Press Releases
Whitehouse Calls for Release of Murray’s ‘Action Plan’
Washington, DC - Today, at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse pressed the nominee for Deputy Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Andrew Wheeler, for a list of coal magnate Robert Murray's policy priorities, which Murray presented to President Trump upon entering office. Murray bragged of giving the three-page "action plan" to Trump in the Frontline document "War on the EPA," which aired last month. "Coal baron Bob Murra… Continue Reading
11.08.17
Whitehouse, Bennet Call on FERC to Use Social Cost of Carbon in Review of Pipelines
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reverse course and apply a common measure of the societal costs of carbon pollution in its review of a major gas pipeline project in the Southeast. Whitehouse and Bennet offer a point-by-point rebuttal of a recent draft analysis by the Commission, showing why the social cost of carbon is an indispensable part of any pipeline review. In August, a thre… Continue Reading
11.08.17
Whitehouse, Cicilline Lead Charge to Expand Access to High-Quality Education
WASHINGTON - Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Co-Chair David N. Cicilline (RI-01) and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) today introduced the Community Partnerships in Education Act to bring non-profit organizations and education programs together to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century economy. "As our economy continues to change at an unprecedented pace, we need to ensure that young people get the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in the … Continue Reading
11.07.17
Whitehouse, Doggett Call for Action on Tax Haven Bill in Wake of Paradise Papers
Washington, DC - In the wake of the explosive Paradise Papers, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) called on Republicans to take up legislation to crack down on the use of offshore tax havens by corporations and the ultra-wealthy. The Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, introduced in April by Whitehouse and Doggett, would limit the ways corporations can game the U.S. tax system by moving jobs and assets abroad. "These documents pull back the curtain on a complex shell… Continue Reading
11.05.17
Reed, Whitehouse Call on President to Support Much-Needed Funding to Stem Opioid Epidemic
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have joined Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and nineteen of their colleagues in sending a letter to the White House calling on President Trump to support additional funding necessary to combat the opioid epidemic. "We appreciate your formal declaration that the opioid epidemic is a National Public Health Emergency. While this is a positive step forward, more action must be taken in order to craft a timely and effecti… Continue Reading
11.04.17
Whitehouse Statement on Federal Climate Report
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Co-Chair of the Senate Climate Task Force, released the following statement on portions of the National Climate Assessment, including the final draft of the Climate Science Special Report, released Friday: "The writing is on the wall. The inescapable science, compiled by the top experts from throughout the federal government, shows that climate change touches every corner of the co… Continue Reading
11.02.17
Whitehouse Statement on Republican Tax Plan
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on Republicans' new tax proposal: "The Republican tax plan, unsurprisingly, is a hand-out for billionaires and big corporations financed with cuts to provisions that matter to the middle class, like deductions for student loan interest and medical bills. It would reward companies that send jobs overseas while repealing a deduction that helps domestic manufacturers. As Rhode Island's housing market stabi… Continue Reading
10.31.17
New England Members of Congress Demand Explanation for Silencing of EPA Scientists
Washington, DC - After the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) canceled presentations by its scientists at a workshop on the health of Narragansett Bay-an event focusing on the challenges climate change and other threats pose for the critical economic resource-members of Congress from Rhode Island and Massachusetts are demanding an explanation from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. In a letter sent today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Elizabe… Continue Reading
10.30.17
Whitehouse Statement on Indictments, Plea in Mueller Investigation
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on newly unsealed court records in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election: "There is something to be said for the cold, factual language of an indictment, asserting the specific facts known and the specific laws broken. And now we have a guilty plea from a Trump campaign adviser for false statements to fed… Continue Reading
10.27.17
Whitehouse, Senate Dems Demand Trump Administration Expedite Power Restoration in Puerto Rico & U.S. Virgin Islands
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joined 34 Senate Democrats today to call on administration officials to expedite and better coordinate the ongoing power restoration efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In a letter, the Democrats said the administration's current lack of coordination with local officials, clearances for crews to begin their restoration work, materials and support services, and a clear chain of command on the ground is threatening recovery and re… Continue Reading
10.26.17
Whitehouse Statement on Opioid Emergency Announcement
