Press Releases
As Americans Prepare to Spring Ahead, Whitehouse Renews Call to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent
Washington, D.C. - As Americans prepare to set their clocks forward an hour, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is urging Congress to pass his bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act, a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationwide. Whitehouse is the lead Democrat on the bipartisan bill, which is also sponsored by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). "Many people spend months looking forward to this weekend, when clocks will jump ahead an hour and winter starts to fade," said Whitehouse. "I… Continue Reading
03.11.22
Whitehouse Delivers $68.2 Million Investment in Rhode Island Communities Via Omnibus Funding Bill
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that more than $68.2 million will soon be on its way to Rhode Island to support 56 projects that will stimulate the local economy and create jobs. Whitehouse successfully included the Congressionally Directed Spending requests in the 2022 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which funds the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year. The Senate approved the Omnibus last night, sending it to the President's desk to be signed into… Continue Reading
03.10.22
With Gasoline Prices Sky High, Whitehouse Leads Democrats in Introducing Curb on Big Oil Companies Engaged in Profiteering to Provide Relief at the Pump
Washington, D.C. - With gas prices skyrocketing in recent days against a backdrop of continued Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has introduced the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax to curb profiteering by oil companies and provide Americans relief at the gas pump. The Senate legislation is cosponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack R… Continue Reading
03.09.22
Whitehouse Cheers Funding Measure’s Asset Recovery Initiative Team & Boost for Sanctions Enforcement against Putin and His Oligarchs
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) applauded new emergency supplemental appropriations legislation included in the omnibus spending bill released early this morning, which includes provisions championed by Whitehouse to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs accountable for their attack on a peaceful Ukraine. "This legislation will make sure Putin and his oligarchs pay an enormous price for their assault against the people of Ukraine," said Whitehouse. "The bill… Continue Reading
03.08.22
Whitehouse Statement on Ban of Russian Fossil Fuel Imports
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement regarding the American ban on the import of Russian oil and gas: "This is Putin's gas price increase. I was just at Normandy; the Greatest Generation gave a lot the last time a dictator started a land war in Europe. This is going to be hard, but the stakes are high once again. We have to cut off Russia's fossil fuel lifeline to stop Putin before his brutal invasion of Ukraine spirals. "While we sever eco… Continue Reading
03.08.22
Whitehouse Statement on Meeting with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
PHOTO AVAILABLE HERE Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, released the following statement regarding his meeting this morning with President Biden's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson: "Judge Jackson is an experienced judge, has a brilliant legal mind, and is committed to the Constitution and the rule of law. I was pleased to speak with such a qualified nominee about the importance of a Supreme Court that safe… Continue Reading
03.07.22
Whitehouse Joins Brown, Bennet, Kaine to Urge Administration to Propose a Public Option to Lower Health Care Costs for Americans
Washington, D.C. - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Tim Kaine (D-VA) sent a letter to President Biden, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Shalanda D. Young, urging them to include a proposal to add a publicly administered health insurance option to the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) individual marketplaces in the President's fiscal year 2023 (FY23… Continue Reading
03.04.22
Congress Poised to Put ‘Stamp of Approval’ on Bipartisan Postal Reform
U.S. Senate on verge of passing bipartisan bill to strengthen the U.S. Postal Service & then send it to President Biden to be signed into law RI delegation says the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 should help save USPS about $49 billion over 10 years through structural benefit reforms, increase transparency, and facilitate timely mail and package deliveries Bill will ensure reliable, 6-day a week mail service for RI. It also expands special rates for local newspaper distribution to promo… Continue Reading
03.04.22
Whitehouse Urges Parents to Take Full Advantage of Expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
Washington, D.C. - This tax filing season, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is encouraging Rhode Islanders to be sure to take advantage of the expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which is bigger and will provide support for more families this year thanks to the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan increased the credit substantially for 2021 - up to $4,000 for one qualifying dependent and $8,000 for two or more qualifying dependents. The credit is also refundable, meaning a fil… Continue Reading
03.03.22
Joint Statement from Senators Menendez, Sullivan, Whitehouse on the UN Environment Assembly’s Establishment of Committee to Tackle Global Plastic Pollution
