{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=77a46221-41b8-4239-90fe-e2a8eddbf6d1", "Alexander: Most Americans Have Not Finally Made Their Minds Up, Election Will Move from Reality Show to Who Is Going to Deal with Putin  Make a Sensible Decision about ISIS?", "2015-12-20", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Lamar Alexander", "A000360", "www.alexander.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "NASHVILLE, Dec. 20U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said this morning on C-SPAN's \"Newsmakers\"Sunday showthatmostvoters in New Hampshire and Iowahave not yet finally made their minds up. Alexander reminded viewers that his own experience twenty years ago showedthatearly presidential primaries can quickly reshape poll figures.\r\nAlexander told the shows cohosts, reporters Niels Lesniewski ofRoll Call and Alyson Klein ofEducation Week,that he was at 1 percent in national polls eight weeks before the New  Hampshire 1996 primary  but after a strong showing in the Iowa caucuses was leading in Sen. Bob Dole's New Hampshire polls the weekend before that state's primary.\r\nThey hadn't [finally decided yet at this time] 20 years agoAnd I think [voters are] going to go from looking at a reality showwhich is what this has been this yearto saying,Who is going to deal with Putin? Who is going to help me get a better job? Who really can make a sensible decision about ISIS and the fear we have from attacks we have had in our own country?\r\nAlexander, who is chairman of the Senates educationcommittee, also said passage of legislation to fix the No Child Left Behind law was made possible by strong bipartisan cooperation. He praised his colleague, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who helped him draft the bill as the Democratic leader on the committee.\r\nHe said Murray knows what all senators should know: If all you want to do is make a speech, or announce your position, you can go get your own radio show and do that. But if you want to come to the Senate, you should try to get a result, he said.\r\nAlexander dismissed ideas that progress in Congress would be diminished by the 2016 presidential election.\r\nAs far as the presidential year stuff, you know, they still pay our salaries next year, so I dont know of any reason we should take the year off, he said.\r\nTo that end, Alexander gave two key initiatives he plans to work on on his committee (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) during 2016:\r\n \r\nInnovation legislation  a bill Alexander said was designed to get treatments through the FDA  faster, cheaper and into medicine cabinets. This bill could work with the Houses 21st Century Cures bill and President Obamas precision medicine initiative.\r\nHigher education  highlighting differences between the current Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application form and his own postcard-sized form, Alexander said Congress need[s] to simplify the jungle of red tape that governs our [institutions of higher] education, and we need to make it easier and simpler for students to go to college.\r\n \r\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=77a46221-41b8-4239-90fe-e2a8eddbf6d1"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.426534028723836, "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"}