Press Releases
Whitehouse, Grassley Lead Senators in Call to Fully Fund FinCEN’s Anti-Money Laundering Operations
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have sent Senate appropriators a bipartisan request for the maximum possible funding for the Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to support implementation and enforcement of key anti-money laundering and anti-corruption reforms. "Senator Grassley and I fought for years for new authority to tackle money laundering by international criminals, drug traffickers, terrorists, and kleptocr… Continue Reading
05.17.22
Senate Unanimously Passes Whitehouse, Cotton Resolution to Designate May as ALS Awareness Month
Washington, DC - Last night, the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Mike Braun (R-IN) to designate May 2022 as ALS Awareness Month. "It takes tremendous courage from patients, families, and friends to cope with an ALS diagnosis - a relentless and debilitating disease," said Whitehouse. "It's my hope that, by passing this ALS Awareness Month resolution, we will draw attention to those aff… Continue Reading
05.16.22
Whitehouse Slams SCOTUS Decision in FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee and the sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act to address dark-money influence in politics, released the following statement on the Supreme Court's decision today in FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate. The Court's decision strikes down a key portion of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (or "McCain-Feingold"). "This is another victory for right-wing donors in their assault on our campaign finance system, and … Continue Reading
05.16.22
Advocates Hail Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act as Bill Gains Steam in Congress
Washington, DC - As polling shows Americans' confidence in the Supreme Court dropping to worrying new lows, leading advocates are lining up to support bicameral legislation to boost transparency and accountability at the Court and throughout the federal judiciary. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee cleared the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act to set the stage for a vote of the full House in the coming days, while Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led colleagues to intro… Continue Reading
05.13.22
Reed, Whitehouse Urge Infant Formula Manufacturers to Step Up & Help Ease Shortage
President Biden announced new steps to help get more formula on shelves Senators: "We are calling on you and your member companies to take immediate action and ensure that infant formula manufacturers are making every effort to mitigate this dangerous shortage and get children the nourishment they need." WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse joined with 30 of their Democratic colleagues in sending a letter to Mardi Mountford, President of the Infant Nutrition … Continue Reading
05.12.22
Whitehouse Leads Charge to End Harmful Dark-Money Riders
Washington, DC - Today, Senate Finance Taxation and IRS Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led 19 senators in calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to end years of harmful Republican appropriations riders that block the IRS from setting clear rules for 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups that spend dark money in our politics. In recent years, Republicans have attached the riders to must-pass funding measures in an effort to defend unlimited secret spending in our politics… Continue Reading
05.12.22
Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Hirono, Leahy, Feinstein, Schatz, Booker Introduce Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, & Transparency Act
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) have introduced a new version of the Twenty-First Century Courts Act to promote accountability and increase transparency in the federal courts. The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act was marked up in the House Judiciary Committee last night, teeing it up for a vote in the full House in the… Continue Reading
05.11.22
Whitehouse Votes to Codify Roe, Slams Republican Obstruction following Supreme Court Attack on Women’s Constitutional Rights
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on today's vote on the Women's Health Protection Act-legislation to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into law and uphold a woman's constitutional right to abortion. The bill did not achieve the 60 votes necessary to advance in the Senate due to Republican obstruction. "Today, I cast my vote to protect access to abortion nationwide, and to stand up to a Supreme Court intent on tearing down a constitutional … Continue Reading
05.10.22
Whitehouse & Eshoo Introduce Bill to Stop Excessively Loud Commercials on TV and Streaming Services
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) introduced the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Modernization Act, bicameral legislation that would update the CALM Act, a law enacted in 2010 to limit the loudness of TV ads. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) is an original cosponsor of the legislation in the Senate and Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-CA) is an original cosponsor of the legislation in the House. The CALM Modernizatio… Continue Reading
05.10.22
Whitehouse Secures $500K to Improve Care for Sexual Assault Victims at Day One
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that he has secured $500,000 in federal funding to allow the nonprofit Day One to upgrade its facility and information technology infrastructure with the goal of improving trauma-informed advocacy and clinical treatment services for victims of sexual assault, abuse, and exploitation. Located in Providence, Day One provides treatment, intervention, education, advocacy, and prevention services to Rhode Islanders of all ages. "The st… Continue Reading
05.06.22
