WASHINGTON, May 13 -- David Cleary, chief of staff for Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following statement on May 10: "Today, Sunday, May 10, a member of Senator Lamar Alexander's staff tested positive for COVID-19. The staff member is recovering at home and is doing well. "Senator Alexander has no symptoms and tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, May 7. After discussing this with the Senate's  more

WASHINGTON, May 15 -- Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, ranking Republican member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following news release on May 14: Today, Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, joined all other Republican Ranking Members from standing and select House Committees in sending a letter to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) in opposition to H.Res. 965. This proxy voting measure proposes partisan changes that  more

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, May 14 -- Rep. Timothy Burchett, R-Tennessee, issued the following statement: Congressman Tim Burchett (TN-02) released the following statement regarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 1,815 page, $3 trillion liberal messaging bill H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act: "Speaker Pelosi clearly doesn't believe coronavirus requires urgent attention if she puts this bill littered with liberal agenda items on the House floor. This is a mess  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Rep. Timothy Burchett, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release on May 15: Congressman Tim Burchett (TN-02) announced he will vote against H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. The HEROES Act would spend 3 trillion taxpayer dollars on: - on bailouts for fiscally mismanaged states; - expanded unemployment benefits that make it more lucrative for many people to stay home instead of going to work; - stimulus payments f  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 14 -- Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) announced that the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will receive a $646,023 grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to conduct new research on cholesterol regulation. Congressman Cohen made the following statement: "It's encouraging to see our Memphis medical school continuing its pioneering research in the midst of this pandemic.  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 13 -- Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, today announced that the University of Memphis will receive a grant of $543,552 from the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research. Congressman Cohen made the following statement: "It is good to see the continuation of important materials research at the University of Memphis while   more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 13 -- Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip James Clyburn asking them to prevent the privatization and outsourcing of federal jobs during the ongoing pandemic. Congressman Cohen cited a plan by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to outsource 108 Information Technology (I.T.) jobs to private contractors. Congressman Cohen's lett  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 16 -- Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Each spring, a nation-wide high school arts competition is sponsored by the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students in the 9th District. The winning artwork of our district's competition will be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol. The exhibit in Washington will include the winning artwork from all participating distri  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 14 -- Rep. Stephen Cohen, D-Tennessee, issued the following statement: Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) will return to Washington Thursday and plans to vote Friday on a fifth bill in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Heroes Act, H.R. 6800, includes some of the Congressman's proposed improvements to previous coronavirus measures, including the repeal of a tax break for millionaire and billionaire real estate developers and hedge fund managers; a federal requirement  more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 16 -- Rep. Stephen Cohen, D-Tennessee, issued the following statement: Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) will return to Washington Thursday and plans to vote Friday on a fifth bill in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Heroes Act, H.R. 6800, includes some of the Congressman's proposed improvements to previous coronavirus measures, including the repeal of a tax break for millionaire and billionaire real estate developers and hedge fund managers; a federal requirement  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) returned to Washington and voted this evening for a $3 trillion measure to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the national economy. The measure contains funding for state and local governments, hospitals, first responders, our health care workers, testing, another round of $1,200 economic impact payments and increased spending for the Supplemental Nutri  more

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 16 -- Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tennessee, issued the following statement regarding the Air Force Secretary's announcement of criteria and nation-wide competition for the U.S. Space Command Headquarters: "I am shocked by the announcement of a billion-dollar competition for a new U.S. Space Command headquarters. "This is worse than a boondoggle; it's a moondoggle. This is more Trump Administration grandstanding on the Space Force and its combatant command, just in time for re  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tennessee, issued the following statement about the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (H.R. 6800), which is expected to pass the House: "The HEROES Act may be bold, but it is what is needed to help America recover and begin healing. "The CARES Act--the largest economic relief bill in history--was not nearly enough, and the Federal Reserve Chairman has said we need additional relief, which may be costly but worth it to avoid lo  more

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee, May 13 -- Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) joined Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Fred Upton (R-MI), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Van Taylor (R-TX), and Terri Sewell (D-AL) in leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers in urging House Leadership to support jobs and economic stabilization of the auto industry in future corona  more

WASHINGTON, May 13 -- Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Reps. David Kustoff (R-TN), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Lance Gooden (R-TX), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) introduced the Expanding Medical Partnerships with Israel to Lessen Dependence on China Act. The legislation authorizes a new partnership program to enhance cooperation between the United States and Israel to develop innovative approaches for treating and potentially curing COVID-19. In addition to this bill, Reps.   more

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, May 11 -- Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, issued the following statement after President Trump approved federal assistance for Unicoi County to recover from the April 12-13 severe storms and tornadoes: "I applaud President Trump for approving this very badly needed relief for Unicoi County, and thank Governor Lee for his work to get this aid approved. I visited Unicoi County to assess flood damage last month, and one road collapsed not long after I drove over it. It was the  more

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, May 15 -- Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, issued the following statement after cosponsoring the Time to Repeal an Archaic Policy Act, introduced by Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pennsylvania, on May 8: "The Logan Act of 1799 is a tool of entrapment that has never in its history led to a single conviction. In theory, the Act criminalized unauthorized negotiations of U.S. citizens with foreign governments in disputes with the U.S. In practice, the Act is used to allow partisan, b  more

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee, May 15 -- Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, issued the following column: The state of Tennessee has begun to carefully and safely reopen over the past couple of weeks following the expiration of Governor Lee's Safer at Home order on April 30, and I have been encouraged by the results we've seen so far. Our restaurants are able to start serving customers, hospitals have resumed elective procedures, and churches are considering steps to resume regular services. I agree with th  more

WASHINGTON, May 15 -- Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, ranking Republican member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following news release: House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Ranking Member Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) sent a joint letter with Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Ranking Member Jon Tester (D-Mont.) requesting a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the use and management of the emergency reli  more

