Jack Reed
Senator for Rhode Island · Democratic · United States
“Following the launch of Sputnik in 1957, Congress enacted the National Defense Education Act of 1958 that invested in math, science, and foreign language instruction and the teaching workforce to deliver it.”
Senate24 September 2026Source ↗
“The Quality Educator Partnership Act is the legislative plan to answer the call to action. Our legislation calls for a comprehensive national strategy to recruit, prepare, retain, and advance high-quality educators from early childhood through secondary education led by a dedicated Office of Educator Workforce at the U.S.”
Senate24 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. President, it is time for a national investment in building a strong and resilient educator workforce to ensure that all schools have the diverse, profession-ready teachers, principals, librarians, counselors, and other specialized instructional support personnel they need to support student development and academic achievement.”
Senate24 September 2026Source ↗
“With the rise of new technologies and artificial intelligence, we need that kind of effort today to ensure American students have professional educators that can teach the skills students will need to thrive in a changing environment.”
Senate24 September 2026Source ↗
“Our legislation calls for a comprehensive national strategy to recruit, prepare, retain, and advance high-quality educators from early childhood through secondary education led by a dedicated Office of Educator Workforce at the U.S. Department of Education.”
Senate24 September 2026Source ↗
“Today, along with Senators Van Hollen and Wyden, I am introducing the Quality Educator Partnership Act to invest in a national strategy to support the educator workforce now and into the future.”
Senate24 September 2026Source ↗
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“I join so many of Noel's colleagues and peers in thanking him for his friendship and kindness and in wishing him a happy and healthy retirement, filled with new adventures, in the company of his wife Patti and their children. He has earned it. ____________________”
Senate28 April 2025Source ↗
“Noel also spearheaded the creation of RISLA's College Planning Center, a free service that works directly with thousands of students to guide them through the college application process, including everything from writing a strong essay to selecting a college that best fits their goals. As the father of a high school senior, I can personally attest to the invaluable service the College Planning Center provides. Today, RISLA helps thousands of Rhode Islanders plan for and finance college, a number that has grown exponentially under Noel's leadership. His dedication has opened the door of higher education for a generation of Rhode Islanders. That is a legacy that has made a difference for our State and for students and families.”
Senate28 April 2025Source ↗
“Over the next several years, Noel led the rapid expansion of RISLA, developing a full team of professional staff and allowing the organization to become a leading voice on student loans and financial services in Rhode Island. As RISLA grew, Noel's career did as well, with Noel rising through the ranks and being named chief financial officer, deputy director, and eventually senior director. For the last 25 years, I have been proud to team up with Noel and RISLA to host our annual ``Financial Aid Nights.'' These workshops are dedicated to giving college-bound students and families a chance to learn firsthand from student aid experts about how to access financial aid opportunities for college.”
Senate28 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate Noel Simpson, senior director of the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA), on his upcoming retirement and thank him for his more than three decades of service dedicated to Rhode Island students, families, and educators. Noel joined RISLA as a consultant in 1993. At the time, Noel was one of just the handful of employees managing the duties of the organization.”