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the three lead sponsors of the enacted Save Our Seas (SOS) 2.0 Act, issued the following joint statement on the United Nations Environment Assembly's approval of formal negotiations on a new international agreement to combat plastic pollution: "The approval of negotiations for a new international treaty on plastic polluti… Continue Reading
03.03.22
Whitehouse Offers Amendment to Shift USPS to Zero-Emission Fleet
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Tom Carper (D-DE) today introduced an amendment to the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 that would prohibit the United States Postal Service (USPS) from purchasing non-zero-emission vehicles. The USPS fleet makes up about one third of all government vehicles. Last month, the EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality warned USPS that the agency's current plan to replace its mass… Continue Reading
03.02.22
Whitehouse Calls for American Leadership in the Global Fight against Kleptocracy and International Corruption
Washington, D.C. - As Vladimir Putin and his corrupt regime engineers an invasion of the sovereign and peaceful nation of Ukraine, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) delivered remarks on the Senate floor on the need for rule-of-law societies to crack down on the gaping loopholes that kleptocrats like Putin use to hide their ill-gotten gains in democratic countries and free-market financial systems. "America is engaged in a growing clash of civilizations against this brand of corrupt leadership; … Continue Reading
03.01.22
Whitehouse Issues Statement on State of the Union Address
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) issued the following statement on President Biden's State of the Union Address before a joint session of Congress tonight: "Tonight, the President delivered a hopeful, clear-eyed report. I appreciated his salute to the bravery and grit of the Ukrainian people standing up against a brutal and corrupt dictator. I share the President's pride in the strength of the transatlantic alliance, and in America's global leadership in this moment of great c… Continue Reading
03.01.22
Bob Billington, Head of Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, to Join Whitehouse as Virtual Guest for State of the Union
Washington, DC - Bob Billington, President of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, will virtually join U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for President Biden's State of the Union address this evening. The Blackstone Valley Tourism Council received a $918,124 grant last year from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, which was created by Democrats' American Rescue Plan. The grant allowed the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council to safely reopen its popular Polar Express Train Ride in downtown … Continue Reading
02.28.22
Whitehouse Calls on SCOTUS to Reject Polluter “Project” to Tear Down Clean Air Act Authority
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on today's oral arguments in West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court case challenging the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act. "This trumped-up challenge is one prong of a massive, anonymously-funded influence campaign by the fossil fuel industry. Those industry forces are pushing reverse-engineered legal doctrines to torpedo public health and environmen… Continue Reading
02.28.22
Whitehouse Renews Call for Major Emissions-Reducing Legislation After UN Details Dangers Climate Change Poses to Humanity
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today issued the following statement after the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a sweeping report on the dangerous effects of rising global temperatures and the disasters that lay ahead if nations fail to quickly slash emissions: "The United Nations is blasting out science's alarm to the world, making crystal clear that we have only a narrow window for action to lead the planet to safety. That narrow window requi… Continue Reading
02.28.22
Senators Urge FERC to Stop Utility Companies from Making Captive Ratepayers Foot the Bill for Polluter Lobbying
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) are urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to protect ratepayers from footing the bill for utility trade association's political influence activities. Under FERC's current regulatory accounting and financial reporting system, the Uniform System of Accounts (USofA), utility companies can bill ratepayers to cov… Continue Reading
02.25.22
Whitehouse Responds to Ruling Upholding the Harmful Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Maneuver
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, responded to a New Jersey judge's ruling permitting Johnson & Johnson's talc claims subsidiary to continue a bankruptcy process known as the "Texas Two-Step"-a maneuver used by corporations to evade tort liabilities and make it more burdensome for tort plaintiffs to recover. "Today's ruling greenlights a maneuver to help bi… Continue Reading
02.25.22
Whitehouse Statement on Inhofe Retirement
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement upon the announcement of the retirement of Senator James Inhofe (R-OK): "In the strange ways of the Senate, Jim Inhofe was perhaps my worst foe on climate change issues, yet a key ally on my oceans and infrastructure measures. When he's decided to push for something, he's had an astounding ability to get it done. I wish him well in his retirement."… Continue Reading
02.25.22
Whitehouse Welcomes Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, released the following statement on the nomination of D.C. Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court upon the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer: "Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a thoroughly qualified nominee. She will bring to the Court a wealth of experience, a sharp legal mind, and a … Continue Reading
