Press Releases
Whitehouse Statement on Bonn Climate Conference
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, returned today from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 23rd Conference of Parties (COP23) in Bonn, Germany. Whitehouse joined a group of American Senators to Bonn to deliver the message that U.S. support for the Paris Agreement is strong despite President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Agreement. Whitehouse released the following statement on t… Continue Reading
11.12.17
SENATE DELEGATION CONCLUDES MISSION TO UN CLIMATE CONFERENCE
BONN, GERMANY -- A United States Senate delegation has concluded its mission to the annual United Nations climate conference in the wake of President Trump's intentions to withdraw America from the historic Paris Climate Agreement, an accord now agreed to by every other country in the world to fight global climate change through a mix of carbon emissions reductions, clean energy innovations, adaptation measures, and resiliency enhancements. The group will travel next to Berlin for meetings with… Continue Reading
11.10.17
Whitehouse Statement on Senate Republican Tax Bill
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on Senate Republicans' new tax proposal: "This version of TrumpTax is as bad as the last. Instead of working with Democrats on bipartisan solutions, Senate Republicans have concocted a massive tax bill behind closed doors and with no public hearings. Like the House bill, Senate Republicans' proposal would deliver enormous giveaways to the very wealthiest, paid for by hiking taxes on millions of middle-class fa… Continue Reading
11.09.17
Whitehouse Demands Coal Baron’s Marching Orders for EPA
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called on Bob Murray, Chairman of Murray Energy, to provide a copy of the three-page "action plan" he gave to President Donald Trump. Murray first identified the existence of the plan in the Frontline documentary "War on the EPA," which aired last month. The plan was the topic of questioning at yesterday's Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the nomination of Andrew Wheeler to be Deputy Administrator of the Environm… Continue Reading
11.09.17
Senators to GAO: Examine Pruitt’s Science Advisory Board Double Standard
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led a group of 10 Senators in asking Congress's watchdog agency to expand its ongoing investigation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt's efforts to silence leading independent scientists from participating on key advisory boards. Senators Tom Carper (D-DE), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Sherrod Brown (D-… Continue Reading
11.09.17
Whitehouse Cosponsors Assault Weapons Ban
Washington, D.C. - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has joined Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and 21 Democratic senators to introduce the Assault Weapons Ban of 2017, a bill to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The legislation renews provisions of a federal ban on assault weapons that was enacted in 1994 and expired in 2004. "Dialing down the numbers of dangerous assault weapons in the United States… Continue Reading
11.09.17
Senators Press Social Security Administration for Details of Coordination with Trump Voter Fraud Commission
Washington, DC - Today, members of the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees pressed the Social Security Administration (SSA) for details of its coordination with the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. The Commission 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, yet has refused to provide Congress even the most basic overview of its operations. In a letter … Continue Reading
11.08.17
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
