Patty Murray

A highly educated workforce is going to help our Nation compete in the 21st century global economy.

For many Americans, higher education can be a ticket to the middle class.

One of my top priorities as we work to reauthorize the Higher Education Act is going to be to reduce the crushing burden of student debt.

I believe that we need to work on ways to make college more affordable for all of our students and families.

I am open to hearing more about options like risk-sharing to ensure colleges and universities have a stake in their students' success, debt levels, financial literacy, and ability to repay.

The crushing burden of student debt is going to be a major focus for me in our conversations on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act.

Each year, Federal taxpayers invest $150 billion in our higher education system. I welcome this hearing as a way to talk about holding institutions of higher education more accountable to ensure students and taxpayers get a good return on…

Clearing pathways for more Americans to attend and succeed, both in college and beyond, is, of course, important for our students, but it's also a critical part of building an economy that works for all of our families, not just the…

I appreciate the hard work and dedication the agency and the Commission bring to that cause.

The EEOC's backlog of cases and the amount of time it takes to resolve complaints are real issues.

But we can't truly achieve those goals if some individuals in our country face discrimination in the workplace.

I believe that real, long-term economic growth is built from the middle out, not the top down.

Even though they do not belong to a union, they have protections in this country?

The NLRA actually protects all private sector workers, including those that do not belong to a union.

I understand that employers are actually free to talk the subject of unions with employees well before an election petition is filed; is that correct?

Thank you very much.

Some have said that the NLRB's budget should actually be cut because the caseload has declined.

Directed including what you can wear, what hours you work, what policies you have to follow?

I believe that real long term economic growth is built from the middle out, not from the top down.

Unfortunately recently, some of our Republican colleagues have taken every opportunity they can to lob attacks on the NLRB and by extension, really attack workers who simply want a voice at the table in the workplace.

Too many families today are struggling to make ends meet on rock bottom wages and poor working conditions.

That is just not fair. I believe that our government and our economy and our workplaces should work for all of our families, not just the wealthiest few.

I believe partisan attacks on the NLRB are unwarranted, and they are unproductive.

If change is starting to happen, we certainly want to protect that progress and encourage more.

Taking care of our veterans when they come home is a fundamental part of who we are as a nation.