Press Releases
Warren, Murkowski Urge Trump to Officially Declare Opioid Epidemic a National Emergency and Take Action to Help States Combat Crisis
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today sent a letter to President Donald Trump to express concern that he has not declared the nation's opioid epidemic a national emergency or taken meaningful actions, like those of Massachusetts and Alaska after declaring their own state-level emergencies, to address the crisis. The senators encouraged the President to heed the recommendation of the President's own Commission on Combating Drug … Continue Reading
October 12, 2017
Warren Presses Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith for More Answers on Data Breach
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today sent a letter and a series of "Questions for the Record" to the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Equifax, Richard Smith, following up on a series of questions she submitted in advance of his testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on the company's recent data breach. Senator Warren had previously sent multiple inquiries to Mr. Smith and Interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros about … Continue Reading
October 11, 2017
Warren Questions Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan about Fake Accounts Scandal
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today sent a letter and a series of "Questions for the Record" to Wells Fargo's Chief Executive Officer and President Tim Sloan, following up on their exchange during the hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal. During the hearing, Senator Warren questioned Mr. Sloan about his extensive involvement in the fake accounts scam, including his aggressive … Continue Reading
October 11, 2017
Warren, Murphy, Cortez Masto Lead Colleagues in Urging NIH to Renew Funding for Firearm Violence Research
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) today led 24 of their colleagues in urging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to renew a recently-lapsed funding opportunity for firearm violence research. Following the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, President Obama directed the Department of Health and Human Services to research the causes of gun violence and how it can be … Continue Reading
October 10, 2017
Statement from Senator Elizabeth Warren on Trump Administration's Repeal of Clean Power Plan
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) issued the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency's announcement that it will begin the process to repeal the 2015 Clean Power Plan: "The Clean Power Plan is about one thing: stopping big corporations from dumping dangerous amounts of carbon pollution into our air. But this Administration's only priority seems to be stuffing the pockets of Big Oil and Big Coal executives while American families are left … Continue Reading
October 10, 2017
Senator Warren, Colleagues Warn of Public Health Crisis in Puerto Rico, Urge HHS to Take Action
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and nine other senators to call on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide additional resources and better coordinate efforts on the ground in the face of a growing public health crisis in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands following Hurricanes Irma and Maria to ensure that the more than 3.5 million Americans citizens living … Continue Reading
October 10, 2017
Senators Warren, Burr, Tillis, Cassidy, Kennedy Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Honoring Life of Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced a resolution honoring the life and achievements of Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook (1928 - 2017), who was the first African American to hold either a regular or tenured faculty appointment at a predominantly white southern college or university, and who passed away this year at the age of 88. "Dr. Cook was a leader in education and … Continue Reading
October 10, 2017
Investigation Shows Trump Transition Ignored Ethics Officials and Refused to Cooperate with GAO
Washington, DC - Today, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released a report compiled by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) at the Members' request showing the Trump Transition Team consistently ignored advice from the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) - resulting in ethical crises that extended beyond the transition period into … Continue Reading
October 06, 2017
Statement from Senator Elizabeth Warren on CFPB's New Payday Lending Rule
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren issued the following statement after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its new rule on payday lending: "Payday lenders don't make their high profits on ordinary small-dollar loans. The big bucks come from trapping a portion of the borrowers in a cycle of debt that crushes families and sucks money out of communities that can least afford it. The CFPB's new rule will stop these abuses and, once again, help level the playing … Continue Reading
October 06, 2017
Senator Warren Statement on Trump Administration Birth Control Rule
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration's announcement of new rules to roll back the Affordable Care Act requirement that all health insurance plans cover birth control: "News flash to Republicans: The year is 2017, not 1917. Evidently, the Republicans believe that the single most important issue facing our nation is to change the law so that employers can deny women access to birth … Continue Reading
October 06, 2017
Senator Warren Co-Sponsors Three Gun Safety Bills, Advocates for Common Sense Reforms
