releases: https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsletterarchive?ContentRecord_id=0af49775-f586-4275-8d25-c9ce0c82e9a4
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsletterarchive?ContentRecord_id=0af49775-f586-4275-8d25-c9ce0c82e9a4 | Year-End Newsletter | 2014-12-12 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Republican | House | TN | Lamar Alexander | A000360 | www.alexander.senate.gov | legacy | As the year comes to an end, I’d like to share with you some of what I’ve been working on in Tennessee and Washington: Preparing to fix our broken system as part of a new Republican majority in the U.S. Senate In November, Americans elected a new Republican Senate majority determined to fix our broken system in Washington and move our country in a new direction. When the new Republican majority takes over in the new year, I am ready to hit the ground running with proposals to grow jobs, turn our health care system in the direction of more choices and lower costs, return control over our public schools to communities and classroom teachers, and put an end to the Obama administration’s unconstitutional overreach into so many areas of Americans’ lives. I look forward to accomplishing these goals in a way Tennesseans know well—working with others to get results. Encouraging job growth in Tennessee and keeping Washington out of the way Throughout the past few months, I had the opportunity to attend several groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting ceremonies across Tennessee, all celebrating good, new jobs being created around the state. Because of our state’s strong right-to-work law and low taxes, Tennessee continues to be one of the country’s most attractive states for companies to invest and create new jobs. Preventing the spread of Ebola in Tennessee and around the nation Since the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, I pressed for a more urgent response from the United States and other countries to prevent the spread of this deadly disease. It is clear that this is a threat we should be taking as seriously as that of ISIS. Last week, the Senate passed legislation I introduced to spur the development of vaccines and drugs to prevent and treat Ebola, with hopes that this will one day help lead to a cure. It is expected to be signed into law any day now. Throughout the past few months, I held several forums across Tennessee to discuss how hospitals and the state and local health departments were preparing for a potential Ebola outbreak. You can watch me discuss the threat from Ebola here and here. Click here to read more about my visit to Vanderbilt University to learn more about the disease and their research to combat it. Helping more Tennesseans go to college by simplifying student aid In June, Senator Michael Bennet and I released a draft proposal that would simplify the complicated federal student aid form, one of the principal obstacles to a free college education for many students. This proposal would reduce the complex 108-question federal student aid application to two questions, and would also streamline federal student loan and grant programs, allow year-round use of Pell Grants, discourage over-borrowing and simplify repayment options. In the past few months, I visited several colleges and universities across Tennessee where I discussed my proposal with school officials, students, and parents. This is one of the many proposals I plan to push as chairman of the Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions when Republicans take the majority next year. Read more here on my plan to reform No Child Left Behind to return responsibility to states and local communities to create and implement their own education standards and tests, evaluate teachers and principals, and improve schools. We also need to get rid of Obamacare and repair the damage it has caused as rapidly and responsibly as possible with step-by-step proposals to increase freedom and choice and to reduce the cost of health insurance. Fighting to secure the border and stop the president’s executive amnesty agenda Last month, the president announced he is going to bypass Congress and unilaterally give amnesty to 5 million illegal immigrants currently living in our country. Our immigration system is broken and our border is a mess. Rather than acting like a king, the president should be working with Congress to secure the border and create a system of legal immigration – not disregarding the rule of law and the will of the American people. Read more here on my thoughts on the president’s executive action on immigration. I also thought you might be interested in the following articles: Chattanooga Times Free Press: Alexander, Corker to have strong voices in U.S. Senate The Hill: Alexander to Obama: Stop education waiver mandates Maryville Daily Times: Chickamauga Lock repair prospects boosted by House | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |