Press Releases
Following Trump Address, Whitehouse Calls on President to Unlock Emergency Coronavirus Aid, Provide Robust Economic Stimulus for Workers
Washington, D.C. - Following an address to the nation by President Donald Trump, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse tonight called on the President to issue an emergency declaration for the coronavirus pandemic and support an economic stimulus package that would help the workers whose livelihoods are most immediately at risk. "A lot of time was wasted through incompetence, and it matters now that we focus on adequate preparation, testing, and response to protect Americans, not on odd travel bans. … Continue Reading
03.11.20
Reed, Whitehouse to DeVos: Issue Clear Guidance for Schools and Families Dealing with Coronavirus Closures
Washington, D.C. - As schools in Rhode Island and across the country mull closures due to the coronavirus, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and 30 Democratic Senators in urging Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to provide guidance for school districts and institutions of higher education, as well as families and students. In a letter to Secretary DeVos, the senators stressed that it is crucial that the Department of Education provi… Continue Reading
03.11.20
Whitehouse, Utility Workers Union President James Slevin Issue United Call for Carbon Price in New Washington Post Op-Ed
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has joined forces with James Slevin, president of the Utility Workers Union of America, to call for a price on the carbon emissions driving climate change and to use revenue raised by the fee to help the workers and communities that will be most affected by the resulting transition to renewable energy sources. The joint op-ed, which was published today on the editorial page of the Washington Post, marks the first time a national energy-s… Continue Reading
03.10.20
Whitehouse, Merkley Call Out Trump Administration for Handing Over NEPA Rulemaking Process to Fossil Fuel Polluters
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) submitted an official comment on a proposal by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) that would block federal agencies from considering under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) the effects of federal government actions that contribute to climate change and other major environmental problems. The proposal is such a blatant giveaway to the fossil fuel industry, it constitutes an illegal d… Continue Reading
03.05.20
U.S. Senators Call on Employers to Offer Workers Flexibility in the Event of Widespread Coronavirus Outbreak
WASHINGTON, DC - In the event that workers are directed on medical advice to self-isolate because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse are strongly urging major U.S. employers to commit that workers will not be penalized for following recommended health procedures to protect the public from further spread of the coronavirus. In a letter to major industry groups signed by Reed, Whitehouse, U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and 13 U.S. Senators, the Se… Continue Reading
03.05.20
Senate Dems. Request Docs. Related To Leonard Leo’s Work Leading Trump Admin. Judicial Selections, Say Leo Hand-Picked Trump Judges While Raking In Undisclosed Sums From Related Advocacy Groups—A Potential Conflict Of Interest And Violation Of Federal Ethics Law
Washington, DC - Senate Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) today sent a series of letters to Leonard Leo, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Dale Cabaniss, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, and Federalist Society President and CEO Eugene Meyer raising concerns with potential conflicts of interest related to Mr. Leo's work leading and advising the Trump ad… Continue Reading
03.04.20
Reed, Whitehouse, Senate Democrats to Azar: Trump Administration’s Health Care Sabotage Undermines Coronavirus Response
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today joined Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and other Democrats in demanding that Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar take immediate action to address the many ways the Trump Administration's health care sabotage has undermined our preparedness for and ability to respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Specifically, the Senators asked Secretary Azar to commit to making any pote… Continue Reading
03.04.20
RI Delegation Announces $500K from CDC to Bolster Coronavirus Containment Efforts; $4.9+ Million More on the Way in Bipartisan Supplemental Aid Package
Washington, D.C. - As Rhode Island ramps up efforts to contain the novel coronavirus, members of the state's congressional delegation announced an initial $500,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support statewide preparations. At least $4.9 million more in funding is expected to be provided to Rhode Island in the days ahead as part of an $8.3-billion bipartisan emergency supplemental aid package passed by the House today. The funding package could be approve… Continue Reading
03.04.20
Whitehouse, Merkley, Malinowski Write Pompeo to Correct Record, Call for Pompeo to Defend State Department Employees
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Congressman Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo correcting inaccurate comments by Pompeo at the Munich Security Conference and encouraging him to do more to support State Department employees in the face of unfounded attacks by political partisans. The members call Pompeo's failure to defend State Department employees, including former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, a … Continue Reading
03.03.20
Whitehouse Introduces Legislation to Strengthen Patient Safety
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today introduced The Patient Safety Improvement Act to strengthen patient safety. The legislation seeks to reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs) and preserve the effectiveness of existing antibiotics. The bill includes new measures to improve safety for pediatric patients and to encourage better transitions of care across multiple health care settings and providers. "Health care-associated infections are a vexing challenge - da… Continue Reading
02.27.20
Sens. Whitehouse, Menendez, Enzi, Reps. Dingell, LaHood, Higgins, Bilirakis Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation to Improve Hemophilia Patients’ Access to Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), and U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12), Darin LaHood (R-IL-18), Brian Higgins (D-NY-26) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) today introduced the Hemophilia Skilled Nursing Facilities Access Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation to improve access to critical health care services provided through Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) for individuals with hemophilia. Currently, Medicare patients … Continue Reading
02.27.20
Whitehouse Calls for $8.5-Billion Emergency Appropriation to Protect Rhode Islanders from Coronavirus
Washington, D.C. - With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urging Americans to prepare for the potential of a "significant disruption" from the novel coronavirus, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is calling on Congress to swiftly approve an $8.5-billion emergency appropriation for robust efforts to protect Americans from the quickly spreading virus. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has released a detailed proposal for deploying the $8.5 billion in funding to… Continue Reading
02.19.20
Senators Call for Expanded Investigation of Giuliani Contacts with Justice Department
Washington, DC - Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led a group of senators in calling on the U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General to expand his investigation of Rudy Giuliani's contacts with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to include troubling contacts elsewhere in the Department. Giuliani is reported to have met on numerous occasions with top Justice officials with authority over matters involving Giuliani'… Continue Reading
02.18.20
RI Nets Over $8 Million in Federal Security & Emergency Preparedness Grants
PROVIDENCE, RI - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today announced that Rhode Island will receive $8,030,040 in federal funding to enhance public safety and support emergency preparedness. The state will also receive grants to help at-risk non-profit organizations and houses of worship secure their facilities against targeted attacks. The federal funds, which were awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) an… Continue Reading
02.14.20
Reed, Whitehouse Join Bipartisan Call for HHS to Reimburse States, Cities for Coronavirus Efforts
Washington, D.C. - Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have joined Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and more than a dozen colleagues from both sides of the aisle to call on the Department of Health and Human Services to establish clear guidelines for how state and local governments will be reimbursed for costs incurred while assisting the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak. "We write to ask that your department establish clear guidelines for state and local governm… Continue Reading
02.13.20
Whitehouse Co-Chairs Bipartisan Delegation to 2020 Munich Security Conference
Washington, D.C. - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) this evening is setting off for Munich, Germany to join more than 450 world leaders and international security decision-makers at the annual Munich Security Conference. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Whitehouse will lead a delegation of 21 members of Congress to the world's major global forum for the discussion of security policy. Whitehouse has served as the Democratic lead for the Congressional delegation to the conference since 2013, o… Continue Reading
02.13.20
Whitehouse, Senate Judiciary Democrats Call for Investigation of Political Interference at DOJ
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, along with all of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, today wrote Chairman Lindsey Graham asking that the committee immediately initiate an investigation into political interference at the Justice Department, including this week's reduction in the sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone. "The Justice Department's mission 'to ensure fair and impartial justice for all Americans' requires that its prosecutorial decisions remain fre… Continue Reading
02.13.20
Senators Press Barr on Politicization of Justice Department Administration of Immigration Courts
Washington, DC - In a letter sent today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led a group of senators in pressing Attorney General William Barr for information and documents related to the brazen politicization and maladministration of American immigration courts under President Donald Trump. Against the backdrop of extreme and cruel rhetoric trained on immigrants by President Trump, the Trump Justice Department has quietly undermined immigration courts' ability to deliver impartial justice in a n… Continue Reading
02.13.20
Whitehouse and Cardin Urge Federal Action to Protect Local Water Systems from Climate Change
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) are calling for urgent federal action to protect water systems from climate change impacts in response to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today. The report, "Water Infrastructure and Climate Change Impacts," documents the need for the federal government to work with states and local utilities to strengthen the resilience of water infrastructure to climate impacts. The report makes practica… Continue Reading
02.10.20
Whitehouse Statement Ahead of Trump Budget Release
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today issued the following statement ahead of the release of President Trump's FY2021 budget proposal: "Everyone knows the latest Trump budget is dead on arrival in Congress. It's merely a political stunt to gratify extremists in his party. What we need is budget reform in Congress to address all the drivers of our massive deficits and help us to a bipartisan budget that honors the priorities o… Continue Reading
