{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where state = \"RI\" and year = 2017 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/age-trump-cicilline-plays-key-role-leading-house-dems-delivering-results-ri", "In Age of Trump, Cicilline Plays Key Role Leading House Dems, Delivering Results for RI", "2017-12-30", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "PAWTUCKET  Both as a member of the House Democratic Leadership team, and as the top Democrat on the House Antitrust Subcommittee, Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-1) has spent the past year helping to shape the national discourse about the challenges facing working Americans. Even as President Trump ushers in an era of unprecedented uncertainty in Washington, Cicilline has continued to deliver results for the people he serves.\nBelow are the highlights of Congressman Cicillines work in 2017:\nLEADING DEMOCRATS IN THE AGE OF TRUMP\nShortly after President Trumps election, Congressman Cicilline was elected by the House Democratic Caucus to serve as Co-Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC). In that role, Cicilline was one of three House members, along with U.S. Reps. Cheri Bustos (IL-17) and Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), to craft a new Democratic economic agenda  A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future.\nA Better Deal outlines a series of proposals that Democrats will pass when they take back the majority next year, including plans to lower the cost of prescription drugs, break up corporate monopolies, protect the right to organize and form a union, and create 10 million new full-time, good-paying jobs. As the first Rhode Islander to serve in the House Democratic Leadership since Patrick Kennedy, Cicilline will continue using his seat at the table to ensure that Democrats address the most important issues facing men and women across our state.\nSEIZING AMERICAS MONOPOLY MOMENT\nThis year also marked the first time that Congressman Cicilline has served as the top Democrat on the House Antitrust Subcommittee. In this role, he has worked relentlessly to highlight the ways that corporate monopolies eliminate jobs, raise costs on consumers, and limit competition in the marketplace. At a time of runaway consolidation, its clear that America is in A Monopoly Moment.\nThats why, earlier this month, Cicilline joined U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison to introduce the 21st Century Competition Commission Act to create a new government agency charged with investigating the impact of corporate mergers and increasing market concentration. Cicilline has also spoken out and raised concerns about the impact of recent mega-mergers in the retail, entertainment, and telecommunications industries.\nFINALLY, PROGRESS ON PREVENTING GUN VIOLENCE\nAs a longtime champion of gun violence prevention, Congressman Cicilline understands the importance of ensuring that children and families can live free from the threat of gun violence. This year, his Unlawful Gun Buyer Alert Act passed the House as part of a larger package of gun violence proposals.\nCicillines proposal requires that local law enforcement agencies be notified when an individual with a criminal record, or a history of serious mental health problems, is able to purchase a gun because of an error in the background check system. Now pending before the U.S. Senate, this marks the first time in years that either chamber of Congress has passed a bill to prevent gun violence.\nGREATER TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT\nEarlier this year, Congressman Cicilline successfully led the effort to update how Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds are used. OCO funds are supposed to be used for war expenditures, but they have increasingly been used wastefully for non-war purposes, such as the F-35 program. The lack of oversight has led many critics to term the system a slush fund.\nAs a result of legislation proposed by Congressman Cicilline earlier this year, the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a new requirement that the Pentagon update provisions regarding the use of OCO funds for the first time since 2010.\nPROTECTING HEALTH CARE FOR RHODE ISLANDERS\nThroughout 2017, as Republicans attempted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Congressman Cicilline led the effort in Rhode Island to rally support for the law. Along with Senator Reed, Senator Whitehouse, and Congressman Langevin, Cicilline hosted a series of events throughout Rhode Island to highlight the benefits the law has provided for seniors, young people, parents, and many more.\nEarlier this month, as Republicans again attempted to unravel the framework of the law, Cicilline hosted an event to encourage Rhode Islanders to sign up for health insurance. No matter what Republicans in Washington try to do, Congressman Cicilline will continue working to ensure that all Rhode Islanders can access quality, affordable health care.\nGETTING SECRET CORPORATE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS\nWashington wont work for the people it serves until we end the influence that huge corporations and powerful special interests have in our nations capital. Earlier this year, Congressman Cicilline introduced the DISCLOSE Act, which is co-sponsored by 129 of his colleagues in the House, to require corporations to disclose their political spending, and to prohibit foreign corporations from spending any money to influence American politics.\nCicilline has also introduced the SUN Act to require that secretive political organizations be required to disclose their activities in an online database. As a co-sponsor of the Government by the People Act, he has also worked to empower small-dollar donors by working to establish a fund that will match contributions under $150 at a ratio of 6 to 1.\nMAKING IT IN AMERICA\nCongressman Cicilline knows that if we want to raise wages and create more opportunities for Rhode Islanders to get ahead, we have to support American manufacturing jobs. Thats why he has continued to lead the fight to pass the Make it in America Manufacturing Communities Act to provide federal resources to regions like ours to support the growth of manufacturing.\nAnd although Republicans cut taxes for huge corporations this year, Congressman Cicilline is continuing to lead the effort in the House to end incentives that encourage those corporations to move American jobs overseas. The Offshoring Prevention Act, which Senator Whitehouse is leading in the Senate, will rewrite the tax codes to put American workers, not CEOs, first.\nBY THE NUMBERS\n$241.6 million  Congressman Cicilline has worked hard throughout his time in office to bring back federal resources to Rhode Islands First District, including more than $240 million in federal grants and appropriations over the past year.\n910  Congressman Cicilline believes Rhode Islanders deserve a government that is smart, effective, and knows how to get things done for the people it serves. Over the past year, his office has completed 910 requests for assistance  helping Rhode Islanders cut through red tape at the VA, IRS and other federal agencies.\n65  As part of his aggressive outreach strategy, Congressman Cicilline hosted or arranged 81 events with constituents in Rhode Islands 1st Congressional District during the 114th Congress.  \n33  Nearly three dozen young Rhode Islanders had the opportunity to work as interns this year in Congressman Cicillines office.\n39,640  Congressman Cicilline prides himself on being responsive and attentive to his constituents, and his office has replied to 39,640 inquiries on policy issues over the past year.\n118  Cicilline arranged 118 tours of the U.S. Capitol for Rhode Islanders visiting Washington.\n41  Over the course of 2017, Congressman Cicilline introduced 41 bills and co-sponsored another 426, including three proposals that President Trump signed into law.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/op-eds/how-to-keep-the-supreme-court-from-partisanship", "How to Keep the Supreme Court From Partisanship", "2017-12-26", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.26.17\n\t\t\t How to Keep the Supreme Court From Partisanship \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tI share the same concern as Ilya Shapiro in his op-ed Another Escalation in the Judicial War (Dec. 18) that Americans will follow the politicians lead and think of judges in increasingly partisan terms, and I agree that its not healthy for an independent judiciary. One obvious solution is for the Supreme Court to render fewer 5-4 partisan decisions that so obviously confer electoral and financial benefit on the GOP and its corporate benefactors, and so often violate judicial norms to deliver the goods. Note to emperor: Wear clothes.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t    By:\n\t\t\t\t    Sheldon Whitehouse\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\tSource:\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWall Street Journal\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-afghanistan-christmas-troops", "Cicilline in Afghanistan for Christmas with Troops", "2017-12-24", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "KABUL Earlier this morning, U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, landed in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he will celebrate Christmas with men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who are serving there as part of Operation Resolute Support.  \n\t\t\nWe owe our servicemembers and their families an incredible debt, said Cicilline, who represents more than 30,000 veterans in Rhode Islands First District. The men and women of the United States Armed Forces represent our countrys most important values of service, honor, and courage. Its an incredible privilege to spend Christmas with these brave men and women.  \n\t\t\nCicilline touched down in Afghanistan today at5:00 AM EDT(2:30 PMKabul time). He then traveled to Resolute Support Headquarters before receiving a security briefing from U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan designate John R. Bass at the U.S. Embassy.  \n\t\t\nCicilline is visiting Afghanistan along with three Republican colleagues from the House Foreign Affairs Committee  U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin, U.S. Congressman Mike Coffman, and U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick.  \n\t\t\nTomorrowmorning, Cicilline will join Rhode Islanders serving as part of Operation Resolute Support for a Christmas Day breakfast. Later, he will take part in a series of briefings, visit tactical bases in the region, and serve Christmas Day lunch to troops at Resolution Support Headquarters. He will depart Kabultomorrowevening.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-statement-short-term-government-spending-bill", "Cicilline Statement on Short-Term Government Spending Bill", "2017-12-22", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) issued the following statement today:\nRepublicans spent yesterday celebrating a tax bill that robs money from the middle class and gives it to corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Today, they failed to address any of the urgent needs facing working people.\nThis funding bill passed by the Republicans today fails to include a long-term, bipartisan extension of childrens health insurance and makes harmful cuts to critical preventative health care for kids. It fails to ensure that veterans can get the care they need through the VA. It abandons millions of American families who are struggling as a result of the ongoing opiate epidemic.\nIf youre wealthy and well-off, Republicans have your back. If youre a working person, youre on your own. Thats the message Republicans are sending with their tax bill and this budget resolution.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/ri-delegation-commends-mid-atlantic-council-stopping-squid-fishing-restrictions-seeks", "RI Delegation Commends Mid Atlantic Council for Stopping Squid Fishing Restrictions & Seeks to Give RI a Greater Voice on Fishery Management", "2017-12-22", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/22/2017\nNARRAGANSETT, RI After the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) recently voted 16-4 against a proposed squid buffer zone framework off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts that would have negatively impacted Rhode Island fishermen,U.S. Senators Jack ReedandSheldon WhitehouseandCongressmen Jim LangevinandDavid Cicillinecommended the council. And this week Reed introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate and Langevin introduced identical legislation in U.S. House of Representatives to give Rhode Island a seat at the council table going forward so that the state and local fishermen have a direct say over matters that impact them. The Rhode Island Fishermens Fairness Act, which is cosponsored by Whitehouse and Cicilline, would add Rhode Island to the list of seven states with voting representation on the MAFMC, a regional management board that establishes fishery management rules for stocks primarily caught in federal waters adjacent to the mid-Atlantic coast.\nThe MAFMC denied the squid buffer zone proposals of 6 or 12 miles off the south of Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard -- which were backed by Nantucket charter boat captains, who claim the squid fishery is making it harder for their clients to land striped bass -- but would have had a severely negative economic impact on many commercial Rhode Island fishing boats.\nIn consultation with Rhode Island fishermen and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), all four members of the delegation urged the MAFMC to reject the proposed creation of a squid buffer zone in federal waters in the vicinity of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket.\nThe Congressional delegation wrote that the buffer zone proposal was not rooted in science, but wouldhave a significant effect on the harvest of one of the most important stocks for the Rhode Island fishing industry. We would also highlight the fact that the Council just a few months ago adopted measures to mitigate effort in federal waters during trimester 2 of the longfin squid season. It makes no sense, even before those measures have been implemented, to adopt a buffer zone that would further restrict fishing and harm Rhode Island's fishing economy.\nWhile the delegation believes the Council reached the correct decision in this instance, they say that Rhode Island deserves representation on the Council, to ensure the state may participate fully in development of fishery management plans for mid-Atlantic stocks, many of which are crucial to Rhode Islands seafood economy.\nRhode Island fishermen care deeply about the health, sustainability, and management of our fisheries. This is an issue of fairness and our fishermen deserve appropriate representation on the Council. Mid-Atlantic regulated stocks now represent the majority of landings for Rhode Island commercial fishermen. It is time that our state has formal representation on the Council, saidSenator Reed, the author of the Senate bill who has been leading efforts on this issue since 2006. Rhode Island fishermen are increasingly dependent and invested in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery, hauling in more squid than any other state currently on the Council, but they dont have the same voice on management as other states do.\nThe catch of Rhode Island commercial fishermen represent a significant percentage of commercial landings of the Mid-Atlantic fishery, and is greater than most of the states represented on the Council.\nRhode Islands fishermen deserve fair representation on the Council, which makes important decisions that affect their livelihoods,said Congressman Langevin, the lead author of the House bill. When catch areas significantly overlap or realign, the law needs to keep pace and ensure that those landing the fish have a seat at the table. Rhode Island calamari and other delicacies are known around the world, and they are the pride of our state. As we seek stability in the long-term management of these fisheries, the Council needs direct representation from those Rhode Islanders who know these species well, and the Fishermans Fairness Act provides that accountability.\n\"Our commercial fishing industry, including our famous Ocean State calamari, is a major employer in Rhode Island and a significant driver of the local economy, saidSenator Whitehouse. As climate change drives species of fish traditionally from the Mid-Atlantic north towards Narragansett Bay, it's only fair that the hardworking fishermen in Rhode Island have a say in the decision\nIm thrilled! This is a major victory for Rhode Island fishermen, saidCongressman Cicilline. Our commercial fishing and seafood industries generate millions of dollars in economic activity and support good-paying jobs across our state. Im pleased that the Mid-Atlantic Council made the right decision.s affecting their livelihoods.\nThe Fishermen Fairness Act would add two places for Rhode Island representation to the 21 member Council. One seat would be appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under recommendations from Rhode Islands Governor. The second seat would be filled by Rhode Islands principal state official with marine fishery management responsibility. To accommodate these new members, the MAFMC would increase in size from 21 voting members to 23.\nThe Town Dock supports the Rhode Island Fishermens Fairness Act. Rhode Island lands more squid than any other state on the east coast and we support having seat at the table to manage a resource that we so greatly depend on, saidKatie Almeida, Fishery Policy Analyst at The Town Dock.\nWe fully support this bill. Rhode Island lands more squid than all other East Coast states combined, as well as the majority of butterfish harvested on the East Coast. However, since these species are managed by the Mid Atlantic Council, we have no official final Council vote on management measures. We believe its time for that to change, saidMeghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Seafreeze Ltd.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/ri-delegation-commends-mid-atlantic-council-stopping-squid-fishing-restrictions-seeks", "RI Delegation Commends Mid Atlantic Council for Stopping Squid Fishing Restrictions & Seeks to Give RI a Greater Voice on Fishery Management", "2017-12-22", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "After the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) recently voted 16-4 against a proposed squid buffer zone framework off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts that would have negatively impacted Rhode Island fishermen, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline commended the council. And this week Reed introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate and Langevin introduced identical legislation in U.S. House of Representatives to give Rhode Island a seat at the council table going forward so that the state and local fishermen have a direct say over matters that impact them. The Rhode Island Fishermens Fairness Act, which is cosponsored by Whitehouse and Cicilline, would add Rhode Island to the list of seven states with voting representation on the MAFMC, a regional management board that establishes fishery management rules for stocks primarily caught in federal waters adjacent to the mid-Atlantic coast.\nThe MAFMC denied the squid buffer zone proposals of 6 or 12 miles off the south of Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard -- which were backed by Nantucket charter boat captains, who claim the squid fishery is making it harder for their clients to land striped bass -- but would have had a severely negative economic impact on many commercial Rhode Island fishing boats.\nIn consultation with Rhode Island fishermen and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), all four members of the delegation urged the MAFMC to reject the proposed creation of a squid buffer zone in federal waters in the vicinity of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket.\nThe Congressional delegation wrote that the buffer zone proposal was not rooted in science, but would have a significant effect on the harvest of one of the most important stocks for the Rhode Island fishing industry. We would also highlight the fact that the Council just a few months ago adopted measures to mitigate effort in federal waters during trimester 2 of the longfin squid season. It makes no sense, even before those measures have been implemented, to adopt a buffer zone that would further restrict fishing and harm Rhode Island's fishing economy.\nWhile the delegation believes the Council reached the correct decision in this instance, they say that Rhode Island deserves representation on the Council, to ensure the state may participate fully in development of fishery management plans for mid-Atlantic stocks, many of which are crucial to Rhode Islands seafood economy.\nRhode Island fishermen care deeply about the health, sustainability, and management of our fisheries. This is an issue of fairness and our fishermen deserve appropriate representation on the Council. Mid-Atlantic regulated stocks now represent the majority of landings for Rhode Island commercial fishermen. It is time that our state has formal representation on the Council, said Senator Reed, the author of the Senate bill who has been leading efforts on this issue since 2006. Rhode Island fishermen are increasingly dependent and invested in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery, hauling in more squid than any other state currently on the Council, but they dont have the same voice on management as other states do.\nThe catch of Rhode Island commercial fishermen represent a significant percentage of commercial landings of the Mid-Atlantic fishery, and is greater than most of the states represented on the Council.\nRhode Islands fishermen deserve fair representation on the Council, which makes important decisions that affect their livelihoods, said Congressman Langevin, the lead author of the House bill. When catch areas significantly overlap or realign, the law needs to keep pace and ensure that those landing the fish have a seat at the table. Rhode Island calamari and other delicacies are known around the world, and they are the pride of our state. As we seek stability in the long-term management of these fisheries, the Council needs direct representation from those Rhode Islanders who know these species well, and the Fishermans Fairness Act provides that accountability.\n\"Our commercial fishing industry, including our famous Ocean State calamari, is a major employer in Rhode Island and a significant driver of the local economy, said Senator Whitehouse. As climate change drives species of fish traditionally from the Mid-Atlantic north towards Narragansett Bay, it's only fair that the hardworking fishermen in Rhode Island have a say in the decision\nIm thrilled! This is a major victory for Rhode Island fishermen, said Congressman Cicilline. Our commercial fishing and seafood industries generate millions of dollars in economic activity and support good-paying jobs across our state. Im pleased that the Mid-Atlantic Council made the right decision.s affecting their livelihoods.\nThe Fishermen Fairness Act would add two places for Rhode Island representation to the 21 member Council. One seat would be appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under recommendations from Rhode Islands Governor. The second seat would be filled by Rhode Islands principal state official with marine fishery management responsibility. To accommodate these new members, the MAFMC would increase in size from 21 voting members to 23.\nThe Town Dock supports the Rhode Island Fishermens Fairness Act. Rhode Island lands more squid than any other state on the east coast and we support having seat at the table to manage a resource that we so greatly depend on, said Katie Almeida, Fishery Policy Analyst at The Town Dock.\nWe fully support this bill. Rhode Island lands more squid than all other East Coast states combined, as well as the majority of butterfish harvested on the East Coast. However, since these species are managed by the Mid Atlantic Council, we have no official final Council vote on management measures. We believe its time for that to change, said Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Seafreeze Ltd.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/ri-delegation-commends-mid-atlantic-council-for-stopping-squid-fishing-restrictions-and-seeks-to-give-ri-a-greater-voice-on-fishery-management", "RI Delegation Commends Mid Atlantic Council for Stopping Squid Fishing Restrictions & Seeks to Give RI a Greater Voice on Fishery Management", "2017-12-22", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/22/2017NARRAGANSETT, RI  After the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) recently voted 16-4 against a proposed squid buffer zone framework off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts that would have negatively impacted Rhode Island fishermen, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline commended the council. And this week Reed introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate and Langevin introduced identical legislation in U.S. House of Representatives to give Rhode Island a seat at the council table going forward so that the state and local fishermen have a direct say over matters that impact them. The Rhode Island Fishermens Fairness Act, which is cosponsored by Whitehouse and Cicilline, would add Rhode Island to the list of seven states with voting representation on the MAFMC, a regional management board that establishes fishery management rules for stocks primarily caught in federal waters adjacent to the mid-Atlantic coast.\r\nThe MAFMC denied the squid buffer zone proposals of 6 or 12 miles off the south of Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard -- which were backed by Nantucket charter boat captains, who claim the squid fishery is making it harder for their clients to land striped bass -- but would have had a severely negative economic impact on many commercial Rhode Island fishing boats.\r\nIn consultation with Rhode Island fishermen and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), all four members of the delegation urged the MAFMC to reject the proposed creation of a squid buffer zone in federal waters in the vicinity of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket.\r\nThe Congressional delegation wrote that the buffer zone proposal was not rooted in science, but would have a significant effect on the harvest of one of the most important stocks for the Rhode Island fishing industry. We would also highlight the fact that the Council just a few months ago adopted measures to mitigate effort in federal waters during trimester 2 of the longfin squid season. It makes no sense, even before those measures have been implemented, to adopt a buffer zone that would further restrict fishing and harm Rhode Island's fishing economy.\r\nWhile the delegation believes the Council reached the correct decision in this instance, they say that Rhode Island deserves representation on the Council, to ensure the state may participate fully in development of fishery management plans for mid-Atlantic stocks, many of which are crucial to Rhode Islands seafood economy.\r\nRhode Island fishermen care deeply about the health, sustainability, and management of our fisheries. This is an issue of fairness and our fishermen deserve appropriate representation on the Council. Mid-Atlantic regulated stocks now represent the majority of landings for Rhode Island commercial fishermen. It is time that our state has formal representation on the Council, said Senator Reed, the author of the Senate bill who has been leading efforts on this issue since 2006. Rhode Island fishermen are increasingly dependent and invested in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery, hauling in more squid than any other state currently on the Council, but they dont have the same voice on management as other states do.\r\nThe catch of Rhode Island commercial fishermen represent a significant percentage of commercial landings of the Mid-Atlantic fishery, and is greater than most of the states represented on the Council.\r\nRhode Islands fishermen deserve fair representation on the Council, which makes important decisions that affect their livelihoods, said Congressman Langevin, the lead author of the House bill. When catch areas significantly overlap or realign, the law needs to keep pace and ensure that those landing the fish have a seat at the table. Rhode Island calamari and other delicacies are known around the world, and they are the pride of our state. As we seek stability in the long-term management of these fisheries, the Council needs direct representation from those Rhode Islanders who know these species well, and the Fishermans Fairness Act provides that accountability.\r\n\"Our commercial fishing industry, including our famous Ocean State calamari, is a major employer in Rhode Island and a significant driver of the local economy, said Senator Whitehouse. As climate change drives species of fish traditionally from the Mid-Atlantic north towards Narragansett Bay, it's only fair that the hardworking fishermen in Rhode Island have a say in the decision\r\nIm thrilled! This is a major victory for Rhode Island fishermen, said Congressman Cicilline. Our commercial fishing and seafood industries generate millions of dollars in economic activity and support good-paying jobs across our state. Im pleased that the Mid-Atlantic Council made the right decision.s affecting their livelihoods.\r\nThe Fishermen Fairness Act would add two places for Rhode Island representation to the 21 member Council. One seat would be appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under recommendations from Rhode Islands Governor. The second seat would be filled by Rhode Islands principal state official with marine fishery management responsibility. To accommodate these new members, the MAFMC would increase in size from 21 voting members to 23.\r\nThe Town Dock supports the Rhode Island Fishermens Fairness Act. Rhode Island lands more squid than any other state on the east coast and we support having seat at the table to manage a resource that we so greatly depend on, said Katie Almeida, Fishery Policy Analyst at The Town Dock.\r\nWe fully support this bill. Rhode Island lands more squid than all other East Coast states combined, as well as the majority of butterfish harvested on the East Coast. However, since these species are managed by the Mid Atlantic Council, we have no official final Council vote on management measures. We believe its time for that to change, said Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Seafreeze Ltd.\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/videos/reed-reacts-to-passage-of-gop-tax-bill", "Reed Reacts to Passage of GOP Tax Bill", "2017-12-22", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "After the passage of the partisan GOP tax bill, Senator Reed reacts on the Senate floor.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/langevin-statement-passage-republican-continuing-resolution", "Langevin Statement on Passage of Republican Continuing Resolution", "2017-12-21", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) issued the following statement after voting against the Republican bill to fund the government through January 19, which passed the House by a vote of 231-188:\nI cannot support yet another bill that kicks the can down the road leaving vital work undone. Republicans waited until there were only hours left before a government shutdown to unveil this bill, which was crafted without any Democratic input. Instead, Republicans focused all their attention on passing a deeply partisan tax bill that puts a $1.5 trillion hole in the deficit in order to line the pockets of their wealthy supporters.\nI am deeply disappointed that there has been no outreach across the aisle since we came to an overwhelmingly bipartisan agreement to keep the government funded three months ago. There has been ample time to find permanent, bipartisan solutions to ensure children have health coverage, provide funding for community health centers, and protect DACA-recipients from deportation. Republicans have not even attempted to find those solutions, instead preferring to pursue their political agenda and lurch from crisis to crisis. We need to provide certainty to federal agencies that are unable to make needed investments with only weeks of funding.\nThis bill fails on all accounts. While I remain skeptical that Republicans will take the four weeks theyve bought themselves to work collaboratively to tackle these challenges, I hope they do, and I remain ready to work with them.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/us-senators-seek-to-enhance-support-for-americas-libraries-and-museums", "U.S. Senators Seek to Enhance Support for America\u2019s Libraries & Museums", "2017-12-21", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/21/2017WASHINGTON, DC  In an effort to strengthen library and museum services across the nation, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is introducing the bipartisan Museum and Library Services Act of 2017 along with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). This critical bill renews and builds on the $231 million commitment to the federal museum and library programs administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.\r\nLibraries and museums are anchor institutions for their communities, and we need to do all we can to support them in their mission. The Museum and Library Services Act represents our national commitment to ensuring these institutions are funded, staffed, and accessible to all. Through a relatively modest federal investment, this law helps build capacity to support and expand access to library and museum services at the state and local level. It will help fully leverage the role of libraries and museums in supporting the learning, educational, and workforce development needs of Americans nationwide, said Senator Reed, who noted that, since the last reauthorization in 2010, Rhode Island libraries and museums have received over $10 million in federal grants from these programs. This year, Rhode Island has received $1,070,238 from IMLS under the Library and Services and Technology Act Grants to States Program.\r\nFrom offering job search resources and free Internet access to exposing children and families to literary and educational experiences, libraries and museums serve vital roles in our communities, said Senator Collins. The Museum and Library Services Act would bolster our commitment to supporting these institutions that enrich our communities. Senator Reed and I urge our colleagues to join this effort to improve and update programs that help libraries and museums across Maine, Rhode Island, and the United States.\r\nLibraries and museums allow Americans to broaden their knowledge and awareness of our country and the world. Reauthorizing the Institute for Museum and Library Services would ensure facilities around the nation have access to resources to promote life-long learning, said Senator Cochran.\r\nThe Institute of Museum and Library Services plays a vital role in helping museums better serve the unique needs of their communities. We are proud to support this legislation, which will strengthen the agency and enhance its ability to support collections care, education programming, and community outreach, said Laura Lott, President and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums. Museums nationwide are lucky to have champions like Senators Reed, Cochran, Collins, Murkowski, and Gillibrand fighting for them in the United States Senate.\r\nTodays introduction of the bipartisan MLSA reauthorization is the first critical step toward ensuring federal support for our nations nearly 120,000 libraries, said American Library Association President Jim Neal. LSTA grants enable libraries in every state to innovate and meet the growing demand for services that meet the needs of our communities. Millions of people  including students, veterans, entrepreneurs and job seekers  depend on the programs that the MLSA will allow to continue. ALAsupports this bill and encourages our members and library supporters across the country to urge their senators to cosponsor the MLSA.\"\r\nReeds bill highlights the role of libraries and museums as community hubs, equipped to meet ever evolving community needs. Updating the law to help museums and libraries improve their technology, enhance collaboration, and better serve the public and communities, the reauthorization bill will:\r\n \r\nStrengthen the use of data driven tools, including research, analysis and modeling, evaluation, and dissemination, to measure the impact and maximize the effectiveness of library and museum services, build capacity, and better tailor local services to address and meet community needs.\r\n \r\n \r\nProvide technical support and assistance to improve data collection; enhance consultation and public engagement in research, data collection, analysis, and dissemination activities; and ensure that disseminated materials are accessible and easy to digest and use.\r\n \r\n \r\nEnhance IMLSs collaborative efforts with an expanded number of federal agencies to fully leverage the role of libraries and museums in supporting and meeting the needs of Americans.\r\n \r\n \r\nIncrease the reservation for Services for Native Americans to more closely match appropriations.\r\n \r\n \r\nProvide IMLS with additional tools to meet oversight and programmatic responsibilities.\r\n \r\n \r\nHighlight the roles of libraries as community hubs, equipped to serve evolving and diverse community needs (including those of rural residents, individuals with disabilities, Native Americans, veterans, military families, and caregivers, among others) in such areas as literacy; education; lifelong learning; health information; workforce development; economic and business development; digital literacy, critical thinking, and financial literacy; and new and emerging technology.\r\n \r\n \r\nProvide for the awarding of National Leadership grant funds on activities that serve a range of library types and geographically diverse areas; include evaluation, analysis, and dissemination components; and actively involve, have direct impact on, or provide future application in libraries. Clarifies that grant funds can be used to help libraries prepare for and provide services after a disaster or emergency.\r\n \r\n \r\nEmphasize recruiting and training of our nations next generation of library and information science professionals  necessary for an information economy  from a broad range of backgrounds.\r\n \r\n \r\nAuthorize activities to improve the recruitment, preparation, and professional development of museum professionals to preserve our heritage for future generations.\r\n \r\n \r\nHighlight the educational role of museums and the many ways that they engage and strengthen their communities.\r\n \r\n \r\nEncourage partnerships with other agencies, professional networks, and community-based organizations to leverage museum services in service to the nation.\r\n \r\nThe American Alliance of Museums reports that there are nearly 850 million visits per year to American museums, and that U.S. museums inject approximately $21 billion into the economy each year.\r\nU.S. Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI) was instrumental in crafting the first Museum and Library Services Act in 1996. Last year marked the twenty-year anniversary of Senator Pells bill, along with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the first federal program of direct support to public libraries and the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Institute of Museum Services to provide assistance to museums.\r\nSenator Reed wrote the last Museum and Library Service Act reauthorization law, which President Obama signed in 2010. This years reauthorization must be passed by both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives before it can be sent to the President to be signed into law.\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-statement-on-year-end-stopgap-funding-measure", "Whitehouse Statement on Year-End Stopgap Funding Measure", "2017-12-21", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.21.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Statement on Year-End Stopgap Funding Measure \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on the passage of another stopgap government spending measure:\r\nAgain Republicans are refusing to do their work. They still havent acted to raise the budget caps threatening to hobble important programs across the federal government. They havent reauthorized the Childrens Health Insurance Program, which covers 9 million American children and mothers. They havent passed the disaster relief bill that the people of Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida, and the American west need so very badly. And, despite all the declarations and press conferences from this administration, they havent approved the kind of funding needed to combat the opioid epidemic raging in Rhode Island and around the country. Worse, they havent sat down with Democrats to try.\r\nThen there are the Dreamers, who are rightly making their voices heard here on Capitol Hill. Republicans refusal to extend the protections they signed up for in good faith is shameful. Failing them is not who we are as Americans.\r\nThis is no way to govern. The American people should take note.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/time-to-wake-up-cafe", "Time to Wake Up: CAFE", "2017-12-21", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In this week's Time to Wake Up speech, Sen. Whitehouse discusses how the auto industry made a promise on fuel economy standards and now it's working hand in hand with Administrator Scott Pruitt to undo them. Why are they trying to get rid of a policy that reduces carbon emissions, boosts US industrial competitiveness, AND gives money back to consumers?", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-floor-remarks-on-daca", "Whitehouse Floor Remarks on DACA", "2017-12-21", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/88-members-congress-request-clarification-hhs-and-cdc-reported-agency-censorship", "88 Members of Congress Request Clarification from HHS and CDC on Reported Agency Censorship", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Representative Jim Langevin (D-RI) was joined by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Judy Chu (D-CA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) in leading a letter expressing concern about censorship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As first reported byThe Washington Post, CDC guidance directs employees to refrain from using the words vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender, fetus, evidence-based and science-based in documents related to the CDCs Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal. The letter, which was signed by 88 Members of Congress, requests information regarding the origin, purpose, and scope of the word ban.\nIn the letter, the lawmakers emphasize that ideology cannot influence the ways a scientific agency communicates with the American public.\nThe United States has advanced a national dialogue on ways to improve the health and well-being of diverse and vulnerable populations, the lawmakers wrote to Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Eric Hargan and CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald. Any explicit limitation of expression would be a step backwards from decades of progress. The American people deserve to know the source and reason of a perceived effort to censor science.\nHHS has said that the guidance offered to CDC employees was mischaracterized in media reports. However, any directive limiting the use of language is troubling, and it would appear to violate the CDCs ownGuidance on Scientific Integrity. The letter requests documents be provided on or before January 3, 2018, to clarify the situation and give Congress an understanding whether the censorship extends beyond CDC.\nA copy of the letter can be found HERE.\nCosigners of the letter include Representatives: James R. Langevin, Diana DeGette, Judy Chu, Suzanne Bonamici, Sean Patrick Maloney, A. Donald McEachin, Adam Schiff, Alan Lowenthal, Alma Adams, Ami Bera, Barbara Lee, Betty McCollum, Bill Foster, Bobby L. Rush, Brian Higgins, Carol Shea-Porter, Charlie Crist, Chellie Pingree, Cheri Bustos, Colleen Hanabusa, Daniel T. Kildee, Danny K. Davis, David N. Cicilline, David Price, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Denny Heck, Derek Kilmer, Dina Titus, Donald S. Beyer Jr., Doris Matsui, Dwight Evans, Earl Blumenauer, Ed Perlmutter, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Elijah E. Cummings, Eliot L. Engel, Emanuel Cleaver, G. K. Butterfield, Grace Meng, Gregory W. Meeks, Gwen Moore, Jacky Rosen, James P. McGovern, Jamie Raskin, Jan Schakowsky, Jim Cooper, Jimmy Gomez, John K. Delaney, John Lewis, John A. Yarmuth, Jos E. Serrano, Joyce Beatty, Julia Brownley, Katherine Clark, Kathy Castor, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Lois Frankel, Louise M. Slaughter, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Mark DeSaulnier , Mark Pocan, Mark Takano, Matt Cartwright, Mike Doyle, Mike Thompson, Nanette Diaz Barragn, Niki Tsongas, Nydia M. Velzquez, Paul D. Tonko, Peter A. DeFazio, Peter Welch, Pramila Jayapal, Raul Ruiz, Rick Larsen, Rosa L. DeLauro, Ruben Gallego, Salud O. Carbajal, Scott H. Peters, Seth Moulton, Stephen F. Lynch, Steve Cohen, Suzan K. DelBene, Ted Lieu, Terri Sewell, Tim Ryan, Tulsi Gabbard, William R. Keating and Yvette D. Clarke.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/watchdog-agency-to-study-trump-changes-to-key-measure-of-carbon-pollution-cost", "Watchdog Agency to Study Trump Changes to Key Measure of Carbon Pollution Cost", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.20.17\n\t\t\t Watchdog Agency to Study Trump Changes to Key Measure of Carbon Pollution Cost \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC  Acting upon the request of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and six other Senators, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has indicated it will examine the governments method for calculating the social cost of carbonthe measure of long-term damage done by carbon pollution. The watchdog agency will begin the study in coming months, GAO indicated to Whitehouse today.\r\nOn December 5, Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) joined Whitehouse in requesting the GAO study after the Trump administration dramatically reduced estimates of the costs of climate change in recent assessments of federal actions. Using a lower estimate for the social cost of carbon could allow the administration to undermine a range of environmental regulations by exaggerating the compliance costs compared to the societal benefits of reduced carbon emissions.\r\nEarlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order disbanding an important interagency working group charged with formulating the social cost of carbon and withdrew the guidance it had issued. The Trump administration also directed agencies to use an outdated Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy to monetize the value of greenhouse gas emissions in federal regulation. As expected, the result has been a severe downtick in the value of the social cost of carbon. The Environmental Protection Agencys assessment of its proposed rule to repeal the Clean Power Plan, for example, dropped the social cost of carbon from $45 per ton to as low as $1 per ton for 2020.\r\nThe Senators asked the GAO to look at states and other countries social costs of carbon; the Trump administrations justification for dramatically changing the way it discounts the costs or benefits of regulation change affecting carbon pollution; and the rationales that have been used to support various discount rates in assessing the social cost of carbon.\r\nThe GAOs report will build on a 2014 report on the social cost of carbon. That report examined how an interagency working group convened by the OMB and the Council of Economic Advisers developed social cost of carbon estimates in 2010 and 2013.\r\nIn addition to use by agencies in assessing regulations, a range of authorities has adopted the social cost of carbon, including courts, corporations, utilities, and international governing bodies.\r\nThe Senators letter to the GAO requesting the study is available here.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-calls-for-opioid-crisis-funding-in-year-end-spending-bill", "Whitehouse Calls for Opioid Crisis Funding in Year-End Spending Bill", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.20.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Calls for Opioid Crisis Funding in Year-End Spending Bill \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Senator Portman and I wrote a bipartisan law that directs the federal government to treat addiction like the public health crisis that it is . . . But it needs real funding behind it\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), author of comprehensive legislation to combat the opioid crisis and a member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement calling for increased funding to combat the opioid crisis in the year-end spending bill:\r\nWe are fighting a long, difficult battle against opioid addiction and overdose. That battle claims hundreds of lives every week. It touches communities large and small in every corner of the country. And too many of those communities are struggling to muster the resources to do what we know can help turn the tide of this epidemic. Congress must provide those resources.\r\nSenator Portman and I wrote a bipartisan law that directs the federal government to treat addiction like the public health crisis that it is. Its helping communities do more of the things we know work, like boosting medication-assisted treatment and first responder access to overdose reversal drugs. But it needs real funding behind it. Its time for my Republican colleagues to listen to the stories weve heard from Rhode Islanders and Americans everywhere and provide opioid crisis funding in this bill.\r\nOpioid overdoses claimed 326 lives in Rhode Island in 2016, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health. Whitehouse was a lead author of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, sweeping legislation designed to combat the opioid epidemic, which was signed into law in 2016.\r\nWhitehouse believes a number of changes are needed to ensure sufficient funding to address the opioid crisis: The Trump administration should issue the second half of the $1 billion authorized under the 21st Century Cures Act, which passed in 2016. Congress should boost funding across the board for programs to promote federal treatment and recovery programs, like those created by Whitehouses CARA law. Congress should also adjust the way federal agencies allocate opioid grant funding so that states like Rhode Island, which have the highest rates of opioid addiction and associated deaths, received sufficient resources.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-slams-passage-of-trumptax-plan", "Whitehouse Slams Passage of TrumpTax Plan", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.20.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Slams Passage of TrumpTax Plan \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on passage of the Republican tax bill:\r\nTrumpTax reads like a list of broken promises to the middle class. Instead of boosting the middle class, it limits popular deductions and threatens home values in Rhode Island and across the country. Instead of honoring the Presidents commitment to protecting Medicare and Social Security, it sets the stage to slash them. Instead of making taxes simple enough for Americans to file on a postcard, it opens new loopholes and leaves the tax code every bit as complicated. TrumpTax even gives real estate developers a massive tax cut  just in time for Christmas at Trump Tower. Jamming through this tax plan is regrettable.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/speeches/time-to-wake-up-cafe", "Time to Wake Up: CAFE", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.20.17\n\t\t\t Time to Wake Up: CAFE \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMr. President, I am here now for the 190th Time to Wake Up speech to talk about an issue that falls at the intersection of climate change and jobs and consumer power and protection. You would think that a policy that simultaneously reduces the carbon emissions responsible for climate change, and boosts American industrial competitiveness, and puts thousands of dollars back into the pockets of American consumers would be pretty universally popular.\r\nUnfortunately, you would be wrong.\r\nThe Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, known as the CAFE standards, set a minimum threshold for the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks that are sold in the United States. In 2011, the major automakers here in AmericaFord, GM, and the othersenthusiastically endorsed voluntary new fuel efficiency standards which would gradually increase the fuel economy for their cars and light trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon on average by 2025.\r\nThink about that for a second. In 2011, average fuel economy for these vehicles was stuck below 30 miles per gallon. The CAFE standards hadnt budged in years, and as a result, our automakers had stopped innovating to make cars more fuel efficient. They didnt have to make them more fuel efficient. And when gas prices soared in the mid-2000s, it was consumers who were on the hook.\r\nToday, thanks to the voluntary agreement that was reached by the automakers, the CAFE standard is presently over 40 miles per gallon for cars and over 30 miles per gallon for light trucks. Consumers have already saved $42 billion at the pump because of those increased fuel economy standards. Consumers who purchase a new car in 2025, on average, will save about $8,000 on gas over the lifetime of that car because of those new fuel economy standards.\r\nOf course, it is not just the consumers who win under the new CAF standards. The environment also wins. Already the American auto fleets increased average fuel economy has resulted in 195 million fewer metric tons of carbon emissions, and, of course, with the carbon emissions come all the rest of the pollution out of a cars tailpipe, so it is a big environmental benefit. Over the life of the CAFE standards program, total carbon emissions reductions should total 6 billion metric tons. This is huge because transportation is now the largest source of carbon emissions in the United States, and carbon emissions from cars and light trucks account for almost one-sixth of the Nations total.\r\nIf we are to be successful in keeping the average global temperature increase under 2 degrees Celsiusthe upper bound, beyond which scientists tell us the consequences of climate change will likely be irreversiblethen we have to significantly reduce our auto emissions. That is the target of the Paris climate agreement, which is represented here in this graph, from business as usual here, to all of the carbon emissions savings and efficiencies necessary to reach our Paris goal right here. Of all of thispower sector, industrial sector, efficiencies, home sectorall of itthis gold wedge right here represents the piece of it that we achieve by meeting these CAFE standards. So it is pretty important to meet those standards if we are going to hit the Paris climate goals, and it is pretty important to hit the Paris climate goals if we dont want to condemn our children and grandchildren to a very hazardous future. Here is what is strange.\r\nThe exact same set of industry players who voluntarily signed onto and supported the stronger fuel efficiency standards just 4 years ago through their trade association are now working hand in hand with EPA Administrator Scott Pruittwhen something bad is happening for the environment, you can almost always find him aroundto weaken them, to undo what they voluntarily agreed to and promised the American people. Following the election of Donald Trump, the Auto Alliancethe trade group that represents automakers like Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and Volvoclaimed that the very same standards the automakers had voluntarily supported just a few years before now reflect what they call an extraordinary and premature rush to judgment. Shortly after Pruitt came into office, the Auto Alliance asked him to revisit the standard. By the way, just before I gave this speech, I googled Auto Alliance. I went to their website, and I hit the search engine on it. I typed in climate change and hit search. Those words climate change do not appear on the Auto Alliances website, to give you an idea how seriously they take this problem, at least at the trade association level. So the Auto Alliance, when Pruitt came in, asked him to revisit this CAFE standard that their member companies had all agreed to. Pruitt, who, as Oklahomas attorney general, had been notoriously compliant to industry, gladly complied.\r\nThe Auto Alliance has a long history as the trailing edge of the automotive industry, opposing seat belts, opposing air bags, and opposing catalytic converters. Now, in the polluter-friendly Trump administration, it sees a tempting chance to sell more gas-guzzlers. But is that smart? Over the long term, does this risk actually consign American automakers to global irrelevance? We sell these cars in an international market, so lets look at what that international market is moving to.\r\nCountries around the world have realized that the future of the automobile lies not with the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine, but with alternative sources of powerelectricity or hydrogen fuel cells, for instance. By the way, I just got a Chevrolet Bolt, the all-electric car. Not only is that good for the environment, it is a wonderful car to drive. It is a fun car to drive. It is great vehicle.\r\nChina, the worlds largest car market, recently announced that by 2025, 20 percent of new cars sold there must run on alternative fuels, and it is on its way to an eventual total ban of the sale of gasoline and diesel-powered cars. That is where the biggest car market in the world is headed.\r\nThe European Union is the worlds third largest car market. The Netherlands has announced that starting in 2030, all cars sold must be emissionsfree. Belgium is considering a similar measure. France and the United Kingdom will ban sales of new gasoline and diesel-powered cars starting in 2040. Norway, while not a member of the EU, is very much part of that European economy. They are even more ambitious. By 2025just over 7 years from nowall new cars sold in Norway must be emissions-free.\r\nMoving on to Japan, the worlds fourth largest car marketJapan now has more electric charging stations than it has gas stations. India is the fifth largest car market. It has announced that by 2030, all new cars sold there must be electric or hybrid vehicles.\r\nSo with the entire world moving toward cleaner, newer technology and innovative vehicles, why does this automotive lobby groupthe Auto Alliancesuddenly want to renege on the promise its members made to the American people to raise and abide by those CAFE standards? We should hope that our business leaders would be honorable enough to keep their word. That is a fairly basic proposition. But if the future of the industry lies with ever more fuel-efficient carshybrids, electric cars, fuel cell carswhy would the auto industry in America be furiously lobbying the Trump administration to go backward? Breaking your word to go backward doesnt seem to make sense, even from a business point of view.\r\nElectric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles represent the future of the auto industry. China and other countries get this. The Chinese are trying to poach our electrical engineers to develop their automotive industry so that it can one day beat ours. Meanwhile, executives at our automakers are scheming with Pruitt to head back to the past, to get out of the promise that they made to build more innovative, fuel-efficient cars.\r\nInvesting in the technologies of the future will help ensure that the electric vehicle revolution, which is on our doorstep, doesnt leave America behind, doesnt leave American innovators behind, doesnt leave American workers behind, and doesnt leave American automakers behind. A midterm review of these CAF standards found that the automakers already have the technology to meet the new standard and that the new standard will save money for their customers. It is to the benefit of their customers to keep going with the CAF standards they agreed to. An independent analysis by the nonprofit organization CERES found that the CAFE standards provide automakers and their suppliers the certainty they need to increase investment in the cleaner technologies that are necessary for the long-term health of the industry, and with that certainty that leads to increased investment, the increased investment leads to jobs.\r\nThis ought to be a no-brainer. A policy that protects consumers and the environment while promoting innovation and making American companies more competitive for the global market should be something we can all agree on.\r\nBut there is also a simpler, more old-fashioned principle at stake here: Keep your word. Ford, GM, and the others told the American public that they would compete for car buyers business by delivering quality, energy-efficient vehicles. That is what they told the American public, and they said it voluntarily. This wasnt forced down their throats through a regulatory proceeding; this was a voluntary agreement that they signed up for and were enthusiastic about at the time. They should keep their word. Why is that asking too much of American corporate leadership? Keep your word. How basic a principle is that? They should stop their trade association lobbying to water down the CAFE standards promises that they made. It is a recurring problem around here, as many of us have noticed, that the trade association is usually on the trailing edge of the industry; it is like the worst voice of the industry. That is surely the case here, where the trade association for our American automakers is trying to get them to set it up so they will break their word to the American people about a promise that they madea very simple one, which the technology is already there to achieve.\r\nEven if you dont care one whit about climate change, even if you laugh that off, even if you go down the Trump road that it is a Chinese hoax, we still ought to be honoring those CAF standards for American jobs, for American ingenuity, and for American innovation.\r\nThank you. I yield the floor.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/time-to-wake-up-tax-reform-and-what-hides-beneath", "Time to Wake Up: Tax Reform and What Hides Beneath", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In this week's \"Time to Wake Up\" speech, Sen. Whitehouse discusses the #GOPTaxScam that includes massive giveaways to fossil fuel producers, opens up precious wilderness to oil drilling & kills progress weve made on renewables.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-epw-subcommittee-hearing-on-the-freight-movement", "Whitehouse Remarks in EPW Subcommittee Hearing on the Freight Movement", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-help-hearing-on-the-21st-century-cures-act-responding-to-mental-health-needs", "Whitehouse Remarks in HELP Hearing on the 21st Century Cures Act: Responding to Mental Health Needs", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-judiciary-hearing-on-district-court-judicial-nominations", "Whitehouse Remarks in Judiciary Hearing on District Court Judicial Nominations", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senator Whitehouse questions R. Stan Baker, Charles Barnes Goodwin, Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, Matthew Spencer Petersen, and Eli Jeremy Richardson.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-the-helsinki-commission_-the-magnitsky-act-at-five", "Whitehouse Remarks in the Helsinki Commission - The Magnitsky Act at Five", "2017-12-20", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-statement-republican-tax-scam-0", "Cicilline Statement on Republican Tax Scam", "2017-12-19", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Co-Chair David N. Cicilline (RI-01), a member of the House Democratic Leadership, issued the following statement today:\nRepublicans just pulled off one of the biggest cons in the history of American politics. This job-killing bill gives companies even more incentive to ship American jobs overseas. It lays the groundwork for devastating cuts to Medicare and Social Security. It robs working people in order to give even more money to the wealthy. And it will force the next generation to pay off more than $1 trillion in new deficit spending.\nThe American people are going to see through this scam. Working men and women deserve real tax reform that begins with a tax cut for middle class families and promotes the creation of good-paying jobs. Thats what Democrats will deliver when we control the House again.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/how-grinch-stole-middle-class-tax-cuts", "How the Grinch Stole Middle Class Tax Cuts", "2017-12-19", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  With a little help from Dr. Seuss, U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) shared the story of How the Grinch Stole Middle Class Tax Cuts this morning. A video of Cicillines remarks can be viewed by clicking here. The full text of his remarks, as delivered, is embedded below.\n\n\n--------------------------------------------------\nDavid N. Cicilline\nHow the Grinch Stole Middle Class Tax Cuts\nRemarks As Delivered\nDecember 19, 2017\n\nWith a little help from Dr. Seuss, Id like to share the story of How the Grinch Stole Middle Class Tax Cuts.\n\nEvery middle class family wanted tax cuts a lot, \n\nBut the Grinch, who lived in a big white house, did not!\n\nThe Grinch hated middle class tax cuts. He wanted the whole tax code uneven.\n\nNow please dont ask why. No one quite knows the reason. \n\nIt could be his head was screwed on a bit wrong.\n\nIt could be his ties were two inches too long.\n\nBut I think that the most likely reason of all,\n\nWas his heart (or his hands) were two sizes too small.\n\nWhatever the reason, his heart or his ties,\n\nHe stood on Christmas Eve, planning workers demise.\n\nStaring out from his office with a sour, Grinchy frown,\n\nAt the workers warm lighted windows below in their town. \n\n\"Tomorrow is Christmas! It's practically here!\"\n\nHe said from his office with a terrible sneer.\n\nWhy, for 71 years Ive put up with it now!\n\n\"I MUST stop these middle class tax cuts! But HOW?\"\n\nThen he got an idea! An awful idea!\n\nThe Grinch got a terrible, awful idea.\n\n\"I know just what to do!\" The Grinch thought with a pause.\n\n\"With this coat and this hat, I look like Santa Claus!\"\n\nThen he loaded some empty bags on his plane,\n\nAnd he took off to cause some mean grinchy pain.\n\nWhile working families dreamed of sweet tax cuts without care,\n\nThe Grinch came to the first little house on the square.\n\n\"This is stop number one,\" the old Grinch Claus hissed,\n\nAnd he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.\n\nThen he slid down the chimney, Santa suit all in place,\n\nAnd he stuck his head out of the small fireplace.\n\nWhere the tax deductions all hung in a row.\n\n\"These deductions,\" he grinned, \"are the first things to go!\"\n\nPersonal Exemptions! Home Equity Interest! State and Local Taxes Too! \n\nIll take almost every deduction away from you!\n\nThen he slunk to the tax bracketsthe corporate tax cuts were HUGE!\n\nWhy, that Grinch even took the Arctic Wildlife Refuge\n\n\"And NOW!\" grinned the Grinch, with his sacks in a net.\n\nIll stack the deficit with one trillion in debt!\n\nThen he heard a small sound, a childs soft cry,\n\n\"Why are you taking our deductions, Grinch? WHY?\"\n\nBut, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick,\n\nThat he thought up a fib, and he thought it up quick!\n\n\"Why, my sweet little tot,\" the Grinch said on the fly,\n\nIm here because corporate taxes are far too high\n\nSo Im taking most of your deductions away,\n\nTo help corporationsand you get to pay!\n\nSee my dear child, theres no reason to frown,\n\nWell make them more wealthy, but it will all trickle down.\n\nHis fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head,\n\nAnd he got her a tax postcard and sent her to bed.\n\nThe Grinch took one last look at her sad little pup,\n\nAnd he went to the chimney and shoved the deficit up!\n\nHealth care for 13 million was the last thing he took,\n\nThen he slithered away without another look.\n\nIn their homes he left nothing but debt and despair\n\nWhile giving handouts to corporations, the Grinch didnt care\n\nAnd the one deduction that he extolled,\n\nWas even too small for a single household. \n\nHe rode with his load of deductions for dumping!\n\n\"Pooh Pooh to the middle class\" he said gleefully jumping.\n\n\"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!\"\n\n\"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, \n\nAnd theyll all cry Boo Hoo!\n\n\"That's a noise,\" grinned the Grinch, \"That I simply MUST hear!\"\n\nSo he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.\n\nAnd he did hear a sound rising over the snow.\n\nIt started in low. Then it started to grow.\n\nHe stared down aghast! The Grinch popped his eyes!\n\nThen he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!\n\nEvery American, the tall and the small, \n\nLoudly demanding tax cuts for all.\n\nWe want our deductions and A Better Deal, \n\nNot tax cuts for corporations while you cut Meals on Wheels.\n\nAnd the Grinch, with his small hands ice-cold in the snow, \n\nStood puzzling and puzzling: \"How could it be so?\"\n\nAm I a fool? Are my policies all wrong?\n\nWithout those deductions, can the nation be strong?\n\nAnd he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.\n\nThen the Grinch thought of something hed not tweeted before!\n\nMaybe tax cuts should help more than just corporations,\n\nMaybe this Christmas I can help the whole nation!\n\nAmericas middle class is what made it thrive,\n\nThey need these deductions if theyre to survive!\n\nWe all know how the real story ends,\n\nThe Grinch finds his heart and he makes amends.\n\nNow we know this tax bill wont end with such glee,\n\nBecause the President and corporate lobbyists control the GOP.\n\nThis Christmas, families will get just coal in their stocking,\n\nThanks to President Trump, the final result will be shocking.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/langevin-statement-final-passage-hr-1-%E2%80%9Ctax-cuts-and-jobs-act%E2%80%9D", "Langevin Statement on Final Passage of H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act", "2017-12-19", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) released the following statement after voting in opposition to H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which passed by a vote of 227 to 203:\nThe Republican tax bill is a giveaway to the wealthythat ignores the needs of the majority of Americans and will actually raise taxes on tens of millions households. I have long said that we need reform to make the tax system simpler and fairer in a fiscally responsible manner. This Republican tax bill fails on all accounts. It will explode the national deficit to the tune of $1.5 trillion over the next decade. It adds needless complexity to the tax code with enormous new loopholes. And, in the end, it will give 83 percent of its benefits to the wealthiest one percent of Americans.\nMost prominently, the top tax rate for the rich is reduced from 39.6 percent to 37 percent. Giving millionaires a break will not jumpstart our economy, nor will it help the hardworking middle-class Rhode Islanders who will be hit by new restrictions on their ability to fully write off their state and local taxes. The few crumbs that are offered to the working class all expire in a few short years in order to keep the cuts for corporations permanent.\nBig business is the other real winner in the bill. The permanent cut of the corporate rate comes at a time when businesses are sitting on record amounts of cash. Corporations dont need a handout, they need a more efficient tax code. New rules for so-called pass-through entities willdisproportionately benefit complex holding companies like those the President still owns. Gaming the pass-through system is just the first of what is sure to be a bonanza of loopholes Republicans either put in at the request of lobbyists or failed to close in their rush to get the bill passed. We will be paying for these failures for years to come in the form of higher deficits and investments in tax lawyers instead of workers.\nThis bill is not only filled with bad tax policy. Despite having failed again and again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republicans are continuing their attempts to sabotage health care markets. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, 13 million Americans will no longer have health insurance coverage as a result of this tax bill. It is unconscionable that Republicans would put the health of their constituents at risk in order to line the pockets of their friends, but that is exactly what this bill does. And, because it is not paid for, Republicans face an immediate Medicare crisis of their own making, with $25 billion in cuts now scheduled for next year. We cannot cut vital programs like Medicare and Social Security, yet that is exactly what Republicans intend to do as they try to deal with the trillion dollar hole in the deficit theyve created.\nRepublicans are jamming this legislation through Congress at a record pace in order to further their partisan agenda instead of working across the aisle to craft an equitable tax code for all Americans. Our country is in need of fair tax reform, and the bill that was passed today completely fails in achieving that goal.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-statement-on-republicans-trickle-down-tax-bill", "Reed Statement on Republicans\u2019 Trickle-Down Tax Bill", "2017-12-19", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/19/2017WASHINGTON, DC  U.S. Senator Jack Reed today issued the following statement on the Republicans tax legislation:\r\nIf Republicans were willing to prioritize tax cuts for the middle-class and Main Street businesses, we could have passed bipartisan tax reform to simplify the tax code and strengthen our economy.\r\nInstead, Republican leaders rushed this slap-dashed, partisan, trickle-down tax scheme through with a reckless disregard for facts and independent analysis.\r\nI oppose the Trump tax bill because it is unfair and irresponsible. It is an historic transfer of wealth from students, seniors, and working families to multi-national corporations and wealthy estates. It weakens Americas financial stability and undermines the integrity of our tax system, baking corporate tax avoidance into the system. Republicans added so many new loopholes that some wealthy individuals with armies of tax lawyers may escape taxation altogether. They also got rid of targeted tax deductions that middle-class Rhode Island families have relied upon.\r\nThe Trump tax will adversely affect Rhode Islanders in so many ways. The temporary benefits some families may see wont cover the long-term damage from this bill or offset the increased costs for things like child care, education, health care, and housing.\r\nRepublicans currently control the House, Senate, and White House and are using their leverage to run up the federal debt and cut holes in the social safety net. They will soon demand cuts to Social Security and Medicare to reduce the deficit they just created. Rhode Islanders pay into Social Security and Medicare with every paycheck they earn, and I will strongly oppose any effort to take away or lessen their retirement security.\r\nInstead of simplifying the tax code, the Trump tax bill opens more loopholes than it closes. Instead of prioritizing tax relief for the middle-class and small businesses, it lines the pockets of the powerful at the expense of working families. There is not a single, respected economist or tax scholar on the left or right who contends that this bill simplifies the tax code and pays for itself. Not one.\r\nPresident Trump and Congressional Republicans sold the American people a bad bill of goods. Now President Trump is trying to claim his short-term political victory is a win for everyday Americans, but they will see all the benefits going to his family and very few going to theirs.\r\nI will continue working to prevent and undo the damage from this bill and enact real, responsible tax reform that boosts take home pay, spurs job growth, closes loopholes, expands opportunity, and strengthens the long-term financial stability and security of our nation.\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/videos/prior-to-vote-senator-reed-speaks-out-against-gop-tax-bill", "Prior to Vote, Senator Reed Speaks Out Against GOP Tax Bill", "2017-12-19", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As the Senate prepares to vote on the GOP's partisan tax bill, Senator Reed outlines some of the adverse effects the legislation would have on students, seniors, working families, and the middle class for the benefit of the wealthiest Americans.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-harris-press-pruitt-for-answers-on-no-bid-contract-with-gop-tied-opposition-research-firm", "Whitehouse, Harris Press Pruitt for Answers on No-Bid Contract with GOP-Tied Opposition Research Firm", "2017-12-19", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.19.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse, Harris Press Pruitt for Answers on No-Bid Contract with GOP-Tied Opposition Research Firm \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Contract presents an appearance of impropriety to which you as Administrator should never be a party.  For the reasons that follow, you should terminate this contract immediately.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC  Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) pressed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt for answers today about the EPAs no-bid contract with an organization closely tied to the unofficial research arm of the Republican party. In a letter to Pruitt, the Senators ask for justification in awarding a $120,000 no-bid contract for news analysis to Definers Public Affairs, a public relations firm founded by Republican operatives that shares staff and an address with America Risinga partisan organization founded to expos[e] the truth about Democrats through video tracking, research, and communications. Definers and America Rising have done work on behalf of and accepted money from fossil fuel companies and other interests that the EPA regulates. On the heels of slowed enforcement against polluters and heightened politicization of the EPA, the Senators note, this contract is a troubling sign that demands explanation and termination of the contract.