Senate Republicans on Tuesday voted to elect Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tn.) as the top Republican, or Ranking Member, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
“I am honored that my Republican colleagues elected me as the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Tennessee is helping lead the country in health care and education innovation, and this opportunity will give me a strong voice in reducing regulations that get in the way of private sector innovation, and getting Washington out of decisions that should be made by states, communities, and individuals,” Senator Alexander said.
The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee handles an unusually high volume of legislation, and in terms of jurisdiction over the nation’s economy, is among the largest Senate committees. The HELP committee oversees the health-care industry—an industry for which Tennessee has proven a hub of entrepreneurial activity—as well as education, which this Congress will be of particular importance as it must address the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law. Senator Alexander has long championed and defended right-to-work laws, both as governor of Tennessee and now as senator, and this committee oversees all labor legislation.
Before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, Senator Alexander served as governor of Tennessee, president of the University of Tennessee, United States Secretary of Education under President George H.W. Bush, and professor at Harvard's School of Government. In private life, he helped found what has become the nation’s largest provider of worksite day care. Three times his colleagues elected him Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.