HELP Chairman Will Not Seek Re-Election in 2020

HELP Chairman Will Not Seek Re-Election in 2020 U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander will not seek re-election to the Senate in 2020, according to a statement he released Dec. 17. Dec 18, 2018 U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who chairs the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, announced Dec. 17 that he will not seek re-election to the Senate in 2020. "I will not be a candidate for re-election to the United States Senate in 2020," Alexander said. "The people of Tennessee have been very generous, electing me to serve more combined years as Governor and Senator than anyone else from our state. I am deeply grateful, but now it is time for someone else to have that privilege." Alexander serves as chairman of the HELP Committee, which has oversight over OSHA and the Department of Labor. During his time as chairman, he has reported 45 bills that became law. In 2018, he authored the Opioid Crisis Response Act, which was signed into law in October 2018. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam released this statement about the senator following his announcement: "It is almost impossible to measure the impact of Lamar Alexander’s commitment to Tennessee. His time as governor paved the way for the economic position we enjoy today as a leading state for business, and his educational reforms were ahead of his time. As a senator, he has distinguished himself as a national leader, while always reminding everyone that our founders designed our government for most of the power to be delegated to the states. No one has served our state longer as a governor and senator, and few, if any, have served it better than Lamar."