Press Releases
Sen. Whitehouse, MEP Aubry Lead Transatlantic Letter Calling for Climate Talks Free of Fossil Fuel Industry Interference
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Member of the European Parliament Manon Aubry today sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Simon Stiell urging the officials to rid COP28 and all future international climate talks of persistent interference from the fossil fuel ind… Continue Reading
05.17.23
Whitehouse Chairs Courts Subcommittee Hearing on Judicial Conference’s Management of 2011 Ethics Complaints Against Justice Thomas
Washington, DC - Today, Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights in a hearing entitled, "Review of Federal Judicial Ethics Processes at the Judicial Conference of the United States." The hearing examined the Judicial Conference's handling of previous ethics complaints against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas dating back to 2011. "One month ago, Congressman Hank Johnson and I wrote to the Judici… Continue Reading
05.11.23
Whitehouse, Colleagues Reintroduce Legislation to Protect Elections from Interference
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has joined colleagues to reintroduce legislation to expand protections against election interference during the ballot counting and certification processes. "Election workers are on the frontlines defending our democracy, and deserve to be protected while performing their jobs," said Whitehouse. "Our Protecting Election Administration from Interference Act expands prohibitions on threatening or intimidating election administrators and saf… Continue Reading
05.11.23
Whitehouse Applauds EPA’s Proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today cheered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new regulations on greenhouse gas pollution from coal and gas-fired power plants. "Coal and gas-fired power plants have been given a free pass to pollute for too long, and I'm very pleased to see the EPA take this strong stand today. EPA's proposal will cut down on the emissions driving climate change and protect the public health, especially in downwind states like Rhode Island," s… Continue Reading
05.11.23
Whitehouse, Colleagues Reintroduce Bipartisan College Transparency Act to Improve College Decision-making Process
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has joined colleagues to reintroduce the bipartisan College Transparency Act, which would provide students and families better information to compare higher education opportunities. The College Transparency Act would modernize the college reporting system for postsecondary data by providing accurate reporting on student outcomes such as enrollment, completion, and post-college earnings across colleges and majors, while protecting the priva… Continue Reading
05.09.23
Whitehouse Urges Judicial Conference to Make Processes More Transparent and Reveal Conference’s Handling of 2011 Justice Thomas Referrals
Washington, DC - Following bombshell reporting by ProPublica and the Washington Post detailing new ethics scandals around the Supreme Court, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter to the Judicial Conference urging the body to be more transparent about its procedures for considering potential violations of the law by Supreme Court justices, and to inform the public of how the Judicial Conference resolved past complaints related to Justice Thomas's financial disclosures. In a new le… Continue Reading
05.04.23
Whitehouse Reups Calls for Chief Justice to Investigate and for Congress to Pass SCERT Act After Yet Another Serious Report About Justice Thomas’s Apparent Ethical Failures
Washington, DC - Following yet another ProPublica report on the extraordinary undisclosed financial relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas and Republican billionaire Harlan Crow, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today reiterated his previous calls for the Chief Justice of the United States to investigate ethical misconduct at the Supreme Court and for Congress to pass Whitehouse's legislation to clean up the ethics mess at the Court. ProPublica reported today that Crow covered priva… Continue Reading
05.04.23
Whitehouse, Grassley Press China to Crack Down on Flow of Precursor Chemicals Fueling Illicit Fentanyl Trade
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, today urged China to take strong and decisive action to better control the flow of precursor chemicals that Mexican cartels use to manufacture illicit fentanyl. In a letter to Xu Xueyuan, Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Washington, D.C., Co-Chairmen Whitehouse and Grassley urged China to: Exp… Continue Reading
05.02.23
Whitehouse Co-Leads Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Supreme Court Ethics Reform
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, co-led a hearing of the full Judiciary Committee entitled, "Supreme Court Ethics Reform." The hearing explored the recent torrent of media reports detailing unethical conduct by Justices of the Supreme Court and legislative solutions to improve ethics, accountability, and transparency at the nation's highest … Continue Reading
05.01.23
Reed & Whitehouse Offer Plan to Help Working Families Afford Child Care
WASHINGTON, DC - It's becoming harder to find and afford child care in Rhode Island and residents are paying higher and higher percentages of their paychecks for child care. In an effort to help working families afford the rising cost of child care and strengthen America's child care infrastructure and workforce, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are teaming up with Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to reintroduce the Child Care for Wo… Continue Reading
04.27.23
Reed & Whitehouse Join Kaine in Seeking Stronger Support for Direct Care Workforce & Family Caregivers
