Press Releases
Whitehouse, Schatz, Heinrich, Gillibrand Introduce Updated Carbon Fee Amid Energized Climate Debate
Washington, D.C. - As members of Congress engage in a newly energized conversation about reducing carbon pollution, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) today reintroduced legislation to place a price on the emissions driving climate change and putting Americans' health and the global economy at risk. The American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act would reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 51 percent by 2… Continue Reading
04.10.19
Whitehouse Encourages RI Municipalities, Organizations to Apply for New Round of Coastal Resilience Funding
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today encouraged local governments and organizations in Rhode Island to submit pre-proposals for a new $29-million round of funding from the National Coastal Resilience Fund, a significant source of federal investment to support innovative proposals for boosting coastal communities' natural protections from storms and ability to recover. Full proposals will be accepted by invitation in July. Whitehouse wrote the legislation creating the fund, … Continue Reading
04.09.19
Whitehouse Slams Confirmation of Oklahoma Nominee over Multiple Falsehoods
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on federal district court nominee Patrick Wyrick's confirmation vote in the Senate this evening: "On top of sterling credentials and strong experience in the law, federal judges ought to demonstrate ethical backbone. Mr. Wyrick's record, on the other hand, is an ethical dead zone. He built his career serving as a go-between for fossil fuel interests and disgraced p… Continue Reading
04.08.19
Whitehouse & Reed Statement on Trump Re-nominating Mary McElroy to the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed today issued the following joint statement after President Trump re-nominated Rhode Island Public Defender Mary McElroy to the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island. "We are pleased President Trump has re-nominated Mary McElroy. She deserves to be confirmed on the merits and we're committed to ensuring she gets an up or down vote by the full Senate. "Mary McElroy has impeccable credentials, broad bipartisan support, and has alrea… Continue Reading
04.05.19
Whitehouse, Hawley Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Support Law Enforcement Community, Prevent Officer Suicides
Washington, D.C. - Suicide is the number one cause of death for police officers in the United States. But Congress has failed to fund grant programs that provide support services for police officers and their families. Current grant programs also do not allow funds to be used for suicide prevention efforts, mental health screenings, or training to identify officers at risk. U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have introduced the bipartisan Supporting and Treating… Continue Reading
04.04.19
Whitehouse, Brown, Schakowsky Introduce Public Option for Affordable Care Act
Washington, DC - As the Department of Justice refuses to defend the law that has extended health insurance coverage to over 20 million Americans, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today 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… Continue Reading
04.04.19
Whitehouse, Warren, Merkley, Reed Introduce Bill to Protect Consumers from Runaway Credit Card Rates
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Jack Reed (D-RI) have introduced legislation to protect Americans from runaway interest rates for credit cards and other consumer loans. The Empowering States' Rights to Protect Consumers Act would restore states' ability to limit consumer loan interest rates for their residents and help address the nearly $1 trillion Americans hold in credit card debt."Right now, Wall Street banks and th… Continue Reading
04.03.19
Whitehouse Statement on Rule Change for Trump Nominees
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today issued the following statement on Majority Leader McConnell's use of the nuclear option to change the rules for confirming Trump administration nominees: "The rule change is a cynical move designed to speed up the conveyor belt of incompetent, extremist, and conflicted Trump administration nominees to appointments in the administration and on the federal bench. Accelerating this conveyor belt … Continue Reading
03.28.19
Wing Chau Nomination for U.S. Marshal Heads to Full Senate
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed today announced that Wing Chau's nomination to serve as U.S. Marshal for Rhode Island has unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Whitehouse serves. The nomination now heads to the full Senate for approval. "Today's vote marks a key step in the confirmation process. We are confident Wing Chau will serve Rhode Islanders honorably as our U.S. Marshal, and we look forward to the full Senate taking up this nomin… Continue Reading
03.28.19
Senators Whitehouse, Markey, Manchin: Purdue Should Commit in Writing to Make No Profit on Potential New Drug to Reverse Opioid Overdoses
Washington, D.C. - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) today sent a letter to Purdue Pharma, manufacturer and marketer of the addictive painkiller OxyContin, in response to a media report concerning the company's bankruptcy consideration. In the story, Purdue claimed that it was in the process of developing and seeking Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a version of nalmefene hydrochloride - a more powerful overdose reversal me… Continue Reading