\r\nEPAs contract with Definers risks further politicizing the agency and is another instance of EPA under your tenure becoming captured by the industry it regulates, Whitehouse and Harris write to Pruitt. At a minimum, it presents an appearance of impropriety to which you as Administrator should never be a party. For the reasons that follow, you should terminate this contract immediately.\r\nAmerica Rising and its affiliates have a long record of providing political support to Pruitt and his work at the EPA. Newly released documents show America Rising, led by the same opposition research experts at Definers, has been combing EPA records for communications between EPA staff and the news media and Democratic members of Congress. The group coordinated a campaign to ease Scott Pruitts confirmation as Administrator that included ads urging Senators to vote for his confirmation and a website, www.ConfirmPruitt.com (accessible here). America Rising also runs a website called the Need to Know Network that provides favorable coverage to Pruitts work at the EPA.\r\nFull text of the Senators letter is below. A PDF copy is available here.\r\n\r\nDecember 19, 2017\r\nThe Honorable Scott Pruitt\r\nAdministrator\r\nEnvironmental Protection Agency\r\n1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW\r\nWashington, D.C. 20460\r\nDear Administrator Pruitt:\r\nWe are writing you to express our concerns about the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to award a $120,000 no-bid contract for news analysis to Definers Public Affairs, as reported this week by Mother Jones[1] and the New York Times.[2] EPAs contract with Definers risks further politicizing the agency and is another instance of EPA under your tenure becoming captured by the industry it regulates.[3] At a minimum, it presents an appearance of impropriety to which you as Administrator should never be a party. For the reasons that follow, you should terminate this contract immediately.\r\nDefiners shares an address and staff with America Rising, a political action committee (PAC) that has been described as the unofficial research arm of the Republican party.[4] America Rising has branded itself as an organization on the right founded for the sole purpose of exposing the truth about Democrats through video tracking, research, and communications.[5] The group spends its time attacking Democrats, progressives, and environmentalists and lists Definers as one of its largest vendors.[6] America Rising also operates the 501(c)(4) organization America Rising Squared, a dark money organization whose contributors are anonymous. The leadership teams of America Rising and Definers share numerous individuals. For example, Definers founder, Matt Rhoades, also founded America Rising.[7] Definers president, Joe Pounder, is also the president of America Rising.[8] Definers Senior Vice President, Brian Rogers, is also the executive director of America Rising Squared.[9] These organizations may have different corporate forms, but we should all be clear that they are merely different parts of the same multi-faceted partisan operation. Any claim they are distinct is a sham.\r\nWhats more, America Rising and Definers receive significant funds from interests in the energy sector as well as other industries you regulate as EPA Administrator. While this cabal of Republican opposition research and electioneering organizations can raise much of its money anonymously so that the identities of many of its donors are unknown to the public, press reports about Definers work and Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosures from the America Rising PAC make it abundantly clear that companies you regulate are driving much of its work. Definers was hired by fossil fuel interests to work on opposing a local ballot initiative in Colorado that would have placed conditions on oil and gas drilling.[10] America Rising has received sizeable donations from several companies and individuals affiliated with the energy industry, including Hilcorp Energy, L.E. Simmons of SCF Partners, and Jonathon Barrett of Luminus Management LLC. It has also received donations from companies and individuals in other industries regulated by EPA, including Susan Groff of Northwest Excavating, William Kunkler of CC Industries (manufacturing), George Daniels of Daniels Manufacturing, and Jerry Langer of Langer Transport.[11]\r\nMany of these same corporate interests vocally supported your nomination and confirmation as EPA Administrator. America Rising even ran a campaign in support of your confirmation as EPA Administrator which included ads urging senators to vote for your confirmation and the website, www.ConfirmPruitt.com.[12] At your confirmation hearing, Senator Whitehouse asked you the following question for the record, which has renewed relevance in light of recent events:\r\nQ 138. Please provide any correspondence or details about other communication between you or anyone working on your behalf concerning the establishment or activities of America Rising, America Rising Squared, and Protecting America Now, and any other organizations that are funding efforts to get you confirmed as EPA Administrator.\r\nA. I am not aware of any such correspondence.\r\nYour response was dubious then, and is even more dubious now.\r\nThe America Rising-Definers network has been no less active on your behalf following your confirmation than it was before, even putting aside this recent contract. The aforementioned Joe Pounder, president of Definers and America Rising, wears yet another hat in this constellation of interconnected partisan groups: he runs a website called the Need to Know Network (NTK) that has provided favorable coverage of your tenure at EPA.[13] EPAs official Twitter account has even on several occasions tweeted NTKs coverage of your work at EPA.\r\nAs if all this werent enough, Definers has filed several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with EPA relating to work EPA was doing under the previous administration with respect to the treatment of wood.[14] It would appear that Definers is working for a corporate client that has business before EPA relating to this matter. America Rising has also filed several FOIA requests with EPA.[15] These requests were filed by the same person who filed the FOIA requests for Definers; this person works at both Definers and America Rising.[16] America Risings FOIA requests seek to obtain emails from specific EPA employees and/or correspondence between specific EPA employees and various media outlets as well as the staffs of Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Tom Carper, Elizabeth Warren, and Robert Casey in an apparent effort to uncover moles within EPA.\r\nThe New York Times has recently documented how EPA enforcement has fallen off significantly during your tenure.[17] Senators Carper and Whitehouse last week raised concerns that you have changed agency policy to give regulated industries an unprecedented seat at the table in negotiations to settle lawsuits where EPA is charged with failing to follow through on its statutory commitments to enforce the Clean Air Act and other environmental laws. Hiring a public relations firm with abundant ties to industries you regulate, which is itself part of a broader network of groups active on behalf of you and fossil fuel interests, suggests that you have handed industry the keys to EPA.\r\nNone of this can come as a surprise to you. In 2015, America Rising paid to attend the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) annual summit at which you spoke.[18] You led RAGA for two years, where you worked through RAGA to attack EPA during the Obama administration.\r\nYour representatives have claimed that EPAs contract with Definers is for media monitoring/newsclip compilation[19] and that it was retained at a rate that is $87,000 cheaper than our previous vendor and they are providing no other services.[20] All of the above information about Definers, its activities, clients, and role within a much larger ecosystem of partisan, industry-funded operations research and electioneering groups casts significant doubt on these statements.\r\nIn light of the above and in order to shed light on EPAs decision to award this contract, we are asking that you provide the following documents and responses by Thursday, December 21.\r\n \r\nProvide copies of all documents related to the procurement of services with Definers as well as the contract EPA concluded with Definers for these services.\r\nWhat provision of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) authorized a no-bid contract for the type of services EPA procured from Definers? According to the contract transaction details posted on the usaspending.gov website, the reason not to put this contract out to bid was that there was only one source  other.[21] Please explain what this means when in fact there are many firms that offer the services for which EPA contracted with Definers, including the firm that previously did that work.\r\nProvide copies of all communications between EPA and Definers, America Rising, America Rising Squared, NTK, and any employees and representatives of these entities since February 17, 2017.\r\nConfirm that all communications you or any EPA employee have had with any person in question 3, regardless of the form of communication used, have been retained by EPA and searched in response to this inquiry.\r\nProvide communications or documentation to establish that no EPA funds paid to Definers or any affiliated group have been spent for publicity or propaganda or a prepackaged news story in violation of sections 715, 718 or 731 of division E of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017.\r\nProvide communications or documentation to establish that no EPA funds paid to Definers or any affiliated group have been spent with the intent or the reasonable expectation that the funds would be used to make a contribution, expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication in violation of section 735 of division E of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017.\r\nProvide all communications between EPA and the Definers  America Rising network as to and regulated entities that are also clients of or donors to Definers  America Rising. Describe and provide all communications related to EPAs due diligence efforts to determine if any conflicts of interest existed between the agency and regulated entities that are clients of or donors to Definers  America Rising. Provide all communications to or from EPA related to Broomfield, CO, ballot initiative Question 301 this year.[22]\r\nProvide documentation or, if not available, a narrative description of the processes and procedures in place to ensure no client or funder of Definers-America Rising or any related entity can exert improper influence over EPA enforcement proceedings or litigation.\r\nProvide all communications between EPA and the Definers  America Rising  NTK network of affiliated groups relating to EPA employee communications that were requested under FOIA by anyone from the Definers  America Rising  NTK network of affiliated groups. These employees include but are not limited to Natasha Greaves, Michael Mikulka, Lucretia Meyers, Thelma Estrada, Gary Morton, Anthony Tseng, Christopher Grundler, Mike Shapiro, John Reeder, Enesta Jones, Christie St. Clair, Deborah Szaro, Michael Cox, Elizabeth Southerland, and Priscilla Oliver. In an interview with the New York Times, Allan Blutstein, a senior vice president at Definers explained that he sought this information to take aim at resistance figures in the federal government and to see if they had done anything useful for Republicans.[23] If any of these individuals have faced adverse personnel actions since February 17, 2017, please explain the nature of the action, the circumstances surrounding the action, and provide any correspondence concerning those individuals between EPA and any person affiliated with the Definers  America Rising  NTK network of affiliated groups.\r\nExplain how the facts described above  America Risings active financial support of your confirmation as well as your earlier political career, NTKs favorable press coverage of your tenure at EPA, Definers working on behalf of regulated entities, regulated entities funding America Risings work  do not constitute a series of conflicts of interest. We would be particularly interested to learn why you believe that scientists who are awarded EPA grant money are conflicted while the Definers  America Rising  NTK network is not.\r\n \r\nShould you have any questions regarding any of the information we are requesting in this letter, please do not hesitate to contact our staffers, Dan Dudis and Monica Pham. We look forward to your response.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-deutch-hill-lead-71-members-pushing-pence-address-human-rights-egypt", "Cicilline, Deutch, Hill Lead 71 Members Pushing Pence to Address Human Rights in Egypt", "2017-12-18", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  U.S. Congressmen David N. Cicilline (RI-01), Ted Deutch (FL-22) and French Hill (AR-02) led dozens of their House colleagues in asking Vice President Mike Pence to hold the Egyptian government accountable for systemic human rights violations during a scheduled meeting in Cairo this week.\nFor decades American foreign policy has been based on promotion of our values of freedom, equality, and right to democratic representation. We have enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership with the government and people of Egypt and we very much support this continued relationship, they wrote in a letter signed by 71 Republican and Democratic colleagues, including House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27). However, the close U.S-Egypt relationship is at risk as long as the Government of Egypt engages in widespread violations of internationally recognized civil and human rights. We respectfully ask that you do everything you can to ensure this message is delivered forcefully and regularly to the Egyptian government at all levels, particularly during your visit this month.\nVice President Pence is visiting Cairo this week to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The Egyptian government has engaged in mass detentions, attacks on journalists, and efforts to restrict civil society.\nThe full text of the letter sent to Vice President Pence is embedded below. A PDF version of the signed letter can be downloaded by clicking here.\n----------------------------------------------------------\nThe Honorable Mike Pence\nVice President \nEisenhower Executive Office Building\nWashington, DC 20501\nDecember 18, 2017\nDear Mr. Vice President:\nWe write to you ahead of your upcoming visit to Egypt to raise concerns about recent actions taken by the Egyptian government that constitute a widespread crackdown against civil and human rights.\nEgypt and the United States have had a long and enduring partnership, predicated on strong military and counter-terrorism cooperation, shared security goals, and a shared vision for peace in the region. We value the benefits that the U.S-Egypt partnership has brought to both of our countries over the past four decades. In particular, our mutual interest in deterring and combatting the spread of terrorism is only underscored by the horrific attack perpetrated on the al-Rawda mosque in Sinai which killed over 300 worshippers.\nSo while we urge you to extend our condolences and offer our continued support to Egypts fight against terrorism we also urge you to raise our concerns over Egypts domestic civil and political repression. In recent years, independent civil society groups have been the target of a concerted government effort to silence their voices and limit their ability to operate. Minority groups, including religious minorities and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community have been the targets of discrimination and violence. Independent media organizations have been shuttered, and dozens of journalists, bloggers, and citizens have been jailed for their speech.\nThe Egyptian government has been engaged in a wide-ranging effort to crack down against public discourse, civil society activity, and independent media using a variety of methods and tools, including the use of legislation ostensibly designed to promote public safety or regulation, but practically used to stifle dissent. In particular, the non-governmental organization (NGO) law ratified by President al-Sisi in May 2017 threatens to devastate the ability of independent organizations to operate within Egypt and calls into question the Egyptian Governments own commitments to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. The government routinely pressures journalists and private citizens to suppress criticism of the government, and has used criminal prosecution, gag orders, arbitrary detention, and serious physical abuse in police custody to target free speech. The criminalization of legitimate NGO activity complicates the effectiveness of the foreign assistance package that the United States provides to Egypt annually. The usage of these funds, and their compliance with U.S. law under the Brownback Amendment, relies on the ability of implementing partners on the ground to function freely.\nRecently, the Egyptian government has participated in the disturbing global trend of government authorities targeting directly, as well as fostering an environment of discrimination and violence against, members of the LGBT community. The most recent wave of anti-LGBT persecution has been ongoing since September, when authorities in Cairo arrested seven people who had been photographed at a concert raising a rainbow flag. These arrests marked the beginning of a widespread crackdown on LGBT Egyptians with reports of 65 people being arrested. Most have been charged with sentences ranging from 6 months to 12 years in prison. Reports that the Egyptian Parliament will consider legislation that would criminalize same sex relations are further cause for concern.\nWhile the Egyptian government has demonstrated an interest in achieving greater parity for Coptic Christians, Copts continue to be the frequent target of systemic discrimination as well as violence carried out by non-state actors, including fellow Egyptians. Despite statements of support, the government has not taken sufficient steps to protect Copts from violence and ensure equal treatment under the law.\nFinally, the Egyptian government has repeatedly stated its intent to find a satisfactory resolution in the case against 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, who were unjustly convicted under the Morsi government in 2013. This issue has been an irritant in U.S.-Egyptian relations for too long and has set a troubling precedent with regard to Egypts treatment of democracy, human rights, and governance efforts, including programs funded by U.S. tax dollars.\nGiven your stated commitment to the protection of free speech and human rights, we ask that you raise these issues during your meetings this month with the highest levels of Egyptian leadership. Specifically, we respectfully ask that you raise with your counterparts the following:\n1. The case against the 43 NGO workers must be resolved as soon as possible and without a retrial, specifically by Egypts court of cassation swiftly allowing an appeal in the case to be heard, the court issuing a ruling, and then President Sisi pardoning every individual (not just the Americans) convicted in the case. \n2. The repressive NGO law should be repealed and independent civil society organizations should be allowed to operate, free from government interference.\n3. The arrest, harassment, and incitement against LGBT individuals inside Egypt must cease immediately, the individuals in detention must be released, and the government should oppose any laws that seek to criminalize the speech or activities of the LGBT community.\n4. The Government of Egypt should take additional steps to end the culture of impunity for attacks on Coptic Christians and continue to undertake the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of individuals who carry out attacks on Copts and other Christians in Egypt.\n5. The government must stop impinging on freedom of speech and release journalists, bloggers, and citizens who have been arrested on political charges.\n6. The government should take steps to release any American citizens or Legal Permanent Residents who have been arbitrarily detained and comply with international human rights standards for detention of all prisoners.\nFor decades American foreign policy has been based on promotion of our values of freedom, equality, and right to democratic representation. We have enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership with the government and people of Egypt and we very much support this continued relationship. However, the close U.S-Egypt relationship is at risk as long as the Government of Egypt engages in widespread violations of internationally recognized civil and human rights.\nWe respectfully ask that you do everything you can to ensure this message is delivered forcefully and regularly to the Egyptian government at all levels, particularly during your visit this month.\nThank you for your attention.\nSincerely,\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-reed-raimondo-urge-rhode-islanders-sign-health-care", "Cicilline, Reed, Raimondo Urge Rhode Islanders to Sign Up For Health Care", "2017-12-18", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "PAWTUCKET  Days before House and Senate Republicans vote on a tax bill that would eliminate a central provision of the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Congressman David Cicilline, U.S. Senator Jack Reed and Governor Gina Raimondo joined HealthSource RI Director Zach Sherman at the HealthSource RI Walk-in Center in East Providence to raise awareness of upcoming enrollment deadlines and speak about the importance of protecting health care access for tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders.\nWith 29,000 Rhode Islanders already enrolled in health care through HealthSource RI for next year, Cicilline, Reed and Raimondo urged anyone who still needs coverage to sign up as soon as possible. New and returning customers should visit HealthSourceRI.com to shop for the plan that works best for them.\n December 23rd is the deadline for enrollees to be guaranteed coverage that begins on January 1st.\n December 31st is the last day to purchase health insurance for 2018 through HealthSource RI.\nEven as enrollments in Rhode Island and across the country outpace previous years, Congressional Republicans have included the end of the individual mandate for health care in the latest version of their tax plan. If the tax plan becomes law with this provision, 13 million Americans, including at least 12,000 Rhode Islanders, will be covered by 2025, and premiums will spike by more than 50 percent over the next three years, according to an analysis from HealthSource RI.\nIn Rhode Island, enrollment is expected to drop from over 42,000 total this year to 30,000 in 2021, and the average annual premium for enrollees will rise from $418 in 2018 to $636 in 2021.\nRhode Islanders deserve the opportunity to purchase health insurance that is affordable and provides them and their families access to high-quality care, said Cicilline. I urge everyone who still needs to purchase health insurance for 2018 to visit HealthSourceRI.com and shop for the plan that works best for their families. The Affordable Care Act has helped tens of thousands of Rhode islanders and millions of Americans get the health care they need. I am committed to fighting this disastrous tax scam, which would undermine all the progress weve made just for the sake of giving corporate special interests and the wealthiest individuals a $1.5 trillion tax cut.\nWhile the federal administration and Republican lawmakers try to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, were not going to let our progress erode, Governor Gina M. Raimondo said. The ACA is working in Rhode Island96 percent of Rhode Islanders are insured, and we are ranked third-highest in the nation for childrens health insurance coverage. If you are still in need of coverage for 2018, take advantage of HealthSource RIs open enrollment today.\nIt is HealthSource RIs job to stand in-front of our customers and up to the federal administration to protect and maintain Rhode Islanders access to affordable health coverage, said Sherman. It is also our job to help Rhode Islanders cut through the confusion to choose the best health insurance plan possible. We encourage everyone to actively compare their options and enroll in coverage by the end of the year.\nRhode Islanders seeking to enroll or find more information on Open Enrollment can visit HealthSourceRI.com. Individual assistance is also available from HealthSource RI experts by calling 1-855-840-4774 or visiting the Walk-in Center located at 401 Wampanoag Trail, E. Providence, RI 02915.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/langevin-denounces-exclusion-climate-change-trump-national-security-strategy", "Langevin Denounces Exclusion of Climate Change from Trump National Security Strategy", "2017-12-18", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, denounced President Trumps decision to exclude discussion of climate change as a national security threat in his America First National Security Strategy:\nI am deeply disappointed in the Presidents decision to remove climate change as a threat to our national security, said Langevin. The Administration is choosing to make the militarys strategy harder and more dangerous just one week after signing the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which included my amendment expressing the sense of Congress that climate change is a direct threat to the national security of the United States.\nThe National Security Strategy is a report to Congress required by the Goldwater-Nicholas Act that lays out an Administrations goals and objectives for securing the United States. It does not carry the force of law. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), on the other hand, is an annual bill passed by Congress that sets funding levels and policies for the military. In addition to clearly stating Congresss intent on the issue, this years NDAA also requires the Department of Defense to report on military installations vulnerable to a changing climate and to address combatant commander requirements resulting from climate change. These provisions are not affected by the new strategy.\nAs temperatures get warmer and sea levels rise, we know that a changing climate will lead to increased instability and will affect our readiness both tactically and strategically, continued Langevin. We have heard from the Pentagons top military and civilian officials, who believe that climate change poses a direct threat to their work and to the stability of the world at large. Even the Presidents own Secretary of Defense has stated that the effects of a changing climate will impact our security situation. The Presidents actions today represent a significant step backward on this issue, but they cannot reverse a rising tide or blind our military and intelligence officials to scientific fact. I will continue my work in Congress to ensure we understand the challenges before us and set policy objectives accordingly.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/photos/reed-state-leaders-urge-rhode-islanders-to-sign-up-for-health-insurance", "Reed, State Leaders Urge Rhode Islanders to Sign Up for Health Insurance", "2017-12-18", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Reed, State Leaders Urge Rhode Islanders to Sign Up for Health Insurance \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n                    \t\n                        \n                            \n                               \n                               \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                               \n                            \n                            \n                               \n                               \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                               \n                            \n                     \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n                \n\t\t\t\t\t\t12/18/2017Senator Reed joined Governor Raimondo, Congressman David Cicilline, and leaders from HealthSource RI to urge eligible Rhode Islanders to sign up for health insurance by the end of the state's open enrollment period at the end of December.\r\nDuring open enrollment, Rhode Island individuals and families have the opportunity to enroll or renew their health insurance coverage for the 2018 calendar year.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-ri-delegation-demands-congress-fund-health-insurance-children", "Cicilline, RI Delegation Demands Congress Fund Health Insurance for Children", "2017-12-15", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Providence, RI.  U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today gathered to demand the Republican majority in Congress immediately reauthorize the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Rhode Islands congressional delegation stood with pediatricians and childrens advocates at Meeting Street, which supports kids who have a wide range of specialized health needs.\nThe federally funded Childrens Health Insurance Program is responsible for covering tens of thousands of children and pregnant women in Rhode Island. It has helped our state become a national leader in ensuring that all of our children have access to high-quality affordable health care, and,said Congressman Cicilline, who led 88 of his colleagues in calling on Speaker Ryan to bring a bill reauthorizing CHIP to the House floor. These Rhode Islanders could start losing their health care coverage as soon as March if Republicans in Congress continue to hold this reauthorization hostage. Across the country, almost 9 million children stand to lose coverage. Americans overwhelmingly want Congress to support health care for children and pregnant women through CHIP, and I urge Speaker Ryan to allow the House to take a vote on reauthorization immediately.\nCHIP has been successful here in Rhode Island and the programs benefits are clear: it helps kids with limited means see a doctor and get preventive care, including vaccinations, said Senator Reed. In addition to positive health outcomes, studies show that programs like CHIP and RIte Care translate to educational and economic gains. Healthy kids have better school attendance and greater productivity when they grow up. When you add it all up, CHIP is a win for kids and a win for taxpayers and it should be reauthorized with overwhelming bipartisan support.\nThere is no possible justification for putting the health insurance of tens of thousands of Rhode Island children and expectant mothers in jeopardy, said Senator Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Any parent raising a child with special health needs has enough to worry about without fear of medical bills that they simply cant pay. CHIP has been a bipartisan success for decades, and yet Republicans in Congress are prioritizing approval of a plan to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires over reauthorizing health insurance for children who need it.\nMy colleagues across the aisle must set aside their partisan agenda and swiftly reauthorize CHIP to ensure the health care needs of 9 million children, including 36,000 Rhode Islanders, continue to be met, said Congressman Langevin. CHIP is a lifeline for our most vulnerable residents, and I cannot believe that Republicans would hold families across the country hostage in order to score political points. Our nations children are our most precious resource, and they deserve uninterrupted access to quality health care.\nLast year in Rhode Island, over 36,000 children and pregnant women enrolled in health insurance coverage through CHIP and Medicaid. Nearly 9 million children across the country rely on CHIP for health insurance.\nThe Childrens Health Insurance Program is a pivotal long-term driver of the U.S. economy, said Dr. Beth Lange, a pediatrician at Coastal Medical and past president of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. When children are healthy, they can attend school to learn the skills they need to be successful in the future workforce, and parents of healthy children are able to go to work each day and contribute to our economy now.\nCHIP expired in September and some states anticipate exhausting funding as soon as next month. State officials estimate Rhode Island will run out of funding in March. Congress has set a December 22 deadline for passing a new government funding measure.\nMeeting Street works with 5,000 children each year with more than two-thirds of our children from low income families that depend on programs like CHIP, said John M. Kelly, President of Meeting Street. You cannot have healthy, productive adults and a healthy, thriving community if you dont first invest in the health of our children. Childrens health must be a priority for us all.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/ri-delegation-demands-congress-fund-health-insurance-children", "RI Delegation Demands Congress Fund Health Insurance for Children", "2017-12-15", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today gathered to demand the Republican majority in Congress immediately reauthorize the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Rhode Islands congressional delegation stood with pediatricians and childrens advocates at Meeting Street, which supports kids who have a wide range of specialized health needs.\nCHIP has been successful here in Rhode Island and the programs benefits are clear: it helps kids with limited means see a doctor and get preventive care, including vaccinations,said Senator Reed. In addition to positive health outcomes, studies show that programs like CHIP and RIte Care translate to educational and economic gains. Healthy kids have better school attendance and greater productivity when they grow up. When you add it all up, CHIP is a win for kids and a win for taxpayers and it should be reauthorized with overwhelming bipartisan support.\nThere is no possible justification for putting the health insurance of tens of thousands of Rhode Island children and expectant mothers in jeopardy,said Senator Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Any parent raising a child with special health needs has enough to worry about without fear of medical bills that they simply cant pay. CHIP has been a bipartisan success for decades, and yet Republicans in Congress are prioritizing approval of a plan to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires over reauthorizing health insurance for children who need it.\nMy colleagues across the aisle must set aside their partisan agenda and swiftly reauthorize CHIP to ensure the health care needs of 9 million children, including 36,000 Rhode Islanders, continue to be met,said Congressman Langevin. CHIP is a lifeline for our most vulnerable residents, and I cannot believe that Republicans would hold families across the country hostage in order to score political points. Our nations children are our most precious resource, and they deserve uninterrupted access to quality health care.\nThe federally funded Childrens Health Insurance Program is responsible for covering tens of thousands of children and pregnant women in Rhode Island. It has helped our state become a national leader in ensuring that all of our children have access to high-quality affordable health care, and,said Congressman Cicilline, who led 88 of his colleagues in calling on Speaker Ryan to bring a bill reauthorizing CHIP to the House floor. These Rhode Islanders could start losing their health care coverage as soon as March if Republicans in Congress continue to hold this reauthorization hostage. Across the country, almost 9 million children stand to lose coverage. Americans overwhelmingly want Congress to support health care for children and pregnant women through CHIP, and I urge Speaker Ryan to allow the House to take a vote on reauthorization immediately.\nLast year in Rhode Island, over 36,000 children and pregnant women enrolled in health insurance coverage through CHIP and Medicaid. Nearly 9 million children across the country rely on CHIP for health insurance.\nThe Childrens Health Insurance Program is a pivotal long-term driver of the U.S. economy,said Dr. Beth Lange, a pediatrician at Coastal Medical and past president of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. When children are healthy, they can attend school to learn the skills they need to be successful in the future workforce, and parents of healthy children are able to go to work each day and contribute to our economy now.\nCHIP expired in September and some states anticipate exhausting funding as soon as next month. State officials estimate Rhode Island will run out of funding in March. Congress has set a December 22 deadline for passing a new government funding measure.\nMeeting Street works with 5,000 children each year with more than two-thirds of our children from low income families that depend on programs like CHIP,said John M. Kelly, President of Meeting Street. You cannot have healthy, productive adults and a healthy, thriving community if you dont first invest in the health of our children. Childrens health must be a priority for us all.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/photos/reed-librarians-academics-warn-of-negative-impacts-for-ri-if-trump-admin-repeals-net-neutrality", "Reed, Librarians, Academics Warn of Negative Impacts for RI if Trump Admin Repeals Net Neutrality", "2017-12-15", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Reed, Librarians, Academics Warn of Negative Impacts for RI if Trump Admin Repeals Net Neutrality \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n                    \t\n                        \n                            \n                               \n                               \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                               \n                            \n                            \n                               \n                               \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                               \n                            \n                     \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n                \n\t\t\t\t\t\t12/15/2017With the FCC gearing up to repeal net neutrality, Senator Reed hosted an event at the Providence Public Library to discuss how a repeal would be bad for consumers, businesses, and democracy and would put people who cant pay for preferential treatment online at a disadvantage.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/speeches/reed-speaks-in-opposition-to-the-gop-tax-bill", "Reed Speaks in Opposition to the GOP Tax Bill", "2017-12-15", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/15/2017Madam President, as Republicans in both Chambers rush to conclude their secret negotiations on the final details of their tax bill, I want to make clear to my colleagues what should be obvious about this legislation. We may not yet know the results of all of their horse-trading leading up to the final legislation, but the American people are watching this process. It is plain to see that, should this Republican bill become law, Republicans will have knowingly and deliberately made worse the most dangerous threats that we face to our economic and national security. Worse yet, they will have drained the public coffers that our children and our children's children will need to take up these challenges.