Press Releases
Senate Democrats Ask How Labor Department Plans to Protect Workers During Coronavirus Spread
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today joined HELP Committee Ranking Member, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and their seven Democratic HELP Committee colleagues to request Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia provide details about the Department’s coronavirus preparedness and response efforts and how the Department plans to protect the safety, health, and economic security of … Continue Reading
February 28, 2020
Senators Warren and Markey Warn Trump Not to Raid Low-Income Heating Program to Pay for Coronavirus Response
Washington, D.C. - Today, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) called on the Trump administration to stop any proposal to transfer money out of the already underfunded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to support the national response to the coronavirus threat. In a letter sent today to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the senators call instead for new emergency funding to combat coronavirus and point to the fact … Continue Reading
February 28, 2020
Warren Seeks Assurances U.S. Sanctions on Iran Are Not Hindering Coronavirus Containment
Washington, DC -- United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today sent letters to the Department of the Treasury and the Department of State expressing concern about the coronavirus spread in Iran and seeking assurances that U.S. sanctions on Iran are not hindering humanitarian transactions that would help counter and contain the spread of the disease in that country.According to reports, at least 26 people have died in Iran from the coronavirus -- the largest number of deaths of … Continue Reading
February 28, 2020
Warren to Big Banks: How Are You Preparing for a Coronavirus Outbreak?
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, today sent letters to the CEOs of Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley -- the U.S.-based “Too Big to Fail” banks with the largest foreign exposures -- asking about how they are monitoring and preparing to mitigate the economic risks of the outbreak of the … Continue Reading
February 28, 2020
Warren, Booker, Harris Press Education Dept.'s Office of Civil Rights on Crisis Facing Student Loan Borrowers of Color
Washington, D.C. -- United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), wrote to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) requesting information about how OCR plans to address alarming racial disparities in the federal student loan system through vigorous enforcement of the nation's civil rights laws.OCR is responsible for enforcing the country's civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination in … Continue Reading
February 27, 2020
Senators Warren and Booker Introduce the Part-Time Workers Bill of Rights
Washington, D.C. -- United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), today introduced the Part-Time Workers Bill of Rights. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, and Congresswoman Ayanna … Continue Reading
February 27, 2020
Senator Warren Unveils Legislation to De-Fund President's Border Wall, Use Funds to Combat Coronavirus Outbreak
Washington, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, today unveiled legislation, the Prioritizing Pandemic Prevention Act, requiring all funds that have been appropriated to build a border wall-including funds directly appropriated by Congress and funds diverted by the executive branch from other accounts-to be immediately transferred to the U.S. Department … Continue Reading
February 26, 2020
Senator Warren Raises Concerns with Federal Agencies over Troubling Decision-Making Process, Citing “Confusion and Disagreement” During Evacuation of Americans with Coronavirus from Diamond Princess Cruise Ship in Japan
Washington, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today sent a letter to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield raising concerns over reports that appeared to show confusion and disagreement between federal officials earlier this month when State … Continue Reading
February 26, 2020
Senator Warren Statement on Federal Criminal Charges Against Columbia Gas of Massachusetts for the 2018 Merrimack Valley Pipeline Disaster
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today released the following statement concerning Columbia Gas of Massachusetts pleading guilty to violating the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act in connection with the September 2018 Merrimack Valley natural gas disaster that killed 19-year-old Leonel Rondon, injured more than two dozen people, damaged more than 100 structures, and left residents without heat for weeks. NiSource, the parent company to Columbia Gas, has also … Continue Reading
February 26, 2020
Senators Warren, Whitehouse, Booker, Van Hollen Call On BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to Endorse the Climate Risk Disclosure Act in Light of His Public Climate Commitments
Washington, D.C. - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), sent a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink urging him to endorse the Climate Risk Disclosure Act after Mr. Fink publicly announced that BlackRock will "make investment decisions with environmental sustainability as a core goal" and committed to release climate disclosures for the investment firm's mutual funds.In recent letters to … Continue Reading
February 21, 2020
Warren, Haaland Urge DoD to Model New Military Housing Quality Database After CFPB Consumer Complaint Database
Washington, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Ranking Member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, and Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to the Department of Defense (DoD) urging it to use the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Consumer Complaint Database as a model when … Continue Reading
February 21, 2020
Warren, Markey Urge Inclusion of Taxpayer Advocate on IRS's Taxpayer First Act Implementation Team
Washington, D.C. -- United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protections, and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which has assembled a team to advise on the implementation of the Taxpayer First Act of 2019 (TFA), urging the IRS to immediately add a representative from the Taxpayer Advocate Service … Continue Reading
February 20, 2020
Warren, Markey, Whitehouse, Reed Urge Correction of Cost-of-Living Pay Disparities for Federal Employees Living in Southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Washington, D.C. - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) sent a letter to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Dale Cabaniss urging the agency to address the significant disparities between locality pay adjustments for hourly versus salaried federal workers in southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.Many federal employees are compensated under one of two pay systems. The General Schedule … Continue Reading
February 19, 2020
Markey, Warren, Senators Introduce Legislation to Counteract Trump Exit from Iran Deal
Washington, D.C. - Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have introduced S.3314, the Iran Diplomacy Act, which calls upon the United States and Iran to return to their commitments under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal. The Trump administration unilaterally exited from the deal on May 8, 2018. … Continue Reading
February 18, 2020
Senator Warren's Ongoing Oversight of the U.S. Response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak
Washington, D.C. -- United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has spent over seven years in the U.S. Senate fighting to keep families across the Commonwealth and the country safe. Since the beginning of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, she has worked to ensure that the Trump Administration is effectively responding to the outbreak and has the resources needed to address this public health … Continue Reading
February 16, 2020
Senators Warren and Markey Raise Concerns, Questions about CBP SWAT Teams' Deployment to Major Cities, Including Boston, MA
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) yesterday sent a letter to the heads of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), raising grave concerns about the decision to send CBP's SWAT teams to cities legally choosing not to cooperate with President Trump's inhumane immigration policies.On Friday, February 14th, CBP announced a plan to deploy … Continue Reading
February 14, 2020
Warren Joins Shaheen, Gillibrand Calling on EPA to Deliver on Promises Made in PFAS Action Plan
Washington, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), along with a group of 29 senators, in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler requesting he provide an updated timeline for when the EPA will implement commitments made in the agency’s plan to combat exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The EPA released its plan - the PFAS Action Plan - one … Continue Reading
February 14, 2020
Warren, McGovern, Mass. Lawmakers Demand HUD Take Action to Protect Public Housing Residents From Radon
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and House Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern (D-MA-02), along with Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and United States Representatives Richard E. Neal (MA-01), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08), William Keating (MA-09), Joseph P. Kennedy III (MA-04), Katherine M. Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Lori Trahan (MA-03), sent a letter to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson … Continue Reading
February 14, 2020
Warren, Colleagues Call for Attorney General Barr's Resignation After "Corrupt" Intervention in Roger Stone Case
Washington, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai’i), today sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr expressing alarm at, and opposition to, unethical political intervention of senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in the case of … Continue Reading
February 14, 2020
Senators Warren and Markey and Rep. Keating Sound Alarm Over Lack of Federal Funding for Cape Cod Canal Bridges
Washington, D.C. - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), along with Congressman William Keating (D-Mass.), called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to recommit to an earlier recommendation to replace the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges. Lawmakers sent the letter after the agency announced its Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY 2020) and President Trump unveiled his budget request for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021), neither of which … Continue Reading
