Press Releases
Whitehouse Applauds Appointment of Secretary Kerry to Serve as First-Ever Climate Envoy on National Security Council
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement on President-elect Joe Biden's announcement of former Secretary of State John Kerry as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. Kerry will be the first-ever member of the National Security Council focused exclusively on climate change. "Appointing Secretary Kerry to this role is a very good move. John Kerry brings an array of impor… Continue Reading
11.23.20
Whitehouse’s Anti-Doping Bill Passes Senate, Goes to President for Signature
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act has passed the U.S. Senate, completing its course through both chambers of Congress. The bill now goes to the President for signature. The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act aims to level the playing field for international sport by cracking down on state-sponsored doping schemes like the one deployed by the Russian government in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. "Russia's malicious, corrupt behavior… Continue Reading
11.20.20
Reed & Whitehouse Call On GSA Administrator to End Unprecedented Delay & Provide Critical Transition Resources to President-Elect Biden
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, after a six-day hand recount of ballots in Georgia reaffirmed that President-elect Joe Biden won a clear victory in the Peach State, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are urging the head of the General Services Administration (GSA) to expeditiously sign off on the transition process. The Senators say it is critical for the GSA to release $9.9 million in transition funds for the incoming Administration, allow the President-elect to receive high-l… Continue Reading
11.19.20
URI & Friends of Green Hill Pond Win Coastal Resilience Grant from Whitehouse-Created Program
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that a partnership between the University of Rhode Island and the nonprofit Friends of Green Hill Pond has received a $129,191 matching grant from the National Coastal Resilience Fund, which was developed by Whitehouse to restore and strengthen the natural infrastructure protecting coastal communities. The partners will use the award to restore dunes and habitat along Green Hill Pond, a salt pond located in South Kingstown and Char… Continue Reading
11.18.20
Whitehouse Leads Senate Democrats in Introducing Tax Credits to Protect Children From Home Lead Hazards
Washington, D.C. - With lead hazards lurking in about 3.6 million homes of families with young children nationwide, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) today introduced legislation to help American families cover the cost of eliminating lead from their homes. The Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act of 2020 would significantly broaden… Continue Reading
11.10.20
Whitehouse Statement on Supreme Court Arguments in Challenge to Affordable Care Act
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees, released the following statement today on Supreme Court arguments in California v. Texas, a challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act: "The Republican campaign to tear down the Affordable Care Act comes before a Supreme Court packed with donor-approved justices who have signaled clearly their ill intentions for the health care law. If the justices side with the specia… Continue Reading
11.07.20
Whitehouse Congratulates President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today issued the following statement regarding the election of Joe Biden to serve as the 46th President of the United States of America: "After four long years, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will restore heart, decency, and competence to the White House. The Biden administration will govern for every American as they steer the country through a number of urgent crises: a once-in-a-century pandemic, a lops… Continue Reading
10.31.20
Whitehouse Resolution Declares November Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), along with Representatives André Carson (IN-07) and Anna Eshoo (CA-18), has introduced a resolution to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer and to support the designation of this November as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. The bicameral effort comes as the world continues to mourn several American leaders who battled the very aggressive cancer, including Congressman John Lewis and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. … Continue Reading
10.27.20
Whitehouse Statement on Barrett Confirmation Vote
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement this evening on the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "It is a sad day for the Senate and for the Court. My Republican colleagues smashed norms and traditions of the world's 'greatest deliberative body' in a headlong pursuit, for someone, of Supreme Court power. They put the ru… Continue Reading
10.24.20
Whitehouse Offers Resolution Condemning Dark Money Effort to Pack Supreme Court
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, just offered a resolution on the Senate floor expressing a sense of the Senate that unlimited anonymous spending to influence our judiciary undermines the integrity of our judicial system and damages Americans' confidence that all people receive equal justice under law. Whitehouse offered the resolution as an alternative to a Republican measure seeking to limit Congress's longstanding authority… Continue Reading
10.21.20
Whitehouse, Hassan Statement on DOJ Settlement with Purdue Pharma