Senate28 April 2025Source ↗
“I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation and work with us to ensure it is passed on its own or as part of legislation to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. ____________________”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“A recent study from the Adult Literacy and Learning Impact Network, found that over 80 percent of the adults surveyed indicated a strong or moderate interest in developing their skills, but only 20 percent reported knowing about existing programs in their communities. At current funding levels, the Department of Education reports that 1.1 million individuals were served, with over one-third of programs reporting waiting lists. In my home State of Rhode Island, there are over 61,000 adults who could benefit from English language instruction and nearly 64,000 working-age adults without a high school credential. Yet, under current funding levels, the adult education program serves just over 5,100 individuals. The Adult Education WORKS Act provides a roadmap for addressing this crisis.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“Without the opportunities provided through adult education programs, many adults will be left on the sidelines. The latest results for U.S. adults on the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, PIAAC, are sobering. Between 2017 and 2023, literacy and numeracy skills sank, with the percentage of adults at the lowest performance levels increasing from 19 to 28 percent in literacy and from 29 to 34 percent in numeracy. Building a sustainable economy that truly works for everyone is going to require helping these individuals acquire the basic skills they need to succeed. Unfortunately, we are reaching only a fraction of these individuals today.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“Today, I am proud to introduce bipartisan legislation--the Adult Education Workforce Opportunity and Reskilling for Knowledge and Success Act--or the Adult Education WORKS Act--with my colleague Senator Young. Adult education provides numeracy, literacy, digital literacy, English language skills, work readiness, soft skills, high school equivalency, and numerous wraparound services to millions of adult learners nationwide. These essential skills can make the difference between earning a family-sustaining wage and struggling to make ends meet. A study commissioned by the Barbara Bush Foundation estimated that getting all U.S. adults to the equivalent of a sixth grade reading level would generate an additional $2.2 trillion in annual income for the country.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, we have a longstanding adult literacy crisis that affects the quality of life for individuals and families and holds our economy back, and the latest international assessments show that it is only getting worse. It is time for a major expansion of adult education.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“I am pleased to count the American Library Association, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Coalition on Adult Basic Education, the National Coalition for Literacy, National Skills Coalition, ProLiteracy, the TESOL, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, International Association, and the Urban Libraries Council among the supporters of this legislation. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation and work with us to ensure it is passed on its own or as part of legislation to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. ____________________”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“Unfortunately, we are reaching only a fraction of these individuals today. A recent study from the Adult Literacy and Learning Impact Network, found that over 80 percent of the adults surveyed indicated a strong or moderate interest in developing their skills, but only 20 percent reported knowing about existing programs in their communities. At current funding levels, the Department of Education reports that 1.1 million individuals were served, with over one-third of programs reporting waiting lists. In my home State of Rhode Island, there are over 61,000 adults who could benefit from English language instruction and nearly 64,000 working-age adults without a high school credential. Yet, under current funding levels, the adult education program serves just over 5,100 individuals.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, we have a longstanding adult literacy crisis that affects the quality of life for individuals and families and holds our economy back, and the latest international assessments show that it is only getting worse. It is time for a major expansion of adult education. Today, I am proud to introduce bipartisan legislation--the Adult Education Workforce Opportunity and Reskilling for Knowledge and Success Act--or the Adult Education WORKS Act--with my colleague Senator Young. Adult education provides numeracy, literacy, digital literacy, English language skills, work readiness, soft skills, high school equivalency, and numerous wraparound services to millions of adult learners nationwide. These essential skills can make the difference between earning a family-sustaining wage and struggling to make ends meet.”
Senate9 April 2025Source ↗
“These provisions are essential updates to a program that has helped so many families over the past few decades. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this commonsense legislation. ____________________”
Senate8 April 2025Source ↗
“And that is why I am introducing this bill--to ensure it continues to work for years to come. This bill will help expand the program to many more low-income households that are currently unable to receive weatherization services because their homes need minor structural repairs before they can be weatherized. The bill will authorize a weatherization readiness fund to repair structural issues and prepare homes for weatherization assistance, increasing the number of homes the program is able to serve. At the same time, it will raise the amount of funding allowed to be spent on each home to keep up with current labor and material costs, and it will raise the cap on the amount of funding allowed to be spent on renewable energy upgrades in each home.”
Senate8 April 2025Source ↗
“An independent study of the Weatherization Assistance Program by Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that children in weatherized households miss less school, improving educational outcomes. Adults miss less work, increasing both their own incomes and their contributions to the economy. Families also reported experiencing fewer flu and cold symptoms and emergency room visits, decreasing costly medical expenses. The Weatherization Assistance Program also helps boost our economy. The Department of Energy has reported that the program supports over 8,500 jobs while increasing our national economic output by $1.2 billion per year. The program is a win-win for all involved. That is why, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have led my colleagues in supporting strong funding for it every year.”
Senate8 April 2025Source ↗
“Since 1976, the Weatherization Assistance Program has helped more than 7 million low-income households reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. The Department of Energy estimates that these upgrades help each household save $372 or more in energy bills annually. Those energy savings free up limited financial resources for essentials, like groceries and medicine. In addition to traditional services like attic and wall insulation, the program also provides services that help with home health and safety measures, such as installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Energy efficient homes also help cut down on our carbon footprint, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.”