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) this week cosponsored three bills to implement common sense public safety measures affecting the sale of guns, bump stocks, and high capacity gun magazines. Senator Warren co-sponsored the introduction of the "No Check, No Sale" bill to close a loophole that allows gun sales to proceed if a background check is not completed after 72 hours, even if the gun buyer is not legally allowed to purchase a gun, the Automatic Gun Fire … Continue Reading
October 06, 2017
Warren and Grassley Issue Bipartisan Statement on HHS Inspector General Report About Medical Device Identifiers
Washington, DC - In a report earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) work to add device identifiers (DIs) to Medicare claims in order to better track faulty devices. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued a joint statement in response today. "We are pleased to see that the Office of Inspector General has recommended that CMS work … Continue Reading
October 06, 2017
During Senate Hearing, Warren Highlights New Funding for Massachusetts to Combat Opioid Epidemic
Washington, DC - During a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Dr. Debra Houry, Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about how new funding secured in a May budget deal has helped the CDC combat the spread of the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts and across the United States. Earlier this year, Senator Warren led a coalition of 19 … Continue Reading
October 05, 2017
Statement from Senator Warren on Iran Nuclear Agreement
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren released the following statement in response to reports that President Trump plans to "decertify" the international nuclear agreement with Iran: "President Trump's reported decision to decertify the Iran nuclear agreement is dangerous. But don't take my word for it: ask our nation's military leaders. The Secretary of Defense admitted just this week that it's in our national security interest to keep our word and stick to the agreement. … Continue Reading
October 04, 2017
Senators Warren and Sasse Raise Concerns About $7.2 Million IRS Contract Awarded to Equifax
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) today raised concerns about the recent decision by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to award Equifax a $7.2 million contract to handle sensitive taxpayer information, despite the company's recent data breach exposing the personal information of over 145 million Americans. Earlier this week, the IRS posted the award of a new, short-term, $7.2 million sole-source contract with Equifax "to verify taxpayer … Continue Reading
October 04, 2017
Senator Warren Asks Former Equifax CEO if Breach Created New Business Opportunities for the Company
Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned former Equifax CEO Richard Smith during today's Senate Banking Committee hearing about how the company might profit from selling more fraud prevention services in the wake of its recent security breach. Senator Warren noted that while Equifax has committed to offering one year of free credit monitoring to those affected by the hack, consumers will have to pay for the service for years to come in order to protect … Continue Reading
October 04, 2017
Senator Warren Asks ED General Counsel Nominee to Submit Substantive Responses to Hearing Questions
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today called on Carlos Muñiz, President Trump's nominee for General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Education (ED), to substantively respond to a series of questions regarding his legal perspective and interpretation of laws affecting ED programs and activities. Senator Warren expressed disappointment with Mr. Muñiz's initial, "rote, obfuscatory" responses to the questions she submitted for the record following his … Continue Reading
October 03, 2017
Senators Warren, Markey, Representative Tsongas, and Mayor Rivera Announce $41,000 Grant for the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission
Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, along with Representative Niki Tsongas and Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera, announced today that the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded a federal grant of nearly $41,000 to the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC) to fund the Lawrence Textile Innovation Center feasibility study in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The funding, which was awarded through the EDA's Planning and Local Technical … Continue Reading
October 03, 2017
Warren, Hatch, Whitehouse, Baldwin, Cassidy Request that GAO Consider Steps for Federal Agencies to Improve Patient Matching in Upcoming Report
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) today requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) consider a number of key issues related to improving patient matching in the U.S. health system as it begins a study required by a provision coauthored by the senators in the 21st Century Cures Act. Correct patient matching allows providers to share patient information, and … Continue Reading
October 03, 2017
Senator Warren to Wells Fargo CEO: "You should be fired."
Washington, DC - At today's Senate Banking Committee hearing, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan about his record at the company, including his actions as CFO during the fake accounts scandal. She also pressed him on his plans to cut $4 billion in expenses over the next several years, and whether those cuts would result in the firing of thousands of frontline Wells Fargo employees. Senator Warren questioned Mr. Sloan, a Wells Fargo employee for … Continue Reading
