Press Releases
Whitehouse Cheers Passage of Agreement Ending Cycle of Budget Showdowns & Unlocking $6 Billion in Opioid Funding
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) hailed passage of a bipartisan budget agreement that ends the cycle of stopgap funding measures of recent months and paves the way to fund our military and boost investment in key priorities for Rhode Island. The agreement comes with a commitment for a $6 billion increase in funding to fight the ongoing opioid and mental health crises. It will also boost medical research, improve key tax credits to help limit carbon pollution, and inves… Continue Reading
02.07.18
Whitehouse Applauds Opioid Addiction Treatment Funding in Budget Deal
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today applauded the significant federal investment to combat the opioid addiction crisis included in a tentative deal to fund the federal government. The budget proposal announced this afternoon includes an agreement to provide $6 billion in federal funding for programs to stem the addiction epidemic. Whitehouse is a lead author of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), sweeping bipartisan legislation designed to curb the public … Continue Reading
02.07.18
Senators Call for Scott Pruitt to Recuse Himself from all Clean Power Plan-Related Rulemaking
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) have submitted an official comment in the docket for the repeal of the Clean Power Plan (CPP), in which they called for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to recuse himself from all aspects of the rulemaking process. As Attorney General of Oklahoma, Pruitt launched numerous legal challenges to the plan, the 2015 EPA rule to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from American power pl… Continue Reading
02.06.18
Whitehouse to Lead Judiciary Committee Hearing on Fighting Crime and Corruption Aided by Shell Corporations
Washington, DC - Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on countering illicit international financial networks, including instilling greater transparency in forming corporate entities that can facilitate crime or corruption. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, will join Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) to preside over the hearing. Whitehouse and Grassley are the lead sponsors of the True … Continue Reading
02.05.18
Whitehouse, Schatz, Blumenauer, Cicilline Introduce Updated American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act
Washington, D.C. - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and David Cicilline (D-RI) reintroduced their legislation to place a price on the carbon pollution driving global climate change and putting Americans' health and safety at risk. The American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act, which has been updated to reflect recent changes in the tax code, would significantly lower the nation's greenhouse gas emissions while generating substant… Continue Reading
02.02.18
Whitehouse Statement on Release of Nunes Memo
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, released the following statement on House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Republicans' release of a memo containing sensitive information on FBI intelligence gathering and alleging abuses of power by the FBI in the Russia investigation: "This memo doesn't come close to making a case against the hard work and integrity of the FBI, as even those in the White H… Continue Reading
01.31.18
Whitehouse Calls for Investigation Into Trump Administration’s Inaction on Opioid Epidemic
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has joined U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) and fourteen other senators to request a review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the actions taken by President Trump's administration to address the opioid epidemic since he declared it a public health emergency. On October 26, 2017, when President Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to declare the opioid crisis a public health… Continue Reading
01.30.18
Whitehouse Statement on State of the Union
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address tonight: "Tonight the President tried to paint a very different picture of his first year from the one the American people saw. He touted his massive tax giveaway for corporations and the wealthiest few, which offers mere scraps to middle class families and puts vital programs like Social Security and Medicare in the crosshairs. He tried to spin his … Continue Reading
01.30.18
Whitehouse to Press Pruitt on Bashing of Trump
Washington, DC - During a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will press EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on newly released and scathing comments about then-candidate Donald Trump during an interview with Oklahoma talk radio host Pat Campbell in 2016. During the interview, Pruitt said Trump would be "more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama," and agreed Trump is "dangerous" and a "bully" who would wield executive power as … Continue Reading
01.27.18
Commercial Fishermen’s Association President Chris Brown to Join Whitehouse for State of the Union
Providence, RI - Narragansett fisherman Chris Brown, who serves as President of the Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen's Association, will head to the U.S. Capitol to join Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for the State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. The speech comes weeks after President Donald Trump moved to expand oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic coast, putting the local commercial fishing industry and the Ocean State's coastal economy in harm's way. "I am proud to have Chris Brown,… Continue Reading
