Press Releases
Whitehouse Statement on Biden’s Jobs and Infrastructure Proposal
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, today released the following statement regarding President Biden's Build Back Better proposal: "American infrastructure is ready for a once-in-a-generation modernization that will make our public works more resilient and efficient. There's much to like about President Biden's Build Back Better proposal. I like that it's focused on upgrading infrastructure - something we need t… Continue Reading
03.31.21
Whitehouse-Doggett Tax Provisions Included in Biden Infrastructure Plan
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chair of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation, and U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, cheered provisions in President Biden's new American Jobs Plan that draw from their bill to end tax incentives for moving jobs and investment overseas at the expense of American workers and taxpayers. Whitehouse and Doggett's bill, the No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act, would level the playing fiel… Continue Reading
03.30.21
Whitehouse Statement on Biden Judicial Nominees
Newport, RI - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts, released the following statement today on President Joe Biden's first slate of judicial nominees: "I am pleased to see the White House act swiftly to nominate judges to help restore the federal bench after four years of special-interest court-packing. Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell let big Republican donors stock the federal courts with judges to rule reliably for those big-donor interes… Continue Reading
03.30.21
RI Delegation Reintroduces Fishermen’s Fairness Act & Announces Nearly $3M to Help Local Fishermen Impacted by COVID-19
PROVIDENCE, RI -- In an effort to give Rhode Island fishermen 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, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives James Langevin and David Cicilline, today announced the reintroduction of the Rhode Island Fishermen's Fairness Act. The legislation would add Rhode Island to the list of seven s… Continue Reading
03.26.21
Public Option for ACA Introduced in Senate, House
Washington, DC - Continuing the success of the American Rescue Plan's provisions to improve health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) have introduced the Consumer Health Options and Insurance Competition Enhancement (CHOICE) Act, to add a publicly operated health insurance option to the Affordable Care Act's individual marketplaces. The bicameral measure would guarantee American co… Continue Reading
03.25.21
Whitehouse Votes to Extend Vital Paycheck Protection Program for RI Small Businesses
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today voted to extend the deadline for small businesses to apply for funding from the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to May 31. The measure was approved in a 92-7 vote, sending the bill to President Biden's desk. The PPP had been set to expire at the end of this month. Congress created the PPP in the CARES Act last spring. PPP offers forgivable loans to small businesses and nonprofit organizations for payr… Continue Reading
03.25.21
Whitehouse, Portman, Capito, Klobuchar, Shaheen, Cantwell Introduce CARA 3.0 to Increase Access to Treatment, Prevention & Bolster Fight Against Addiction Epidemic
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Rob Portman (R-OH), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) 3.0 to increase the funding authorization levels for the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act (CARA) programs enacted in 2016 and put in place additional policy reforms to help combat the opioid epidemic that has worsened during the coronavirus p… Continue Reading
03.25.21
Cornyn, Whitehouse Introduce Bill to Fight Substance Use in Jails & Prisons, Support Inmates upon Release
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced today the bipartisan Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment Act of 2021. The bill would expand access to important substance use treatments in jails and prisons around the country, and help those exiting correctional facilities continue their treatment in the community. The senators' new bill follows their success in passing into law important federal corrections reforms in 2018. "We know people fighting… Continue Reading
03.24.21
With Infrastructure Bill on the Horizon, Whitehouse & Collins Introduce IMAGINE Act to Spur Use of Innovative Materials in Rebuilding American Public Works
Washington, DC - As the Senate begins to turn its attention toward a national infrastructure investment plan, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today reintroduced the Innovative Materials for America's Growth and Infrastructure Newly Expanded (IMAGINE) Act, to encourage research and deployment of innovative construction materials in transportation and water infrastructure projects nationwide. Investing in new techniques and materials could help extend the life of c… Continue Reading
03.23.21
Whitehouse & Reed Support Legislative Fix to Restore Funding for RI Crime Victim Advocacy Organizations
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) have joined a bipartisan coalition to introduce legislation that will strengthen the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) by fixing how the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) is funded. The legislation will redirect monetary penalties from federal deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements into the CVF to increase funding for local victim compensation and assistance programs in Rhode Island and across the country. "As a former … Continue Reading