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) released the following statement today on the settlement reached by the U.S. Department of Justice and opioid maker Purdue Pharma: "The Department of Justice owes it to the millions of Americans affected by the opioid epidemic to hold Purdue Pharma and its leadership accountable. While we are still reviewing all the details, a rushed settlement with a company that cannot pay and a family that has shielded itself from t… Continue Reading
10.21.20
Whitehouse Calls for Robust COVID-19 Relief Package to Help RI Families, Small Businesses, & Local Governments
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today issued the following statement after Senate Democrats voted against the Republican-led so-called "skinny" pandemic response bill, which is less than a quarter of the size of the proposal put forth by House Democrats: "Democrats will not support an emaciated proposal that leaves families and small businesses out to dry and lets cities and towns drown in red ink. In the midst of a national crisis in which health and economic indicato… Continue Reading
10.20.20
To Further the ‘Calamari Comeback,’ RI Delegation is Angling to Give Ocean State Fishermen a Greater Say on Squid Quotas
WASHINGTON, DC -- In an effort to give Rhode Island fisherman a voice and voting representation on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), which manages some of the most important fish stocks for the state's commercial fishing industry - chief among them squid, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and U.S. Representatives James Langevin and David Cicilline, today announced the reintroduction of the Rhode Island Fishermen's Fairness Act. The bill would add Rho… Continue Reading
10.13.20
Whitehouse Statement on SCOTUS Halting Census Count
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today released the following statement regarding the Supreme Court granting the Trump administration's request to halt the Census count: "This decision, rendered without explanation, fits into a pattern of behavior by the Roberts Court that robs Americans of their voice in their democracy and undermines Americans' confidence in our judiciary. The Trump administration was caught red-handed trying to inject politics into the Census count, … Continue Reading
10.12.20
Whitehouse Delivers Opening Remarks on SCOTUS Nomination’s Effect on Health Care
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) delivered the following opening remarks today at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Whitehouse, a senior member of the Committee, highlighted the effect of the rushed nomination on Americans' health care in the midst of a raging pandemic, noting the decade-old push by Senate Republicans and special interests to tear down the Affordable Care Act. He discussed months of delay by Senate Republic… Continue Reading
10.08.20
Whitehouse Statement on DC Circuit Case on Clean Power Plan Replacement
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, released the following statement on the challenge before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to the Trump administration's Clean Power Plan replacement rule: "There's no better example of the Trump EPA's rampant cronyism, conflicts of interest, and corruption than this do-nothing rule. The Trump administration's toothless replacement for the C… Continue Reading
10.08.20
Senate Democrats Release New Report Detailing the Assault on Our Democracy by Republican-appointed Judges
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Tom Udall, D-N.M., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., today led Senate Democrats in releasing a new report outlining the ways campaign finance laws and the right to vote have been gradually dismantled by conservative Supreme Court justices, with Donald Trump's latest Supreme Court nominee posing further threats to American democracy. This is the fourth in a series of Captured Reports by Senate Democrats. In the report, "Cap… Continue Reading
10.07.20
Whitehouse Statement on Family Separation Revelations
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement today regarding new reporting on the Department of Justice Inspector General's findings related to the Trump administration's child separation policy: "The active participation of senior Department of Justice officials-including the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General-in President Trump's plan to deliberately and callously tear apart immigrant fami… Continue Reading
10.06.20
ICYMI: The New Yorker Reports on Whitehouse and Hassan Efforts to Hold Purdue Pharma and Sackler Family Accountable During Settlement Negotiations with Justice Department
Washington, DC - In case you missed it, The New Yorker published an article by Patrick Radden Keefe that reported on U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Maggie Hassan's (D-NH) efforts to push the Department of Justice to hold Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, accountable in newly revealed settlement negotiations as the company goes through federal bankruptcy. In their letter, the Senators cited the Department of Justice's past failure to proceed with serious criminal cha… Continue Reading
10.05.20
Senate Democrats Release New Report Detailing How Supreme Court Nominee Could Escalate Corporate Takeover of Our Judiciary
Read full report here (PDF) Washington, DC - United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) released a new report detailing how President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court could solidify the corporate capture of our courts. The report highlights how The Roberts Five - the five-justice Republican majority led by Chief Justice Roberts - and President … Continue Reading