Senate8 April 2025Source ↗
“At the same time, it will raise the amount of funding allowed to be spent on each home to keep up with current labor and material costs, and it will raise the cap on the amount of funding allowed to be spent on renewable energy upgrades in each home. These provisions are essential updates to a program that has helped so many families over the past few decades. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this commonsense legislation. ____________________”
Senate8 April 2025Source ↗
“That is why, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have led my colleagues in supporting strong funding for it every year. And that is why I am introducing this bill--to ensure it continues to work for years to come. This bill will help expand the program to many more low-income households that are currently unable to receive weatherization services because their homes need minor structural repairs before they can be weatherized. The bill will authorize a weatherization readiness fund to repair structural issues and prepare homes for weatherization assistance, increasing the number of homes the program is able to serve.”
Senate8 April 2025Source ↗
“Energy efficient homes also help cut down on our carbon footprint, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. An independent study of the Weatherization Assistance Program by Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that children in weatherized households miss less school, improving educational outcomes. Adults miss less work, increasing both their own incomes and their contributions to the economy. Families also reported experiencing fewer flu and cold symptoms and emergency room visits, decreasing costly medical expenses. The Weatherization Assistance Program also helps boost our economy. The Department of Energy has reported that the program supports over 8,500 jobs while increasing our national economic output by $1.2 billion per year. The program is a win-win for all involved.”
Senate8 April 2025Source ↗
“Our bipartisan bill will make critical updates to ensure this important program can effectively serve even more households across the country. Since 1976, the Weatherization Assistance Program has helped more than 7 million low-income households reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. The Department of Energy estimates that these upgrades help each household save $372 or more in energy bills annually. Those energy savings free up limited financial resources for essentials, like groceries and medicine. In addition to traditional services like attic and wall insulation, the program also provides services that help with home health and safety measures, such as installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.”
Senate8 April 2025Source ↗
“Now, obviously, I oppose this resolution that is being proposed. We have to do more, not less. And it is not just about the moral commitment I feel we have to people who need healthcare coverage; it is about the economics of caring for people early before it becomes more expensive, providing facilities for people who need those facilities rather than letting them languish at home. With that, I yield the floor.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“The impact on the Nation in terms of these cuts is going to be horrendous, and this impact is going to be everyplace in the country. I have talked a lot about Rhode Island, but one of the ideas the Republicans are advancing to cut Medicaid is to eliminate the Medicaid expansion provided for under the Affordable Care Act. Now, according to the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this cut would cost 41 States over $44 billion. States would have to increase their share of Medicaid spending by 25 percent. States like North Dakota, Indiana, Montana, and Nebraska would see their costs go up by more than 30 percent. So I hope my colleagues from these States are ready, willing, and able to go out and tell their constituents: Your healthcare costs are going up 30 percent.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“By the way, my guess is they are not getting a big benefit from these tax cuts because they are minimum wage or a little bit more. So we are really doing something that is so unjust and, I believe, un-American in rewarding the wealthy--some of whom have worked hard to get it, some of whom just were lucky enough to be born to the right parents. And we are giving them a fortune, and we are taking away basic healthcare from working men and women. We are in a very, very difficult situation. I don't think we can touch Medicaid, for the moral reasons I tried to suggest and for the economic reasons. If those 74 percent of Medicaid adults in Rhode Island who are working can't get to work because they are ill, how do we get the jobs done? We don't.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“They were risking it so kids could have healthcare who needed it, so that their mother and father could have a place to be when they were sick and ill in their older years. And what we are doing? We are forgetting that sacrifice. We are saying: No, we are just here to pay off the rich people, the rich people who paid so much through the President's campaign to get him elected. The one thing I want to emphasize, which is very important and often overlooked--going back to Rhode Island--74 percent of adults on Medicaid are working in my state. There is this insidious notion that this is just a free giveaway to people who don't work, who don't deserve it, et cetera. That is why we can get rid of it. Seventy-four percent of the adults in Rhode Island on Medicaid are working, and they are working very hard.