Press Releases
Whitehouse, Cornyn Introduce Bill to Recognize Former Inmates Who Are Successfully Rehabilitated
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced the Recognizing Education, Employment, New Skills, and Treatment to Enable Reintegration (RE-ENTER) Act, which would allow federal judges to issue a Certificate of Rehabilitation to acknowledge an eligible offender who has successfully reintegrated into society. These certificates can help formerly incarcerated individuals find jobs and housing and help prospective employers or landlords determine wheth… Continue Reading
11.20.19
Ahead of Travel Season, Whitehouse and Markey Introduce Legislation to Rein in Unfair Airline Fees
Washington, D.C. - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) today joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Jesús "Chuy" García (IL-04) to introduce the Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act, legislation that would prohibit airlines from charging fees, including cancellation, change, and bag fees, that are not reasonable and proportional to the costs of the services actually provided. The bill also directs the Department of… Continue Reading
11.18.19
Whitehouse, McSally, Booker, Portman Introduce Bill to End Cosmetics Animal Testing
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Martha McSally (R-AZ), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Rob Portman (R-OH) today introduced legislation to end cosmetics animal testing and the sale of animal-tested cosmetics in the United States. The Humane Cosmetics Act would phase out the sale of any cosmetic products developed using animal testing and make it unlawful to conduct cosmetic animal testing in the U.S. "There are plenty of cost-effective and accurate ways to gauge the safety of … Continue Reading
11.18.19
DEM Wins Coastal Resilience Grant for Quonochontaug Pond from Whitehouse-Created Program
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has received a $75,000 award from the National Coastal Resilience Fund developed by Whitehouse to restore and strengthen the natural infrastructure that protects coastal communities. DEM will use the funding to advance resiliency efforts along the shore of Quonochontaug Pond, a salt pond partially located in the towns of Charlestown and Westerly. "Quonnie Pond is … Continue Reading
11.18.19
New England Senators Urge Grid Operator to Consider Larger Role for Clean Energy in Market
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Angus King (I-ME) today penned a letter to ISO New England (ISO-NE) calling on the regional grid operator to pursue changes to the energy markets consistent with the ambitious clean energy goals set by each of the New England states. The letter requests that all relevant energy stakeholders and state off… Continue Reading
11.14.19
Reed, Whitehouse Join Senate Democrats in Introducing House-Passed Violence Against Women Act
Washington, DC - Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have joined Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and every Senate Democrat in introducing companion legislation to the House-passed Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. The bill, which would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) through 2024, preserves advancements made in previous reauthorizations and includes a number of additional improvements to the current law. "This is lifesaving legislation that helps… Continue Reading
11.13.19
Save Our Seas 2.0 Act Advances Through Final Senate Committee
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) applauded the passage of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (introduced in whole as S. 1982) through the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act was introduced in June to address the plastic debris crisis threatening coastal economies and harming marine life. Portions of the bill previously passed through the Senate Environment and Public Work… Continue Reading
11.08.19
Senator Whitehouse Delivers Weekly Democratic Address
Washington, DC - After President Trump, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, and other top Republicans celebrated the confirmation of extreme, far-right conservative judges this week, Senator Whitehouse (D-RI) delivers this week's Weekly Democratic Address. In the address, Senator Whitehouse explains that the Senate has become a legislative graveyard under Majority Leader McConnell's leadership because Republicans are more focused on packing the courts with the president's partisan judges than vot… Continue Reading
11.06.19
New $25M Federal BUILD Grant to Help Drive Washington Bridge Repairs Forward
PROVIDENCE, RI - The projected $70 million project to rehabilitate the Washington Bridge's westbound span is getting a major boost thanks to a new $25 million federal BUILD grant, announced today by U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will receive the federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Thi… Continue Reading
10.31.19
Senators Whitehouse and Enzi Offer Bipartisan Reforms to Fix Broken Budget Process
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Budget Committee member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) today introduced bipartisan legislation to fix the federal government's broken budget process. The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act would provide a more orderly, deliberative budget process focused on long-term fiscal planning. It would end the brinksmanship surrounding the debt limit and encourage bipartisan collaboration in tackling our growing debt and deficits… Continue Reading
10.30.19
Whitehouse Statement on Democrats’ Resolution to Protect Consumers from Junk Insurance Plans
