Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued the following statement after the Committee passed legislation regarding workers’ compensation programs, school safety, and Community Services Block Grants:
“With the exception of H.R. 6087, the legislation Democrats advanced today will do little to improve the lives of Americans. These bills are more about creating layers of red tape and giving more power to the federal government than protecting workers or students. If Democrats had been willing to work with Republicans, we could have come up with better solutions for the problems facing American workers and students.”
The bipartisan H.R. 6087, the Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act:
- Amends the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) to allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to act as eligible providers under the FECA program.
- Grants federal employees more choice in selecting their health care provider and improves access to care.
H.R. 6102, the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act of 2021:
- Fails to provide meaningful reform to the Black Lung Program, which helps miners when they fall ill with black lung disease.
- Further imperils the already fiscally unsound Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
- Continues the Democrats’ war on coal and pushes more operators out of business.
- Fails to provide taxpayers with enhanced oversight or accountability.
H.R. 3114, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ COVID-19 Compensation Act of 2021:
- Puts an undue burden on maritime companies at a time when they are dealing with labor shortages and supply chain issues.
- Costs taxpayers and the maritime industry up to a billion dollars.
- Expands taxpayer-funded programs without first making needed reforms.
H.R. 2499, the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2021:
- Removes important oversight of federal workers’ compensation programs.
- Short circuits the Department of Labor’s Special Claims Unit, which provides special assistance to adjudicate all new firefighter claims and to improve customer service and consistency.
H.R. 5428, the School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act:
- Ignores the crime wave sweeping across cities and Democrat efforts to defund police.
- Requires the statistical arm of the Department of Education to report data it may not be able to collect.
- Codifies a study that adds unnecessary data points without providing solutions to better protect students from school shootings.
- Fails to allow students and families to escape unsafe schools denying them the opportunity to learn in an environment of their choice.
H.R. 5129, the Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act of 2021:
- Removes religious protections for faith-based providers, making it harder for low-income Americans to receive the help they need.
- Puts taxpayers on the hook for funding programs that do not work.
- Includes people with higher incomes, stretching resources and essentially robbing those most in need of help.
- Paves the way for taxpayer funds to be used for political activism.
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