03.28.19
Whitehouse, Murkowski Unveil Bill to Advance Understanding of Oceans, Great Lakes, and Coasts
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Oceans Caucus, today unveiled new legislation to advance data collection of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts. The Bolstering Long-Term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act, or the BLUE GLOBE Act, would accelerate technology innovation, grow the marine workforce, and develop a better understanding of the blue eco… Continue Reading
03.26.19
Whitehouse Statement on Green New Deal Show Vote
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a leading advocate for legislation to address climate change, issued the following statement regarding today's show vote on a Green New Deal resolution: "There is one takeaway from this vote, and it is that Republicans are still doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry. Their cartoon version of the Green New Deal was cooked up by the Koch brothers. The instruction to have this vote came from the fossil-fuel-friendly editorial page of th… Continue Reading
03.25.19
Whitehouse Unveils Bill to Train Next Generation of Manufacturing Workforce
Pawtucket, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a champion for Rhode Island's textiles and composites industries, today unveiled a bipartisan proposal aimed at helping younger workers hit the ground running in manufacturing jobs that require highly specialized skills. The Retain Innovation and Manufacturing Excellence Act would establish a pilot program to allow businesses to retain retiring employees long enough to train replacement workers - tackling a significant challenge for Rhode … Continue Reading
03.24.19
Whitehouse Statement on Attorney General Barr’s Letter to Congress
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today issued the following statement on Attorney General Barr's letter to Congress regarding the Special Counsel's report: "We knew from his confirmation hearing that Attorney General Barr would never conclude the president obstructed justice, which is why it is critical for Congress to see the full Mueller report and the evidence behind it. As the attorney general writes, Special Counsel Mueller issu… Continue Reading
03.22.19
Whitehouse Statement on Mueller Report
Providence, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding the transmission of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report to Attorney General William Barr: "Congress and the American people have the right to know what the special counsel has unearthed. Even the president and House Republicans have called for the full release of Mueller's findings. "Now, Attorney General Barr ought to make good on the commitments… Continue Reading
03.21.19
Delegation Announces $6.5 Million to Fight Opioid Addiction in Rhode Island
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline announced $6.5 million in funding to fight opioid addiction in Rhode Island. The state's share from a grant program at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) was increased substantially due to changes to the funding formula included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. All four members of the delegation voted for the legislation, as … Continue Reading
03.20.19
Whitehouse, Carper, Pallone Raise New Questions about Wehrum’s Involvement in Reversing EPA Position to Benefit Former Firm’s Client
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-DE), and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) are raising new questions about whether Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials William Wehrum and David Harlow helped to reverse the agency's position in a major enforcement action to favor a client of their former law firm. In a letter sent to the EPA Office of Inspector General today, the m… Continue Reading
03.20.19
Whitehouse Supports Bill to Ban Seismic Testing in Atlantic
Washington, DC - U.S. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has joined Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and other East Coast senators to reintroduce the Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act, a bill that prohibits oil, gas, and methane hydrate-related seismic activities in the Atlantic Ocean. The bill bans the use of seismic airgun blasting - a disruptive method of blasting compressed air toward the ocean floor in search of oil and gas - in the North Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florid… Continue Reading
03.19.19
Whitehouse Blasts Trump EPA Power Plant Rule as Product of Takeover by Fossil Fuel Industry
Pruitt, Wheeler, Wehrum all examples of fossil fuel lackeys behind EPA decisions, senator writes in Clean Air Act rule comment Whitehouse: EPA failed to consider dropping cost of CCS technology, new 45Q incentives in replacement proposal Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is blasting the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its Clean Air Act new source review replacement rule, calling it the produ… Continue Reading
03.14.19
Whitehouse, Brown, Collins, Capito Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Seniors From High Costs of Necessary Medical Care
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation to update a current loophole in Medicare policy that would help protect seniors from high medical costs for the skilled nursing care they require after hospitalization. The Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act would allow for the time patients spend in the hospital under "observation status" to count toward the requis… Continue Reading