\r\nWe all know what these challenges are. We face unprecedented income and wealth inequality that threatens to stifle the social mobility that is the hallmark of the American Dream. There is also declining productivity, which has kept middle-class wages stagnant, and bred economic anxiety for too many parents wondering if their children will attain a higher standard of living--much higher, they hope--than they have achieved. We have a surging deficit from decades of trickle-down economics and unpaid-for wars that, if left unaddressed, could apply huge pressure to our ability to keep our most basic promises to the American people, not to mention meeting our obligations as a world power.\r\nTo the families watching what is going on in Washington right now, the Republican end game appears to be to invite fiscal crisis due to irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, and then, because we have already given trillions of dollars away in tax cuts, to demand that Congress shred Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other vital programs in order to pay our bills. We know this is the road that this bill sets us upon, and the American people certainly see this coming. So let no one who votes for this bill say that they did not know the consequences of their actions. This will not be remembered as tax reform, but rather as a serious mistake to be corrected in the future.\r\nHow do middle-class Americans know that Republicans did not write this bill for them? Because they have watched Republican economics rig the tax system in favor of the wealthy and corporations for years, even as wealth and income inequality have reached historic levels. They took the Republicans at their word when Republicans promised that the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, which skewed tax relief to the top 1 percent over the bottom 20 percent of Americans by more than 6 to 1, would eventually trickle down. That is what they thought, but on the eve of the great recession, aftertax income for the richest 1 percent had soared while middle-class wages continued to stagnate. We are still waiting for the Bush tax cuts to trickle down and to pay for themselves. They likely never will.\r\nThese Republican proposals make matters even worse by financing tax giveaways for big business and the rich on the backs of those just trying to get by. Economists, relying on the Federal Survey of Consumer Finances, recently determined that the top 1 percent of American households now hold about 40 percent of the Nation's wealth, which is a 50-year high. This legislation overwhelmingly benefits them while raising taxes on 48 percent of American taxpayers by 2027.\r\nMany of the families whose taxes will go up have already been through tough economic times during the Great Recession. Productivity in the American workforce has been declining, and wages have grown at an even slower pace than that. These families don't need numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to know our Nation's recovery was historically slow. But our middle-class weathered the Great Recession as Americans have always done. Now, because of the lopsidedness and deficit-busting features of the Republican tax bill, Moody's Analytics has warned that this ``fiscal policy mistake'' could very well take us prematurely into an economic bust. Middle-class families have just emerged from the last crisis of Republican economics, still battered and bruised, and they know that, if Republicans force a plan like this on the Nation again, it will be their children who are on the hook to pay for it.\r\nMake no mistake, there are times when running a deficit is advisable or even economically necessary--particularly when times are tough and families need help to stay in the working class and get back on their feet. But regressive tax cuts just sit on our credit card with little to show for all that red ink, and the tab we are leaving the next generation is still running from 16 years ago.\r\nLike many of my colleagues, I was here to take the tough votes and make the hard choices that led to the Clinton-era surplus. The failed experiments of supply-side economics turned that surplus into a CBO-projected deficit of over $10 trillion over the next decade. And even if we accept all of the rosy assumptions of dynamic scoring and take it on faith, yet again, that wealth will trickle down and that no recession will come in the next decade--all of which are assumptions on which I wouldn't wager anything--the Joint Committee on Taxation calculates that this bill would still increase the deficit by over $1 trillion. Facts do not go away simply because we ignore them, and if Republicans continue to ignore the budget hole their policies create, then this massive deficit and the budget pressures that follow it will be their legacy for future generations.\r\nMore importantly, however, I must ask: What national priorities will our colleagues on the other side deem too expensive after we have given 1 trillion more borrowed dollars to the wealthy? What choices will Republicans try to force on the American people when they decide there simply isn't enough for the Armed Forces, the jobless, the sick, and the elderly? Republican leadership is already vowing to take up \"entitlement reform'' next year, which is Washington-speak for giving the top 1 percent everything they want and then forcing practically everyone else to choose who loses their Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid to plug the budget hole. Therefore, before Republicans blow apart the Federal budget yet again, it is worth reviewing the massive costs the American people are already committed to pay.\r\nFirst, as I have discussed before, this bill essentially guarantees that we will struggle to meet the needs of our national defense. Our war deficits from the past 16 years alone are projected to add over $1 trillion to the national debt by 2023 and over $8 trillion by 2056. We all know we must modernize the nuclear triad, which will cost $1.2 trillion in 2017 dollars over the next 30 years. A 355-ship Navy would cost, on average, $102 billion per year through 2047. Necessary additions to the end strengths of the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps will cost an additional $18 billion, $6 billion, and $3.6 billion, respectively. Where will this money come from, since we have already given it away to the wealthiest Americans?\r\nThis chart shows what happens to the defense budget when large-scale tax reductions are put into effect, starting in the Reagan era of the 1980s. One of President Reagan's first initiatives was to build up defense. This chart shows the percentage of GDP devoted to defense spending. President Reagan promised to make America strong. To actualize his feeling and view of peace through strength, he built up the defense budget significantly--going from a little over 5 percent of GDP when he took office up to almost 7 percent. But in the mid-1980s, he also engineered tax cuts that lowered taxes on the wealthy in proportion to lower income Americans, and eventually, those tax cuts and the deficit caught up with defense spending. As we notice, through the later 1980s and all the way into the 1990s, except for one respite, we had a declining defense budget. In the first year of the George Herbert Walker Bush administration, there was another attempt to decrease defense spending. So the line went up a bit, but after that, of course, with deficits increasing, with other pressures mounting on the budget, defense spending plummeted.\r\nThen, within the Clinton administration, there was a conscious effort to reduce defense spending. The so-called Cold War peace dividend took place. At the same time, though, because of the tough votes on tax reform that we took, we were building up a significant surplus.\r\nWe saw again here, with the beginning of the George W. Bush administration, an increase in defense spending. Once again, that was a product the desire of the President to lower taxes, which he did, but more importantly, was the unexpected and catastrophic attack on the United States on September 11, 2001. That, together with the later decisions to go into Iraq and maintain our presence in Afghanistan, led us to increase defense spending, but, once again--once again--a growing deficit with tax cuts, with no increases to pay for wartime operations, saw the defense budget peak and then begin to decline, and we are in that decline right now.\r\nIf history is any judge, when we pass these tax cuts, I think we will see a further decline as defense spending is squeezed by an already-acknowledged increased deficit and by the difficulty of cutting other programs to relieve budget pressures. We are not positioning ourselves well. As I previously mentioned, we are already looking ahead at necessary expenditures totaling trillions of dollars over the future, and if we don't make them, it will leave our Armed Forces, and indeed our position in the world, in a very precarious position.\r\nThe irony will be that many of my colleagues will come down here and vote one day soon on a huge tax reduction for the wealthiest, including a $1.5 trillion deficit increase, and on the next day say: ``We need more money for our military, that is the most important thing.'' If our military were the most important thing, we would be voting on a bill to provide that type of financial support and relief to the military today, and letting the tax cuts for the wealthy wait.\r\nThis is one of the remarkable periods in our history; probably the first time in our history, that we have conducted a war for 16 years, and have yet to ask the American people, in any significant way, to participate by paying their fair share for the national defense. In fact, throughout this period, with rare exceptions, we have cut taxes, and the cuts have basically benefited the wealthiest Americans. That is why all of this together has caused former Secretaries of Defense Leon Panetta, Ash Carter, and Chuck Hagel to indicate that this tax bill is ill-advised. Following 16 years of debt-financed war, providing even bigger deficit-busting tax cuts doesn't make any sense for our national security.\r\nMy previous comments, along with the comments of former Secretaries of Defense and others seem to have touched a nerve with Speaker Ryan because, when asked specifically, he took some umbrage at these comments. In an interview with NPR, he said he simply could not understand where our concerns were coming from. To put it bluntly, I am comfortable siding with three former Secretaries of Defense over the Speaker when it comes to budgeting for the men and women of our Armed Forces, for the reasons I outlined in my discussion of the history of defense spending and tax cuts over the last 30-plus years. Inevitably, the tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations, because of the way this bill is structured, will put pressure on defense spending. What I don't want to happen is to have people down here 2 months from now pounding the desks about how we are not responding to the needs of our troops, saying that we haven't made them the most important thing in our lives, or that we are neglecting our national defense. Frankly, they have ignored this whole topic by committing to give tax cuts and increase the deficit. That is the wrong priority, in my view.\r\nAs the chart clearly demonstrates, these tax cuts eventually catch up with us. They produced defense cuts--maybe not immediately, but we are not working on a situation like we had in 2001. When President George W. Bush instituted his tax cuts, we had a $5 trillion surplus on the books. That was because we took those tough votes in the 1990s to increase taxes and to build up a surplus.\r\nWe don't have that pad any longer. We are already $10 trillion in the hole, so the effect of these cuts will be much quicker and much more dramatic when it comes to the situation we will face not only in terms of supporting our military, but actually taking major steps to upgrade the platforms, the technology, the training, the readiness, and the quality of life of the Armed Forces. We don't have a $5 trillion surplus to dip into to pay off the wealthiest while we try to fix defense. We are in a situation where advocacy for this tax cut, in my view, totally and deliberately ignores the costs we are going to have to pay to protect ourselves. For the first time in our history, we have conducted almost 20 years of war, and we have asked our troops and their families to serve, but we haven't asked any other American to stand up, at least with their financial support, and help us deal with the crises we face across the globe.\r\nIt is not just our Armed Forces that will be squeezed and crowded out of the Federal budget because of these Republican proposals; the middle class and the working poor will also have to do a lot more with a lot less.\r\nMany of my colleagues have already pointed out that the CBO has estimated that 13 million Americans will lose their health insurance because Republicans will repeal the individual mandate to pay for tax cuts. They can try to spin this as an expansion of choices, but the bottom line is that more people will be sick, and fewer of them will get the care they need.\r\nOther middle-class American families can expect to lose access to critical tax advantages that allow them to remain self-sufficient during hard times. This approach promises to crush families on two fronts. It will force more families who are down on their luck to slip out of the working class, and then, because of massive deficits, the social safety net will be weakened when these families need it the most. This legislation will likely trigger a $25 billion cut to Medicare in 2018 alone, and with the Republicans' entitlement reform on the docket for next year--publically announced by Speaker Ryan--this may just be the tip of the iceberg. If we pass this tax bill, under our pay-go rules, we are in a position where we will be facing a $25 billion cut to Medicare just next year, in 2018.\r\nIndeed, for many Americans, this vote is not about taxes, it is about Medicare--what they thought they had earned and are entitled to, what their children believe they need in order to withstand the obvious health problems as one ages.\r\nThis does not even begin to cover the struggles facing working-class Americans every day. We are in the midst of a historic decline in labor force participation that economists are struggling to explain, and many States that are experiencing deep declines in labor force participation are among those hardest hit by the opioid epidemic. A few weeks ago, President Trump declared a public health emergency on opioids. Where are the resources coming from to face that national emergency? There will not be that much left after this tax cut.\r\nWhat we are beginning to see--this is not cause and effect, but it is a correlation--is that a lot of individuals are leaving the workforce because they feel displaced by new technology or because they are noncompetitive or for a number of reasons, and this seems to correlate very highly in those States with large losses with this opioid epidemic. In my home State of Rhode Island, this epidemic is real. It is taking the lives of individuals. On a national scale, it is something that has already been proclaimed a public health emergency by the President. Again, where will the money come from after these tax cuts? Will the problem just go away? I doubt it. The money is going away, but not the problem.\r\nWe have to ask ourselves: If we are in a national public health emergency, why aren't we standing up and providing the resources to help Americans face this problem? It goes back to the same logic: If we are in our 16th or 17th year of war, why aren't we standing up and saying that we better put up some money for the troops, their equipment, and their families?\r\nNo - what my colleagues are saying is: We had better cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans, for corporations. We have to create loopholes for passthrough entities that give advantages to private equity concerns, legal firms, accountants, and others.\r\nAs we look at these problems, millions of Americans are sitting around their dinner tables, and they don't believe we need to give trillion-dollar tax cuts to corporations that have international operations. They are more likely thinking about more mundane things closer to their lives, such as, what about the roads and bridges in my community? Why does this country have an investment backlog in transportation of $836 billion for highways and bridges and $122 billion for transit? Why aren't we doing the big infrastructure bill that the President indicated during the campaign--which is going to cost real money? Instead, we are giving real money away.\r\nThis makes a huge difference--because pursuing tax cuts first doesn't just neglect infrastructure, it neglects jobs. The jobs infrastructure projects create are middle-class jobs. These are not the private equity analysts. These are not the sophisticated financial engineers. These are the laborers, the structural engineers, and the men and women who pour the concrete. They are not going to get much out of this tax bill. At the family dinner table, they are probably wondering how they can afford to send their children to college.\r\nHow can they even continue to send their children to elementary and secondary schools that are in a horrendous state of repair? The Department of Education has estimated it would cost $197 billion to bring all public schools in the United States to good condition, and there is a $30 billion funding gap in annual capital construction and new facility funding. This is not just a Rhode Island problem; this is a problem in every State of the Union. Public school buildings are decrepit, and we are sending children to those schools. If this legislation passes, where will we find the money to help State and local communities deal with these issues so that children can go to schools that are modern, up-to-date places where they can learn?\r\nOnce you get past the elementary and secondary education levels, today everyone insists the jobs of the future all require more than a high school education. We have a generation that has racked up about $1.3 trillion in student loans and is facing a job market that provides few opportunities and not enough opportunities to pay them off. They are worried. People are worried that their children--many of whom are still living with them after college--will never be able to pay off these loans. Where is the multibillion-dollar package of assistance, aid, and loan forgiveness that will allow this generation of Americans to have the same benefits that my generation had? That is not the situation today. Everyone in this Chamber knows this because, when they go home, they hear from parents who are wondering when their child will ever get out from underneath the significant debt they have.\r\nThese are all real problems that working families face. There is another problem that is looming and will exacerbate these problems even more dramatically. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, up to 30 percent of the work done by 60 percent of occupations today is vulnerable to automation. By 2030, 75 million to 375 million--up to 14 percent--of the global workforce will need to change jobs. These advances in artificial intelligence could cause a huge erosion in human jobs.\r\nWhat are families doing? What should we be doing? Frankly, we should be thinking of ways we can help people make the transition, and prepare them for what we know is coming. We know there is going to be a huge loss of jobs. We know that, when people drop out of the workforce, when companies get smaller, their pension obligations don't get that much smaller. We are also facing huge shortages in terms of pensions.\r\nOne of the ironies I suggest will happen--``irony'' is too gentle of a word--is that these corporations that are getting huge tax benefits are not going to raise wages. They are not going to turn it over to the people who work for them. They will buy back their stock, and some of these companies will buy back their stock even though their pension plans are not fully funded. That is not only an irony but an additional problem with the approach we are taking to this legislation.\r\nThe jobs in danger are not all entry-level positions. This is not about somebody who has a pick and a shovel and is displaced by a machine. We are talking about jobs, for example, in radiology. With computers and artificial intelligence today, doctors will admit they can read x-rays better than many technicians. They can do it in such a way that you don't need as many radiologists to review the records. They can be much more efficient. We are talking about jobs that are not core, entry-level jobs done by people who can easily do something else. We are talking about people who have master's degrees, who have years of training. This is going to come very quickly. What do they do? How do they compensate? Where do they get a job?\r\nWe know that this is going to happen, and we are weakening ourselves financially from being able to respond. Yet the legislation that is being proposed is oblivious to what we know is going to happen.\r\nPeople will come here and say: ``We need more money for national defense.'' Why don't we do that now, instead of giving a big tax cut and raising the deficit?\r\nIn a few years or few months, people will say: ``This opioid crisis is out of control; it is even worse than it was when the President declared it an emergency.'' Let's do something.\r\nWe don't have the money. In a very few years, when people say, ``We are losing hundreds of thousands of good jobs; let's do something,'' the answer will be ``Sorry, we can't.''\r\nBy the way, we don't have much of a safety net for those people who are being displaced by these machines because we have eroded that too. We have huge challenges before us. The American people are watching us. They know these things. They are seeing in their workplace machines gradually replacing human beings. If you are a driver for UPS and you haven't figured out yet that these big companies are buying autonomous vehicles, they are using drones to deliver packages, et cetera--they understand what is coming. They see their children with huge debt living at home because they can't afford to buy a home, given their school loans. They sense the fragility of not only their own job but also the support for their parents on Medicare and Medicaid.\r\nOne of the things I thought was interesting when I heard we were going on to entitlement reform is the fact that the biggest amount of money spent in Medicaid go to nursing homes, and it goes to individuals who are not the poorest of poor. They are middle-class people, seniors, or people with long-term disabilities who have exhausted most of their funds. They have sold their house or mortgaged their house, et cetera, and they are the ones who are taking the bulk of the Medicaid money and funding. If we cut Medicaid, what we are going to do is tell a lot of middle-class people: You are out; you are out of this nursing home. Or we are going to tell their sons and daughters: You thought you had a problem paying off your children's tuition; you thought you had a problem at work because you haven't had a raise in several years. Guess what. Unless you come up with $1,000 extra a month, your mother is out of that nursing home.\r\nThat is the reality. That is what Americans around their kitchen tables and coffee shops are talking about. They are not talking about big tax cuts for the wealthiest corporations and individuals. It is no surprise that, if you look at any of the polling with respect to this tax bill, the American people are against it. My colleagues, particularly on the other side, are committed to getting something through that the American people don't want. They have said it. The polling has been extensive: We don't want this; we have real problems at home.\r\nI am here to say that I believe this is a great mistake. I don't think any of us going forward should be in a position to say: Someone should have told me; someone should have told me that we need trillions of dollars to improve our defense above and beyond the current money we are spending. Somebody should have told me that hundreds of thousands--if not millions--of good jobs are going away because of artificial intelligence. Someone should have told me that young people are drowning under college debt, and we should fix that. Someone should have told me that we are in a situation where working conditions and the prospect of work is so fragile for so many people.\r\nI think this is a great mistake. I hope my colleagues will reflect on what we are about to do and reject it.\r\nI yield the floor.\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/op-eds/the-epa-tries-to-turn-a-blind-eye-to-carbon-emissions-the-courts-can-stop-it", "The EPA tries to turn a blind eye to carbon emissions. The courts can stop it.", "2017-12-15", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.15.17\n\t\t\t The EPA tries to turn a blind eye to carbon emissions. The courts can stop it. \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tIn the recent Frontline documentary, War on the EPA, the CEO of the Murray Energy Corporation  the largest coal mining company in the United States  brags that he had given the Trump administration a three-page action plan on rolling back environmental regulations. Less than a year into his term, the president and his officials had already completed the first page,Murray Energy CorporationsBob Murray says in the film.\r\nIndeed, the administration has gone straight to work undoing environmental safeguards: reevaluating emission standards for cars and trucks, pressing for the Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline, disbanding science advisory committees, lifting the moratorium on federal coal leasing, trying to expand offshore drilling, and opening national monuments and marine sanctuaries to energy companies. The EPA is working to eliminate rules on the leaking and flaring of methane and has rescinded requirements for reporting methane emissions. It is also stalling on monitoring carbon pollution. And, of course, the president announced his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement.\r\nAt the top of Murrays wish list, Frontline reports, is repealing the Clean Power Plan, the 2015 EPA rule to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from American power plants. Many utilities and states support the initiative. But the big polluters do not. So it is in the Trump administrations crosshairs. But any attempt to unravel Barack Obamas signature environmental policy will likely have to survive a lengthy legal fight.\r\nThe benefits of the Clean Power Plan to public health, the climate, and the economy outweigh the costs of energy sector compliance by $26 billion to $45 billion every year, according to the EPAs own calculations. In order to rescind the Clean Power Plan, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has to make those benefits disappear.\r\nSo he cooked the books, using two tricks:\r\nThe first derives from the fact that todays carbon pollution causes harm and financial losses later  often many years after pollution is emitted. In financial accounting, future costs and benefits are balanced against present costs and benefits using a discount rate. The theory stipulates that its more valuable to receive a million dollars now than a million dollars, say, 20 years from now.\r\nIn 2015, the government set a 3 percent discount rate for the out-year costs of carbon pollution. In other words, a certain amount of carbon emissions costs $100 in harm and losses today, but is worth $97 one year later and roughly $94.26 two years later. Pruitt jacked that rate up to 7 percent, so out-year harm, injuries, and losses appear to cost less. Our children and grandchildren will suffer exactly the same harm, but this adjustment gives present-day polluters a big break on their emissions.\r\nPruitts second trick is to count only the harm from carbon pollution generated and accrued within the United States borders. In fact, we suffer from other countries emissions, and they suffer from ours. But if each country only counts its own emissions and its own harms, guess what happens? All the cross-border impacts never get counted. They still takes place in real life, but they vanish from the ledger.\r\nAs Michael Greenstone, an economist at the University of Chicago who helped develop the governments estimate of the social cost of carbon, put it: Pruitts sleight of hand was not evidence-based policymaking  this was policy-based evidence-making.\r\nLuckily, theres a real obstacle to this fuzzy math becoming the new standard for pricing pollution. As the executive branch and Congress go about trying to blow up environmental regulations, the courts still stand in the way of the Clean Power Plans repeal.\r\nThey may take notice that these accounting stunts are arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedures Act. They may take notice that Pruitt, who has long depended on campaign donations from the energy industry, has massive conflicts of interest in seeking the plans reversal.\r\nThey will surely note that the Supreme Court said in 2007 that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and that the EPA is legally obligated to regulate them. They will surely note the agency issued its so-called endangerment finding in 2009, proclaiming that greenhouse gas emissions threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations  a determination the D.C. Circuit resoundingly upheld in 2012. Hopefully, they will notice Pruitts stall tactics in preventing regulation of carbon pollution.\r\nThe Trump administrations determination to carry out industrys marching orders through bogus accounting or deliberate delay is a dire threat to environmental protection as we know it. But these tactics will face much stricter scrutiny in the truth-based arena of the federal courts.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t    By:\n\t\t\t\t    Sheldon Whitehouse\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\tSource:\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tGrist", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-statement-end-net-neutrality", "Cicilline Statement on End of Net Neutrality", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01), the top-ranking Democrat on the House Antitrust Subcommittee, issued the following statement today:\n\u201cWhen working people pay their internet bill, they\u2019re buying access to the full internet at the speed they pay for. Today\u2019s decision by the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission ends the era of the open internet. Ending Net Neutrality will allow internet service providers to slow speeds on certain websites, charge new fees, and even block websites altogether.\u201d\n\u201cI\u2019m also deeply disturbed that the FCC went ahead with this decision after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman found that hundreds of thousands of public comments were submitted in recent weeks using stolen identities and even Russian email addresses. There\u2019s no doubt the FCC rushed this decision and put the interests of telecom companies ahead of working people.\u201d\n\u201cI\u2019m proud to stand with millions of Americans who know that this is a bad decision. I\u2019ll continue fighting to change the law and restore Net Neutrality.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-statement-proposed-disneyfox-merger", "Cicilline Statement on Proposed Disney/Fox Merger", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01), the top-ranking Democrat on the House Antitrust Subcommittee, issued the following statement today:\n\u201cAnother day, another mega-merger. Disney\u2019s proposed purchase of 21st Century Fox threatens to put control of TV, movie, and news content into the hands of a single media giant.\u201d\n\u201cIf it\u2019s approved, this merger could allow Disney to limit what consumers can watch and increase their cable bills. Disney will gain more than 300 channels, 22 regional sports networks, control over Hulu, and a significant portion of Roku.\u201d\n\u201cAmerica is in a Monopoly Moment. We need more competition than before, not less, to create an economy that has more choices and innovation, lower prices, and better jobs. The House Antitrust Subcommittee should look at this proposal very closely.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/langevin-condemns-fcc-vote-repeal-net-neutrality-rules", "Langevin Condemns FCC Vote to Repeal Net Neutrality Rules", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality rules: \u00a0\n\u201cI strongly condemn today\u2019s vote by the Federal Communications Commission overturning net neutrality rules that protect consumers and encourage innovation. Despite the overwhelming opposition of my Rhode Island constituents and Americans across the country, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has sided with cable companies and other Internet service providers, putting profits above the public interest. The Internet has been an open marketplace of ideas and information, but today\u2019s repeal will allow throttling, filtering, and fast lanes. The rules adopted today will give companies, not consumers, the final say in what is accessible online, and that is a tragedy.\n\u201cI\u2019ve spent over a decade working in cybersecurity to better protect the Internet so that we can continue to reap the amazing benefits of an interconnected economy. My focus has been on malicious actors in cyberspace who threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our networks and data and in doing so, undermine the free and open Internet. Never did I expect that our own government would attack these very principles. I work on cybersecurity because I believe in the power of the Internet, and I worry that today\u2019s actions may begin its downfall.\n\u201cThe Internet was designed to be free. I urge my colleagues to unite to block today\u2019s effort and restore net neutrality.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/on-5th-anniversary-of-sandy-hook-shooting-reed-aims-to-end-federal-ban-on-gun-violence-research", "On 5th Anniversary of Sandy Hook Shooting, Reed Aims to End Federal Ban on Gun Violence Research", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/14/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today marks the five-year anniversary of the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.\u00a0 Five years after this unspeakable tragedy, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is urging Congress to take action to prevent gun violence and lift the ban on federal research into gun violence:\r\n\u201cToday, we remember the innocent victims we lost and those who tried to save them.\u00a0 Twenty bright, young kids should be sitting in their sixth grade classrooms today.\u00a0 But their lives were cut short by gun violence.\r\n\u201cWe as a nation must do more to prevent gun violence.\u00a0 Too many families have suffered tragic losses and hardships as a result of unnecessary gun deaths and injuries.\u00a0\r\n\u201cCongress must do more to help prevent these types of tragedies from recurring.\u00a0 We need bipartisan, commonsense action.\u00a0 I know many in Congress will not vote to impose universal background checks, or ban military-style assault weapons like the ones that have been used over and over again in mass-shootings.\u00a0 But I remain hopeful that my colleagues on the other side will at least join us in finally lifting the ban on federal research into gun violence.\u201d\r\nA 1996 rider to an Appropriations law prohibits federal funds from being used to advocate or promote gun control.\u00a0 The author of the original provision, former Congressman Jay Dickey (R-AR), who passed away earlier this year, changed his mind and supported funding U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gun violence research and stated that the rider should not stand in the way of researching the epidemic of gun violence: \u201cI wish we had started the proper research and kept it going all this time,\u201d Mr. Dickey said in an interview with the Huffington Post in 2015. \u201cI have regrets.\u201d\r\nSenator Reed has called on Congress to hold a hearing on funding gun violence research and provide dedicated funding for the CDC to gather data and conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence in the United States.\r\n\u201c\u2018You can\u2019t regulate evil\u2019 is a popular refrain from some who oppose commonsense gun control.\u00a0 You can\u2019t just surrender to it either \u2013 that is the fundamental purpose of all criminal law.\u00a0 If Republican leaders stop stonewalling a vote, we can study, learn, and develop effective strategies to reduce firearm-related deaths and prevent future mass-killings.\u00a0 It shouldn\u2019t be easier to buy an assault weapon than it is to get data from your government about how often these kinds of guns are used in mass-shootings.\u00a0 We need to reverse this restrictive law.\u00a0 It could and should be done on a bipartisan basis before the next anniversary of Sandy Hook or another mass-shooting.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/opening-statement-by-ranking-member-reed-at-sasc-hearing-on-us-policy-and-strategy-in-the-middle-east", "Opening Statement by Ranking Member Reed at SASC Hearing on U.S. Policy and Strategy in the Middle East", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/14/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing.\u00a0 I also want to thank our witnesses for appearing today to provide their views on U.S. policy and strategy in the Middle East.\u00a0 We are fortunate to have such a distinguished panel of experts who have spent decades studying and working in the region and who continue to make important contributions to the discussion of U.S. strategy and policy matters.\u00a0 I\u2019m confident you will provide valuable context to the dynamic political and security environment we see in the Middle East today.\r\nWorking with our partners on the ground, we have made great progress in our efforts to dismantle the so-called ISIS caliphate.\u00a0 According to U.S. Central Command, in the last three years the coalition has liberated more than 4.5 million people and 52,000 square kilometers of territory from ISIS control.\u00a0 This is a significant achievement for the coalition and our Iraqi and Syrian partners.\u00a0 It is also important to recognize that ISIS, al Qaeda, and other violent extremists are not yet defeated and remain intent on attacking the U.S. and our interests while taking advantage of opportunities afforded by destabilization in the Middle East.\r\nDespite our operational success against ISIS, we have not achieved similar success in addressing the political and social challenges in the Middle East that gave rise to ISIS in the first place.\u00a0 Our efforts to deal ISIS, al Qaeda, and others a lasting defeat must not rest with the Department of Defense alone.\u00a0 Sustainable solutions will require significant contributions from the State Department, USAID, and others.\u00a0 Unfortunately, our ability to achieve such a whole-of-government approach is hampered by massive proposed cuts to the State Department\u2019s budget and the fact that our career diplomats are leaving government service at an alarming rate.\u00a0 Each of you has deep experience in utilizing the non-military tools of our national power, and I hope you will provide the committee with your views on how such tools can be more effectively leveraged.