Press Releases
Whitehouse, Harris Press Pruitt on EPA Political Appointees Steering No-Bid Contract to GOP Firm
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) asked Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt to explain why political appointees apparently initiated a no-bid, federal contract with Definers Public Affairs, a company that shares leadership, staff, and an address with America Rising, a political action committee that funded a campaign to confirm Pruitt as EPA Administrator. The Senators point to EPA documents and Senate investigators' interviews with… Continue Reading
06.19.18
Whitehouse Demands Answers from DHS About Forced Family Separation at the Border
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) this morning demanded answers from a top Department of Homeland Security official about the Trump administration's new policy of separating children from their parents as families arrive at the Mexican border seeking refuge in the United States. Emphasizing the importance of prosecutorial discretion, Whitehouse questioned United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Francis Cissna about the policy during a hearing of the Sen… Continue Reading
06.19.18
Delegation Announces $12.5 Million in Opioid Funding Available to Rhode Island
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressmen Jim Langevin (D-RI) and David Cicilline (D-RI) announced a substantial increase in federal funding made available for Rhode Island's fight against opioid addiction. Rhode Island's share from a grant program at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will rise from $2.1 million last year to $12.55 million as a result of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, also k… Continue Reading
06.14.18
Whitehouse Statement on DOJ Inspector General Report
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, released the following statement on the Department of Justice's Inspector General report released today: "Not once, but twice, Director Comey violated the Justice Department chain of command and longstanding department rules barring the disclosure of derogatory information about an uncharged target of an investigation. That's something all prosecutors know is inappropriate. As a resu… Continue Reading
06.13.18
Whitehouse Fights for RI Shellfish Farmers in Farm Bill
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has joined Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) to advocate for better insurance options for local shellfish farmers, which would give the aquaculture industry more certainty to expand and create jobs. The senators outlined their request in a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, which is considering the 2018 farm bill ("Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018") today. Unlike many trad… Continue Reading
06.13.18
GAO Starts Study of Social Cost of Carbon
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) announced that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has begun a study of the social cost of carbon-the measure of long-term damage done by carbon pollution-including a thorough analysis of the Trump administration's decision to drastically reduce the value of the social cost of carbon in the federal government's decisions. Whitehouse welcomed the progress. "Carbon pollution is triggering big changes. It's threatening our homes an… Continue Reading
06.12.18
Whitehouse Statement on North Korea Meeting
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on President Donald Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: "A path to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is welcome, but the announcement President Trump and Chairman Kim made leaves many questions unanswered. All of the items listed in the announcement have been echoed by past North Korean leaders. I hope we can progress beyond this list to a meaningful accord that yields lasting peace." … Continue Reading
06.11.18
Reed & Whitehouse Seek to Reverse Trump Administration’s Forced Family Separation Policy at the Border
PROVIDENCE, RI - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse are joining with Rhode Islanders in calling on the Trump Administration to end its policy choice of involuntarily separating children from their migrant mothers and fathers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Senators Reed and Whitehouse highlighted that no law requires migrant families be separated at the border, and child welfare experts like pediatricians have argued that President Trump's policy of doing so can have harmful, long-term … Continue Reading
06.08.18
Whitehouse Statement on Trump Refusal to Defend the ACA
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement in response to the Trump administration's refusal to defend key provisions of the Affordable Care Act: "The President will stop at nothing to sabotage the Affordable Care Act and jeopardize the health care of millions of Americans. These attacks are destabilizing American health insurance markets and unearthing problems that should be long gone-like denying lifesaving coverage due to pre-existing conditions. T… Continue Reading
06.07.18
Senators Ask Inspector General to Investigate EPA Withholding Murray ‘Action Plan’ & Scrubbing Pruitt Calendars
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Tom Carper (D-DE) asked the Inspector General for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate withheld documents and potential misrepresentations to Congress about the influence of coal baron Robert Murray and others. The letter highlights a number of requests by Whitehouse and Carper for documents that shed light on Murray's interactions with the EPA, including an "action plan" Murray has provided multiple Trump officials at … Continue Reading
06.07.18
Whitehouse Statement on Hearing in Trump Foreign Emoluments Case