01.26.18
Whitehouse, U.S. Surgeon General Highlight Federal Overdose Prevention Law
Pawtucket, RI - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse this morning hosted U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams for a discussion about the opioid addiction recovery programs that have made Rhode Island a national model in the field and influenced Whitehouse's Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). The roundtable meeting with state leaders, people in recovery, and addiction specialists was held at the Anchor Recovery Community Center in Pawtucket. The group shared with Dr. Adams their exper… Continue Reading
01.24.18
Whitehouse, Blumenthal Call on Grassley to Share Transcripts with Mueller
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) to share with Special Counsel Robert Mueller transcripts of the Committee's interviews with individuals pertinent to its investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump and his administration. Of particular significance is the transcript of Committee staff's interview w… Continue Reading
01.22.18
Whitehouse Statement on Agreement to Reopen Government
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on today's agreement and vote to reopen the government: "The shutdown has ended. In spite of a President sending confused and conflicting messages, Republican and Democratic Senators negotiated in good faith to arrive at an agreement to end the impasse. We will fund the children's health insurance program and we will vote on a solution for the Dreamers. It will be the first Floor vote for Democrats since the … Continue Reading
01.20.18
Whitehouse Statement on Continuing Resolution Vote
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse issued the following statement regarding the Senate's vote tonight on a continuing resolution, which failed to receive the sixty votes needed to end debate. "I joined Senate Democrats and Republicans in voting against this stopgap funding bill because it did not provide the long-term stability our military and economy need and it did not address urgent, overdue bipartisan needs. Those include immediate resources to fight the opioid epidemic in Rhode … Continue Reading
01.19.18
Senators Send President Report on Ethical Breaches and Special Interest Self-Dealing in Trump Administration
Washington, D.C. - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) sent a report to the White House on the serious ethical breaches and special interest self-dealing that has characterized the first year of Donald Trump's presidency. Their report details how the President and his cabinet have gained personally from the Executive power they wield; how the President's billionaire friends and associates have attem… Continue Reading
01.18.18
Whitehouse Statement on House Stopgap Funding Measure
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on House passage of a stopgap government spending measure tonight: "In ordinary times it would be weird for a Republican House to pass a last-minute funding bill they know the Republican-controlled Senate will reject. But in these crazy times it barely registers on the weird-meter. It's shutdown eve - don't Republican leaders talk? Can't they talk with Democrats? Is there an allergy? Why not work this out a… Continue Reading
01.18.18
Whitehouse, Blumenthal File Brief in Key Public Sector Union Case before Supreme Court
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. Janus centers on whether public sector employees can be required to pay fees to public sector unions that advocate on their behalf in the collective bargaining process. In their brief, Whitehouse and Blumenthal argue that unions' authority to require fees from those who benefit… Continue Reading
01.18.18
Reed, Whitehouse Seek to Protect Consumer Watchdog’s Independence
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joined a group of 40 Senators in standing up for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) independence and power to obtain justice for consumers who have been wronged by large financial institutions. In a letter to Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, the Senators urged the leaders to reject any government funding deals that would subject the CFPB's funding to political interference. The independenc… Continue Reading
01.11.18
Senators Introduce Bipartisan New England Offshore Drilling Ban
Washington, DC - Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) led a bipartisan group of New England Senators in introducing legislation to bar offshore drilling along the New England coast. The New England Coastal Protection Act responds to a move by the Trump administration to open up Atlantic waters to offshore oil and natural gas exploration and extraction, putting vital coastline at risk and threatening a central economic engine for New England. Senators Jack Reed … Continue Reading
01.10.18
Whitehouse Presses Agencies for Versions of Murray ‘Action Plan’
Washington, DC - In letters sent today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) demanded of several federal agencies copies of a to-do list of policies and actions to benefit select coal interests that was circulated by coal magnate Robert Murray among members of the Trump administration. Murray, Chairman of Murray Energy and a major Republican campaign donor, has boasted that the administration has already obediently executed a full page-worth of the nearly four-page "action plan." Two different ve… Continue Reading
