Press Releases
December 22, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement: “Republicans currently control the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House, yet we are entering the second government shutdown this year. The Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan solution to keep the government open until February 8th while we continue to debate the best way to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, and House Democrats were willing to support that compromise.
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December 21, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Education announced that it is rescinding the 2014 ED-DOJ Discipline Guidance. “The Department’s decision to rescind the 2014 discipline guidance will undermine access to a quality education for students of color and students with disabilities. The guidance was issued to help schools address the troubling and undeniable evidence that Black students, boys, and students with disabilities receive harsher punishments than their classmates for similar or lesser offenses, without jeopardizing students’ safety. Rescinding the guidance will stall, if not reverse our progress toward addressing these disparities.
December 20, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the First Step Act of 2018: “Our criminal justice system is long overdue for significant and comprehensive reform. For far too long, policymakers have chosen to play politics by enacting so-called ‘tough on crime’ slogans and soundbites, such as ‘three strikes and you’re out,’ ‘mandatory minimum sentencing,’ and even rhymes such as, ‘you do the adult crime, you do the adult time.’ These policies may sound appealing, but their impact ranges from a negligible reduction in crime to an actual increase in crime. A better policy has always been to follow evidence and research to reduce crime and save money.
December 18, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the release of the Trump administration’s school safety commission report. “The Federal School Safety Commission Report is not a serious or good-faith effort to make schools safer for students and educators. The report’s recommendations ignore both the research consensus and the demands of students and parents for tougher gun laws. Instead, the report promotes a longstanding, conservative agenda to undermine policies that protect students’ civil rights.
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December 13, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), the top Democrat on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, issued the following statement after the passage of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 (H.R.6964), which reauthorizes and reforms the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) to help state and local leaders better serve juvenile offenders and at-risk youth. “Today is the culmination of a multi-year, bipartisan effort to improve our juvenile justice system. Rather than setting policy based in slogans and soundbites, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act is guided by the best-available evidence and the best interests of young offenders, at-risk youth, and communities across the country."
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December 11, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House and Senate leaders of the Agriculture Committees unveiled a bipartisan, bicameral 2018 Farm Bill conference report. The conference report contains several major provisions from the Chesapeake Bay Farm Bill Enhancements Act, which was introduced by Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) last year. “Improving conservation practices throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed is critical to our efforts to help restore the Chesapeake Bay, and that is why we introduced the Chesapeake Bay Farm Bill Enhancements Act,” said Congressman Scott.
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December 7, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 155,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent.
“Today’s jobs report reveals the economic state of workers and middle-class families remains fragile despite a prolonged period of low unemployment. Wages have remained largely stagnant – particularly for low-wage earners – and too many workers are forced to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. What’s worse, the Majority’s major legislative accomplishment from the 115th Congress was a massive tax cut that overwhelmingly benefits corporations and the wealthy.
December 6, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) statement on today’s announcement that the Education Corporation of America (ECA) will close all of its more than 75 campuses, affecting roughly 20,000 students. ECA is accredited by ACICS and makes up about half of ACICS accredited schools. ECA’s abrupt closure calls into question the Department’s recent decision to reinstate ACICS as a recognized accreditor.
“We have repeatedly warned about the risks low-quality, for-profit education companies and irresponsible accreditors pose to students and taxpayers across the country. Today’s announcement is another painful reminder of those risks. Just as with ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges, Education Corporation of America’s (ECA) abrupt closing will leave thousands of students with non-transferrable credits, crippling debt, and few of the job opportunities they were promised.
November 28, 2018
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ways & Means Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA), and Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that 2.4 million Americans have selected health insurance plans through state and federal marketplaces, a drop from this point in 2017: “While there are still two weeks remaining in open enrollment, these lagging numbers show that Republicans’ sabotage of our nation’s health care system is working. The Trump administration has starved the program intended to help families get covered by refusing to make congressionally-required investments in outreach and enrollment.
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November 16, 2018
Press Release
Following the administration’s perversion of ACA provision designed to help states lower costs, Democrats in House and Senate say change undermines protections for pre-existing conditions.
WASHINGTON, DC – Democratic leaders on health care committees in the House and Senate today called on the Trump administration to cease their continued attacks on affordable, comprehensive health care for Americans, following a proposed change to the interpretation of Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act that would further open the door to junk insurance plans and undermine health care for people with pre-existing conditions. “We write to express our serious concerns that the Administration’s new guidance on Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act is inconsistent with congressional intent, will raise costs for consumers, and will undermine protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions,” the Members wrote.
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