BROWNSVILLE, Texas, May 14 -- Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Texas, issued the following news release: In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Congressman Filemon Vela of Texas, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, David Kustoff of Tennessee, and Richard Hudson of North Carolina called for additional assistance to the cotton and textile industries due to market disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The letter, signed by 60 Members of Congress, requests that leade  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 12 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following transcript of an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press: U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) joined Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" to discuss efforts to ramp up COVID-19 testing and his work as chairman of the Senate health committee during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chuck Todd: You've been a big proponent of this initiative over at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which you have co  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 14 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following transcript of an interview with FOX News' "America's Newsroom" to discuss efforts to ramp up COVID-19 testing to allow students to go back to school this fall and his work as chairman of the Senate health committee during the COVID-19 pandemic: Fox News: Mr. Chairman, I thought a critical moment was when the Democratic Ranking Member, P  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 14 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following transcript of an interview on Fox News' America's Newsroom: U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) joined FOX News' "America's Newsroom" to discuss efforts to ramp up COVID-19 testing to allow students to go back to school this fall, and his work as chairman of the Senate health committee during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fox News: Mr. Chairman, I thought a critical moment was when the Democratic Ranking Membe  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 13 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following transcript of an interview on May 10 with Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press to discuss efforts to ramp up COVID-19 testing: Chuck Todd: You've been a big proponent of this initiative over at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which you have compared to the show "Shark Tank," essentially to develop a rapid screening test that can b  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 11 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following transcript of an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press: U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) joined Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" to discuss efforts to ramp up COVID-19 testing and his work as chairman of the Senate health committee during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chuck Todd: You've been a big proponent of this initiative over at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which you have com  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 11 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following statement regarding the upcoming committee hearing "COVID-19 - Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School": "After working with the Trump Administration, the Senate health committee scheduled a hearing with four Administration witnesses on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. We recently received news that two of our witnesses, Dr. Stephen Hahn and Dr. Robert Redfield, have self-quarantined out of an abundance of caut  more

WASHINGTON, May 11 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following statement by Chief of Staff David Cleary on COVID-19: "Today, Sunday, May 10, a member of Senator Lamar Alexander's staff tested positive for COVID-19. The staff member is recovering at home and is doing well. "Senator Alexander has no symptoms and tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, May 7. After discussing this with the Senate's attending physician, Senator Alexander, out of an abundance of caution,   more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 13 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following statement regarding the upcoming committee hearing entitled "COVID-19: Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School" scheduled for May 12: "After working with the Trump Administration, the Senate health committee scheduled a hearing with four Administration witnesses on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. We recently received news that two of our w  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 15 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) spoke to National Public Radio's (NPR) Mary Louise Kelly to discuss efforts to ramp up COVID-19 testing to allow students to go back to school this fall and his work as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I think any principal, any chancellor of a university can say, 'We will take testing.   more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 15 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following news release on May 14: U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today spoke to National Public Radio's (NPR) Mary Louise Kelly to discuss efforts to ramp up COVID-19 testing to allow students to go back to school this fall and his work as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during the COVID-19 pandemic.   more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 13 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said "interest rates on new federal student loans will drop to historic lows on July 1st. "This rate drop is a result of Congress working together in 2013 with President Obama to tie student loan rates to actual federal government borrowing costs," Alexander said. "And I plan to continue working together with my colleagues in a simi  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 13 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following news release: Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said "interest rates on new federal student loans will drop to historic lows on July 1st. "This rate drop is a result of Congress working together in 2013 with President Obama to tie student loan rates to actual federal government borrowing costs," Alexander sa  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 16 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: United States Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said a $500,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for designing mountain bike and hiking trails along the Foothills Parkway in Cocke County will increase tourism and economic development opportunities in the area. "Cocke County is one of Tennessee's most economically distressed counties, and these mountain bike and hiking trail  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 13 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following news release on May 12: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said that COVID-19 testing in the United States is "impressive" and "enough to begin going back to work." "But millions more rapid tests created by new technologies are needed to give the rest of America enough confide  more

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 13 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said that COVID-19 testing in the United States is "impressive" and "enough to begin going back to work." "But millions more rapid tests created by new technologies are needed to give the rest of America enough confidence to go back to work and back to school," Alexander added. Alexander made his remarks  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led 27 of her Republican colleagues in urging leadership to provide businesses with regulatory relief in the wake of the economic crisis caused by the global pandemic. Senator Blackburn is joined in this effort by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Pat Toomey   more

WASHINGTON, May 13 -- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Last night, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Shannon Bream on Fox News at Night to discuss the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. "Somebody cooked up this plot. Somebody gave an order. Somebody did the dirty work. Michael Flynn paid a price. The Trump administration paid a price, and the American taxpayer has footed t  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and her Senate colleagues to honor police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2019, and due to complications from COVID-19 in recent months. She gave the following statement about the resolution: "We are indebted to our police officers and sheriffs for their service to our country and our communities. In particul  more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) introduced bicameral bills to rename the street outside the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. "Li Wenliang Plaza." The bill honors the late Dr. Li Wenliang, the Wuhan-based doctor who warned the world about the coronavirus before the Chinese Communist Party sil  more

WASHINGTON, May 8 -- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced their partnership with the Smithsonian Institution to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the passage and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote. Senators Blackburn and Feinstein will lead their female colleagues in the Senate in compiling reflections on what thi  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) introduced the Stop China-Originated Viral Infectious Diseases (COVID) Act to ensure the Chinese Communist Party faces consequences for its role in spreading the coronavirus. The Stop COVID Act will empower Americans to sue China in U.S. court and seek compensation for the devastating harm the deadly virus has caused  more