{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://fulcher.house.gov/2021/02/26/id-560dda88-b902-465a-8278-305d53dffa97/", "Fulcher, Foxx Call Out EEOC Chair for Ending Successful Pilot Programs that Aid Workers", "2021-02-26", "2021", "2021-02", "Republican", "House", "ID", "Russ Fulcher", "F000469", "fulcher.house.gov", "fulcher", "https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Contact:\n\nAlexah Rogge\n\n202-225-6611\n\nalexah.rogge@mail.house.gov\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee Republican Leader Russ Fulcher (R-ID) sent a letter to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Charlotte Burrows requesting information about her questionable and rushed decision to end the Commission\u2019s successful mediation and conciliation pilot programs.\n\nIn the letter, the Members write: \u201cWe are concerned that your first actions as EEOC Chair were to discontinue these successful pilot programs with little explanation or justification. We urge you to reconsider your hasty decisions to terminate these programs and are requesting additional information about your actions. Mediation and conciliation are vitally important functions of EEOC that lead to just and timely resolutions of cases for workers and employers before cases go through costly litigation.\u201d The Members continue: \u201cThe mediation pilot program, or \u2018ACT (Access, Categories, Time) Mediation pilot,\u2019 was intended to enhance EEOC\u2019s already successful mediation program \u2026 and EEOC received positive feedback on the pilot. The conciliation pilot was intended to build on a renewed commitment to communication between EEOC and the parties, increase internal accountability, and improve existing practices by adding a requirement that the appropriate level of agency management approve offers before they are communicated to employers.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND: On January 27, 2021, EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows terminated the agency\u2019s mediation and conciliation pilot programs. These pilot programs were launched in July 2020 and recently renewed before Chair Burrows terminated them. The pilots were intended to enhance and strengthen the agency\u2019s existing mediation and conciliation programs. These programs allow the agency to resolve discrimination charges and provide timely relief to workers while avoiding costly litigation.\n\nTo read the full letter to Chair Burrows, click here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:26:35Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://fulcher.house.gov/2021/02/26/id-560dda88-b902-465a-8278-305d53dffa97/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7354795709252357, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}