\r\nViolent extremism is not the only national security challenge facing the United States in the Middle East.\u00a0 Despite the success of the Iranian nuclear deal in putting a halt to the greatest threat facing the U.S. and our allies in the region \u2013 namely a nuclear-armed Iran \u2013 the IRGC Quds Force and its proxies continue a campaign of malign and destabilizing activities across the region, most notably in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.\u00a0 Coupled with an increasingly assertive foreign policy exhibited by Saudi Arabia, it is hard to imagine the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East being more complicated than it is today.\r\nIf we are to successfully navigate these challenges, we need to be clear in communicating our values and objectives.\u00a0 From the retweeting of anti-Muslim rhetoric, to last week\u2019s announcement concerning the U.S. Embassy in Israel, the President has repeatedly made it more difficult for our national security and diplomatic professionals to do their jobs.\u00a0 The risk of failed U.S. policy in the Middle East is significant and we can\u2019t afford any unforced errors.\r\nI again want to thank our witnesses not only for being here today, but for their significant contributions to our country through their decades of work in the foreign service.\u00a0 I look forward to their testimony.\r\nThank you, Mr. Chairman.\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-statement-on-democracy-and-human-rights-concerns-in-honduras", "Reed Statement on Democracy & Human Rights Concerns in Honduras", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/14/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Jack Reed today issued the following statement on the situation in Honduras:\r\n\u00a0\u201cI find reports of violence and irregularities related to the November 26 elections in Honduras to be deeply disturbing.\u00a0 I call upon the Government of Honduras to exercise restraint and demonstrate a commitment to transparency and human rights.\u00a0 It is critical that all Hondurans\u2019 rights are respected and democratic processes are safeguarded.\u00a0 The Trump Administration should not turn a blind eye to human rights abuses in Honduras and should be vocal about any election irregularities that may have occurred.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-urges-congress-to-overturn-the-fccs-rollback-of-net-neutrality-rules", "Reed Urges Congress to Overturn the FCC\u2019s Rollback of Net Neutrality Rules", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/14/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, moments after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to kill net neutrality, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) joined with Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) in unveiling a plan to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to effectively invalidate the FCC\u2019s action and restore the 2015 net neutrality rules.\u00a0\r\nThe FCC\u2019s vote of 3 to 2 fell along party lines, with Trump-appointed Chairman Ajit Pai and Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Michael O\u2019Rielly voting in favor of the order, and Democratic Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel voting against.\r\n\u201cToday\u2019s partisan vote could be the start of more restrictive access to the Internet, and Congress must not let that happen.\u00a0 Congress has the power to overturn this decision and ensure the Internet remains open and free for the American people,\u201d said Reed.\u00a0 \u201cI urge my colleagues to support this CRA and invalidate the FCC\u2019s ruling.\u00a0 This is important for our citizens, consumers, and free speech.\u201d\r\nThe Congressional Review Act (CRA) requires that all federal agency rules be reported to Congress and allows lawmakers 60 legislative working days to nix administrative federal regulations through an act of Congress with a simple majority in both chambers.\u00a0 Legislators of either party can petition to reverse agency rulings, after which Congress must consider a \u201cresolution of disapproval\u201d with a simple majority in the Senate.\r\nThe resolution of disapproval would rescind FCC Chairman Ajit Pai\u2019s decision and fully restore the Open Internet Order.\u00a0 In accordance with the Congressional Review Act, the Senators will formally introduce the resolution once the rule is submitted to both houses of Congress and published in the Federal Register.\r\nThere are plans to introduce a CRA resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives as well.\u00a0\r\nA copy of the CRA can be found HERE.\u00a0\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/videos/reed-speaks-in-opposition-to-the-gop-tax-bill", "Reed Speaks in Opposition to the GOP Tax Bill", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Home\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJack's Story \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFast Facts \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommittees \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVoting Record \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTour D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInternships \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tService Academies \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tU.S. Flags \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAppointments \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNews Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhotos \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVideos \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Contact\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAssistance Needed \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare Your Thoughts \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNewsletter Signup \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNecesito Asistencia \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tComparta Sus Pensamientos \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOffice Locations", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/op-eds/time-to-root-out-political-interference-with-the-doj", "Time To Root Out Political Interference With The DOJ", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.14.17\n\t\t\t Time To Root Out Political Interference With The DOJ \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tPresident Trump was at it again recently, taking toTwitterto besmirch theU.S. Department of Justice, and doubling down on his demand for a DOJ investigation into Hillary Clintons emails. No justice! Trump complained, claiming the reputation of theFBIwas in Tatters  worst in History! This latest outburst comes on the heels of his comments in aradio appearancelast month, lamenting: The saddest thing is that because I'm the President of the United States, I am not supposed to be involved with the Justice Department ... Why aren't they going after Hillary Clinton ... ? Its not sad, Mr. President, it is the rule of law. Presidents are not supposed to supervise, initiate or interfere with law enforcement investigations or prosecutions. Not of their political opponents. Not of anyone. Thats the way banana republics behave; not the government of the United States of America. To prevent even the appearance of undue political influence, Republican and Democratic administrations alike have for decades honored written policies limiting White House contacts with the Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies. Eventhe Trump White House has one, dictating that, with few exceptions, the White House may only communicate with the DOJ on matters that do not relate to a particular contemplated or pending investigation or case. Nevertheless, we are seeing troubling signs that these principles are being circumvented by tweet and other forms of pressure. Just days after Trump made those comments about going after Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled that hed heard Trumps frustrations loud and clear. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Sessions confirmed that the Justice Department would evaluate a special counsel to investigate allegations against Secretary Clinton. Although Sessions appeared to backtrack in testimony before the committee, insisting that he had not been influenced and would not be improperly influenced by the president, there is cause for doubt. With Sessions having already been berated by the president for failing to shield him from the investigation into Russian election interference, and amid reports emanating from the White House that his days at the Justice Department were numbered, our attorney general is under considerable pressure. The Department of Justice is protected from this kind of pressure by long-held standards designed to ensure independence and integrity, but the president is a human firehose of political controversy, lashing about and smashing into the rules and norms of the presidency. That makes it important to remind ourselves why the DOJ's rules and norms exist in the first place. Theyve been bent close to breaking before, and we can learn valuable lessons from our not-so-distant past. Many will recall the torture memos drafted by George W. Bush administration lawyers in the Justice Departments prestigious Office of Legal Counsel. The flawed memos  so flawed that the department was laterforced to disavowthem  gave legal cover for the White Houses authorization of waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. In 2006, the DOJ ordered the unprecedented midtermdismissal of nine U.S. attorneys. An internal probe concluded that the dismissals were politically motivated and improper. The investigation remained incomplete, as the White House withheld critical documents and Attorney General MichaelMukasey refused to insist on the relevant documents, letting the investigation die. At the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, Bradley Schlozman, a political appointee,illegally politicizedhiring and firing decisions. Emails revealed his campaign to kick out all those crazy libs and replace them with real Americans and right-thinking Americans who could be trusted. With Trump and Sessions, warning flags are flying over the DOJ again. What was the rationale for the sudden wave of U.S. attorney firings earlier this year? What explains the presidents unusual personal interviews of candidates for U.S. attorney in districts where Trump business interests are concentrated? Is the department trying to punishCNNthrough antitrust enforcement for that networks coverage of the president? Why is the department cooperating with a sham voter fraud commission, when the myth of voter fraud might be the actual fraud? Was the release to reporters of department investigators text messages, which are the subject of an ongoing investigation, meant to undermine confidence in the special counsels team? Is the Justice Department reading straight from Trumps political playbook? Through impulsive tweets and public comments, and through actions like the firing of FBI Director James Comey and the pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, President Trump makes no secret of his highly politicized law enforcement agenda. This presidential pressure can put everything the DOJ does under a cloud. Along with several colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Isent lettersto Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand and FBI Director Christopher Wray asking what they are doing to safeguard the departments operations and prosecutions from Oval Office influence. I hope they agree the department must not develop a reputation as making litigation decisions based on presidential tweets. Congress, and indeed the Justice Department itself  through the Office of Professional Responsibility and the independent Office of Inspector General  have the tools to investigate political interference with our nations law enforcement, and protect the department from abuse. Its time to use them.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t    By:\n\t\t\t\t    Sheldon Whitehouse\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\tSource:\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tLaw360", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-slams-gutting-of-net-neutrality", "Whitehouse Slams Gutting of Net Neutrality", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.14.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Slams Gutting of Net Neutrality \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t FCC votes without investigating millions of fake comments calling for net neutrality repeal\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) slammed today\u2019s vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to repeal net neutrality in a major victory over consumers handed to corporate interests by the Trump administration.\u00a0 The vote comes without a federal investigation into the millions of fake public comments filed with the FCC calling for the consumer protections to be rolled back.\r\n\u201cRepealing net neutrality is a blow to a free and fair internet and the jobs that depend on it,\u201d Whitehouse said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s also a move based on a process that lacked basic transparency and a record full of fake or fraudulent comments that clearly don\u2019t represent the views of the American people.\u00a0 The FCC is bowing to special interests and bots.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the question: who\u2019s behind the bots?\u201d\r\nWhitehouse earlier this month called for the delay of today\u2019s vote to allow federal investigators to look into the sources of the millions of apparently fake public comments on net neutrality that were submitted to the FCC and analyzed by the Pew Research Center.\u00a0 Whitehouse has joined Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) in announcing a plan to introduce a resolution that would undo today\u2019s action by the FCC and restore net neutrality rules.\r\nNet neutrality rules are Obama-era rules protecting internet access for the public by requiring internet service providers to treat all online content alike.\u00a0 Once the repeal of net neutrality goes into effect, internet service providers will be allowed to deliberately slow down traffic to some websites and charge some consumers more for better and faster service to benefit the biggest companies.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-warren-air-concerns-with-bls-nominee", "Whitehouse, Warren Air Concerns with BLS Nominee", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.14.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse, Warren Air Concerns with BLS Nominee \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \u2018The Commissioner must safeguard the Bureau\u2019s integrity.  Dr. Beach\u2019s thin qualifications and slanted record do not suggest he will.\u2019\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC \u2013 Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) issued a statement today calling into question the qualifications of Dr. William Beach, Vice President for Policy Research at the Koch brothers-funded Mercatus Center and formerly of the Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics.\u00a0 Beach was voted out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Wednesday evening on a party-line vote.\u00a0 The Senators said:\r\n\u201cWilliam Beach does not have the qualifications to serve as Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.\u00a0 His dissertation, provided to the Committee just two days before his markup, lacks the methodological rigor of a Ph.D. in economics, let alone one of the federal government\u2019s most important economists.\u00a0 It appears that little, if any, of his work has undergone the scrutiny of the scientific peer review process that would be expected of a leader in his field.\u00a0 And he has failed to provide the Committee with a single paper he has authored that was published in an independent academic journal.\r\n\u201cInstead of demonstrating independence and leadership, Dr. Beach built his career writing result-oriented policy papers for organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the Mercatus Center, which receive significant funding from the Koch brothers and other anonymous sources.\u00a0 Especially during this administration, the Commissioner must safeguard the Bureau\u2019s integrity.\u00a0 Dr. Beach\u2019s thin qualifications and slanted record do not suggest he will.\u201d\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-questions-rosenstein-president%E2%80%99s-attempts-undermine-robert-mueller", "Cicilline Questions Rosenstein on Presidents Attempts to Undermine Robert Mueller", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 During today\u2019s House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) questioned Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about the efforts undertaken by President Trump and his allies to discredit the Special Counsel\u2019s investigation.\n\u201cWe need to hear your voice defending the integrity of this Department, the rule of law, the independence of this investigation because the very future of our democracy is at stake if you fail to do that,\u201d Cicilline told Rosenstein.\nA video can be viewed by clicking here. A transcript of the exchange is embedded at the end of this release.\n---------------------------------------------------\nCicilline: In February, the Department of Justice changed its litigation position in Veasey v. Abbott, the Texas photo ID case. Did you have any involvement in the decision to reverse the Justice Department's long-standing position in this case that the Texas voter ID law was intentionally discriminatory?\nRosenstein: No, I did not.\nCicilline: In August, the Department of Justice changed its litigation position in the case Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute. The Justice Department is now defending Ohio's voter purging law. Were you involved in the decision to change this litigation position, and now side with the voter purging law?\nRosenstein: I was at the Department at that time, but I don't believe I had any involvement in the decision.\nCicilline: And were you involved in the Justice Department\u2019s decision to file an amicus brief in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission on behalf of the baker who seeks to deny baking wedding cakes to same-sex couples.\nRosenstein: That decision was made by our Inspector General\u2026pardon me, our Solicitor General.\nCicilline: You described the Special Counsel as a heroic figure who served his country, a career prosecutor, someone who was confirmed unanimously as FBI Director, someone of extraordinary reputation, service, and patriotism. I take it your judgment on Mr. Mueller has not changed today.\nRosenstein: Correct.\nCicilline: And you would not have appointed a Special Counsel or appointed Mr. Mueller if you thought he was going to engage in a witch hunt, correct?\nRosenstein: Correct.\nCicilline: And so you then would disagree with the President's labeling of the Special Counsel's investigation as a \u201cwitch hunt,\u201d I assume.\nRosenstein: I don't know exactly what the President meant by that, Congressman. The Special Counsel's investigation is not a witch hunt.\nCicilline: It\u2019s not a witch hunt. The President said it is. You disagree. You're supposed to be independent. You can answer a question contrasting the President. You disagree it's a witch hunt. The President\u2019s wrong, correct?\nRosenstein: I do not know what the President meant by that, Congressman. I can only answer for myself.\nCicilline: Do you believe that the repeated attacks on the credibility of Special Counsel Mueller, whether by conservative pundits on TV or by my colleagues here in Congress, threatens to undermine the credibility of the independent investigation?\nRosenstein: The independence and integrity of the investigation is not going to be affected by anything that anybody says.\nCicilline: You delivered remarks on October 25th before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and I quote, you said, \u201cIf we permit the rule of law to erode when it does not directly harm our personal interest, the erosion may eventually consume us as well. The rule of law is not self-executing. If it collapses, if the people lose faith in the rule of law, then everyone will suffer.\u201d End quote. In the context of the President's attacks, the American people are really witnessing an unprecedented attack on our democratic institutions by this president.\nFirst, diminishing the seriousness of the investigation, which is under way about Vladimir Putin's interference in our elections; attacks on the judiciary; attacks on the free press. The one institution which continues to enjoy broad public support and remains key to protecting the rule of law is the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice. America is counting on your integrity and your commitment to protecting the Independence of the Special Counsel to reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law.\nAnd so when you said just a moment ago that you don't have an opinion about a loyalty oath from the President being asked of people, it might be useful to remind you, sir, that members of the Department of Justice take an oath to the Constitution. And so a loyalty oath to the President of the United States is inappropriate for any president to ask for and for anyone to swear it. Do you agree?\nRosenstein: Congressman, nobody has asked me for a loyalty oath.\nCicilline: That's not my question, sir. My question is, you are here to demonstrate the independence of your office and you are unwilling to say that an oath to the President of the United States rather than to the Constitution is not inappropriate? That does not inspire a lot of confidence.\nRosenstein: An oath to the President of the United States, rather than the Constitution, would be inappropriate.\nCicilline: An oath to the President of the United States, period, is not appropriate?\nRosenstein: Congressman, you're talking about a hypothetical. It's not clear what was asked or what was said. As long as you are following your oath of office, you can also be faithful to the administration.\nCicilline: Faithful is not the question. I'll move to a new question. You also said you would not respond to the question to say whether or not the President of the United States had asked you to initiate criminal prosecutions against political adversaries. That you would not disclose whether or not those conversations took place.\nRosenstein: I said I would disclose if I was told to do something improper.\nCicilline: What if you were encouraged to do something improper? What if you were encouraged to initiate a criminal investigation? That's not appropriate to do, is it?\nRosenstein: Several of your colleagues on both sides have encouraged me today, Congressman. And as I\u2019ve explained, I'm going to base my decisions on the facts and the law.\nCicilline: I understand that, Mr. Rosenstein, but the action of a president to encourage you to initiate a criminal prosecution, separate of what you will do with that, that very action is not appropriate.\nRosenstein: You're free to make that judgment.\nCicilline: I'm asking you in your judgment. Isn't that inappropriate?\nRosenstein: My judgment is it would be inappropriate for somebody to order me to do something.\nCicilline: But it wouldn't be inappropriate for your supervisor, the person you serve, the President of the United States, to tell you or suggest to you or encourage you to initiate a criminal prosecution against a political adversary?\nRosenstein: Congressman, I think I have been very clear about this. Nobody is giving me\u2026\nCicilline: I'll end with this, Mr. Deputy Attorney General. We have heard you very proudly here talk about the integrity of the Department of Justice and the work of the FBI. We heard Director Wray say the same thing.\nThese two agencies, the FBI and the Department of Justice, are in the midst of an unprecedented attack by individuals who are trying to undermine the credibility of this independent counsel's investigation. These are the same group of individuals who praised Robert Mueller when he was appointed. Spectacular! Was praised uniformly.\nAnd now the only thing that's changed is two indictments, two pleas. Michael Flynn, part of the President's inner circle, now cooperating with the government. That's the only thing that's changed. We need to hear your voice defending the integrity of this Department, the rule of law, the independence of this investigation because the very future of our democracy is at stake if you fail to do that.\n\tAnd so I urge you to do so. And with that, I yield back.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-urges-fcc-to-abandon-plans-to-repeal-net-neutrality", "Reed Urges FCC to Abandon Plans to Repeal Net Neutrality", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/13/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 With the Trump Administration gearing up to repeal net neutrality this week, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is urging the Administration to keep the Internet open, free, and with equal access for all.\u00a0 This week, Senator Reed joined 38 colleagues in sending a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai urging the agency to abandon plans to repeal net neutrality rules in favor of giving Internet providers the ability to freely block or slow down consumers\u2019 access to the Internet. \u00a0Reed says that doing so could negatively impact consumers, businesses, and our democracy by putting people who can\u2019t pay for preferential treatment online at a disadvantage.\u00a0 \u00a0\r\n\u201cYour plan gives a broadband provider the ability to significantly alter their subscribers\u2019 Internet experience,\u201d the Senators wrote. \u201cOnce adopted, this proposal will permit that provider to freely block, slow down or manipulate a consumer\u2019s access to the Internet as long as it discloses those practices \u2013 no matter how anti-consumer \u2013 somewhere within mounds of legalese in a new 'net neutrality\u2019 policy. \u2026It is a stunning regulatory overreach.\u201d\r\nThe letter also highlights the inaccuracy of the Trump Administration\u2019s claims that the move to repeal net neutrality would harken back to the supposed success of \u201clight touch\u201d regulation in the 1990s and early 2000s, and notes the entirely different and now central role the Internet plays in modern-day life.\r\n\u201cOver the past 20 years, Internet communications have become widely adopted and relied on by American homes and businesses,\u201d the letter continues.\u00a0 \u201cYet, your plan ignores the central and critical role that access to a free and open Internet plays in Americans\u2019 lives and the role that the nation\u2019s expert communications agency should play with respect to the networks underlying that access.\u00a0 Moreover, your assertion that your plan returns Internet access to the way it was before is not correct.\u00a0 Even under the Bush-era FCC, the agency adopted open Internet principles and held out the threat of regulatory action to combat harmful activity.\u00a0 Your plan eradicates even that backstop and leaves Americans without a regulatory safety net.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe future of the Internet hangs in the balance,\u201d the Senators continued.\u00a0 \u201cThe FCC\u2019s responsibilities over the nation\u2019s communications networks remain, and are more crucial than ever, as the Internet has become fundamental to every aspect of our society.\u00a0 On behalf of our constituents \u2013 and future generations of Americans \u2013 we urge you to abandon this radical and reckless plan to turn the FCC\u2019s back on consumers and the future of the free and open Internet.\u201d\r\nIn addition to Senator Reed, the letter was signed by Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Edward Markey (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Robert Casey (D-PA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tom Udall (D-NM), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Al Franken (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ).\r\nAdditionally, Senator Reed led another letter to the FCC today highlighting the detrimental effect a net neutrality repeal would have on America\u2019s libraries and on those who depend on their local libraries for Internet access.\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u201cOur nation\u2019s 120,000 libraries depend on equitable and robust access to the Internet to provide a wide range of vital services to meet the needs of their respective communities,\u201d the Senators wrote.\u00a0 \u201cThis is especially true in rural areas, where more than 83 percent of libraries report they serve as their community\u2019s only provider of free Internet and computing services.\u00a0 Millions of Americans who do not have broadband access at home depend on the availability of Internet access at their local libraries. \u00a0From helping with homework to searching for work and starting a small business to applying for jobs and government assistance and paying taxes\u2014people come to libraries to fulfill essential functions of daily life.\u201d\r\n\u201cA world in which this information may be limited to the Internet\u2019s \u2018slow lanes\u2019 while other content generated by large corporations who can pay for preferential treatment undermines a central tenet of a democratic society,\u201d the letter continues. \u00a0\u201cBy and large, our public institutions cannot afford to pay for prioritized Internet access. \u00a0Those who can pay will likely have their uses of the Internet prioritized ahead of education and other public interests, with significant negative consequences to communities across the nation.\u201d\u00a0\r\nOther signers of the letter include Senators Leahy, Markey, Gillibrand, Whitehouse, Baldwin, Brown, Warren, Blumenthal, Wyden, Sanders, Hirono, Cortez-Masto, and Van Hollen.\r\nYesterday, Senator Reed spoke on the Senate floor in defense of net neutrality, noting:\u00a0 \u201cI urge my colleagues to join me in opposition to the FCC\u2019s proposed dismantling of the net neutrality rules. \u00a0It is important. \u00a0It is important for our constituents.\u00a0 It is important for our small businesses.\u00a0 It is important for our future generations as they prepare for a very complicated and challenging world, and, for some of them, the only way to get access to the computer is the public library.\u00a0 The only access for a small business to the marketplace on the net is being able to afford to be on the net.\u00a0 That is all in jeopardy today.\u00a0 I hope we can stop these net neutrality rule appeals, and do it immediately.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/videos/reed-opposes-net-neutrality-repeal-on-the-senate-floor", "Reed Opposes Net Neutrality Repeal on the Senate Floor", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In an effort to keep the Internet open, free, and with equal access for all, Senator Reed urges his colleagues to join in opposition to the Trump Administration's decision to repeal net neutrality.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-carper-raise-alarm-over-epa-settlement-directive", "Whitehouse, Carper Raise Alarm Over EPA Settlement Directive", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.13.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse, Carper Raise Alarm Over EPA Settlement Directive \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Senators question EPA, DOJ on Pruitt\u2019s effort to curtail Americans\u2019 ability to prompt action on key environmental protections\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC \u2013 Following rollbacks of important air and water protections and reports of dramatically slowed environmental enforcement by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Tom Carper (D-DE) are questioning the EPA and the Department of Justice about a new directive that curtails Americans\u2019 ability to hold the EPA accountable for enforcing key environmental laws.\u00a0 The vaguely worded EPA policy makes it significantly harder for citizens and the EPA to enter consent decrees and settlements to ensure the timely completion of important environmental rules guaranteed by laws like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.\u00a0 The directive also states that before entering into a settlement, EPA will now seek the concurrence from the same industries whose air and water pollution it regulates.\u00a0\r\nIn a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the lawmakers highlight how the directive \u201cdrastically changes the previous practice of attempting to settle legitimate claims in a fair and efficient manner.\u00a0 For example, where the EPA would have previously settled a deadline suit for clearly failing to meet a statutory deadline, the EPA appears to now intend to litigate that claim \u2014 absent agreement from the party(ies) that might be regulated if EPA takes action \u2014 resulting in excessive time and litigation costs to taxpayers and plaintiffs and yet leading to the same outcome: the Court setting a deadline for EPA action.\u201d\r\nThe directive clears the way for polluting industries to wrest control of the agency that regulates them.\u00a0 Whitehouse and Carper write in a letter to Justice Department Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Wood, \u201cThe Directive\u2019s mandated consultation only with \u2018regulated entities\u2019 and \u2018affected states,\u2019 terms which are not defined, appears to give some nonparty entities, but not other members of the public, a seat at the settlement table.\u00a0 Before settling any claim, EPA must now seek the blessing of the very entities it is supposed to regulate.\u00a0 This raises serious concerns about agency capture.\u201d\r\nWhen issuing the directive in October 2017, Administrator Pruitt offered no facts to corroborate allegations of \u201ccollusion\u201d by the previous administration and environmental groups, and gestured at a supposedly wide-ranging conspiracy to keep polluters from weighing in on settlement agreements.\u00a0 Whitehouse and Carper note in their letter to Wood that the policy\u2019s \u201cunsupported allegations of prior collusion with outside environmental groups do the public a great disservice by sowing confusion about the important role the public plays in ensuring that EPA complies with and enforces public health and environmental protection laws.\u201d\u00a0\r\nFor four decades, the EPA and the Justice Department have followed a Memorandum of Understanding that stipulates \u201cthe Attorney General shall retain control over the conduct of all litigation\u201d and that the \u201cnegotiation of any agreement to be filed in court shall require the authorization and concurrence of the Attorney General.\u201d\u00a0 As Whitehouse and Carper point out, Pruitt\u2019s new directive appears to infringe on the Justice Department\u2019s prerogatives under the memorandum.\u00a0 Whitehouse and Carper cite concerns from 57 former career EPA attorneys in asking the Justice Department\u2019s Environment and Natural Resources Division to detail how this directive will affect its work in litigation and related settlement negotiations on behalf of the EPA.\u00a0\r\nOn Sunday, the New York Times reported that the EPA has dramatically slowed enforcement actions against polluters for violating key environmental laws.\u00a0 The Times compiled a database of civil cases filed by the Trump EPA and the two previous administrations.\u00a0 The data show a third fewer cases filed than President Obama\u2019s EPA to this point in his first term and roughly a quarter fewer than President George W. Bush\u2019s in the same period of time.\r\nFull text of the Senators\u2019 letters can be found below.\u00a0 PDF copies of the letters are available here and here.\r\nDecember 11, 2017\r\nThe Honorable Jeffrey H. Wood\r\nActing Assistant Attorney General\r\nU.S. Department of Justice\r\nEnvironment and Natural Resources Division\r\n950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.\r\nWashington, DC 20530-0001\r\nDear Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood:\r\nOn October 16, 2017, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt issued the \u201cDirective Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements\u201d (\u201cthe Directive\u201d).[1]\u00a0 By its terms, the Directive was motivated by alleged reports \u201cthat EPA has previously sought to resolve lawsuits filed against it through consent decrees and settlement agreements that appeared to be the result of collusion with outside groups.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhen negotiating these agreements,\u201d the Directive claims, \u201cEPA excluded intervenors, interested stakeholders, and affected states from those discussions.\u201d\u00a0 The Directive mandates that now, whenever EPA receives notice of a complaint or petition for review, \u201cEPA shall directly notify any affected states and/or regulated entities,\u201d and \u201cseek to receive the concurrence of any affected states and/or regulated entities before entering into a consent decree or settlement agreement.\u201d\r\nAs outlined in a November 13, 2017 letter by fifty-seven former EPA career attorneys,[2] the Directive\u2019s unsupported allegations of prior collusion with outside environmental groups \u201cdo the public a great disservice by sowing confusion about the important role the public plays in ensuring that EPA complies with and enforces public health and environmental protection laws.\u201d\u00a0 The Directive\u2019s mandated consultation only with \u201cregulated entities\u201d and \u201caffected states,\u201d terms which are not defined, appears to give some nonparty entities, but not other members of the public, a seat at the settlement table.\u00a0 Before settling any claim, EPA must now seek the blessing of the very entities it is supposed to regulate.\u00a0 This raises serious concerns about agency capture.\r\nThis new directive should be of significant concern to the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) given its role representing the EPA in litigation and related settlement negotiations.\u00a0 Since 1977, the Department of Justice (through ENRD) and EPA have operated under a Memorandum of Understanding which makes clear \u201cthe Attorney General shall retain control over the conduct of all litigation\u201d and that the \u201cnegotiation of any agreement to be filed in court shall require the authorization and concurrence of the Attorney General.\u201d\u00a0 42 FR 48942, 48943.\u00a0 Administrator Pruitt\u2019s Directive appears to infringe upon the long-standing prerogatives of DOJ to conduct litigation and settlement negotiations in the matter it sees fit by obligating EPA to \u201cseek to receive the concurrence of any affected states and/or regulated entities before entering into a consent decree or settlement agreement.\u201d\u00a0 The Directive also appears to limit DOJ\u2019s ability to negotiate on the issue of attorney\u2019s fees.\u00a0\r\nTo help us better understand how the new EPA Directive will affect DOJ\u2019s ability to represent EPA in court, we respectfully request that you respond to the following questions by December 22, 2017:\r\n \r\nWhat role, if any, did ENRD play in drafting, reviewing, commenting on, editing, or approving EPA\u2019s October 16 Directive?