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Congressman Bobby Scott

Representing the 3rd District of Virginia

Committee on Education and the Workforce

More on Committee on Education and the Workforce

January 6, 2017 Press Release
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."
January 6, 2017 Press Release
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.
December 7, 2016 Press Release
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.
December 2, 2016 Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) delivered the following remarks on the House floor in support of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017. Congressman Scott, as Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, was appointed to the conference committee in July and successfully advocated for the removal of several harmful workplace provisions that were eliminated from the final bill text. “Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. “I have the honor of representing Hampton Roads, Virginia, the heart of our nation’s shipbuilding industrial base. So I want to underscore my support for the shipbuilding and ship maintenance provisions in the bill, including the language urging the Secretary of the Navy to speed up the procurement schedule for aircraft carriers to ensure that our carrier fleet is not again reduced to 10 carriers. These provisions will not only significantly benefit my region, but will be critical to our nation’s security.
December 2, 2016 Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. Before addressing matters of concern to the Education and the Workforce Committee, I want to underscore my strong support for the shipbuilding and ship maintenance provisions. I have the honor of representing Hampton Roads, Virginia, the heart of our nation's shipbuilding industrial base. I strongly support the conference report's shipbuilding and ship maintenance provisions, specifically language urging the Secretary of the Navy to speed up the procurement schedule for aircraft carriers to ensure that our carrier fleet is not again reduced to 10 carriers. These provisions in the conference report will not only significantly benefit my region, but will be critical for our nation's security. I'd like to commend Congressman FORBES and Congressman COURTNEY for their efforts on this area.
November 17, 2016 Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5982, the so-called Midnight Rules Relief Act, which amends the Congressional Review Act. This bill would allow Congress to consider a joint resolution to simultaneously disapprove multiple regulations en bloc, all at once, when such rules are issued within the last 60 legislative days of a session of Congress in the final year of a President's term. Now, that is legislative days. In this case, 60 legislative days would reach back until May of this year, almost 8 months before the end of the President's term. To call the rules issued last spring a midnight rule is a curious use of the word.
November 4, 2016 Press Release
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added a total of 161,000 jobs in October, with the unemployment rate falling to 4.9 percent. “The October jobs report shows that our economy added 161,000 jobs. The longest streak of total job growth on record continued and U.S. businesses have now added 15.5 million jobs since early 2010. Just last week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the third quarter of 2016, with strong export growth and continued strength in consumer spending. While we celebrate this progress, we also remain committed to making meaningful investments in our nation’s families and in our economy to ensure that our growing prosperity is broadly shared.
October 11, 2016 Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, October 14, 2016, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will join officials from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to tour the Buchanan Mine #1 in Buchanan County, Virginia. On Saturday, October 15, 2016, Congressman Scott will also host a roundtable to discuss reforms to the black lung benefits program with miners, medical professionals and legal representatives in Wise, Virginia. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Scott serves as the Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, which has oversight of federal worker health and safety programs, including mine safety, the Black Lung Benefits Act, and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, as well as pensions and employer-provided health care. Congressman Scott has sponsored the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act (H.R. 1926), which would provide the Mine Safety and Health Administration with tools it needs to better protect miners, including subpoena authority to conduct investigations and inspections. He is also the lead cosponsor of the Black Lung Benefits Improvements Act (H.R. 3625), which would ensure coal companies and their lawyers share all medical evidence with claimants and provide additional legal resources to miners with eligible claims. Congressman Scott is also a cosponsor of the Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act (H.R. 2403), a bipartisan bill that would transfer excess funds from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to cover shortfalls in the UMWA health care and coal miner pension funds.
October 7, 2016 Press Release
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 September with the unemployment rate at 5 percent. The economy has added a total of 15.3 million private sector jobs since early 2010. “While we have experienced great economic gains over the last seven years, today’s jobs report shows that our work here in Congress is far from over. There are families and individuals struggling to find work, and those who are working still lack basic workplace support and protections.
September 28, 2016 Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I stand in opposition to H.R. 6094, the inappropriately named Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act. First of all, it is not limited to those. It is for all employers. It would delay the implementation of the overtime rule for 6 months. The rule is currently slated to go into effect on December 1, and working families can't wait another 6 months for a long-overdue adjustment in the overtime rule. We ought to talk a little bit about what we are talking about. If today you are earning $10 an hour, if you work more than 40 hours a week, you get time-and-a-half for every hour worked over 40. And if they change that to the same amount, instead of $10 an hour, $20,000 a year, you still get time-and-a-half for overtime after 40 hours because your salary is under the approximately $23,000 threshold.