Press Releases
Whitehouse to Chair Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) announced today he will chair the United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, which advances international and domestic strategies to combat drug trafficking and improve cooperation between governments. In addition to curbing criminal narcotics enterprises, the bipartisan Caucus addresses the public health effects of substance use, and advances efforts to expand research and fight addiction. "Drug trafficking claims liv… Continue Reading
04.21.21
Ernst, Brown, Blumenthal, Whitehouse Push Bipartisan Bill Supporting Servicemembers’ Mental Health and Transition to Civilian Life
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) are introducing bipartisan legislation to support the mental health needs of servicemembers and veterans as they return to civilian life in their local communities. U.S. Reps. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) are introducing companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. T… Continue Reading
04.20.21
Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Johnson Call on Justice Barrett to Recuse Herself from Koch Dark Money Case
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) released today a letter to Justice Amy Coney Barrett calling on her to recuse herself from Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Rodriquez based on well-established law and Supreme Court precedent. AFPF v. Rodriquez is the latest move in a concerted effort by powerful special interests to cement their influence over government. The main litigant in the case, Americans for Prosp… Continue Reading
04.16.21
Reed, Whitehouse & McKee Announce $840,000 Down Payment for RI Veterans Home to Improve Care & Protect Veterans and Staff from COVID-19
BRISTOL, RI - Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse joined Governor Daniel J. McKee and Rhode Island Office of Veterans Services Director Kasim Yarn to announce a new $840,000 federal grant for the state-run Rhode Island Veterans Home. This federal aid stems from a $100 million emergency payment to State Veteran Homes nationwide that Senators Reed and Whitehouse supported in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which was signed into law in December… Continue Reading
04.09.21
RI Delegation Announces $724K EDA Grant for 401 Tech Bridge to Support Economic Recovery
Providence, RI - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today announced that 401 Tech Bridge has received $724,674 from the Economic Development Administration's (EDA) Scaling Pandemic Resilience Through Innovation and Technology (SPRINT) Challenge. The SPRINT Challenge was created last year by the CARES Act with the aim of harnessing America's entrepreneurial talents to address the economic and health risks caused by the coronavirus pande… Continue Reading
04.08.21
Whitehouse, Doggett Welcome Treasury Tax Plan to Keep Jobs & Profits in America
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) welcomed the U.S Treasury Department's new Made in America Tax Plan, a proposal containing central components of Whitehouse and Doggett's No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act. The Biden administration American Jobs Plan, released last week, proposes to generate revenue by closing loopholes and incentives in the tax code that send jobs and profits overseas. The new Treasury tax plan fleshes out those proposals in… Continue Reading
03.31.21
Senators Sound Alarm Over SCOTUS Case Threatening Constitutional Protection for Dark Money
READ THE FULL BRIEF HERE Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and 14 colleagues filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court today in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Rodriquez, a case that opens the possibility of constitutional protection for anonymous "dark money." The challenge before the Court is the latest move in a campaign by powerful special interests to cement their influence over government following the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The senators wa… Continue Reading
03.31.21
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
