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NEWPORT NEWS, VA – TOMORROW, FRIDAY, April 22nd, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) will mark Earth Day 2022 by convening a roundtable on climate and resilience at the Chrysler Museum of Art. The Museum has partnered with Old Dominion University’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience to present a photography exhibition entitled Waters Rising: A View From Our Backyard. Communities across the Hampton Roads region are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change due to sea-level rise and land subsidence.

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Today, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) met with Dr. George Parker, Superintendent of Newport News Public Schools (NNPS), Jacky Barber, Principal of Sedgefield Elementary School, and other NNPS officials to discuss how funding from the American Rescue Plan is helping students and schools recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Rescue Plan delivered $2.1 billion to K-12 school districts across Virginia and more than $82 million to Newport News Public Schools to help schools reopen safely, stay open safely, and make up for lost learning time. After the meeting, Congressman Scott toured classrooms to learn about school programs that were supported by the American Rescue Plan.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA-03), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, and U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, wrote to U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to urge the Department of Education to extend the student loan payment pause until 2023 and use the intervening time to adopt meaningful and lasting reforms to the federal income-driven repayment (IDR) system—by finalizing a new, more generous IDR plan that is available to all federal student loan borrowers, and by correcting past harms by implementing a retroactive payment correction that delivers on the promise of loan relief for those enrolled in IDR.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Chairman Scott (VA-03) as well as members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Reps. Barbara Lee (CA-13) and Lois Frankel (FL-21) sent a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting that the GAO conduct a study on minors under 18 years of age who serve as a primary or secondary caregiver for a family member, also known as caregiving youth. “Many caregiving youth assist parents or other relatives who are also caregiving. These youth face challenges balancing their caregiving responsibilities with their education, mental health, and wellbeing, yet they often do not have access to the resources and services available to adult family caregivers or other vulnerable youth populations, which are already limited,” the lawmakers wrote.

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) released the following statement applauding the Biden Administration for today’s announcement that the Department of Education will extend the pause on student loans through August 31, 2022. In addition, the Department is putting currently defaulted federal student loan borrowers into good standing and erasing the default from their credit history. “Across the country, borrowers are continuing to face the economic fallout of COVID-19.  By extending the pause on student loan repayments, collections, and interest accrual, the Biden-Harris Administration has demonstrated that it remains committed to helping borrowers get back on their feet.