Latest from Lamar, Notes from the Senate Desk

Important news from
this week:*

-
This week, we celebrated the fourth anniversary of the
Every Student Succeeds Act -- bipartisan legislation I introduced that
restored to states, including Tennessee, communities and teachers the
responsibility for improving student achievement.

-
Amazon purchased
two properties in Wilson County, which will bring more jobs to Middle
Tennessee.

-
Vanderbilt's Dr. Josh Denny will serve as the new
chief executive officer for the *All of Us* Research Program, the
centerpiece of the Precision Medicine Initiative at the National Institutes of
Health. Dr. Josh Denny is an experienced team leader and has
precisely the skills needed to finish the important job of collecting health
information from one million people and using that information in a way
that saves lives.

-
The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Dr. Stephen
Hahn to serve as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). Now he can get to work approving new life-saving drugs and
devices, regulating tobacco and e-cigarettes, addressing the opioid crisis,
ensuring pain patients can receive the medications they need and
protecting our nation's food supply.



*Announcing a bipartisan
agreement on legislation to lower health care costs for Tennessee
families*

This week, I announced a bipartisan agreement with health committee
leaders in the House of Representatives on legislation to lower what
Americans pay [link 1] out of pocket for their health care.

I do not
think it is possible to write a bill that has broader agreement than this
among Senate and House Democrats and Republicans on Americans' number
one financial concern: what they pay out of their own pockets for
health care. This legislation includes proposals from 80 senators, 46
Democrats and 34 Republicans. It would end the practice of surprise
billing for patients - this occurs when you go to an emergency room covered
by your health insurance, and are surprised several weeks later by an
unexpected bill in the mail that can cost hundreds or thousands of
dollars. It will also provide nearly $20 billion for five years of
funding for the nation's 1,400 community health centers, including the more
than 200 community health centers in Tennessee, and lower the cost of
prescription drugs and other medical services by requiring
transparency and spurring competition. Congress should pass the bill promptly and
give the American people a very good Christmas present.




*Permanently funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities and
simplifying the federal student aid application form*

[image =
[link removed]]

The United States Senate passed [link 2] on Tuesday the
FUTURE Act, which included a bipartisan amendment I sponsored that
permanently reauthorizes $255 million in annual funding for Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving
Institutions and simplifies the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA) -- the complex, archaic form that 20 million families,
including 8 million minority students and 400,000 Tennessee families, fill
out every year to qualify for federal student aid. This legislation is
now headed to the president's desk so it can be signed into law.

It's
hard to think of a piece of legislation that would have more of a
lasting impact on minority students and their families than this bill.
First, this legislation provides permanent funding, fully paid for, for
HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions attended by over 2
million minority students. Second, after five years of bipartisan effort,
the legislation takes a first step to simplify the FAFSA which removes a
huge roadblock for the millions of Americans who apply for federal
grants and loans to attend college. Former Governor Bill Haslam has
called the FAFSA the single biggest impediment to Tennessee students
taking advantage of our state's two free years of community college. This
bill is now headed to the president's desk to be signed into law.




*Celebrating the fourth anniversary of fixing No Child Left Behind*

On
December 10, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Every Student
Succeeds Act [link 3] (ESSA) -- bipartisan legislation I introduced
that restored to states, including Tennessee, communities and teachers
the responsibility for improving student achievement -- calling it a
"Christmas miracle." This week, I celebrated the fourth anniversary of
what the *Wall Street Journal* called "the largest devolution of
federal control to the states in a quarter-century." Under ESSA, every state
plan for spending federal dollars has now been approved by the U.S.
Department of Education. More than half of states have already improved
those plans with amendments based on feedback from superintendents,
principals, teachers, parents and students. Less time is being focused
just on test scores. States have begun to identify their lowest
performing schools and provide extra support in order to improve during this
school year. I hope states will continue to take advantage of this
new flexibility.

[image =
[link removed]]

*I enjoyed
celebrating ESSA's fourth anniversary this week in a panel discussion with
a few of my congressional colleagues.*



*New trade agreement with
Mexico and Canada is "good news" for Tennessee auto workers and
farmers*

Updating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) makes
sense, and the agreement announced [link 4] this week will continue to
raise family incomes and create even more good-paying jobs, which is good
news for Tennessee auto workers and farmers. I believe the
president's stated goal of
"zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero
subsidies" is exactly the right goal for Tennessee's auto industry,
manufacturers and farmers, and a welcome movement away from piling tariffs
on top of tariffs that threaten to destroy jobs and lower family
incomes.

Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple. Tennessee's automotive
industry is so important to me because in 1978, when I was running for
governor, Tennessee hardly had any auto jobs. Now, 136,000 Tennesseans --
one third of our state's manufacturing jobs -- work in the automotive
industry at plants and suppliers in 88 of our 95 counties. One of the
reasons Tennessee has been able to have so much success building cars
and SUVs is because NAFTA was fundamentally a zero tariff trade
agreement.



[image =
[link removed]]

*It was good meeting
with Tennesseans this Tuesday with my colleague and friend Senator
Blackburn.*



*Passing the most important new law for over-the-counter
drugs in 40 years*

The Senate Tuesday passed the most important new law
[link 5] affecting the safety, innovation, and affordability of
over-the-counter drugs since the 1970's. In 2015, as the Senate health
committee I chair was working on the 21st Century Cures Act, I asked Janet
Woodcock, the director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, if there was any change she
needed but hadn't been able to get done.
She replied that the
over-the-counter monograph -- the rules that govern how all drugs sold at
pharmacies other than prescription drugs are approved -- hadn't been
updated since the 1970's and that she hadn't been able to persuade
Congress to do it.

Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-G.A.) and Bob Casey's (D-P.A.)
Over-the-Counter Monograph Safety, Innovation, and Reform Act will now
modernize those rules. It is a great testament to Senator Isakson's
legislative skill and determination, and I thank him and Senator Casey
for their work to get this update across the finish line.




*Confirming Dr. Stephen Hahn to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
*

The U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Stephen Hahn [link 6] to serve as the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner by a bipartisan vote
of 72-18. Dr. Hahn's experience as a practicing oncologist, a
successful leader of the MD Anderson Cancer Center and work at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) make him the right leader for the FDA at this
critical time. Dr. Hahn can now get to work approving new life-saving
drugs and devices, regulating tobacco and e-cigarettes, addressing
the opioid crisis, ensuring pain patients can receive the medications
they need and protecting our nation's food supply.



*Health
committee approves legislation to help states prevent child abuse and ensure
safety and welfare of children*

I often suggest Tennesseans look at
Washington, D.C., as if it were a split-screen television. This week, on
one side, you had hearings on impeachment and the Department of
Justice's Inspector General report. On the other side, Thursday, the Senate
health committee approved legislation to help states ensure the
safety and welfare of children [link 7] and legislation to fill shortages
in the pediatric and geriatric health care workforce.



The bills
passed included the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2019 introduced by
Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Doug Jones (D-Ala.) that reauthorizes
the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act -- the federal legislation
that gives states funding to prevent and respond to child abuse --
and also included the Adoption Opportunities Reauthorization Act of 2019
and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. The committee
also passed the Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act, the Investment in
Tomorrow's Pediatric Health Care Workforce Act, the Child Care
Protection Improvement Act of 2019, and the NIMHD Research Endowment
Revitalization Act of 2019.





*Below are some articles from this week I
thought you would enjoy:*

*Roll Call*: *Amid impeachment saga, a
kitchen sink of legislative dealing* [link 8]

*WMC-NBC Memphis Channel 5*:
*Loved ones and dignitaries pay respects to Bishop William H. Graves*
[link 9]

*Maryville Daily Times*: *Alexander touts success of Oak
Ridge Corridor* [link 10]





Consider yourself in trouble if you
say, "And now in conclusion," and the audience starts to applaud.

*#12
in Lamar Alexander's Little Plaid Book*




----------------------
footnotes
----------------------
[link 1]
[link removed]
[link 2]
[link removed]
[link 3]
[link removed]
[link 4]
[link removed]
[link 5]
[link removed]
[link 6]
[link removed]
[link 7]
[link removed]
[link 8]
[link removed]
[link 9]
[link removed]
[link 10]
[link removed]

Contact Information:

Website:
[link removed]

Office Location:
Washington, DC Office
455 Dirksen Office
Building, Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4944 | Fax: (202)
228-3398

Privacy Policy:
[link removed]
Unsubscribe:
[link removed]