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has issued the following statement about today's vote on a resolution that would have overturned a Trump administration rule expanding junk insurance plans that don't require insurance companies to protect people with pre-existing health conditions or cover basic care: "The Trump administration, aided by Republicans in Congress, is steadily working to take us back to the dark ages for patients when insurance companies could discriminate ag… Continue Reading
10.29.19
Special Committee on the Climate Crisis Holds Hearing on Dark Money and Climate Change
Washington, DC - On Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) led a hearing of Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis entitled, "Dark Money and Barriers to Climate Action." Leading academics and good government watchdogs testified to special committee members about the effect of anonymous funding of climate obstruction and what can be done to fight it. Witnesses touched on how congressional oversight could be used to uncover the … Continue Reading
10.23.19
Whitehouse, Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Resolution Honoring Beirut Bombing Victims
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), along with Senators John Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Doug Jones (D-Alabama), Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), and Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) introduced a resolution that would designate today as a national day of remembrance for members of the United States Armed F… Continue Reading
10.23.19
Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Harris, Coons Press Barr to Explain Growing Record of Political Influence in Justice Department Decisions
Washington, DC - In a letter today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Chris Coons (D-DE) asked Attorney General Bill Barr to explain how numerous reports of political considerations seeping into the highest levels of Justice Department decision-making square with established Department policy against political interference in federal law enforcement decisions. Those reports paint a picture of a Department that grants the White House and the… Continue Reading
10.17.19
Whitehouse, Stabenow, Collins, Markey, Capito and Menendez Lead Bipartisan Group of Senators to Expand Access to Care and Resources for Families with Alzheimer’s
WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ed Markey (D-MA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and a bipartisan group of Senators today urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to conduct an outreach campaign to educate clinicians, Medicare beneficiaries with cognitive impairment, and their families on the assessment and care planning services currently available to them. Stabenow, Collins, Markey, C… Continue Reading
10.17.19
Whitehouse Supports Resolution Condemning Trump Rollback of Clean Power Plan
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today voted in support of a Senate resolution expressing disapproval of the Trump administration's repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which was aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. The Trump administration replaced the Clean Power Plan with the so-called Affordable Clean Energy rule - a move to weaken carbon emission standards for power plants that was hailed by the fossil fuel industry. The Senate rejected the res… Continue Reading
10.17.19
Judicial Travel Accountability Act Unveiled in Congress
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) led a bipartisan group in Congress to introduce the Judicial Travel Accountability Act, a bill to close loopholes that allow Supreme Court justices and federal judges to avoid disclosing travel and hospitality perks they enjoy as prominent public figures. Given the life tenure and extraordinary power to shape American law that comes with a federal court seat, there is a strong public interest in bet… Continue Reading
10.08.19
Whitehouse Calls for Passage of Buffett Rule After New Report Exposes Record Tax Inequality
Washington, DC - After a new report published in The New York Times exposed that the top 400 earners paid a record low tax rate last year, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is calling on Congress to pass legislation that would prevent the wealthiest Americans from paying lower tax rates than middle-class families. Whitehouse's Paying a Fair Share Act, also known as the "Buffett Rule," would ensure that multi-million-dollar earners pay at least a 30 percent effective federal tax rate. "As Republ… Continue Reading
10.04.19
Whitehouse, Leahy Call for Investigation into Conduct of Former Top Justice Department Official
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released their request to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division John Gore for possible ethics violations. Documents obtained by the senators through a watchdog group's Freedom of Information Act request show Gore taking action as a Department official to pursue allegations of voting irr… Continue Reading
10.03.19
Whitehouse and Wyden Statement on Trump Health Care Smokescreen
Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Finance Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. today issued a statement following a speech by the president on health care: "The American people aren't buying Donald Trump's scare tactics on health care. Democrats want people to have choices for their health care - whether that's Medicare Advantage or allowing Americans under 65 to join the program if they choose. Trump and Republicans in Congress are … Continue Reading
