Every week, I send a newsletter to thousands of Tennesseans to give them an update on what’s happening in the U.S. Senate and what I’m currently working on-- whether it is to give Tennesseans access to lower-cost health plans, help our Tennessee communities fight the opioid crisis, or ensure that the Smokies stay beautiful. As the chairman of the Senate’s committee overseeing health, education, labor and pensions policies, there’s usually a lot of news to share.
You have been in touch with me in the past, so I thought you might like to receive these updates. You can read this week’s newsletter below, and if you would like to sign up to continue to receive my newsletter, click here.
Last Thursday at noon, the United States Senate observed a moment of silence for the victims of Wednesday’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. My prayers are with the victims of this tragic shooting and their families.
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike
Fifty years ago, 1,300 African-American sanitation workers in Memphis took a stand for freedom. African-American sanitation workers had faced years of hazardous working conditions and discrimination in pay and benefits. Their strike would become an historic event in the civil rights movement. In January 1968, the workers began negotiating with Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb and the Memphis City Council to improve pay and working conditions. The deaths of two sanitation workers galvanized the 1,300 African American sanitation workers to protest working conditions in February 1968.
Throughout February and early March negotiations continued, and on March 28, 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Reverend James Lawson led a march from the Clayborn Temple that ended with rioting, arrests, and the death of 16-year-old Larry Payne. On April 3, 1968, Dr. King addressed a rally of 10,000 African American workers and residents, members of the clergy, and union members at Mason Temple, the Memphis headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. Dr. King was assassinated the next day on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel. Four days later, on April 8, 1968, 42,000 people marched in Memphis. The strike was resolved on April 16, 1968.
Last week, I, along with Senators Bob Corker , Doug Jones, and Ben Cardin introduced a resolution honoring their legacy and recognizing their sacrifice and contributions to the civil rights movement. It is important that our children grow up learning about how these 1,300 Memphis sanitation workers – and many others – struggled for racial justice. You can read more about the Memphis sanitation workers strike here.
My thoughts on the Senate’s work on immigration
Last week, the Senate debated several immigration proposals. My goal is to get a result on both border security and DACA, which is why I cosponsored and voted for Senator Grassley's legislation implementing the president’s proposal, and why I also cosponsored and voted for the narrower bipartisan proposal offered by Senators Rounds and King—because it too solves the DACA problem and provides the $25 billion the president requested to improve border security. I also voted for legislation offered by Senator Pat Toomey that would withhold some federal funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with federal agencies to enforce federal immigration laws.
Last Thursday, after the Senate failed to get a result on immigration, I spoke on the Senate floor. I said that the president had done his job -- he saw an urgent need and recommended a strategy to deal with that need. So my hope is that the president will continue to advocate for a result, to do that, he has to persuade at least half the people he's right. He's a good persuader. Then the Senate will be able to do our job. That's not to stand in the corners and throw things at each other. Let's see where we can agree and do what we did on Civil Rights and fixing No Child Left Behind -- tackle big issues by finding consensus. Immigration is not any harder than those issues. We ought to be able to do it. Otherwise we shouldn't be here. It’s hard to become a United States Senator, and while we’re here, we might as well amount to something – and that means getting a result. We didn’t reach a result last week but I’m convinced we can.
Last Wednesday morning, Tennessee songwriters brought a little Nashville to Washington, visiting my office to play a few of their songs and talk about the Music Modernization Act – a bill I introduced last month that will help them and thousands of other songwriters in Tennessee be paid fair market value for their songs.
On January 24, I introduced bipartisan legislation – sponsored by Senator Hatch, Senator Corker and six other senators – that will have a real impact on Tennessee songwriters in three ways: First, the legislation creates a simple licensing system for digital music services to reflect a changing music industry. Second, the legislation will make it easier for songwriters to be paid when their music is played online or someone buys a song they wrote. And third, the legislation will allow a songwriter to be paid the fair market value for their work.