03.22.21
Whitehouse Issues Statement on SCOTUS Arguments in Cedar Point Nursery Challenge to Workers’ Rights
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts, issued a statement on Supreme Court oral arguments in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, a major challenge to labor unions' ability to organize agricultural workers: "The anti-union business groups behind this case are following a proven formula for success with the Republican appointees on the Roberts Court: find a plaintiff of convenience; force their case through the lower… Continue Reading
03.17.21
Whitehouse Highlights American Rescue Plan Provisions to Protect Nursing Home Residents and Workers
Washington, DC - In a Senate Finance Committee hearing covering the devastating toll COVID-19 has taken on nursing homes across the country, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today highlighted a section of the American Rescue Plan based on his proposal to protect long-term care facility residents and staff from the virus. In the hearing, Adelina Ramos, a certified nursing assistant at the Greenville Nursing Center in Greenville, Rhode Island and member of SEIU District 1199 New England, testified … Continue Reading
03.17.21
Whitehouse Calls on Dark-Money Organizations to Disclose Biggest Donors
Washington, DC - Following a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts last week, Subcommittee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released today three letters he sent to groups that defend anonymous influence over the federal judiciary. The letters call on the organizations to follow the lead of the president of People For the American Way, Ben Jealous, who committed to disclose his group's top five donors and, along with other hearing witnesses called by the majority, threw… Continue Reading
03.15.21
Whitehouse Releases Letter to Garland on Oversight Matters, OLC Politicization
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released today a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking U.S. Department of Justice cooperation in four important Judiciary Committee oversight matters, and raising concerns with the politicization of the Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). During Senate confirmation hearings for Garland and nominee for Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and in an oversight hearing with FB… Continue Reading
03.15.21
With $1,400 Checks On the Way, Whitehouse Staff Available to Ensure Rhode Islanders Get Maximum Payments
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, today announced that his constituent services office stands ready to answer any questions Rhode Islanders may have about the $1,400 direct payments from the federal government that are already beginning to land in bank accounts. The Economic Impact Payments are a feature of the American Rescue Plan, a massive pandemic relief measure passed by Democrats in Congress and signed into law by … Continue Reading
03.13.21
Whitehouse: American Rescue Plan Extends Lifeline to Working Parents in RI
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, today lauded provisions in the American Rescue Plan that will send $93 million to Rhode Island child care centers, which will be paired with an expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to make daycare more affordable. The pandemic has closed daycares and prevented parents from leaning on older family members who may be more susceptible to the virus. Working mothers have been … Continue Reading
03.11.21
Whitehouse, Doggett, Durbin Introduce No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), joined by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Jack Reed (D-RI) and over 100 House members, introduced the No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act. The bill would level the playing field for American workers and small businesses by making sure multinational corporations pay the same tax rate on profits earned a… Continue Reading
03.11.21
Whitehouse Touts American Rescue Plan’s Provisions to Lift Families in RI
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, today offered examples of how historic expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit included in the American Rescue Plan are poised to lift up hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders. The American Rescue Plan, signed into law by President Biden this afternoon, is the exact opposite of the Republican $1.9 trillion tax giveaway in whom it helps. "The America… Continue Reading
03.11.21
Doggett & Whitehouse Author Bill to End Offshore Corporate Tax Loopholes, Raise Billions in Revenue
Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Finance Committee, introduced the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act to close egregious offshore tax loopholes that allow companies with armies of lawyers to avoid taxes by making profits earned here in America magically appear on the books in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. It would also crack down on the type of illegal tax evasion by the superric… Continue Reading
03.09.21
Whitehouse, Booker, Schatz Unveil Methane Fee to Clamp Down on Potent Driver of Climate Change
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) today introduced new legislation to curb the potent methane emissions-especially from the oil and gas sector-that are responsible for about 25 percent of global warming. The Methane Emissions Reduction Act directs the Department of Treasury to assess a fee on methane emissions beginning in 2023. The Senators contend that an accurately assessed fee on the greenhouse gas would virtually end meth… Continue Reading