\u00a0\r\nIn the course of its representation of EPA during the Obama Administration, when did ENRD enter into any consent decrees or settlement agreements that were the \u201cresult of collusion with outside groups\u201d? Please specify and explain.\r\nIn the course of its representation of EPA during the Obama Administration, when did ENRD enter into any consent decrees or settlement agreements that violated the terms of the March 13, 1986 Memorandum from Attorney General Ed Meese titled, \u201cDepartment Policy Regarding Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements\u201d? Please specify and explain.\r\nIf the answer to Questions 2 and 3 are \u201cno,\u201d does DOJ believe there is a basis for the assertion that \u201cEPA has previously sought to resolve lawsuits filed against it through consent decrees and settlement agreements that appeared to be the result of collusion with outside groups\u201d?\r\nAs noted above, the Directive provides that EPA shall notify, consult, and \u201cseek to receive the concurrence of any affected states and/or regulated entities before entering into a consent decree or settlement agreement.\u201d\u00a0 Who is responsible for determining which \u201cstates and/or regulated entities\u201d must be notified and consulted under the Directive?\u00a0 What criteria will be used to determine if such determinations are made?\u00a0\u00a0\r\nHow does ENRD interpret the Directive\u2019s mandate to \u201ctake any and all appropriate steps to achieve the participation of affected states and/or regulated entities in the consent decree and settlement agreement negotiation process\u201d?\u00a0 What specific steps does ENRD deem appropriate?\r\nRule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides the process by which affected or interested non-parties may intervene in a litigation as active parties. Given that there already exists a neutral legal process for including affected or interested parties, why is the new process articulated in the Directive necessary? How will ENRD implement the Directive in light of Rule 24?\r\nPursuant to the Directive, how will ENRD include affected states and/or regulated entities in settlement negotiations between the parties? Will ENRD allow these states and entities to participate in drafting the settlement agreement or consent decree, or will these states and entities have a more limited role (and if so, please describe it)?\u00a0 What discretion, if any, does ENRD have to permit or prohibit particular affected states and/or regulated entities from participating in settlement discussions?\r\nUnder what circumstances would it be permissible for EPA and/or ENRD to have ex parte communication with affected states and/or regulated entities about potential consent decrees or settlement agreements without the participation of the plaintiff(s)?\r\nHow is EPA\u2019s new concurrence requirement related to the obligation to provide notice and comment of proposed settlements in the Federal Register?\u00a0 What responsibilities will ENRD and EPA notice and comment under the Directive?\u00a0 How will ENRD weigh contribution from affected states and regulated entities received through the concurrence process as compared with comments received through notice and comment?\u00a0 Will ENRD make input received in the concurrent process available to the court?\u00a0\r\nHow will implementation of the Directive affect the ENRD\u2019s ability to assure the court that settlement negotiations are progressing well enough for the court to continue to hold the case in abeyance, given that the new concurrence requirement will likely have the effect of prolonging settlement negotiations?\r\nSince October 16, 2017, in any pending or resolved matter, has ENRD, on behalf of EPA, and pursuant to the Directive, taken any steps \u201cto achieve the participation of affected states and/or regulated entities in the consent decree and settlement agreement negotiation process\u201d?\u00a0 If so, please specify which matters, which affected states and/or regulated entities were consulted for participation, what input they provided, what result was reached (if applicable), and whether the consulted entities gave their concurrence in such result.\u00a0 (Please note that, given the necessary involvement of non-parties to the litigation in such negotiations, any claim of privilege as to those consultations will have been waived.)\r\nHow do you anticipate the Directive will change ENRD\u2019s litigation costs, including personnel costs?\u00a0 Do you anticipate that you will have to hire additional attorneys and other staff in order to respond to increased case loads?\u00a0 For example, all other things being equal will the Directive make it more expensive to litigate a deadline suit than before the Directive was in place?\u00a0 Will the Directive\u2019s requirements that EPA notify and seek the concurrence of affected states and regulated entities before entering into a settlement agreement increase the length of time necessary to resolve cases?\u00a0\r\n \r\nThank you for your prompt attention to these questions.\r\nDecember 13, 2017\r\nThe Honorable Scott Pruitt\r\nAdministrator\r\nEnvironmental Protection Agency\r\n1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW\r\nWashington, DC 20004\r\nDear Administrator Pruitt,\r\nWe write to request information about the manner in which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to implement your \u201cDirective Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements\u201d (\u201cthe Directive\u201d), issued on October 16, 2017.[3] In your accompanying memorandum,[4] you indicate that the Directive was motivated by alleged reports \u201cthat EPA has previously sought to resolve lawsuits filed against it through consent decrees and settlement agreements that appeared to be the result of collusion with outside groups.\u201d\u00a0 The memorandum additionally claims that \u201c[w]hen negotiating these agreements, EPA excluded interveners, interested stakeholders, and affected states from those discussions.\u201d The memorandum goes on to announce that \u201cthe days of this regulation through litigation, or \u2018sue and settle,\u2019 are terminated.\u201d The Directive could thus be read as a refusal by the EPA to settle any matter going forward, a position that would sharply contrast with national judicial trends.[5] We are concerned that the Directive may introduce unnecessary delays and extra costs into a litigation process that was previously more straightforward, sensible and transparent.\r\nThere are a number of different types of lawsuits that can be filed against the EPA. For example, certain statutes, such as the Clean Air Act, include mandatory deadlines for the EPA to complete certain actions. If the EPA misses a deadline, any person can file a lawsuit\u2014referred to as a deadline suit\u2014to force it to complete these activities. Similarly, interested persons may file \u201cunreasonable delay\u201d suits alleging that the agency has taken too long to take an action required by statute but for which there is no specified statutory deadline. In addition, under the Administrative Procedure Act, the EPA must give interested persons the right to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule.[6]\u00a0 Moreover, some environmental statutes provide any person or state the opportunity to petition EPA for specific rulemaking actions.\r\nAccording to the Directive, going forward, whenever EPA receives notice of a complaint or petition for review, \u201cEPA shall directly notify any affected states and/or regulated entities,\u201d and \u201cseek to receive the concurrence of any affected states and/or regulated entities before entering into a consent decree or settlement agreement.\u201d This drastically changes the previous practice of attempting to settle legitimate claims in a fair and efficient manner.\u00a0\r\nFor example, where the EPA would have previously settled a deadline suit for clearly failing to meet a statutory deadline, the EPA appears to now intend to litigate that claim irrespective of the merits\u2014 absent agreement from the party(ies) that might be regulated if EPA takes action \u2014resulting in excessive time and litigation costs to taxpayers and plaintiffs and yet leading to the same outcome: the Court setting a deadline for EPA action.\r\nMoreover, the Directive appears to create unnecessary alternatives to pre-existing mechanisms that already ensure transparency in lawsuits or give voice to impacted parties. Specifically, the federal court rules permit impacted stakeholders to join as parties. Further, impacted parties are also welcome to comment on the proposed settlement when it is published in the Federal Register. The Directive does not speak to why these mechanisms are inadequate.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To help us better understand how the new Directive will be interpreted and implemented by the EPA, we respectfully request that you respond to the following questions by January 19, 2017:\r\n \r\nSince 1977, the Department of Justice (through its Energy and Natural Resources Division) and EPA have operated under a Memorandum of Understanding which makes clear \u201cthe Attorney General shall retain control over the conduct of all litigation\u201d and that the \u201cnegotiation of any agreement to be filed in court shall require the authorization and concurrence of the Attorney General.\u201d\u00a0 42 FR 48942, 48943.\u00a0 The new Directive appears to infringe upon the long-standing prerogatives of DOJ to conduct litigation and settlement negotiations in the matter it sees fit by obligating EPA to \u201cseek to receive the concurrence of any affected states and/or regulated entities before entering into a consent decree or settlement agreement.\u201d\u00a0 The Directive also appears to limit DOJ\u2019s ability to negotiate on the issue of attorney\u2019s fees. What role, if any, did the Energy and Natural Resources Division play in drafting, reviewing, commenting on, editing, or approving EPA\u2019s October 16 Directive? Please provide copies of any communications between the Department of Justice and the EPA about the Directive as it was being developed.\r\nMany statutes require litigants to file a Notice of Intent (NOI) with the EPA so that the agency has an opportunity to remedy the alleged wrong before a formal complaint is filed in court. What impact, if any, does the Directive have on the agency\u2019s handling of NOI\u2019s? Does the Directive mean that EPA will allow everything to proceed to litigation? If not, will EPA seek concurrence from affected non-parties if it intends to address the claim before a lawsuit is filed?\r\nAs noted above, the Directive provides that the EPA shall notify, consult, and \u201cseek to receive the concurrence of any affected states and/or regulated entities before entering into a consent decree or settlement agreement.\u201d\u00a0 Who is responsible for determining which \u201cstates\r\nand/or regulated entities\u201d must be notified and consulted under the Directive?\u00a0 Would you also contact stakeholders who are not regulated entities but may be impacted by the settlement, such as local and tribal governments or community and non-governmental organizations? What criteria will be used to determine who should be notified?\u00a0\r\nHow does the EPA interpret the Directive\u2019s mandate to \u201ctake any and all appropriate steps to achieve the participation of affected states and/or regulated entities in the consent decree and settlement agreement negotiation process\u201d?\u00a0 What specific steps does the EPA deem appropriate?\r\nRule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides the process by which affected or interested non-parties may intervene in a lawsuit as active parties. Given that there already exists a neutral legal process for including affected or interested parties, why is the new process articulated in the Directive necessary? How will the EPA\u2019s Directive be implemented in light of Rule 24?\u00a0\r\nPursuant to the Directive, how will the EPA include affected states and/or regulated entities in settlement negotiations between the parties? Will the EPA allow these states and entities to participate in drafting the settlement agreement or consent decree, or will these states and entities have a more limited role (and if so, please describe it)? Given that settlement discussions are considered confidential only between the parties in a lawsuit, do you acknowledge that the involvement of non-parties will waive that protection?\r\nHow is the EPA\u2019s new concurrence requirement related to the EPA\u2019s obligation to provide notice and comment of proposed settlements? How will the EPA weigh contributions from affected states and regulated entities received through the concurrence process as compared with comments received through notice and comment?\u00a0 Will the EPA make input received in the concurrence process available to the court and the public, and if not, why not?\u00a0\r\nHow will implementation of the Directive affect the EPA\u2019s counsel\u2019s ability to assure the court that settlement negotiations are progressing well enough for the court to continue to hold the case in abeyance, given that the new concurrence requirement will likely have the effect of prolonging settlement negotiations?\r\nWill the Directive treat lawsuits differently based on their expected impact or the nature of their claim for relief? Will the EPA treat deadline suits and the various types of petitions that are filed under environmental statutes differently? If so, please specify any differences.\r\nDo you anticipate that it will cost more to litigate a \u201cdeadline suit\u201d than before the Directive was in place? Will the Directive\u2019s notification and concurrence requirements increase the length of time necessary to resolve cases? How do you anticipate the Directive will change EPA\u2019s litigation costs, including personnel costs? Do you anticipate that you will have to hire additional attorneys and other staff in order to respond to increased caseloads? Have you conducted an analysis as to comparative costs of litigation vs. settlement for each type of litigation (and if so, please provide it)? Do you anticipate that potential budget cuts to EPA and/or to the Energy and Natural Resources Division, combined with the EPA\u2019s intent to litigate all matters absent stakeholder consensus, will make it more difficult and costly for EPA to settle matters? If not, why not?\r\nPlease use the attached document to provide information for each complaint or petition brought against the EPA during the period January 20, 2009 to present. (Please note that, given the planned involvement of non-parties to the litigation in negotiations conducted on or after October 16, 2017, any claim of privilege as to those consultations will have been waived.) After your initial response, please provide an updated document covering new information to the Committee on a quarterly basis.\u00a0\r\n \r\nThank you very much for your attention to this important matter.\u00a0 If you have any questions or concerns, please ask the appropriate members of your staff to contact Michal Freedhoff, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee staff, at 202-224-8832, or Dan Dudis, a member of Senator Whitehouse\u2019s staff, at 202-228-6294.\r\nSincerely,\r\n###\r\n  \r\n\r\n[1] Directive Promoting Transparency and Public Participation in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements, United States Environmental Protection Agency (Oct. 16, 2017), available at https://www.epa.gov/newsroom/directive-promoting-transparency-and-public-participation-consent-decrees-and-settlement.\r\n\r\n\r\n[2] Letter from Former EPA Counsel to Administrator Scott Pruitt (Nov. 13, 2017), available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/11adso6yX2JSDywvsLYH6lnHifsG9pfdy/view.\r\n\r\n\r\n[3] https://www.epa.gov/newsroom/directive-promoting-transparency-and-public-participation-consent-decrees-and-settlement\r\n\r\n\r\n[4] Adhering to the Fundamental Principles of Due Process, Rule of Law, and Cooperative Federalism in Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements,\u201d Oct. 16, 2017.\r\n\r\n\r\n[5] See, e.g., Marc Galanter and Angela Frozena, The Continuing Decline of Civil Trials in American Courts, Pound Civil Justice Institute: 2011 Forum for State Appellate Court Judges (describing a 10-fold decline in federal bench and jury trials since 1962).", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-epw-hearing-on-the-oversight-of-the-nuclear-regulatory-commission", "Whitehouse Remarks in EPW Hearing on the Oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-opposes-increasing-defense-spending-at-the-expense-of-other-pressing-domestic-priorities", "Reed Opposes Increasing Defense Spending at the Expense of Other Pressing Domestic Priorities", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/12/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013\u00a0U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today joined\u00a0U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY)\u00a0and 42 of their fellow Senate Democrats in sending a letter to\u00a0House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI)\u00a0and\u00a0Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)\u00a0urging them to continue bipartisan budget negotiations and forgo a proposed partisan funding bill that would underfund education, clean air and water, health care, infrastructure, veterans, and other vital domestic priorities.\r\n\u201cCongress needs a balanced, responsible way to fix the sequester so our defense and domestic needs are met.\u00a0 Achieving that goal is essential to the security and financial well-being of all Americans.\u00a0 The Pentagon is critical to national security, but so is the FBI, Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and many other federal agencies that help keep Americans safe,\u201d\u00a0stated Reed.\u00a0 \u201cSome on the far right have proposed a lopsided approach that would damage our economy, hurt working families, and leave our country less safe.\u00a0 That would be a disaster and it is a non-starter.\u00a0 For too long, Republican leaders put off tough budget decisions while pursuing Trumpcare and corporate tax cuts.\u00a0 It is time to get serious about reaching a principled compromise to strengthen our military and help grow the economy so that all Americans have a fair shot to build a better life.\u201d\r\nThe letter, which was signed by 44 Senate Democrats, outlines Democratic opposition to a so-called \u201cCRomnibus,\u201d which means a funding bill that provides full-year sequestration relief for military programs but not for other important key domestic programs, resulting in devastating cuts to homeland security agencies like the FBI, as well as education, cancer research programs at the NIH, opioid treatment funding at HHS, and a host of other key programs.\u00a0\r\n\u201cWe urge you to keep your commitment to the bipartisan budget negotiations and forego any plans to consider partisan legislation,\u201d\u00a0the 44 Democratic senators wrote.\r\nThe full text of the letter from Senate Democrats follows:\r\nDecember 12, 2017\r\nDear Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell:\r\nWe write to express our concern with reports that the House Republican leadership is considering sending partisan legislation to the Senate that would result in funding cuts to important homeland security, veterans, agriculture and health care programs.\u00a0 As you know, Democrats and Republicans are engaged in bipartisan negotiations to craft a budget agreement for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 that would avoid devastating sequestration cuts to defense and domestic programs.\u00a0 We urge you to keep your commitment to the bipartisan budget negotiations and forego any plans to consider partisan legislation known as a \u201cCRomnibus.\u201d\r\nAccording to estimates, domestic programs will see at least $12 billion in cuts in FY2018 due to sequestration and other spending obligations.\u00a0 Therefore, a \u201cCRomnibus,\u201d which means a funding bill that provides full-year sequestration relief for military programs but not for other important domestic programs, would result in devastating cuts to homeland security agencies like the FBI, cancer research programs at the NIH, and opioid treatment funding at HHS.\u00a0\r\nThere is a better path \u2013 let the bipartisan negotiation continue in good faith so that Democrats and Republicans can produce a budget agreement that fully funds our homeland security, health care, and Veterans\u2019 needs.\u00a0 If presented with partisan legislation that leaves these key priorities behind, we will oppose it.\r\nSincerely,\r\nSenator Charles E. Schumer  Senator Patrick J. Leahy  Senator Dianne Feinstein  Senator Patty Murray  Senator Ron Wyden  Senator Richard J. Durbin  Senator Jack Reed  Senator Bill Nelson  Senator Thomas R. Carper  Senator Debbie Stabenow  Senator Maria Cantwell  Senator Robert Menendez  Senator Ben Cardin  Senator Bernard Sanders  Senator Sherrod Brown  Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.  Senator Amy Klobuchar  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse  Senator Jon Tester  Senator Tom Udall  Senator Jeanne Shaheen  Senator Mark R. Warner  Senator Jeff Merkley  Senator Michael F. Bennet  Senator Kirsten Gillibrand  Senator Al Franken  Senator Christopher A. Coons  Senator Richard Blumenthal  Senator Brian Schatz  Senator Tammy Baldwin  Senator Christopher Murphy  Senator Mazie K. Hirono  Senator Martin Heinrich  Senator Angus S. King, Jr.  Senator Tim Kaine  Senator Elizabeth Warren  Senator Edward J. Markey  Senator Cory A. Booker  Senator Gary C. Peters  Senator Chris Van Hollen  Senator Tammy Duckworth  Senator Maggie Hassan  Senator Kamala D. Harris  Senator Catherine Cortez Masto\r\n\u00a0\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/speeches/reed-opposes-net-neutrality-repeal-on-the-senate-floor", "Reed Opposes Net Neutrality Repeal on the Senate Floor", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/12/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Mr. President, I rise to discuss the Trump administration\u2019s irresponsible plans to dismantle net neutrality. This is a very important and timely issue for Rhode Islanders. The Federal Communications Commission\u2019s\u2014the FCC\u2019s\u2014efforts to repeal net neutrality protections could have a devastating impact on students, small businesses, and ordinary Rhode Islanders who cannot afford to pay higher premiums on internet traffic. I have joined many of my Democratic colleagues in urging the FCC to abandon its reckless plan because it would radically alter the free and open internet as we know it and be an abdication of the FCC\u2019s responsibility to protect consumers.\r\nNet neutrality does something incredibly important. It requires internet providers to treat all data equally. Net neutrality ensures a level playing field for everyone on the internet. It means free and open access to websites and information. Over the past 20 years, the internet has become central to the lives of Rhode Islanders and, indeed, millions of Americans\u2014practically every American. From students completing homework assignments to small businesses conducting e-commerce, or family members communicating with loved ones on the other side of the country or the world, the internet is now our primary means of communication. As such, I believe this is an issue of fundamental fairness and equality of opportunity. This proposed repeal of net neutrality protections undermines the principles of a free and open internet and could be an unprecedented giveaway to big broadband providers, benefiting a few large corporations at the expense of their customers who use and rely on affordable access to the internet every day. Net neutrality protections also ensure that all content is treated equally. Without these rules, large internet service providers may choose to block, throttle, or prioritize certain internet traffic. Without these protections, big internet service providers will be given the power to erect virtual toll booths for some customers and fast lanes for others. As a result, the repeal of net neutrality rules will likely be bad for consumers, businesses, students, and everyday Americans who cannot afford to pay additional premiums for internet access. If these rules are repealed, internet providers can essentially say, if you want a quick download from a Web site, you have to pay more. They can go to businesses and ask them to pay more for this fast service. They can\u2019t do that today. Everyone is treated equally.\r\nThis is particularly important when it comes to small businesses. As I go around Rhode Island to small businesses, as I have done these last few weeks, one of the reasons they are growing is because they are starting to take a presence on the internet. They have an internet business; they are beginning to sell across the country or across the globe. A small business in Wickford, RI, East Greenwich, RI, or Smithfield, RI, is not going to be able to pay the same premium for access that Amazon or a big corporation like Walmart can, and they will be squeezed further. The reason a lot of these small businesses are able to keep a store open in Rhode Island\u2014or anyplace else in the country\u2014and employ local workers is because they are starting to see a share of their profit come from the internet. They would like to see that grow, but if that diminishes, then the pressure on them to stay in business locally becomes acute. These are real consequences, not hypothetical. If these rules are repealed and net neutrality is done away with, the consequences for businesses, communities, and individuals will be significant.\r\nLet me make another example. Places of learning like our libraries, schools, and institutions of higher education all rely on offering internet access, which is already expensive. I did a press event at a public library, and they pay significant amounts of money so they have broadband access, and it is a mecca for everyone to come. The head librarian told me that they have people sitting on their doorsteps in the morning before they open and after they close so they can get a broadband signal from the library. Why are they doing that? You can\u2019t get a job today unless you can get online because that is where they post job offerings, that is where you have to send your resume, that is where you have to get the response back when you have a job interview. If you can\u2019t get on the internet, the chances of getting a job today are close to zero. It was a lot different 20, 30, or 40 years ago, when you could go down to the factory, fill out the form, pass it over the divider to the person in charge, and they would give you a telephone call back or you would come back in a few days and see how you were doing.\r\nLocal libraries are also the place where students across Rhode Island and the Nation gain access to the internet to do their homework, apply to college and financial aid, and explore the world around them. This is particularly the case in poorer neighborhoods. They can\u2019t afford to have computers or internet in their home. If you go to the public library in South Providence, right next to St. Michael\u2019s Church, in the afternoon, the kids are all there and are on the computers doing their homework. They can\u2019t do\u00a0that, in many cases, at home. They simply don\u2019t have the access. We are always sitting around here talking about how we have to educate our young people and how we have to get them ready for a technologically challenging world, and then we are about to pull the rug right out from underneath them because that library will not be able to afford access to some sites that these young people need. It is not just the young people who are using the libraries; it is also seniors who want to stay in touch with their families. There are functions that are so critical\u2014as I mentioned before, you literally cannot apply for a job today unless you can get online. How does a person struggling, particularly in low-income, working-class neighborhoods, get online when they can\u2019t afford already expensive service, which could be more expensive if these rules are withdrawn and net neutrality is abandoned? I heard about all of this in detail when I visited the Providence Public Library.\r\nProvidence is an urban center, so there are other ways, perhaps, to compensate for access to libraries. But when you go to a rural area, those libraries are especially important. More than 83 percent of libraries report that they serve as their community\u2019s only provider of free internet and computing services in rural areas. If you need free service, the only place you can go to is the library. This is going to put another cost on them at a time when public-private support is being diminished. We have a tax bill pending before us that is going to eviscerate charitable contributions. It is going to take away the deduction. Some of that money goes to our public libraries. If it doesn\u2019t go there, they will not have access. I mentioned small businesses because, as I said, this is particularly critical. We have seen an improving economy, and for a lot of small businesses, that is because they are starting to have a presence on the internet. If that presence now comes with a higher price because the providers can say that if you want to get access and fast downloads, you have to pay X, once again, that X to a small momand-pop business could be huge. That X to an Amazon or Walmart is just a rounding error. We know it is going to happen. It is not fair. It undercuts what we think is the heart and soul\u2014I know it is the heart and soul of our economy in Rhode Island for small business, and it is another big benefit for the well-to-do businesses that can pay more and will pay more. This is not a direction we should be going.\r\nEven more disturbing is that the FCC\u2019s proposed action may be based on a skewed public record. As we all know, under the Administrative Procedure Act, when a rule or change is proposed, they have to take public comments. There are credible reports that bots\u2014 the electronic networks of computers\u2014 impersonating Americans filed hundreds of thousands of phony comments to the FCC during their net neutrality policymaking process, thus distorting the public record. Their supposedly fact-based and comment-based approach could be fictitious. It could be a product of special interests who decided to link together thousands, or maybe hundreds of thousands, of computers that randomly generated messages\u2014or not so randomly, but deliberately generated messages. What we have done is join our colleagues, and we have urged that the FCC abandon this proposal. As I said, I have joined many of my colleagues in asking, at least, that the FCC delay the vote on net neutrality until it can conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that it has a clear and accurate understanding of the public\u2019s view on this important topic. It is not based on a group of individuals and many electronically linked computers; it is based on the true sentiment of a broad range of the public. At least delay the proceeding until you can assure us that. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. This attempt appears to be part of a larger program the Trump administration is using to roll back regulations that protect ordinary working men and women throughout the country. The Chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, and the administration seem to say, very deliberately, that this is their goal. Just roll back regulations, without analysis that is appropriate, without a sensitivity to the benefits as well as the costs.\r\nMy view is that rather than trying to limit access to the internet, they should be doing things to make it easier, make it cheaper for small businesses, for libraries, for individual Americans to get on and use the internet, not to take advantage of the rulemaking process to fatten the bottom line of big companies that are doing quite well already. It is clear that the FCC should not vote this week, or ever, to repeal net neutrality protections that have benefited so many Rhode Islanders and Americans. I urge my colleagues to join me in opposition to the FCC\u2019s proposed dismantling of the net neutrality rules. It is important. It is important for our constituents. It is important for our small businesses. It is important for our future generations as they prepare for a very complicated and challenging world, and, for some of them, the only way to get access to the computer is the public library. The only access for a small business to the new marketplace on the net is being able to afford to be on the net. That is all in jeopardy today. I hope we can stop these net neutrality rule appeals, and do it immediately.\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/amid-evidence-of-plagiarism-carper-leads-epw-minority-in-calling-on-ceq-nominee-to-submit-new-and-original-answers", "Amid Evidence of Plagiarism, Carper Leads EPW Minority in Calling on CEQ Nominee to Submit New and Original Answers", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.12.17\n\t\t\t Amid Evidence of Plagiarism, Carper Leads EPW Minority in Calling on CEQ Nominee to Submit New and Original Answers \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump\u2019s pick to serve as his most senior environmental advisor, copied at least 18 responses to questions for the record verbatim from previous nominees, including EPA Administrator Pruitt\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today, the minority members of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee called on Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump\u2019s nominee to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality and serve as his most senior environmental advisor, to submit new and original responses to questions for the record after it was discovered that at least 18 of her responses were copied verbatim from responses previously submitted to the committee. Repeatedly, Ms. White\u2019s answers to questions of opinion \u2013 on issues including climate change, hazardous air pollutants and environmental justice \u2013 matched answers previously provided by President Trump\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominees, including EPA Administrator Pruitt and EPA Assistant Administrator Bill Wehrum.\r\nIn a letter led by Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.), the lawmakers wrote, \u201cWe write to request additional information about your responses to questions for the record sent to you by Members of the Environment and Public Works Committee after your confirmation hearing\u2026We are troubled that it appears that you have cut and pasted from the written answers of other nominees in your responses to questions that were submitted to you.\u201d\r\nThe senators requested that Ms. Hartnett White identify and give appropriate citation to all responses that include someone else\u2019s work and submit new answers to each of the plagiarized responses that represent her own views by December 22, 2017.\r\nSenator Carper was joined by Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).\r\nThe text of the letter is available below and here.\r\nDecember 12, 2017\r\nMs. Kathleen Hartnett White\r\nTexas Public Policy Foundation\r\n901 Congress Avenue\r\nAustin, TX 98701\r\nDear Ms. White:\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We write to request additional information about your responses to questions for the record[1] sent to you by Members of the Environment and Public Works Committee after your confirmation hearing.\u00a0In at least 18 instances (attached), your responses to these questions included language that also appeared verbatim in responses to questions for the record received from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt[2], and EPA\u2019s Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, Bill Wehrum[3].\u00a0\u00a0\r\nFor example, when asked a question about EPA\u2019s Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS) rule, you stated:\r\n\u201cThe quantifiable monetized benefits of the HAP reductions predicted to occur under MATS measured only a few million dollars. I understand that EPA has recalculated the benefits attributable to MATS in response to the Supreme Court remand. I am not familiar with the new estimates and I cannot prejudge any decision that might be made by EPA as it conducts its ongoing review of the rule.\u201d\r\nMr. Wehrum stated the following in response to a similar question:\r\n\u201cThe quantifiable monetized benefits of the HAP reductions predicted to occur under MATS measured only a few million dollars. I understand that EPA has recalculated the benefits attributable to MATS in response to the Supreme Court remand. I am not familiar with the new estimates. If confirmed, I intend to consider them objectively.\u201d\r\nSimilarly, in response to five questions about climate change submitted to you by Senators Merkley, Sanders and Whitehouse, you stated:\r\n\u201cIf confirmed, I will work to ensure that any regulatory actions are based on the most up to date and objective scientific data, including the ever-evolving understanding of the impact that increasing greenhouse gases have on our changing climate.\u201d\r\nMr. Pruitt responded to a similar question as follows:\r\n\u201cIf confirmed, I will work to ensure that any regulatory actions are based on the most up to date and objective scientific data, including the ever-evolving understanding of the impact increasing greenhouse gases have on our changing climate. I will also adhere to the applicable statutory authorities to fulfill EPA\u2019s mission to protect human health and the environment consistent with the process and rule of law established by congress. I also believe the Administrator has an important role when it comes to the regulation of carbon dioxide, which I will fulfill consistent with Massachusetts v. EPA and the agency's Endangerment Finding on Greenhouse Gases respective of the applicable statutory framework established by Congress. I believe the most effective path towards achieving these objectives is through close partnership with the states granting them regulatory leeway as ascribed by the rule of law.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We are troubled that it appears that you have cut and pasted from the written answers of other nominees in your responses to questions that were submitted to you.\u00a0 We request that you promptly provide responses to the following questions:\r\n \r\nPlease list each response to a question for the record submitted to you by any Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee for which you either plagiarized someone else\u2019s work or that you did not write part or all of the answer yourself.\r\nFor each item listed in your response to question 1, please list the source or person from which you derived part or all of your response.\r\nPlease submit a new answer to each such item that represents your own views and effort.\r\n \r\nThank you very much for your attention to this important matter.\u00a0 Please provide your response no later than close of business on Friday December 22, 2017.