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a party to the lawsuit filed against President Donald Trump by members of Congress under the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause, released the following statement on a hearing in the case today: "So far, Donald Trump's presidency has been a study in self-dealing. As the president sits at the controls of the federal government, his Trump brands and businesses win favors and make money from foreign interests. There's the new Trump six-sta… Continue Reading
06.07.18
Whitehouse, Hatch Introduce Bipartisan Portuguese Visa Bill to Grow Economy, Create Jobs
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have introduced the bipartisan Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act, which would extend trade and investor visas to Portuguese citizens to increase international business between the United States and Portugal. "The cultural and economic contributions of hardworking Portuguese immigrants are an important part of Rhode Island's rich heritage," said Whitehouse. "The bipartisan AMIGOS Act furthers… Continue Reading
06.06.18
Carbon Utilization Act Introduced Ahead of Farm Bill
Washington, DC - Ahead of introduction of the Senate Farm Bill, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) to introduce the Carbon Utilization Act, to allow emerging carbon utilization technologies, such as carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) and biogas production, to access U.S. Department of Agriculture loan guarantees, research programs, and rural development loans. The bill also would create education programs and encourage interagency collabora… Continue Reading
06.06.18
Big Oil’s Lobbying Belies Talk on Climate, Whitehouse Warns Pope
Washington, DC - As Pope Francis prepares to host executives from major oil companies for a conference on climate change, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote to Pope Francis today to highlight the significant discrepancy between oil companies' stated support for climate action and their lobbying and political efforts that undermine it. "Many of the oil companies with which you will be meeting are fond of saying, in essence, 'we know climate change is real; we know our product causes it; and… Continue Reading
06.04.18
Whitehouse Delivers Eleventh Annual Speech on the Burning of the Gaspee
Washington, DC - As Rhode Islanders ready for the annual Gaspee Days celebration in Pawtuxet Village this weekend, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today delivered his eleventh annual speech on the floor of the Senate to recall the story of the bold colonists who stood up to British rule and burned the HMS Gaspee on Narragansett Bay in 1772. The Gaspee Affair took place more than a year before the Boston Tea Party. "The story of the Gaspee is just one part of a daring Rhode Island resistance, s… Continue Reading
05.31.18
Trump Sabotage of ACA Leads to Higher Insurance Bills for RI Families
Providence, RI - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today addressed the Trump administration's sabotage of the Affordable Care Act, a significant factor in the proposed rate increases for 2019 health insurance plans in Rhode Island's marketplace, HealthSource RI. "These proposed premium increases are a result of the Trump administration's deliberate attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act after Republicans in Congress failed to repeal the law last year," said Whitehouse. "While the diligent work… Continue Reading
05.24.18
Whitehouse Encourages Rhode Islanders to Apply for Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
Washington, D.C. - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that the U.S. Department of Education has launched a process for federal student loan borrowers to be reconsidered for loan forgiveness under a temporary expansion of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. The $350 million temporary loan forgiveness program was created based on a Whitehouse provision that became law in March. The new law offers an opportunity for student loan relief for eligible Rhode Islanders working … Continue Reading
05.24.18
Senators Ask Rosenstein if Criminal Evidence from Trump-DOJ-FBI Meeting is Being Protected
Washington, DC - In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein today, Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee ask if the Department of Justice and the FBI are complying with longstanding Department policies and properly handling potential evidence of obstruction of justice stemming from Rosenstein and intelligence officials' meeting with President Donald Trump earlier this week. In a tweet last Sunday, Trump demanded the meeting to examine whether "FBI/DOJ infiltrated or su… Continue Reading
05.24.18
Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Durbin Introduce Stop Secret Foreign Interference in Elections Act
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced new legislation today to detect and deter foreign nationals and governments' use of dark money organizations to interfere in American elections. The Stop Secret Foreign Interference in Elections Act would shine a light on foreign money flowing into American political organizations and hold campaigns accountable for keeping foreign funds out of their coffers. The bill's introduction… Continue Reading
05.24.18
Whitehouse Reacts to Extension of Comment Period for Rule Favoring Industry-Backed Science
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) responded to an announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will extend the comment period and hold a public hearing for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's proposed rule to shrink dramatically the body of scientific knowledge the agency can use in crafting public health and environmental protections. Whitehouse led a group of 20 Senators in requesting the comment period be extended. "An all-out attack on this type of legiti… Continue Reading