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“We are better off because of Medicaid--better healthcare outcomes in this country. It is a different country, literally, than it was prior to the introduction of Medicaid, and we are better for it. It provides healthcare coverage, for example, for 17 million women of reproductive age so they can have the healthcare they need. And it helps families grow and prosper. And by making seniors and people with disabilities get the care they need, we are, I think, living up to the aspirations of this country, which is to ensure that those who need care get care. You know, there have been a lot of men and women who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. I was proud to do it myself. And they weren't risking their lives so that a very wealthy individual could have five Mercedes rather than four.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“So if you or I or somebody who might even have healthcare insurance and we have a serious problem, well, we can go to the emergency room and just get in the back of the line that is going all the way around the block and through the parking lot and everyplace else because these hundreds of thousands of people without healthcare, that is where they will have to go when it is so painful they can't go to work. This is a disaster in the making. And, again, we saw last week and weeks before, President Trump talking about, ``I am going to put tariffs in and we are going to fix the whole economy.'' Nonsense. It is a disaster. It is killing our markets. And, once again, ``Oh, I am going to go in there and take out Medicaid,'' et cetera, et cetera. It will be a disaster. I think we must avoid it.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“And 2.3 million children with disabilities, as I said, throughout the country, rely on Medicaid. And also, as I have said, throughout the country, not just Rhode Island, 7 million seniors count on Medicaid to afford nursing home care or other health care services. So we are in a situation now where we are basically undercutting our healthcare system, and it is not just these people who feel it. Everyone will feel it. If these Medicaid cuts go through, it will create so much turmoil in my State that our healthcare delivery system will be under great pressure--but, I think, so much pressure that it will not work. Where do people go when they don't have healthcare? They go to the emergency room.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“Five in eight people residing in nursing homes in my home state are also receiving Medicaid. Let me tell you what is going to happen when Medicaid is cut by this extraordinary amount of money, $880 billion. A lot of nursing homes will close because their margin, the difference between opening the doors and closing them, is the Medicaid money they receive. When that goes, where are you going to put your ailing mother or grandmother? I will tell you what you do. You are going to do it like they did it before Medicaid. When I was a young kid, it was not unusual to go visit someone, and in the front room there would be the hospital bed, the grandmother, and the mother was taking care of the person and that was healthcare back then. But after Medicaid, we were able to create a much more effective healthcare system.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“In my home State of Rhode Island, over 300,000 people--and that is about one-third of my State--depend on Medicaid. And the Republicans are talking about cutting this program by at least $880 billion, which would be devastating. Looking at the Medicaid recipients in Rhode Island. It is interesting. One in five adults ages 19 to 64 are covered; one in three children are covered. And we all know how critical healthcare is for children because a childhood problem left untreated can lead, often, to much more serious health consequences as they grow older--much more dependency on social programs, which are paid for by us. Good healthcare as a child guarantees, in many, many, and most cases, success in school, success in life, and a healthy life--one in three children in Rhode Island need Medicaid.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“He is just taking a sledgehammer to our economy and a sledgehammer to the working families who depend upon these programs like Medicaid and a sledgehammer to our universities and medical schools and research laboratories, which have made us the premier center for research innovation and healthcare in the world. And with these sledgehammer blows, I don't think we can maintain that status. These proposals by the President and my Republican colleagues are designed to take away the healthcare coverage from millions of Americans--seniors, kids, veterans, individuals with disabilities--and they particularly seem to focus on Medicaid. Medicaid provides essential healthcare services for the most vulnerable populations in the country. It covers nearly 80 million people, if you combine those covered by the Children's Health Insurance Plan, CHIP.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, well, we are back here again with another variation of the Trump plan and the Republican plan to do further damage to our economy and to the working men and women of this country. It has been sliced and diced and repackaged and unpackaged, but it still boils down to a very simple equation: big tax cuts for the very, very wealthy and cuts to Medicaid and other key programs that are essential to Americans. This resolution is going to cost a lot of money--about $5.8 trillion with a ``t.'' Yesterday, President Trump unveiled his tariff policies and today, the markets reacted. They lost $2.5 trillion of value.”