The bipartisan bill represents the first major consensus legislation that has the support of songwriters, music publishers, digital music companies and record labels. Now it is up to Congress to provide a solution. This is why I am working in a bipartisan way to pass the Music Modernization Act this year and help give Tennessee – and our nation’s – songwriters the fair pay they have earned. #StandWithSongwriters
My thoughts on President Trump’s budget
Last week, President Trump released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2019. The president may suggest a budget, but, under the Constitution, Congress sets spending priorities and passes the appropriations bills that fund the government. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I will carefully consider the president’s recommendations, but my priorities will continue to be making sure our national defense, national laboratories, the National Institutes of Health and national parks have the resources they need.
One proposal in the president’s budget I strongly disagree with is selling the Tennessee Valley Authority’s transmission lines. This is a looney idea that seems to keep popping up regardless of who is president. It has zero chance of becoming law. When President Obama proposed this in 2013, all it did was undermine TVA’s credit, raise interest rates on its debt, and threaten to increase electric bills for 9 million Tennessee Valley ratepayers.
I am encouraged the president’s budget request includes a proposal to help address the National Park Service maintenance backlog, including at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I agree that we have a responsibility to address the growing maintenance backlog in our parks – which includes roads, buildings, campgrounds, trails, water systems and more – and working with Interior Secretary Zinke and my colleagues in Congress, I will introduce bipartisan legislation in the coming weeks to restore and rebuild our national parks.
I enjoyed speaking and answering questions last week at the Community College Congressional Forum about our work in the Senate education committee I chair to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. I’ve always said that community colleges are the “secret weapon” of our higher education system, especially at a time when so many Americans need post-secondary education in order to find a good job.
Animal drug user fee legislation is critical to keeping our food supply safe and animals healthy
Last Tuesday, the Senate health committee I chair held a hearing on updating the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Animal Drug and Generic Animal Drug User Fee Agreements. We know that the human medical products we use are safe because the FDA has approved them – and the way that farmers, ranchers, and veterinarians know drugs for animals are safe is the same – the FDA has approved them. Similar to the user fee agreements the committee reauthorized last year for human medical products, this year we need to reauthorize the Animal Drug and Generic Animal Drug User Fee Agreements.
These agreements help bring these new medicines to the veterinarians who help keep animals healthy and treat diseases and for families to care for their pets, such as cancer or heartworm disease. We also want to ensure the farmers and ranchers raising our food supply are able to treat their animals with the safe drugs they need. Safe and effective animal drugs ARE important to both the consumer – that food-producing animals are safe to eat – and the farmer or rancher – that he has a safe and effective product to treat his animals and prevent outbreaks. According to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, the cattle and calves industry and the poultry industry are two of Tennessee’s largest agriculture sectors. So it is important that farmers and ranchers continue to have access to new medicines to keep their animals healthy and prevent and treat diseases, and help keep our food supply safe.
Senator Murray, the lead Democrat on our committee, and I introduced legislation to reauthorize these agreements last Thursday. I look forward to a timely reauthorization of these agreements to ensure farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, and families continue to have access to new safe and effective treatments.
Last Tuesday, I attended a meeting at the White House, where I discussed trade issues with President Trump and my colleagues in Congress. I talked about when my dad worked at Alcoa’s aluminum smelting plant. Today, companies like Arconic are creating new jobs to make auto parts from aluminum. Arconic employs more than 1,600 Tennesseans, and the auto manufacturing industry supports 130,000 jobs in Tennessee.
Last Tuesday, President Trump announced the nomination of Dr. Brent Park to serve as Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the Department of Energy.
Dr. Park serves as Associate Laboratory Director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he manages national security programs for the United States Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, and was previously director of research programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His professional experience makes him uniquely qualified for this position, and I look forward to his confirmation by the United States Senate.
Below are some articles I thought you would enjoy:
The Memphis Daily News: Alexander, Corker Honor 1968 Strikers with Resolution
WGNS Murfreesboro Radio: Senator Alexander: Animal Drug User Fee Legislation “Critical” to Keep Food Supply Safe, Animals Healthy
The Tennessean: Alexander calls proposal to sell TVA assets ‘loony idea’
Billboard: Steven Tyler & David Israelite: Congress, Fix How Songwriters Are Paid & Pass the Music Modernization Act
To help in remembering names, try to remember one thing special about each person you meet.
#42 in Lamar Alexander’s Little Plaid Book