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, author of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), released the following statement regarding President Donald Trump's announcement that the Department of Health and Human Services will declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency: "The President is certainly right to call the scourge of opioid addiction a public health emergency. I expressed the urgency of this crisis in no uncertain terms to his team at the White House in… Continue Reading
10.25.17
Whitehouse, Merkley Call on Dourson to Address Key Ethics Concerns Ahead of Committee Vote
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) called on President Donald Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency's toxic pollution office to explain whether he is obeying federal ethics rules, having already started work at the agency. Whitehouse and Merkley called for Michael Dourson's response to address at a minimum the same points that Susan Bodine, the President's nominee to lead EPA's enforcement office, did in her recent letter, which… Continue Reading
10.24.17
Whitehouse Statement on Repeal of CFPB Arbitration Rule
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) issued the following statement tonight on the Senate's 51-50 vote to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule preventing banks and predatory lenders from taking away consumers' legal rights to their day in court. "Tonight, Senate Republicans dealt a major blow to consumers and delivered a big win for Equifax and Wall Street. Victims of financial scams should be able to get their day in court, but Republicans have voted to take aw… Continue Reading
10.24.17
Senators Demand Answers from Dourson Ahead of Committee Vote
Washington, DC - Today, 10 Senators demanded to know how a still-unconfirmed nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) toxics office is already at work at the EPA. Last week, the EPA admitted that the nominee, chemical industry consultant Michael Dourson, has been serving as an "adviser to the administrator." The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has yet to even vote on Dourson; his nomination for Assistant Administrator of the Office of Chemical Safety and Polluti… Continue Reading
10.19.17
Whitehouse, Cornyn Introduce Bipartisan Prison Reform Bill
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced the Corrections Oversight, Recidivism Reduction, and Eliminating Costs for Taxpayers In Our National System (CORRECTIONS) Act, which is based on successful criminal justice reforms from states like Rhode Island and Texas that have lowered recidivism rates, reduced crime, and saved taxpayer dollars. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is an original cosponsor of the legislation. "Rhode Island succeeded in helping mo… Continue Reading
10.19.17
Senators Perdue, Whitehouse Force Senate To Acknowledge Broken Budget Process
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators David Perdue (R-GA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), both members of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following statement on their bipartisan amendment to the FY2018 budget: "Only four times in the past 43 years has this budget process actually funded the federal government. Finding common ground to develop a real budget should be a bipartisan effort, and that's why we're fighting to fix it." ###… Continue Reading
10.19.17
Whitehouse Condemns Passage of Republican Budget
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement on the fiscal year 2018 budget that cleared the Senate this morning by a vote of 51-49: "This sham budget tees up massive tax cuts for big corporations and the ultra-rich, like President Trump and his cabinet. For eight years under President Obama, Republicans carried on about the national debt, but now they're using a partisan shortcut to run up enormous debt fo… Continue Reading
10.17.17
Judiciary Democrats Call on DOJ to Produce Documents That May Show Coordination with Trump Voter Fraud Commission
Washington, DC - Recently revealed court records suggest the Department of Justice coordinated with President Donald Trump's Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which has sought sensitive voter roll data on the majority of the voting public and conducted highly partisan hearings based on discredited allegations of voter fraud. Today, all Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee signed a letter, led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), pushing the Justice Department to produc… Continue Reading
10.17.17
Ahead of Vote in EPW Committee, Trump Picks for Top EPA Posts Claim Total Ignorance on Critical Issues
Washington, DC - With votes on their nominations slated in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday, two of President Donald Trump's nominees to fill top leadership positions at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are claiming no knowledge of some of the most pressing issues they would confront if confirmed. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) remarked on the apparent ignorance reflected in written responses from Michael Dourson, nominee to run the Office of Chemical S… Continue Reading
10.15.17
Reed and Whitehouse Announce Nearly $2.4 Million for Community Development and Affordable Housing in Rhode Island
WASHINGTON, DC - In an effort to revitalize local neighborhoods and increase affordable housing throughout the state, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that Rhode Island will receive a total of $2,365,802 in federal aid from several programs, including $1,928,805 from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, $330,974 from the Home Investment Partnership (HOME) program, and $106,023 from the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program. Each program is admini… Continue Reading