WASHINGTON, DC - In an effort to strengthen America's direct care and home care workforce and ensure high-quality care for millions of seniors and Americans with disabilities, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reintroduced the Supporting Our Direct Care Workforce and Family Caregivers Act (S. 1298). This legislation seeks to support the recruitment, training, and retention of direct care workers and family caregivers who provide caregiving services … Continue Reading
04.26.23
Reed, Whitehouse & Cicilline Announce $750,000 to Upgrade Bristol’s “Revolutionary Heritage Byway”
BRISTOL, RI - Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congressman David Cicilline (RI-01) announced that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is awarding $750,000 in federal funding to make street upgrades along Bristol's Revolutionary Heritage Byway (Route 114). The federal funds will help protect and preserve coastal features along the byway while also improving safety features and drainage to better serve pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers. The Revolut… Continue Reading
04.26.23
Whitehouse Reacts to Chief Justice’s Refusal to Appear Before Senate Committee, Reups Call for Enforceable Ethics Code
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) issued the following statement after the Chief Justice of the United States declined the Senate Judiciary Committee's invitation to testify about the recently exposed ethics scandals at the Supreme Court: "Setting aside the Chief Justice's complete disregard of the interests of a coequal branch of government that is sincerely trying to understand a real problem, this new statement of principles has virtually no utility. There is still no … Continue Reading
04.25.23
Whitehouse Presses Judicial Conference Committee to Provide More Information on Deliberations Related to Justice Thomas Referral
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is urging the Judicial Conference's Committee on Financial Disclosure to move swiftly in determining whether to refer Justice Clarence Thomas to the Attorney General for apparent violations of the Ethics in Government Act. In a new letter to the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, who also serves as Secretary of the Judicial Conference, Whitehouse also requested additional information on the Judicial Conferen… Continue Reading
04.25.23
Reed, Whitehouse Seek to Lower Rx Medication Costs for Americans by Boosting Medicare’s Negotiating Powers
WASHINGTON, DC - For years, prescription drug price increases dwarfed even the highest rates of general inflation. If consumer gas prices at the pump rose at the same rate as Rx drugs over the last fifteen years, drivers today would be paying over $13 a gallon to fill up. Last year, Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which, for the first time, allows Medicare to use its purchasing power to directly negotiate prescription drug prices with big pharmaceutical companies. The law is est… Continue Reading
04.24.23
Chief Justice Roberts Defers to Judicial Conference on Need for Investigation of Justice Thomas’ Extravagant Billionaire-Funded Trips
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) today announced that the Chief Justice of the United States deferred any possible investigation into Justice Clarence Thomas' extensive billionaire-funded luxury travel and other outstanding allegations of misconduct to the Judicial Conference, which in turn referred the matter to the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure. The letter explaining Chief Justice Roberts' deferral, which wa… Continue Reading
04.21.23
Whitehouse, Sullivan, Colleagues Re-Introduce FISH Act to Combat Illegal Foreign Seafood Harvest
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) yesterday reintroduced the Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act, legislation to combat foreign illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by blacklisting offending vessels from U.S. ports and waters. The legislation would bolster the U.S. Coast Guard's enforcement capabilities and advance international and bilateral negotiation… Continue Reading
04.20.23
Whitehouse Hosts Ukraine Prosecutor General Kostin, Reiterates Congressional Support for Holding Russian War Criminals Accountable for Atrocities in Ukraine
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today met with Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin in the Senator's Washington, DC office to discuss ways the United States can support ongoing efforts to hold Russian war criminals accountable for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Ukraine. "It was an honor to again host Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin this morning," said Whitehouse. "My message to Prosecutor General Kostin was this: rest assured that A… Continue Reading
04.17.23
Ahead of Tax Day Hearing, Whitehouse Announces Legislation to Protect Long-term Solvency of Social Security and Medicare
Washington, DC - As the deadline approaches for Americans to file their taxes, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) announced new legislation to protect the solvency of Social Security and Medicare by making the nation's highest earners contribute their fair share. The bill will be filed on Tax Day, when Chairman Whitehouse will hold a Budget Committee hearing on how tax dodging by the wealthy and big corporations holds down the broader economy. "The ultra-wealthy shouldn't be able to get o… Continue Reading
04.14.23
New York Times Editorial Board Calls for Passage of Whitehouse’s SCERT Act
Washington, DC - This morning, the New York Times Editorial Board released an editorial endorsing U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's (D-RI) Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act. The editorial follows new reporting from ProPublica that Harlan Crow, a Republican megadonor, purchased several properties from Justice Clarence Thomas in 2014. Justice Thomas did not disclose the sales on his financial disclosure forms as federal law clearly requires. Yesterday's story follows … Continue Reading
