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  • September 14, 2015

    Last week we celebrated Labor Day, and we welcomed an important step forward for American workers, with the President’s announcement that federal contractors will be required to provide up to seven days in paid sick leave. This is wonderful news for some 300,000 Americans—but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. Millions of... Read More
  • September 07, 2015

    Labor Day is more than just a last hurrah of summer, a day for picnics and barbeques for many families. It’s also an important time for us to reflect on the labor movement’s proud history in Ohio, and to honor the workers who paved the way for the worker protections we too often take for granted. These workers built our strong middle... Read More
  • September 02, 2015

    As the summer comes to a close, students across Ohio are crisscrossing the state, heading back to campuses and settling into dorms. Set foot on any college quad, and the excitement is palpable—young people excited for their futures, which they hope will be even brighter thanks to higher education.We know that education is one of the surest... Read More
  • August 24, 2015

    NAFTA. CAFTA. Trade relations with China. Ohioans have seen first-hand what so-called free trade agreements have done to our state and our economy. Bad deals have closed factories, torn apart families, and devastated communities. Americans have every right to be skeptical of new trade deals, particularly the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) —... Read More
  • August 17, 2015

    Around this time last year, 500,000 Ohioans in the Toledo area were forced to go without safe drinking water. They were warned they couldn’t drink the tap water in their own homes. This is something no family should have to go through, and that should not be happening in our state. Cities and towns across Ohio need to have the best, most... Read More
  • August 04, 2015

    Just like Medicare – which celebrated its 50th Anniversary last week – prescription drugs have helped Americans live longer and healthier lives. But for too many Americans, the high cost of prescription drugs forces them to choose between taking their full dosage and putting food on the table or keeping their lights on. And drug costs... Read More
  • July 30, 2015

    Fifty years ago this week, aging in America was forever changed for the better. At the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a new law creating Medicare and Medicaid. Sitting beside him was former President Harry Truman, who would become Medicare’s first beneficiary – some two decades after he... Read More
  • July 20, 2015

    Too many Ohioans are still feeling the effects of the 2008 financial crisis — particularly on their credit scores. More than 50 million consumers saw their credit scores plunge more than 20 points during the worst days of the crisis, from 2008 to 2009. Many still haven’t fully recovered. To make matters worse, one-in-five consumers has... Read More
  • July 06, 2015

    Too many Ohioans are still struggling in today’s economy. They work hard, but still have trouble getting by. For many workers, it feels as though the harder and longer they work, the less they have to show for it. They aren’t imagining things. Over the past three decades, wages for American workers have stagnated, while the number of... Read More
  • June 29, 2015

    Protecting our children from the dangers of tobacco products has always been a challenge — and now Big Tobacco has a new product it is actively peddling to children and teens. E-cigarettes are the new frontier in tobacco companies’ quest to get kids addicted while they are young. After just a few years on the market, minors’ use... Read More
  • June 22, 2015

    Several years ago my wife Connie and I were listening to one of my favorite radio programs, NPR’s Science Friday, and we heard an interview with author Earl Swift, who wrote a book called “The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways.” Mr. Swift related the... Read More
  • June 15, 2015

    For most Ohio children, the school year is ending and summer has begun. Summer ought to be a time for our kids to enjoy playing outside, reading for pleasure, and spending time with family. But for too many children, summer means an end to nutritious meals served in schools. More than 680,000 Ohio children received free or reduced-price school... Read More
  • June 08, 2015

    Davenport Aviation is a small business in Columbus—an aircraft parts distributor that exports its products to Africa and South America. Its business has grown over the past four years with the help of the Export-Import Bank. Davenport Aviation is one of the 350 Ohio businesses that the Export-Import Bank has helped. This critical agency fills... Read More
  • June 02, 2015

    Folks in Washington like to make big promises when it comes to our trade deals. But for too long, we’ve seen nothing but bad results. We’ve seen what so-called free trade agreements have done to our workers and our communities over the past two decades. We’ve seen the factories close and the stores get boarded up. That’s why... Read More
  • May 26, 2015

    Drug overdoses are on the rise across Ohio. In 2013, we saw a record 2,110 fatal overdoses in our state. Opioid abuse in particular has wreaked havoc across Ohio, devastating thousands of families. When it’s easier for Americans to access opioids than it is for them access help to treat their addiction, we have a serious problem. That’s... Read More
  • May 19, 2015

    Few duties are more important than honoring Ohio’s veterans. Just as we invest in and train our men and women during their military service, we must do so when they return to their communities, hang up their uniforms, and embark on the next phase of their lives. In 2008, I was proud to help pass the largest expansion of veterans’... Read More
  • May 04, 2015

    Each day, workers across the country face impossible dilemmas. Do they go into work knowing the risks to their own health and to others around them, or do they stay home and lose a paycheck? Do they send a sick child to school, knowing they’re risking the health of their daughter and her entire classroom, or do they jeopardize their job by... Read More
  • April 27, 2015

    At forums I’ve held across our state, Ohioans have made clear their opinions on unfair foreign trade deals. This week I echoed your voices loud and clear in Washington: the last thing we need is another NAFTA. Ohioans have felt the painful effects of these bad deals for years. This month I was in Dayton and met with Jimmy, who worked at... Read More
  • April 20, 2015

    During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln would meet regularly in the White House with ordinary Americans, even during the darkest days of the war. He called these meetings his “public opinion baths.” College costs are sky-high and climbing. Right now, many families across Ohio are waiting on their financial aid packages. For many students... Read More
  • April 13, 2015

    During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln would meet regularly in the White House with ordinary Americans, even during the darkest days of the war. He called these meetings his “public opinion baths.” That’s why I travel to each of Ohio’s 88 counties and meet with people from different backgrounds, and why I believe it’s... Read More