Senate3 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, today I am introducing the Rhode Island Fishermen's Fairness Act along with my colleague Senator Whitehouse. I am also pleased that my colleagues Representative Magaziner and Representative Amo will be introducing a companion measure in the House of Representatives.”
Senate26 March 2025Source ↗
“The Trump administration is taking us backwards and hurting hard-working families in the process. I firmly oppose the Trump EPA's misguided plan and will continue to join Senator Whitehouse and my other colleagues in pushing back against this administration's harmful agenda. Once again, let me salute Senator Whitehouse for his leadership on this critical--indeed, this existential--issue. I yield the floor to Senator Welch.”
Senate26 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, as we all know too well, rates of suicide have risen to epidemic levels in the United States, with suicide now the 10th leading cause of death in the country.”
Senate13 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, today I am reintroducing the Helping More Families Save Act with Senator Britt. This bipartisan legislation would help more families in HUD-assisted housing build savings and improve their financial security by creating a pilot program for Family Self- Sufficiency, FSS, universal escrow accounts.”
Senate11 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Collins and Senators Van Hollen, Cortez Masto, Smith, and Klobuchar in introducing legislation that would permanently reauthorize the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Council or USICH.”
Senate11 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, today I am introducing the Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act with Senator Lummis.”
Senate11 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, today I am introducing the Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act with Senator Lummis.”
Senate11 March 2025Source ↗
“And it is no coincidence that this CRA vote comes only 1 month after Elon Musk announced that he would be starting his own digital payment company--what a coincidence. A vote in favor of this resolution is a vote to strip Federal oversight of Elon Musk's payment company. It is a vote to make it easier for Elon Musk to shirk his obligation to reimburse the American people when they are cheated out of their money on his platform. Elon Musk wins; the American people lose. I hope my Republican colleagues will join us to protect this eminently sensible rule, and I urge my colleagues to oppose his resolution. I yield the floor.”
Senate5 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate5 March 2025Source ↗
“My hope is that these decisions can be made on a bipartisan basis informed by the facts, but we cannot responsibly fund the government if we do not understand how DOGE has infiltrated it, made it less efficient and less responsive to taxpayers, and, essentially, has circumvented the constitutional responsibilities of the U.S. Congress. I yield the floor.”
Senate4 March 2025Source ↗
“I urge my Republican colleagues and my Democratic colleagues--all my colleagues--to speak up and stand with Ukraine as they have done for so many years. Let us continue. I yield the floor.”
Senate27 February 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a very painful milestone. This week marks the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Over the past 3 years, the world has witnessed the incredible bravery and resolve of the Ukrainian people as they have stood up to Russia's unspeakable brutality and destruction. We have seen--and, indeed, the United States should take great pride in having led--an impressive coalition of nations coming together to support Ukraine in this fight to preserve its democracy.”
Senate27 February 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.”
Senate27 February 2025Source ↗
“I suggest the absence of a quorum.”
Senate27 February 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, today, I am joining Senator Capito to introduce the Innovation in Pediatric Drugs Act of 2025 in order to improve access to needed therapies for children. Children are not just small adults.”
Senate25 February 2025Source ↗
“I ask for the yeas and nays.”
Senate20 February 2025Source ↗
“I call up my amendment No. 299 and ask that it be reported by number.”
Senate20 February 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, before I call up my amendment, I ask that Senator Coons be added as a cosponsor of the Reed-Shaheen amendment No. 299.”
Senate20 February 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, the other day, President Donald Trump said: Medicare, Medicaid--none of that stuff is going to be touched. If that statement had any truth behind it, then my colleagues on the other side of the aisle should be voting for this amendment, which calls for a point of order against any legislation that cuts Medicaid or Medicare. Medicare serves 67 million seniors and people with disabilities, and nearly 80 million Americans rely on Medicaid. Failing to pass this amendment will be a signal that these programs are on the chopping block. This vote will be a test for all of us, particularly my Republican colleagues. Are we going to protect Medicare and Medicaid or are they, my Republican colleagues, going to use this as a piggy bank for tax cuts for the wealthy? I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.”
Senate20 February 2025Source ↗