks the 56th time House Republicans have attempted to undermine the Affordable Care Act. The GOP continues to disregard the plain, simple fact that the ACA is working. In 2014, the uninsured rate dropped to just 12.9 percent, and 19 million Americans have obtained ACA-sponsored coverage. Five years later, it is irresponsible for Republicans to pretend that the law and its landmark reforms can simply be taken away from American families.
February 2, 2015
In The News
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), the ranking Democratic member on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, released the following statement today in response to President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2016:
“President Obama’s budget proposal lays out a fiscally responsible blueprint to strengthen the middle class by investing in workers, students, children, and families. The President’s budget would reverse the arbitrary, destructive spending cuts of the last four years and make critical investments in our nation’s future.