Press Releases
Whitehouse, Carper Release GAO Report Detailing Trump Administration Assault on EPA Science Advisory Boards
Washington, DC - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ought to follow its own rules designed to protect the independence and effectiveness of the agency's scientific advisory committees, writes the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in a report released today by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Tom Carper (D-DE). By ignoring the agency's own rules, the Trump officials at the EPA installed industry scientists and consultants to help guide the EPA's scientific decision making to fa… Continue Reading
07.12.19
Whitehouse Statement on Acosta Resignation
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today released the following statement on the resignation of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta: "Alexander Acosta ultimately had no choice but to resign. His sweetheart prosecution deal for a billionaire serial sex offender had failed even to unearth the full extent of the offenses. Mr. Acosta now joins the sprawling parade of President Trump's chosen advisors who have left the administration under clouds of scandal and corruption, leaving rudde… Continue Reading
07.11.19
Whitehouse Calls on Major Investment Funds to Pay Attention to Companies’ Funding of Climate Denier Group
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called the attention of major institutional investors - including BlackRock, State Street, and Legal & General - to a report that telecom and tech giants are funding the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a fossil fuel industry-funded front group that has served as the Trump administration's one-stop shop for climate denial. The companies funding CEI that Whitehouse highlights all have internal corporate policies to reduce carbo… Continue Reading
07.10.19
Whitehouse-Hawley Bill to Prevent Officer Suicide Passes House, Moves to President’s Desk
Washington, DC - The U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's (D-R.I.) bipartisan Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis (STOIC) Act, which restores grant funding for law enforcement support services and allows grant recipients to establish suicide prevention programs and mental health services for police officers. Whitehouse sponsored the bill with Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in the Senate, where it passed unanimously in May. "Members of law … Continue Reading
07.10.19
Whitehouse, Raskin Press NRA Law Firm on Possible Campaign Finance Violations
Washington, DC - In a letter today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) called on the law firm representing the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its front groups to release documents related to potential violations of campaign finance law. The members sent a letter to the NRA and six related groups in February raising concerns with possible illegal coordination of independent expenditures with political campaigns. The Virginia law firm Holtzman, Vogel, Jos… Continue Reading
07.10.19
Whitehouse, Warren Call for Investigation of U.S. Chamber for Failing to Disclose Lobbying Activity
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called on the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House to investigate whether the nation's largest lobbying force, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is shirking its responsibly to disclose on whose behalf it is lobbying. Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, entities that lobby Congress are required to file reports with the House and Senate detailing which member entities directed the lobbying and stand t… Continue Reading
07.01.19
Reed, Whitehouse: Census Should Stay on Schedule & Omit Citizenship Question
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have joined U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and 25 colleagues in calling on Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to move forward with printing 2020 Census materials that don't include a citizenship question, after the Supreme Court recently blocked adding a question about citizenship. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the Trump administration's rationale for adding the question "appears to have been contriv… Continue Reading
06.28.19
Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Hirono File Brief in Key Challenge to Unlimited Super PAC Spending in Elections
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Lieu v. Federal Election Commission, a challenge to unlimited political spending in elections through super PACs and other outside groups. In their brief, the senators urge the court to reexamine a previous holding that failed to recognize the practical effect of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) allowing unlimited speci… Continue Reading
06.27.19
Whitehouse Statement on Supreme Court Gerrymandering Decision
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the Supreme Court's decision in the gerrymandering case Rucho v. Common Cause: "What are the chances that if partisan gerrymandering were a Democratic technique generating counter-majority Democratic political advantage that the Republicans on the Court would have rendered this decision? Pretty slim given their record. "The Republican donor take-over of the Supr… Continue Reading
06.27.19
Senate Approves Military Funding Bill with Whitehouse’s Bipartisan Energy Amendments
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today applauded Senate passage of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual policy bill that authorizes appropriations for the Department of Defense. In addition to providing robust support for the men and women of the armed forces, the legislation includes bipartisan provisions authored by Whitehouse to improve the military's energy security and reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans. The legislation als… Continue Reading