\r\nSincerely,\r\n###\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/senators-to-tax-budget-conferees-remove-harmful-renewable-energy-provisions-protect-clean-energy-blue-collar-jobs", "Senators to Tax Budget Conferees: Remove Harmful Renewable Energy Provisions, Protect Clean Energy Blue-Collar Jobs", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.12.17\n\t\t\t Senators to Tax Budget Conferees: Remove Harmful Renewable Energy Provisions, Protect Clean Energy Blue-Collar Jobs \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Three provisions in Senate and House bills would harm ability to claim essential federal tax credits, reduce tax credits specifically for wind industry, eliminate tax credit for electric vehicles\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington (December 12, 2017) \u2013 As Republicans on the congressional tax scam conference committee try to finalize their partisan plan this week, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are demanding removal of renewable energy provisions from the final conference report that would devastate clean energy deployment and job growth. Wind and solar energy currently have more than 360,000 workers in their industries, the majority of them blue-collar jobs such as roofers, electricians and steelworkers. These clean energy industries are projected to support 500,000 American workers in just three years.\r\n\u201cThe potential of these industries and this job creation is imperiled by provisions in the legislation that has been passed by the House and Senate,\u201d write the Senators in the letter. \u201cWind and solar here in the United States are creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying, blue-collar jobs and more sustainable economic growth. The increasing deployment of electric vehicles will help reduce our consumption of foreign oil and enhance our national security.\u201d\r\nA copy of the letter can be found HERE.\r\nA first provision included in the Senate bill called the \u201cbase-erosion anti-abuse tax\u201d (BEAT) would harm the ability of renewable energy projects to make full use of essential federal tax credits. A second provision included in the House bill would significantly reduce tax credits for the wind industry, which could eliminate over half of all new wind production planned in the United States. A different provision included in the House bill would eliminate the tax credit for electric vehicles, jeopardizing the market just as automakers are increasingly ramping up their commitments to producing these vehicles.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-bill-to-protect-servicemembers-and-veterans-from-foreclosure-signed-into-law", "Whitehouse Bill to Protect Servicemembers and Veterans from Foreclosure Signed into Law", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.12.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Bill to Protect Servicemembers and Veterans from Foreclosure Signed into Law \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC \u2013 Today, President Donald Trump signed into law Senator Sheldon Whitehouse\u2019s (D-RI) bill to extend vital foreclosure protection to servicemembers, veterans, and their families.\u00a0 Whitehouse\u2019s legislation, which was included as an amendment in the 2018 defense authorization bill, extends through 2019 the one-year grace period protecting servicemembers leaving active duty from foreclosure.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe men and women of our armed forces ought to have a shot to regain their financial footing when they return home,\u201d said Whitehouse. \u201cExtending this important protection recognizes their noble service to our country.\u00a0 I\u2019m proud my legislation was signed into law today.\u201d\r\nSenator Whitehouse has been fighting for years to ensure that those who have served our country and their families are protected from foreclosure as they transition from active-duty service to civilian life.\u00a0 In 2012, Whitehouse fought successfully to extend the period of foreclosure protection to one year.\u00a0 Since then, Whitehouse has succeeded in continuing that protection on a temporary basis, while fighting to make it permanent.\u00a0 The 2016 extension of these protections expires at the end of 2017.\r\n\u201cSenator Whitehouse\u2019s bill is particularly important in Rhode Island because we have one of the most deployed National Guard forces in the country,\u201d said Erik Wallin, Executive Director of Operation Stand Down Rhode Island.\u00a0 \u201cThis bill provides servicemen and women with the relief they need as they transition from periods of active duty back into civilian life.\u201d\r\nIn 2008, Congress first extended the period of foreclosure protection under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act from 90 days to nine months in response to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves.\u00a0 The report found that \u201cthe threat of foreclosure is a stressor that need not be placed on members of the armed forces during the first months of their return to civilian life.\u201d\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-help-hearing-on-the-cost-of-prescription-drugs-making-medicines-affordable", "Whitehouse Remarks in HELP hearing on The Cost of Prescription Drugs: Making Medicines Affordable", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-judiciary-hearing-on-the-oversight-of-the-drug-enforcement-act", "Whitehouse remarks in Judiciary Hearing on the Oversight of the Drug Enforcement Act", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/ri-nets-16-million-continue-infrastructure-improvements-port-galilee", "RI Nets $1.6 Million to Continue Infrastructure Improvements At the Port of Galilee", "2017-12-11", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "NARRAGANSETT, RI \u2013\u00a0U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today joined Governor Gina M. Raimondo in announcing $1.6 million in federal funding to upgrade key infrastructure at the Port of Galilee in Narragansett to help protect jobs and promote investment at Rhode Island\u2019s busiest commercial fishing port.\u00a0\nThe Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will use the $1,661,500 federal grant, administered by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), to continue rehabilitation of critical infrastructure in the Port of Galilee.\u00a0 Funds will be used to support the reconstruction of piers, repair to bulkheads, and electrical upgrades.\u00a0 The improvements will enhance the long-term viability of the regional commercial fishing industry and the local businesses they support.\nThis grant builds on a previous $2.9 million investment from EDA that the Congressional delegation secured for the Port of Galilee in 2013.\nThe Port of Galilee includes thirty-eight docks and piers and is home to 240 commercial fishing vessels.\u00a0 Vessels based out of the Port of Galilee landed over 53 million pounds of seafood and shellfish, worth more than $55 million, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),\u00a0 Activity at the Port also supports many small and medium-sized businesses, which employ hundreds of Rhode Islanders, and helps draw thousands of tourists each year.\u00a0 The State estimates this federal grant, which will be matched by state funds, will help protect existing jobs while also creating 22 new jobs and spurring $1.2 million in private investment.\n\u201cStrengthening the Port of Galilee will support the creation of good-paying jobs and help keep Rhode Island\u2019s fishing industry competitive,\u201d said\u00a0Congressman Cicilline. \u201cI\u2019m proud to support expanded federal investments through the Economic Development Administration to ensure that we are supporting better jobs and better wages for Rhode Islanders. While this award is exciting news for Rhode Island, the GOP tax bill would undermine our ability to make these kinds of investments by forcing massive cuts in federal support for infrastructure, economic development, job training, and more.\u201d\n\u201cModernizing the Port of Galilee is a smart investment that recognizes the importance of the fishing industry to our economy.\u00a0 I am pleased to deliver continued federal support to upgrade the port, helping it maintain and expand its operations.\u00a0 This grant will allow us to continue making progress strengthening the port\u2019s infrastructure and sparking additional investment and economic growth,\u201d said\u00a0Senator Reed, a senior member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees EDA funding, and also hosts an annual EDA Grant Workshop to help Rhode Islanders successfully apply for EDA grants.\n\u201cCommercial ports and the fishing industry jobs they support are among Rhode Island\u2019s most important economic assets,\u201d said\u00a0Senator Whitehouse, who invited regional EDA officials in Rhode Island to tour Galilee and to meet with RI Department of Environmental Management officials on several occasions about infrastructure improvements at the Port.\u00a0 \u201cThis federal award is a long-term investment in ensuring that another generation of hardworking Rhode Island fishermen will continue to catch some of the world\u2019s best seafood out of Galilee.\u201d\n\u201cThe fishing industry is a vital part of Rhode Island\u2019s economy, and this $1.6 million EDA grant will help foster growth in the sector by improving the infrastructure at the Port of Galilee, one of the largest commercial fishing ports on the East Coast,\u201d said\u00a0Congressman Langevin. \u201cInvesting in our ports not only creates jobs and boosts business activity, it also promotes stability and private investment in our ocean economy.\u201d\u00a0\n\u201cThe Port of Galilee symbolizes so much of what makes Rhode Island unique,\u201d\u00a0Governor Gina M. Raimondo\u00a0said. \u201cI remember spending my summers washing dishes at George\u2019s of Galilee, watching tourists board the Block Island Ferry or fishermen bringing in the daily catch. Thanks to the hard work of our Congressional Delegation, we\u2019ll be able to upgrade the port to ensure the Ocean State\u2019s vibrant fishing economy continues to create jobs and thrive.\u201d\n\u201cRhode Island will continue to benefit from this important federal funding to rehabilitate critical infrastructure in the Port of Galilee,\u201d said\u00a0Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit.\u00a0 \u201cThe Port of Galilee is among the largest and most successful working commercial fishing ports on the East Coast. Infrastructure investments in Galilee support local businesses and jobs, create economic opportunities, and drive tourism.\u00a0 We appreciate the leadership of our dedicated Congressional delegation in securing this additional funding.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/ri-nets-16-million-continue-infrastructure-improvements-port-galilee", "RI Nets $1.6 Million to Continue Infrastructure Improvements at the Port of Galilee", "2017-12-11", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today joined Governor Gina M. Raimondo in announcing $1.6 million in federal funding to upgrade key infrastructure at the Port of Galilee in Narragansett to help protect jobs and promote investment at Rhode Island\u2019s busiest commercial fishing port.\u00a0\nThe Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will use the $1,661,500 federal grant, administered by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), to continue rehabilitation of critical infrastructure in the Port of Galilee.\u00a0 Funds will be used to support the reconstruction of piers, repair to bulkheads, and electrical upgrades.\u00a0 The improvements will enhance the long-term viability of the regional commercial fishing industry and the local businesses they support.\nThis grant builds on a previous $2.9 million investment from EDA that the Congressional delegation secured for the Port of Galilee in 2013.\nThe Port of Galilee includes thirty-eight docks and piers and is home to 240 commercial fishing vessels.\u00a0 Vessels based out of the Port of Galilee landed over 53 million pounds of seafood and shellfish, worth more than $55 million, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),\u00a0 Activity at the Port also supports many small and medium-sized businesses, which employ hundreds of Rhode Islanders, and helps draw thousands of tourists each year.\u00a0 The State estimates this federal grant, which will be matched by state funds, will help protect existing jobs while also creating 22 new jobs and spurring $1.2 million in private investment.\n\u201cModernizing the Port of Galilee is a smart investment that recognizes the importance of the fishing industry to our economy.\u00a0 I am pleased to deliver continued federal support to upgrade the port, helping it maintain and expand its operations.\u00a0 This grant will allow us to continue making progress strengthening the port\u2019s infrastructure and sparking additional investment and economic growth,\u201d said Senator Reed, a senior member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees EDA funding, and also hosts an annual EDA Grant Workshop to help Rhode Islanders successfully apply for EDA grants.\n\u201cCommercial ports and the fishing industry jobs they support are among Rhode Island\u2019s most important economic assets,\u201d said Senator Whitehouse, who invited regional EDA officials in Rhode Island to tour Galilee and to meet with RI Department of Environmental Management officials on several occasions about infrastructure improvements at the Port.\u00a0 \u201cThis federal award is a long-term investment in ensuring that another generation of hardworking Rhode Island fishermen will continue to catch some of the world\u2019s best seafood out of Galilee.\u201d\n\u201cThe fishing industry is a vital part of Rhode Island\u2019s economy, and this $1.6 million EDA grant will help foster growth in the sector by improving the infrastructure at the Port of Galilee, one of the largest commercial fishing ports on the East Coast,\u201d said Congressman Langevin. \u201cInvesting in our ports not only creates jobs and boosts business activity, it also promotes stability and private investment in our ocean economy.\u201d\u00a0\n\u201cStrengthening the Port of Galilee will support the creation of good-paying jobs and help keep Rhode Island\u2019s fishing industry competitive,\u201d said Congressman Cicilline. \u201cI\u2019m proud to support expanded federal investments through the Economic Development Administration to ensure that we are supporting better jobs and better wages for Rhode Islanders. While this award is exciting news for Rhode Island, the GOP tax bill would undermine our ability to make these kinds of investments by forcing massive cuts in federal support for infrastructure, economic development, job training, and more.\u201d\n\u201cThe Port of Galilee symbolizes so much of what makes Rhode Island unique,\u201d Governor Gina M. Raimondo said. \u201cI remember spending my summers washing dishes at George\u2019s of Galilee, watching tourists board the Block Island Ferry or fishermen bringing in the daily catch. Thanks to the hard work of our Congressional Delegation, we\u2019ll be able to upgrade the port to ensure the Ocean State\u2019s vibrant fishing economy continues to create jobs and thrive.\u201d\n\u201cRhode Island will continue to benefit from this important federal funding to rehabilitate critical infrastructure in the Port of Galilee,\u201d said Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit.\u00a0 \u201cThe Port of Galilee is among the largest and most successful working commercial fishing ports on the East Coast. Infrastructure investments in Galilee support local businesses and jobs, create economic opportunities, and drive tourism.\u00a0 We appreciate the leadership of our dedicated Congressional delegation in securing this additional funding.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/photos/reed-tours-tolman-high-schools-jrotc-leadership-education-program", "Reed Tours Tolman High School's JROTC Leadership Education Program", "2017-12-11", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Reed Tours Tolman High School's JROTC Leadership Education Program \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n                    \t\n                        \n                            \n                               \n                               \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                               \n                            \n                            \n                               \n                               \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                               \n                            \n                     \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n                \n\t\t\t\t\t\t12/11/2017Senator Reed met up with RI's Secondary School Principal of the Year Chris Savastano at Tolman High School in Pawtucket to meet cadets in the school's JROTC Marine Corps Leadership Education Program.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-non-profit-leaders-warn-that-house-and-senate-passed-tax-plan-could-harm-non-profits_the-people-they-serve", "Reed, Non-Profit Leaders Warn that House & Senate-Passed Tax Plan Could Harm Non-Profits & the People They Serve", "2017-12-11", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/11/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0PROVIDENCE, RI \u2013 The holidays are supposed to be a season of giving, but the partisan, corporations-first tax plan moving its way through Congress is making this a taxing time for many non-profits and charitable organizations.\r\nToday, U.S. Senator Reed joined with non-profit leaders from the United Way of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Foundation to warn that that the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate-passed tax bills would end up taking resources from the non-profit sector and could harm charitable organizations and the people they serve.\r\nReed noted that the Republican tax changes will treat corporations better than individuals, boost the deficit by at least $1.5 trillion, jeopardize economic growth, and force many middle-class families to pay more.\u00a0 Both the House-passed and Senate-passed tax bills contain provisions that could also cause a significant reduction to charitable giving in Rhode Island and nationwide, negatively impacting non-profits\u2019 ability to help feed, educate, shelter, and nurture those in need.\r\n\u201cThe Republican tax bill is tax malpractice of the highest order.\u00a0 It is not helping middle-class families, it\u2019s not making us more productive, and by its own terms the deficit goes up with no real benefits for the bulk of Americans,\u201d said Senator Reed.\u00a0 \u201cOne of the most disturbing aspects of this bill is the conscious effort to deny resources to our non-profit sector.\u00a0 If this bill becomes law, it\u2019s very likely we will see charitable giving go down.\u00a0 Everything we should be doing to help people we\u2019ll see less of, and it\u2019s going to ultimately hurt individuals and communities.\u00a0 This tax bill isn\u2019t about the middle-class or helping increase wages, this is about getting money to the richest people through the tax system.\u201d\r\n\u201cWe speak today on behalf of the thousands of people who will need help.\u00a0 Not just now, but especially in the future\u201d said United Way of Rhode Island President & CEO Anthony Maione.\u00a0 \u201cWhile people give for many different reasons, the charitable deduction has been proven to incentivize giving.\u00a0 We would look forward to a revised tax bill that would allow us to keep that.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe biggest concern we have is the gap between those in need and those with resources, and what we\u2019re going to see is that gap is going to grow,\u201d said Rhode Island Foundation President & CEO Neil D. Steinberg.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019ll be more people in need, there\u2019ll be more organizations that need support, and the incentives and resources will go down.\u00a0 Unfortunately, while philanthropy can do a lot, it can\u2019t step in for all of the government cuts that are coming with this bill.\u201d\r\nCurrently, the tax code encourages charitable giving by individuals who itemize their expenses.\u00a0 In 2016, individuals accounted for nearly three-quarters of charitable giving in the United States, providing over $281.8 billion to charities and non-profits.\u00a0 However, proposed changes to the tax code could take away incentives for individuals and households to donate.\r\nIndiana University\u2019s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy recently released a study estimating that if Republican changes to tax deductions went into effect, total nationwide charitable giving would be reduced by $13.1 billion.\r\nThe tax bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives also includes language repealing the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits non-profits from donating to political campaigns or endorsing candidates.\u00a0 Ending the Johnson Amendment could pressure many non-profits to give to political candidates, siphoning away money that should be directed to helping people.\u00a0 It would also enable political organizations and secret money groups like Citizens United to qualify for the same tax-exempt status as churches and other places of worship.\r\n\u201cNon-profits should serve communities, not political candidates.\u00a0 The changes in this law could significantly damage the integrity of non-profits and reduce transparency in politics,\u201d stated Reed.\u00a0 \u201cCongress should help, not hinder non-profits and charities.\u00a0 We need real, responsible tax reform that actually helps the middle-class and working families.\u00a0 We need targeted tax incentives that will lead to real job and wage growth, not just stock buy-backs to pad corporate bottom lines.\u201d\r\n*Watch video of the event on Facebook Live*\r\n\r\n\u00a0\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/ri-nets-16-million-to-continue-infrastructure-improvements-at-the-port-of-galilee", "RI Nets $1.6 Million to Continue Infrastructure Improvements at the Port of Galilee", "2017-12-11", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.11.17\n\t\t\t RI Nets $1.6 Million to Continue Infrastructure Improvements at the Port of Galilee \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Upgrades to piers, bulkheads, electrical system will boost commercial fishing hub\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t NARRAGANSETT, RI \u2013 U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today joined Governor Gina M. Raimondo in announcing $1.6 million in federal funding to upgrade key infrastructure at the Port of Galilee in Narragansett to help protect jobs and promote investment at Rhode Island\u2019s busiest commercial fishing port.\u00a0\r\nThe Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will use the $1,661,500 federal grant, administered by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), to continue rehabilitation of critical infrastructure in the Port of Galilee.\u00a0 Funds will be used to support the reconstruction of piers, repair to bulkheads, and electrical upgrades.\u00a0 The improvements will enhance the long-term viability of the regional commercial fishing industry and the local businesses they support.\r\nThis grant builds on a previous $2.9 million investment from EDA that the Congressional delegation secured for the Port of Galilee in 2013.\r\nThe Port of Galilee includes thirty-eight docks and piers and is home to 240 commercial fishing vessels.\u00a0 Vessels based out of the Port of Galilee landed over 53 million pounds of seafood and shellfish, worth more than $55 million, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),\u00a0 Activity at the Port also supports many small and medium-sized businesses, which employ hundreds of Rhode Islanders, and helps draw thousands of tourists each year.\u00a0 The State estimates this federal grant, which will be matched by state funds, will help protect existing jobs while also creating 22 new jobs and spurring $1.2 million in private investment.\r\n\u201cModernizing the Port of Galilee is a smart investment that recognizes the importance of the fishing industry to our economy.\u00a0 I am pleased to deliver continued federal support to upgrade the port, helping it maintain and expand its operations.\u00a0 This grant will allow us to continue making progress strengthening the port\u2019s infrastructure and sparking additional investment and economic growth,\u201d said Senator Reed, a senior member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees EDA funding, and also hosts an annual EDA Grant Workshop to help Rhode Islanders successfully apply for EDA grants.\r\n\u201cCommercial ports and the fishing industry jobs they support are among Rhode Island\u2019s most important economic assets,\u201d said Senator Whitehouse, who invited regional EDA officials in Rhode Island to tour Galilee and to meet with RI Department of Environmental Management officials on several occasions about infrastructure improvements at the Port.\u00a0 \u201cThis federal award is a long-term investment in ensuring that another generation of hardworking Rhode Island fishermen will continue to catch some of the world\u2019s best seafood out of Galilee.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe fishing industry is a vital part of Rhode Island\u2019s economy, and this $1.6 million EDA grant will help foster growth in the sector by improving the infrastructure at the Port of Galilee, one of the largest commercial fishing ports on the East Coast,\u201d said Congressman Langevin. \u201cInvesting in our ports not only creates jobs and boosts business activity, it also promotes stability and private investment in our ocean economy.\u201d\u00a0\r\n\u201cStrengthening the Port of Galilee will support the creation of good-paying jobs and help keep Rhode Island\u2019s fishing industry competitive,\u201d said Congressman Cicilline. \u201cI\u2019m proud to support expanded federal investments through the Economic Development Administration to ensure that we are supporting better jobs and better wages for Rhode Islanders. While this award is exciting news for Rhode Island, the GOP tax bill would undermine our ability to make these kinds of investments by forcing massive cuts in federal support for infrastructure, economic development, job training, and more.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe Port of Galilee symbolizes so much of what makes Rhode Island unique,\u201d Governor Gina M. Raimondo said. \u201cI remember spending my summers washing dishes at George\u2019s of Galilee, watching tourists board the Block Island Ferry or fishermen bringing in the daily catch. Thanks to the hard work of our Congressional Delegation, we\u2019ll be able to upgrade the port to ensure the Ocean State\u2019s vibrant fishing economy continues to create jobs and thrive.\u201d\r\n\u201cRhode Island will continue to benefit from this important federal funding to rehabilitate critical infrastructure in the Port of Galilee,\u201d said Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit.\u00a0 \u201cThe Port of Galilee is among the largest and most successful working commercial fishing ports on the East Coast. Infrastructure investments in Galilee support local businesses and jobs, create economic opportunities, and drive tourism.\u00a0 We appreciate the leadership of our dedicated Congressional delegation in securing this additional funding.\u201d\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/photos/reed-presents-silver-star-and-purple-heart-to-vietnam-veteran", "Reed Presents Silver Star & Purple Heart to Vietnam Veteran", "2017-12-08", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Reed Presents Silver Star & Purple Heart to Vietnam Veteran \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n                    \t\n                        \n                            \n                               \n                               \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                  \n                                \n                                \n                                    \n                               \n                            \n                            \n                               \n                               \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                                  \n                                \n                                    \n                                \n                               \n                            \n                     \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n                \n\t\t\t\t\t\t12/08/2017Senator Reed presented Jamestown resident and Vietnam veteran Paul Harvey with medals he earned but never received for his service during the Vietnam War. A veteran of the United States Army, Mr. Harvey received a Silver Star Medal, the militarys third-highest personal decoration for valor in combat, as well as a Purple Heart Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, among other awards.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-librarians-and-educators-warn-of-negative-impacts-for-ri-if-trump-admin-repeals-net-neutrality", "Reed, Librarians & Educators Warn of Negative Impacts for RI if Trump Admin Repeals Net Neutrality", "2017-12-08", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/08/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0PROVIDENCE, RI \u2013 With the Trump Administration gearing up to repeal net neutrality next week, U.S. Senator Jack Reed is urging the Administration to keep the Internet open, free, and with equal access for all.\u00a0 Today, Senator Reed held an event at the Providence Public Library with librarians and leading educators to discuss how repealing net neutrality could negatively impact consumers, businesses, and democracy and put people who can\u2019t pay for preferential treatment online at a disadvantage.\u00a0\r\nA critical Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote on whether or not to overturn net neutrality rules is expected to occur at the commission\u2019s regularly-scheduled monthly meeting next Thursday, December 14. \u00a0Earlier this week, Reed and 27 Senate colleagues wrote a letter to the FCC urging the commission to delay the vote until an investigation is completed into reports that bots impersonating Americans filed hundreds of thousands of phony comments to the FCC during the net neutrality policy making process, thus distorting the public record.\r\nReed noted at today\u2019s event that the Trump Administration\u2019s decision to repeal net neutrality would undo protections requiring all Internet traffic to be treated equally by Internet service providers.\u00a0 He also noted that the Administration\u2019s plan will undermine the principles of a free and open Internet and be an unprecedented giveaway to big broadband providers, benefitting a few telecommunications giants at the expense of their customers who use the Internet every day.\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u201cThis is an issue that affects everyone,\u201d said Senator Reed.\u00a0 \u201cNet neutrality levels the playing field by allowing everyone to have equal access to the Internet and making sure that service providers treat everyone fairly and equally. \u00a0It prevents Internet giants from placing tolls on the information superhighway.\u00a0 The Trump Administration\u2019s plans to end net neutrality would be a devastating mistake that would likely have harmful consequences for consumers and businesses and could lead to a loss of jobs and small businesses across the nation and here in Rhode Island.\u00a0 I urge the Administration to keep existing net neutrality rules in place and I pledge to work on a bipartisan basis with my colleagues to pass laws that recognize net neutrality and preserve equal Internet access for all.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe repeal of net neutrality does not promote competition.\u00a0 It allows telecommunications conglomerates to filter and funnel Internet access for profit,\u201d said Dr. Paolo Prado, Associate Professor of Communication at Roger Williams University. \u00a0\u201cThis action by the FCC would be disingenuous and an affront to the first amendment. The 21st century press distributes online, and any federal regulation or deregulation that limits access to the press does so in defiance of our first amendment rights.\u201d\r\n\u201cI can\u2019t think of a better place than a public library to have a conversation like this,\u201d said Providence Public Library Executive Director Jack Martin. \u00a0\u201cHere at the Providence Public Library, we have students, families, children, and senior citizens camped outside on our doorstep with their laptops and their phones in the air, trying to get a signal. \u00a0Taking away net neutrality is like taking away our freedom to read.\u201d\r\nThe American Library Association has voiced its strong opposition to the proposed order on net neutrality and the negative impact it will have on those who use the Internet, stating: \u201cLibraries, our patrons and America\u2019s communities will be at risk if the FCC repeals all protections contained in its 2015 Open Internet Order with no plans to replace with any enforceable rules. We strenuously disagree with the FCC\u2019s actions and will continue to advocate for essential net neutrality protections.\u201d\r\nToday\u2019s event was streamed live on Senator Reed\u2019s Facebook page and can be viewed here.\u00a0\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-presents-silver-star-and-purple-heart-to-vietnam-veteran", "Reed Presents Silver Star & Purple Heart to Vietnam Veteran", "2017-12-08", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/08/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0CRANSTON, RI - U.S. Senator Jack Reed today presented Jamestown resident and Vietnam veteran Paul Harvey with medals he earned but never received for his service during the Vietnam War.\u00a0 A veteran of the United States Army, Mr. Harvey received a Silver Star Medal, the military\u2019s third-highest personal decoration for valor in combat, as well as a Purple Heart Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, among other awards.\u00a0\r\nBorn in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1946, Paul Harvey moved to Narragansett in 1948 and also lived on Long Island, New York and in Nova Scotia, Canada where he attained dual American-Canadian citizenship before settling permanently in Jamestown, Rhode Island in 1983.\u00a0\u00a0\r\nMr. Harvey was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1967 and completed basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.\u00a0 He served in Vietnam as a member of the Army\u2019s 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (\u201cWolfhounds\u201d), and saw significant combat action and was wounded on the battlefield.\u00a0 He completed his military service and was honorably discharged in 1973.\r\nIn addition to the prestigious Silver Star and Purple Heart, Mr. Harvey was also presented with other military honors he earned but never received after completing his service, including: National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Service Medal with four Bronze Service Stars; Combat Infantry Badge/1st Award; Republic Of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon with Device (1960); Expert Badge Rifle Bar; and Sharpshooter Badge with Auto Rifle Bar.\r\n\u201cAs a young man, Paul Harvey made it through some very tough stuff in Vietnam and I am honored to present him with these medals.\u00a0 They are a reminder of his service to our country, and a token of our gratitude for the sacrifices he made on behalf of our nation,\u201d said Senator Reed.\r\nThe attention to orders for the ceremony noted: \u201cMr. Harvey's service was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army and reflects great credit upon himself and the United States of America.\u201d\u00a0 The orders continued: \u201cOur nation and the State of Rhode Island gives our grateful thanks to Mr. Harvey for his dedicated and loyal service to the United States Army.\u201d After completing his military service, Mr. Harvey worked as a commercial fisherman for 45 years.\r\n\u00a0\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/langevin-statement-house-republican-continuing-resolution-0", "Langevin Statement on House Republican Continuing Resolution", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) released the following statement after voting against the two-week stopgap funding measure that passed the House of Representatives today by a vote of 235 to 193:\n\u201cHouse Republicans have had more than two months to work with Democrats to develop a government funding package that responsibly supports vital domestic and national security programs. Instead, they have allowed the authorization of the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to lapse, ignored the plight of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants affected by the cancelation of the DACA program, and failed to provide adequate disaster relief to Americans swamped by hurricanes and scorched by wildfires. All of these problems have readily available bipartisan solutions that Republican leaders refuse to bring to the Floor, instead choosing to kick the can down the road another two weeks. I cannot support a bill that leaves so many people in limbo and that was crafted behind closed doors with no Democratic input. Republicans need to drop their dangerous policies to cut taxes for the wealthy and instead reach across the aisle to actually govern.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/opening-statement-by-ranking-member-reed-at-sasc-hearing-on-department-of-defense-acquisition-reform-efforts", "Opening Statement by Ranking Member Reed at SASC Hearing on Department of Defense Acquisition Reform Efforts", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/07/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I want to thank the Chairman for holding this important hearing and thank our witnesses for appearing today.\r\nWe have a shared goal to ensure that our military forces are equipped with the best systems and technologies that the Department of Defense builds and buys, and that those systems are provided in the most effective and efficient way possible to protect our nation.\u00a0\r\nWe also have a shared goal that the Pentagon should be able to access the most innovative people and technologies available from the best small companies, defense industry, labs and universities.\u00a0 Also, we owe it to taxpayers to ensure that we are buying things at reasonable prices and budgets.\u00a0\r\nThis hearing will give us a chance to learn how the Department is also working to make those shared goals a reality.\r\nIn my view, the Services should play a very important role in the research and acquisition programs that provide advanced systems and capabilities to our combatant commanders.\u00a0 Under Chairman McCain\u2019s leadership, Congress has strengthened the Services\u2019 role in the planning, requirements, and program review processes that strongly shape whether our acquisition programs succeed or fail.\u00a0 These new responsibilities are in addition to the role the Services have always played in the development of their plans and budgets, ensuring that programs are appropriately prioritized and funded, especially in difficult budgetary environments.\u00a0 Finally, the Services play a critical part in nurturing the careers of the military and civilian personnel who work in acquisition, requirements, and budget fields. \u00a0Too often we forget about those individuals and the necessity to maintain, enhance, and prolong their effective careers within the Department of Defense.\r\nBuilding on the successes of the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act and the Pentagon\u2019s Better Buying Power initiatives, and making use of the new reforms in recent National Defense Authorization Acts, we are seeing some improvements in acquisition processes and outcomes today, and are well positioned to make more improvements, but we must do much better, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re here today.