Reed & Whitehouse Deliver $5M Federal Grant to Help Advance Proposed Warwick City Hall Plaza
WARWICK, RI - In an effort to assist the City of Warwick's economic development priorities, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse secured $5 million in federal funding to help Warwick advance plans to create a pedestrian plaza, community gathering and event space that can improve quality of life attributes for the community and promote healthy, active lifestyles. The Senators, who included an earmark for the project in the Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act, say the feder… Continue Reading
05.06.22
Whitehouse and Murkowski Direct China Package Conferees to Support Fisheries, Invest in Blue Economy
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Oceans Caucus, released the following statements after their legislation, the Bolstering Long-Term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act, or the BLUE GLOBE Act, advanced one step closer to becoming law. This week the Senate passed by voice vote Senators Whitehouse and Murkowski's motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 4521, the United … Continue Reading
05.06.22
Whitehouse Releases Previously Undisclosed Correspondence with SCOTUS, Lower Courts on Poor Ethics and Transparency Standards in the Federal Judiciary
Washington, DC - During a Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee hearing on transparency and accountability in the federal courts, Subcommittee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) entered portions of his extensive correspondence with the Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and other judiciary officers into the official subcommittee record. The correspondence reveals new details about the lack of ethics and transparency rules for Supreme Court Justices and lower court judges - a… Continue Reading
05.05.22
ICYMI: Whitehouse Chairs Tax Subcommittee Hearing on the Political Activities of Tax-Exempt Entities
Washington, DC - On Wednesday, Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led a Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation & IRS Oversight hearing entitled, "Laws and Enforcement Governing the Political Activities of Tax-Exempt Entities." The hearing examined the ways in which special interests exploit weak and outdated IRS regulations to funnel massive amounts of unaccountable dark money into our elections through 501(c)(4) organizations. So-called "social welfare" groups are exempt from taxation und… Continue Reading
05.04.22
ICYMI: Whitehouse Leads Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee Hearing on Judicial Ethics, Transparency & Accountability
Washington, DC - On Tuesday, Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights in a hearing entitled, "An Ethical Judiciary: Transparency and Accountability for 21st Century Courts." The hearing explored the lack of transparency and accountability in the federal judiciary and potential legislative solutions - including a strong code of ethics for the U.S. Supreme Court, strengthened recusal standards for judge… Continue Reading
05.02.22
Whitehouse Statement on Reported Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, released the following statement on reports of a draft Supreme Court majority ruling that would overturn Roe v. Wade and strike down a woman's constitutional right to abortion: "If the majority Republican justices stay the course, this decision will go down as one of the most supremely political acts in Supreme Court history. Roe v. Wade has stood firm in the law for decades, guaranteeing w… Continue Reading
04.28.22
Whitehouse Welcomes Biden Plan to Seize Oligarch Assets to Supply Aid to Ukraine, Pledges to Lead Congressional Efforts to Pass Necessary Authority
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) hailed President Biden's proposal released today to boost the federal government's authority to hold Vladimir Putin, the Russian government, and Russian oligarchs accountable for the unprovoked war against Ukraine, which includes as a central component Whitehouse's proposal to seize oligarch assets and use the proceeds of their sale for aid to Ukraine. Whitehouse introduced his bipartisan Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act in March wi… Continue Reading
04.27.22
Reed & Whitehouse Applaud President’s Nomination of Lara Montecalvo to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
PROVIDENCE, RI - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse today applauded President Biden for nominating Lara E. Montecalvo, who currently leads the office of the Rhode Island Public Defender, to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The announcement comes after Senator Reed and Senator Whitehouse undertook an open and in-depth selection process that included extensive interviews and careful deliberation before they jointly made their recommendations to the President. … Continue Reading
04.27.22
Whitehouse & Cornyn Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Local Communities Fight Drug Overdoses
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), a Caucus member, introduced today the Overdose Review Team Act to help local communities save lives by improving their response to the overdose epidemic. The legislation would create a grant program at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support local governments in establishing panels of health officials, social service organizati… Continue Reading
04.22.22
Drug Caucus Chairman Whitehouse Applauds Comprehensive National Drug Control Strategy
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, issued the following statement on the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) inaugural National Drug Control Strategy. "Illicit drugs cause immeasurable pain and loss in our communities. As the Chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, I've pressed for an updated federal plan to tackle them. I've been clear that the plan must include… Continue Reading