06.26.19
Whitehouse, Sullivan, Menendez Launch New Bipartisan Effort to Combat Marine Debris
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) today led colleagues from both sides of the aisle in launching a new effort to combat marine debris. At a news conference this morning in the Senate Radio-Television Gallery, the Senators unveiled the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act to address the plastic debris crisis that threatens coastal economies and harms marine life. The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act seeks to help reduce the creation of plastic waste, f… Continue Reading
06.25.19
Whitehouse, Langevin, Markey Lead Legislation to Harness Offshore Wind Energy
WASHINGTON - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) reintroduced legislation today that would spur the growth of offshore wind energy in the United States by extending tax credits for the renewable energy industry. The Offshore Wind Incentives for New Development (WIND) Act would extend the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for offshore wind through 2025. The Energy Department found that the United States could install a total… Continue Reading
06.24.19
Whitehouse, Engel Make Bicameral Push to Increase Social Security COLA
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) have introduced bicameral legislation that will ensure American seniors receive adequate annual support from their Social Security benefits. The Guaranteed 3% COLA For Seniors Act would guarantee every senior a reasonable Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) with an annual floor of no less than 3 percent. The bill would also update the formula that the government uses to determine seniors' yearly… Continue Reading
06.24.19
Senators Whitehouse, Hirono, Capito Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Increase Access to Shingles, Tdap Vaccines
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier this month, Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced legislation that would provide Medicare beneficiaries access to vaccines at no additional cost. S. 1872, the Protecting Seniors through Immunizations Act of 2019, would improve access to all recommended vaccines for Medicare beneficiaries, including shingles and tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap), with the goal of helping to increase vacci… Continue Reading
06.21.19
Whitehouse, Public Safety Officials Call for Increased Mental Health Funding for Police Officers
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today joined with public safety officials and mental health advocates to call for increased federal funding for mental health and suicide prevention services geared toward police officers. Whitehouse has introduced the bipartisan Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis (STOIC) Act to authorize $7.5 million annually for the next five years for law enforcement mental health and support services that have gone unfunded for almost two decades. "… Continue Reading
06.20.19
Whitehouse, Jeffries, Blumenthal, Harris Introduce Bill to Protect Justice Department from White House Meddling
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) introduced the Security from Political Interference in Justice Act, to increase transparency in the relationship between the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House and prevent political interference in law enforcement decisions. The bill would impose important reporting requirements for contacts between the Justice Department and White Ho… Continue Reading
06.20.19
Senate Judiciary Committee Advances McElroy Nomination
Washington, DC - Four years after she was initially nominated by President Barack Obama, and over a year after she was nominated and then re-nominated by President Trump, Mary S. McElroy's long delayed nomination to serve on the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island took an important step forward today when she was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan vote of 19-3. This marks the third time that McElroy, who leads the office of the Rhode Island Public Defender, has been app… Continue Reading
06.19.19
Whitehouse Statement on Clean Power Plan Replacement Rule
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement on the Trump administration's rule to replace the Clean Power Plan: "Trump's EPA is delivering yet another handout to polluters at the expense of Americans' health and environment. Market forces are moving us rapidly away from polluting energy like coal and toward renewables. There's nothing Trump or the fossil fuel industry can do to stop … Continue Reading
06.18.19
Whitehouse, Grassley Introduce TITLE Act to Curb Proliferation of Anonymous Shell Corporations in U.S.
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) today introduced legislation that would make it more difficult for criminals and foreign enemies to hide assets from law enforcement and tax authorities. The True Incorporation Transparency for Law Enforcement (TITLE) Act would require states to obtain information on the true owners of corporations and LLCs formed within their borders. "It is appallingly simple for a domestic criminal or a foreign strongman to set up… Continue Reading
06.18.19
Money Laundering Bill Targets Terrorists, Tax Evaders, Cartels & Crooks
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members today introduced legislation that modernizes and strengthens criminal laws against money laundering - a critical source of funding for terrorist organizations, drug cartels and other organized crime syndicates. The Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2019 updates criminal money laundering and counterfeiting statutes, and promotes transparency in the U.S. financial system. It was introduce… Continue Reading