\r\nI look forward to seeing how the Services plan to use their authorities and live up to their responsibilities to support successful acquisition efforts.\u00a0 I also welcome a discussion of further changes that can be made to strengthen their role, as appropriate, with the hopes of continuing to improve acquisition outcomes and provide the best value and the best military capability for the nation.\r\nThanks again to the witnesses and the Chairman, and I look forward to the testimony.\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-booker-menendez-reintroduce-bill-to-hold-polluters-responsible-for-cleanup-of-superfund-sites", "Whitehouse, Booker, Menendez Reintroduce Bill to Hold Polluters Responsible for Cleanup of Superfund Sites", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.07.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse, Booker, Menendez Reintroduce Bill to Hold Polluters Responsible for Cleanup of Superfund Sites \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013\u00a0U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reintroduced a bill to hold polluters responsible for the cleanup of contaminated Superfund sites in New Jersey and across the country.\r\nThe Superfund Polluter Pays Restoration Act of 2017 reinstates the excise tax on polluting industries to pay for the cleanup of Superfund sites, relieving taxpayers of the expense. It also expands the definition of crude oil in order to make oil from tar sands and shale subject to the excise tax. Additionally, it makes funds available to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on an ongoing basis, not subject to annual appropriations.\r\n\u201cIn the face of the Trump Administration\u2019s efforts to gut the Superfund\u00a0program, it\u2019s more critical than ever that Congress hold polluting industries accountable for the devastating consequences that have been brought on communities across the country,\u201d said Senator Booker. \u201cSuperfund sites don\u2019t just contaminate the ground and water\u2014the high levels of carcinogens that seep out have led to heightened risks of cancers, birth defects and other serious health problems for too many Americans. The stakes could not be higher for New Jerseyans\u2014half of our state lives within three miles of one of these Superfund sites. It\u2019s time to address this injustice, clean up these sites, and hold polluting industries accountable for conditions they would never accept in their own communities.\u201d\r\n\u201cBusinesses cannot contaminate our land, exploit our resources and endanger our communities without consequence,\u201d said Senator Menendez.\u00a0 \u201cTaxpayers shouldn\u2019t have to pay for the mistakes of companies that contaminate our environment and risk our public health.\u00a0 Making polluters pay will help ensure the Superfund Trust Fund is solvent, strong, and effective to protect the health of our families and environment\u201d\r\n\u201cThe American taxpayer shouldn\u2019t be on the hook for cleaning up dangerous messes they didn\u2019t make,\u201d said Senator Whitehouse.\u00a0 \u201cThis bill will ensure that polluting industries help to cover the cost of making our communities safe.\u201d\r\nNew Jersey has 114 Superfund sites on the National Priority List (NPL), more than any other state. NPL sites are among the most heavily contaminated properties in the country, and are poisoning nearby residents, endangering the health of children, and thwarting economic development in local communities.\r\nAccording to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the EPA does not have adequate resources to clean up the more than 1,300 sites on the agency\u2019s list of most polluted areas, including 89 locations that have \u201cunacceptable human exposure\u201d to substances that can cause birth defects, cancers, and developmental disorders.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-leads-senators-in-defending-epa-watchdog", "Whitehouse Leads Senators in Defending EPA Watchdog", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.07.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Leads Senators in Defending EPA Watchdog \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Slashing funding would hamper the EPA Inspector General\u2019s vital work\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC \u2013 Ten Senators led by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are calling for Senate appropriators to protect funding for the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) in-house watchdog, which helps to ensure the agency carries out its function of protecting public health and the environment.\u00a0 The Senators ask leaders of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies in a letter to maintain current funding levels for the EPA Office of Inspector General.\u00a0 The President\u2019s budget request would slash the Inspector General\u2019s budget by 10 percent and reduce its staffing by roughly 25 percent.\u00a0 House and Senate appropriations bills would cut funding by 4 percent.\r\n\u201cThe EPA OIG plays a critical role promoting EPA\u2019s core mission of fighting pollution and ensuring that agency officials adhere to ethical standards and that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely,\u201d the Senators write. \u201cWe urge the Subcommittee to avoid reducing the appropriated funds for the EPA OIG and support adequate funding for the office.\u00a0 Such funding will allow this crucial office to do its job protecting taxpayer dollars and our environment.\u201d\r\nJoining Whitehouse in signing the letter are Senators Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Tom Carper (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).\r\nThe EPA Inspector General, Arthur Elkins, is engaged in important investigations of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.\u00a0 In August, Elkins began looking into whether Pruitt violated agency policies and procedures with his frequent, costly travel to his home state of Oklahoma.\u00a0 On Wednesday, Elkins confirmed that he is reviewing Pruitt\u2019s meeting in April with the National Mining Association.\u00a0 During the meeting, Pruitt reportedly urged the group to tell the President to pull out of the Paris climate accord, which may be a violation of federal lobbying laws.\r\nText of the Senators\u2019 letter is below.\u00a0 A PDF copy is available here.\r\nDecember 6, 2017\r\nThe Honorable Lisa Murkowski\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Honorable Tom Udall\r\nChairman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ranking Member\r\nSubcommittee on the Interior, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Subcommittee on the Interior,\r\nEnvironment, and Related Agencies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Environment, and Related Agencies\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\nSenate Committee on Appropriations\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Senate Committee on Appropriations\r\n131 Dirksen Senate Office Building\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 125 Hart Senate Office Building\r\nWashington, D.C. 20510\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Washington, D.C. 20510\r\nDear Chairman Murkowski and Ranking Member Udall,\r\nAs the Subcommittee finalizes the Fiscal Year 2018 funding for the agencies in its purview, we urge you to support adequate funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG).\u00a0 FY18 funding for the EPA OIG should be no less than the funding the office received in FY17, adjusted for inflation.\u00a0\r\nThe EPA OIG plays a critical role promoting EPA\u2019s core mission of fighting pollution and ensuring that agency officials adhere to ethical standards and that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.\u00a0 Since the beginning of the year, the EPA OIG has begun working on at least 41 audits, evaluations, reviews, and other oversight actions, on topics including EPA\u2019s efforts to protect children from asbestos exposure in schools, whether drinking water agencies notify the public when there are contamination risks, chemical data reporting under the Toxic Substance Control Act, and an audit of Administrator Pruitt\u2019s travel expenses.\u00a0 In 2018, the EPA OIG plans, among other things, a review of the threats directed at the agency and its staff, which is timely given the reported increase in the number of EPA security officers assigned to Administrator Pruitt.\r\nThe Senate Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill would reduce EPA OIG funding by four percent, as would the relevant House appropriations bill.\u00a0 While this is an improvement over the President\u2019s requested budget, which would cut funding for the EPA OIG by almost 10 percent and reduce OIG staffing by approximately 25 percent, it is still not adequate to ensure that OIG will be able to effectively perform its important mission.\r\nWe urge the Subcommittee to avoid reducing the appropriated funds for the\u00a0EPA OIG and support adequate funding for the office.\u00a0 Such funding will allow this crucial office to do its job protecting taxpayer dollars and our environment.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-statement-on-franken-resignation-", "Whitehouse Statement on Franken Resignation", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.07.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Statement on Franken Resignation  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC \u2013 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on Senator Al Franken\u2019s (D-MN) decision to resign from the Senate:\r\n\u201cSenator Franken made the right choice to step down.\u00a0 I applaud him and thank him.\u00a0 He is right that we are having an important conversation right now about the equal treatment of women in every part of our society.\u00a0 We have a long way to go in combatting these problems, but holding everyone to a high standard\u2014including public servants\u2014is an important step down that road.\r\n\u201cNow, Republicans must join Democrats in holding their own accountable.\u00a0 The American people should take notice of national Republicans\u2019 support for a morally degraded Senate candidate in Alabama and a President in the Oval Office facing equally credible charges.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe shift in attitude toward sexual harassment and abuse underway in other areas of society must extend to our politics.\u00a0 It is time for change.\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-help-hearing-on-the-implementation-of-the-21st-century-cures-act", "Whitehouse Remarks in HELP Hearing on the Implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-remarks-antitrust-forum", "Cicilline Remarks at Antitrust Forum", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01), the top Democrat on the House Antitrust Subcommittee, spoke to the Open Markets Institute today for a briefing on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Monopoly Moment: Work, Innovation, and Control in an Age of Concentrated Power.\u201d Cicilline highlighted the growing threat that big mergers and corporate monopolies pose to working people. He also discussed the importance of stopping anticompetitive mergers and updating antitrust laws that were written more than a century ago.\nThe full text of Cicilline\u2019s remarks is embedded below. Video of his speech will be live-streamed at www.facebook.com/congressmandavidcicilline.\n---------------------------------------------\nU.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline\nAmerica\u2019s Monopoly Moment\nDecember 6, 2017\nRemarks as Prepared for Delivery\nGood afternoon, and thank you for inviting me to today\u2019s important discussion of America\u2019s Monopoly Moment: Work, Innovation, and Control in an Age of Concentrated Power.\u201d\nI am honored and delighted to join you to discuss one of the key issues of our time.\nWe are in a monopoly moment.\nNearly every relevant point of economic data shows that the concentration of economic power is at historic levels.\nThe Wall Street Journal reported two years ago that nearly a third of U.S. industries \u201cwould be considered highly concentrated under current federal antitrust standards,\u201d while 2015 was the biggest year ever for mergers and acquisitions.\nSince then, waves of anticompetitive mergers\u2014deals that should never have made it out of the board room\u2014have tested the boundaries and durability of the antitrust laws while straining the razor-thin resources of the antitrust agencies.\nEconomic concentration is at a three-decade high and has structurally weakened competition on an economy-wide basis.\u00a0\nIn the midst of this wave of consolidation, there is also overwhelming evidence that corporations are earning monopoly profits that aren\u2019t being reinvested in workers or the economy.\nLast month, Gary Cohn, President Trump\u2019s top economic adviser, accidentally illustrated this point at a Wall Street Journal CEO Conference.\nThere, an audience of CEOs and top executives were asked to raise their hands if they would reinvest savings from tax reform back into the economy.\nFew did.\nCohn laughed nervously and asked, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t the other hands up?\u201d\nBut it\u2019s no mystery why companies that are already enjoying record profits in concentrated industries are under no pressure to invest in their workers or the economy.\nThe Economist described this last year as the hoarding of economic growth by corporate monopolists\u2014an economic \u201csickness\u201d signaling that companies have become \u201cmore adept at siphoning wealth off than creating it afresh.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\nProfessor Carl Shapiro of the University of California at Berkeley, who served as the chief economist in the Justice Department\u2019s Antitrust Division, has reached a similar conclusion, noting that corporations \u201care systematically earning far higher profits than they were 25 or 30 years ago,\u201d pointing to \u201ca rise in incumbency rents.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\nBut on an even more fundamental level, hardworking Americans already know that the economy is not working for them.\nThey feel it in every paycheck, every job application, and every credit card payment.\nIn a seminal speech on America\u2019s monopoly problem earlier this year, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz described this as \u201ca widespread sense of powerlessness, both in our economic and political life. We seem no longer to control our own destinies.\u201d\nThat\u2019s because for too long, wave after wave of large corporate mergers have decimated jobs and wages while rigging the economy against locally owned businesses, working families, and entrepreneurs.\nBusiness dynamism\u2014a key measure of productivity and economic growth\u2014has steadily declined over the past several decades as the economy has become dominated by fewer and fewer large corporations.\nAnd over three thousand stores are expected to close this year\u2014double the number of closings during this period last year\u2014while the number of monthly job losses in the retail sector far exceed the losses in every other sector of the economy combined.\nDeclining competition among employers has resulted in lower wages and worse benefits precisely because corporations in concentrated markets have virtually zero incentive to pay fair wages.\nAnd while the effects of economic concentration have been devastating for nearly all workers, it most severely harms workers in vulnerable groups, such as women and minorities, who have less bargaining power against wage discrimination and other forms of workplace inequality.\nProfessor Marcellus Andrews of Bucknell University observes for minority small-business owners and workers, lax antitrust enforcement has been a \u201ccatastrophic intellectual and political policy mistake.\u201d\nBut economic concentration is not the only anticompetitive threat to the prosperity of working American families.\nOver the past several decades, the dramatic growth of excessive licensing requirements and the proliferation of non-compete clauses in employment contracts have become a turnstile for the employment of everyday workers\u2014a one-way restriction on economic opportunity that keeps jobs out of reach for too many working families.\nToday, nearly a third of American jobs require a state license, including many jobs that have little impact on public health or consumer safety.\n\u00a0\nFor example, to work as a security guard\u2014a job that typically pays less than $30,000 annually\u2014a Michigan resident must have three years of education and training. Other states require less than two weeks of training for the same job.\nAnd because these standards differ by state, licensing barriers have disproportionately affected the mobility and opportunity of military families, which are 10 times more likely to relocate across state lines than other working families.\u00a0\nWorse still, many states have used occupational licenses as leverage to collect educational debt, suspending or even seizing these licenses from firefighters, nurses, teachers, psychologists, barbers, lawyers, real estate brokers, and others who fall behind on student loan payments.\nAccording to a New York Times investigation of this alarming phenomenon, there are \u201cat least 8,700 cases in which licenses were taken away or put at risk of suspension in recent years, although that tally almost certainly understates the true number.\u201d\nThis is nothing short of a weaponization of safety requirements against the economic security of working American families.\nBut to be clear, calls for reform of excessive licensing cannot serve as a springboard for Lochnerism or the erosion of each state\u2019s plenary authority to establish standards governing the health and safety of its own citizens.\nThe Supreme Court has long recognized that states have broad power to enforce public health standards as a \u201cvital part of a state\u2019s police power.\u201d\nEqually as important, we must distinguish excessive licensing, such as onerous and costly requirements for everyday professions, from the reasonable practice of establishing minimum qualifications for professions that affect public health and safety in each state.\n\u00a0The benefits of sensible licensing practices, such as establishing education requirements for doctors or nurses or reducing the racial and gender wage gap, cannot be lost in this conversation.\nThere is also mounting evidence that the widespread use of non-compete clauses in everyday employment contracts is a fundamental threat to workers\u2019 economic freedom and mobility.\nThese clauses are widespread, even among workers who do not possess trade secrets, such as workers in the fast-food industry.\nLast year, the Treasury Department reported that nearly 30 million working Americans at all levels of employment are covered by non-compete clauses.\nAccording to this report, these non-competes \u201cprevent workers from finding new employment even after being fired without cause.\u201d\nLess than a quarter of workers report that their jobs involve trade secrets, while less than half of non-compete agreements involve work subject to trade secrets. To the contrary, only a small fraction of college-educated employees are subject to trade secrets.\nIn fact, in many cases, workers have already accepted a job before they even see the text of an employment contract or are simply unaware that they have agreed not to work for a competing business.\nAnd as another investigation by the New York Times notes, these clauses only add to the difficulties that hardworking Americans face in today\u2019s economy: \u201cGlobalization and automation have put American workers in competition with overseas labor and machines. The rise of contract employment has made it harder to find a steady job. The decline of unions has made it tougher to negotiate.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\nWhen combined with forced arbitration clauses, which immunize unscrupulous employers from virtually any legal accountability, non-compete clauses lock-in workers, even when they are in a harmful, discriminatory workplace.\nWhile these challenges are daunting, creating economic opportunity for working Americans must be a national priority.\nForemost, this means addressing corporate profit hoarding head-on by raising the income of Americans who are working longer hours for less pay, working on holidays and weekends just to make it to the next paycheck.\nIt is also essential that we invest in a stronger America that delivers good-paying jobs through apprenticeship programs, on-the-job training and education, and a system of competition that helps workers and small businesses.\nHouse and Senate Democrats have proposed \u201cA Better Deal,\u201d a bold economic agenda to give workers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses new opportunities to get ahead.\nA Better Deal on competition means investing in a stronger America through a fair system of competition and economic freedom for all Americans\u2014consumers, workers, and small businesses\u2014not just big corporations that are getting even bigger.\nThis vision of shared prosperity is more than just promises.\nWe are committed to rolling up our sleeves and getting to the work of cracking down on economic concentration to make our economy open, fair, and competitive.\nWe cannot allow corporate monopolies to dictate the economic freedom of workers in such fundamental and pervasive ways.\nToday\u2019s event also concerns the effects of economic concentration on innovation.\nMore than 10 years ago, Dr. Vint Cerf, one of the architects of the Internet, testified that a \u201cprimary design goal\u201d of the Internet was \u201cto make the network itself neutral with regard to the applications it supports.\u201d\nThis principle of neutrality and nondiscrimination created an environment of \u201cinnovation without permission,\u201d meaning that startups, blogs, applications, and other edge providers did not need approval from gatekeepers to develop innovative services or contribute to the marketplace of ideas online.\n\u201cThe Internet's design,\u201d Dr. Cerf stated, \u201cplaces the power and functionality of the net in the hands of the end users (consumers, businesses and application service providers).\u201d\nBut today, control of information online\u2014including the pathways for working Americans to access trustworthy news, commerce, and content\u2014has become increasingly centralized among just a few online platforms with significant and durable power in winner-take-all markets for harvesting consumers\u2019 attention.\nFarhad Manjoo, a technology columnist at the New York Times, wrote last week that the Internet as we know it is being \u201ccarved into a historically profitable system of fiefs,\u201d transforming its promise of \u201cendless innovation into one stuck in mud, where every start-up is at the tender mercy of some of the largest corporations on the planet.\u201d\nThis transformation of the Internet into a \u201ccorporate playground,\u201d he notes, is the reason that the \u201cfreewheeling internet has been dying a slow death.\u201d\nBut the Trump Administration\u2019s resolve to end net neutrality could be the final nail in the coffin of the Fair, Open, and Innovative Internet.\nNext week, under the Orwellian guise of reversing the \u201cdecline in infrastructure investment, innovation, and options for consumers,\u201d the Federal Communications Commission will vote to repeal protections against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization of consumers' access to lawful content online.\nTo be clear, the FCC is not only reversing core net neutrality protections. It\u2019s clearing the table of all of the protections that have allowed the Open Internet to flourish and grow. This deregulatory trainwreck is an unmitigated disaster for working people, small businesses, and innovation.\nIt is beyond dispute that openness is an engine of innovation and broadband investment.\nAs the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has repeatedly held over the past three years, Internet openness is integral to ensuring low barriers to entry for competition and promoting the expansion and improvement of broadband infrastructure.\nThere are important distinctions between broadband providers and platforms. But concerns regarding exclusionary conduct by platforms are not theoretical.\nProfessor Frank Pasquale testified before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee in 2008 that the \u201c[c]oncentrated control over the flow of information, coupled with the ability to manipulate this flow, may reduce economic efficiency by stifling competition.\u201d\nThis discriminatory conduct \u201cis likely to result in high barriers to entry that depress competition\u201d because entrenched companies are more likely to have the necessary resources to \u201cpreserve their market dominance.\u201d\nNearly a decade later, we know that the ocean of data that platforms harvest from consumers every second has further entrenched this dominance and increased the risk of exclusionary conduct online.\nCoupled with machine learning and other incumbent advantages, there is little chance that startups today will even enter markets, let alone receive funding, to compete with a dominant platform.\nThat\u2019s why we must ensure that the enduring principles of nondiscrimination and openness apply to all levels of the Internet.\nWhen working families pay their bill for broadband internet access, they expect to get what they pay for: access to the entire lawful internet, not just portions of it. That\u2019s true across the board, and it is unquestionably the most important element of the fight for the Open Internet.\nAs Walt Mossberg, a pioneer of technology journalism who has covered the industry for decades, has observed, \u201cevery day, the internet becomes more of a platform for lousy ads, for increasing the power of a few rich companies, and for intrusive tracking. It\u2019s too important to leave unprotected.\u201d\nThat\u2019s why it is absolutely critical that we protect and promote competition in every market.\nWe must aggressively fight anticompetitive transactions that allow incumbent industries to perpetuate their stranglehold over commerce through acquisition after acquisition of future competitors.\nThis \u201cevergreening\u201d of dominant platforms through consolidation must stop.\nAs Professor Carl Shapiro recently noted, \u201cthere would be a big payoff in terms of competition and innovation if the DOJ and FTC could selectively prevent mergers that serve to solidify the positions of leading incumbent firms, including dominant technology firms, by eliminating future challengers.\u201d\nThis recommendation is consistent with a recent request by the Open Markets Institute urging the FTC to scrutinize the ability of dominant platforms to \u201cstifle innovation, undermine privacy, and divert readers and advertising revenue away from trustworthy sources of news and information.\u201d\nWe also cannot give up an inch of ground while enforcing the antitrust laws against monopolization and exclusionary conduct.\nIn 1994, the Justice Department opened 22 cases alleging monopolization. But twenty years later, it didn\u2019t open any.\nTo be clear, case law, not a lack of interest in promoting competition, is often the key factor determining whether the antitrust agencies will bring novel cases against monopolization.\nOur antitrust laws date back to 1890 and 1914 and were designed with railroads and oil tycoons in mind.\nThese laws worked for much of the past century until only recently\u2014Congress must assess whether to modernize these laws for the 21st century economy.\nFair and competitive markets are a vital condition for ensuring low barriers to entry and opportunities for new businesses, which invest in workers, services, and goods within the community while generating the majority of jobs in the U.S. economy.\nBut the benefits of antitrust enforcement are not merely economic.\nFor over a century, policymakers have well understood that vigorous antitrust enforcement is one of the most important tools against autocracy and the corrosive effects of concentrated political power on our democratic institutions and values.\nRobert Pitofsky, the former Chairman of the FTC and dean of my law school, wrote in 1979 that we should keep these concerns in mind while enforcing the antitrust laws because \u201can antitrust policy that failed to take political concerns into account would be unresponsive to the will of Congress and out of touch with the rough political consensus that has supported antitrust enforcement for almost a century.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\nAs I bring my remarks to a close, I want to thank Barry Lynn, Matt Stoller, Lina Khan, and the entire Open Markets team for their work and passion on these issues.\nBarry and the Open Markets team have worked tirelessly to document the power of monopolies to kill jobs and make existing jobs worse.\nSeven years ago, Barry co-authored one of the first deep looks at the effect of economic concentration on jobs and wages. He followed this with Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction, an examination of modern-day trusts and a sweeping indictment of the Chicago school of economics.\nSince then, Barry and the Open Markets team have been one of the leading voices for holding economic power accountable, as today\u2019s event demonstrates.\nThis work has greatly informed current policy discussions about how to address America\u2019s monopoly problem.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/langevin-condemns-passage-concealed-carry-reciprocity-bill", "Langevin Condemns Passage of Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), a member of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, released the following statement regarding H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 231 to 198:\n\u201cToday\u2019s vote shows just how far Republicans will go to appease the National Rifle Association. The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act will invalidate vital public safety laws that protect Americans from gun violence. The bill forces states to accept any concealed carry permit, even from a state that does not have a background check requirement and that allows non-residents to apply. The effects will be devastating. Rhode Island is one of many states that has strong and sensible requirements for concealed carry permits.\n\u201cIn our state, you must be at least 21 years old, trained in gun safety, and have just cause to carry a concealed weapon. Under the proposal that passed today, a Rhode Island resident, even one convicted of domestic violence or subject to a restraining order, would be able to \u2018permit shop\u2019 in a state with weaker laws. The bill would also allow residents of states with weak requirements for permitting \u2013 or no requirements at all \u2013 to carry freely in our neighborhoods. With this bill, the weakest state law becomes the national law.\n\u201cIt\u2019s ludicrous that in the same year that we\u2019ve seen the worst mass shootings in United States history, Republicans would pass such a dangerous bill. I urge my Senate colleagues to reject this legislation and preserve well-established state law.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-says-trumps-lack-of-strategy-in-middle-east-and-unforced-diplomatic-blunders-undermines-us-influence_interests", "Reed Says Trump’s Lack of Strategy in Middle East & Unforced Diplomatic Blunders Undermines U.S. Influence & Interests", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/06/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of Senate Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement after President Trump announced he intends to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem:\r\n\u201cOn the heels of his anti-Muslim retweets, this is another diplomatic blunder and unforced error by President Trump.\u00a0\r\n\u201cToday\u2019s announcement is counterproductive because the priority right now should be on reducing tensions in the region and working towards a two-state solution.\u00a0 The timing of this announcement and the way it was unveiled could trigger a backlash against Israel and American interests and personnel overseas.\r\n\u201cThis administration\u2019s lack of a coherent Middle East strategy and its disorganized, disjointed decision-making process is concerning to our allies and the American people.\u00a0 President Trump is making America less secure.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/videos/reed-speaks-on-senate-floor-in-support-of-dreamers", "Reed Speaks on Senate Floor in Support of Dreamers", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senator Reed highlights the positive contributions DREAMERS have made to the nation and urges colleagues to take action to counter President Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/op-eds/ups-and-pfizers-dirty-little-secret", "UPS and Pfizer’s dirty little secret", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.06.17\n\t\t\t UPS and Pfizer\u2019s dirty little secret \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tThe blandly named American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is one of the most powerful groups you may have never heard of.\u00a0ALEC describes itself as the \u201clargest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism.\u201d\u00a0In reality, it is an almost entirely corporate-funded front group looking to roll back environmental, consumer and workplace protections in state legislatures across the country.\u00a0When ALEC talks, conservative state legislators listen and act.\r\nMost state legislators serve part-time and don\u2019t have large staffs to develop legislation.\u00a0That\u2019s where ALEC comes in.\u00a0With its money and marching orders from corporate America, ALEC churns out bills and resolutions ready-made for state legislators to introduce in their home states.\u00a0Want to kill off public unions in your state?\u00a0ALEC has a bill for you.\u00a0Looking to roll out the red carpet for for-profit education companies?\u00a0Call ALEC.\u00a0Voter ID laws? Anti-immigration laws?\u00a0Privatizing government services?\u00a0Check. Check. Check.\r\nNow, with a White House occupant who has said climate change is a hoax, ALEC\u2019s anti-climate campaign is in overdrive. And complicit in that push are corporate supporters \u2014 such as Pfizer and UPS \u2014 who have not woken up to how inconsistent ALEC is with their values.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nALEC receives a large share of its funding from the fossil fuel industry, notably the Koch brothers and ExxonMobil.\u00a0The group has pushed a number of bills to undermine efforts to cut carbon emissions and combat the effects of climate change.\u00a0Way back in 1998, ALEC drafted a model resolution that would have forbidden states from regulating greenhouse gases in any way. In 2004, ALEC again urged states to reject efforts to limit carbon pollution, arguing that global warming was a \u201cmyth\u201d and that the carbon dioxide generated by burning fossil fuels was actually \u201cbeneficial.\u201d\u00a0During the Obama administration, ALEC repeatedly opposed the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s efforts to limit carbon emissions.\r\nWith President Trump in office, the group is pushing a model resolution at its summit this week that would have states call upon EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to withdraw the agency\u2019s 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare.\u00a0This finding underpins the EPA\u2019s legal authority to regulate carbon emissions.\u00a0If the fossil fuel industry succeeds, it will seriously undermine our country\u2019s ability to fight climate change for decades to come.\r\nWhile ALEC\u2019s 20-year anti-climate crusade perfectly corresponds to the priorities of its fossil-fuel funders, it has driven off several of its corporate supporters.\u00a0Google left ALEC in 2014 because of ALEC\u2019s position on climate change.\u00a0Shell left in 2015 for the same reason. They joined major American brands ranging from Coca-Cola to Ford to CVS that have left ALEC in recent years because of its extreme positions. Unfortunately, not all companies have recognized this reality.\r\nTake Pfizer and UPS. Both sit on the ALEC Task Force that votes Wednesday about the endangerment finding. Pfizer says that it \u201chas long recognized the risks posed by global climate change\u201d and that it \u201cbelieve[s] industry, government, and the public all have a responsibility to address this evolving challenge.\u201d As a pharmaceutical company, Pfizer understands the health impacts of climate change, noting that more frequent heat waves and floods may contribute to an increase in cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as infectious diseases spread by insects, such as malaria and dengue. It has taken steps toward reducing its own emissions by 60 to 80 percent by 2050 and supports \u201cgovernmental policy frameworks that .\u2009.\u2009. reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\r\nUPS recognizes that carbon emissions \u201caffect our climate and pose a serious challenge to the environment \u2014 and ultimately to the global economy\u201d and \u201csupports global and national efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change.\u201d\u00a0The company has committed to reducing carbon pollution from its ground operations by 12 percent and get 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025.\r\nYet Pfizer and UPS fund a group engaged in a decades-long anti-climate campaign.\r\nBoth companies\u2019 investors may want to know why their money is being used in a manner that may reduce their companies\u2019 profitability.\u00a0UPS acknowledges that climate change poses a serious threat to the global economy \u2014 and by extension, to its own bottom line. And Pfizer recently saw how a warming world can upend its global supply chain when Hurricanes Maria and Irma, fueled by abnormally warm waters, damaged or idled its factories in Puerto Rico, costing the company $55 million in the third quarter alone.\r\nWith the Trump administration busily undoing environmental safeguards and the president announcing his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, business leadership on climate is more important than ever.\u00a0Hundreds of American businesses have signed the \u201cWe Are Still In\u201d declaration, affirming their ongoing support for climate action.\r\nWhen corporate America backs an anti-climate agenda contrary to the express policies of the corporations, consumers and investors \u2014 and the world \u2014 will be watching.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t    By:\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t    Sheldon Whitehouse and Elizabeth Warren\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\tSource:\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWashington Post\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/epa-responds-to-new-england-members-of-congress-on-silencing-of-scientists", "EPA Responds to New England Members of Congress on Silencing of Scientists", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.06.17\n\t\t\t EPA Responds to New England Members of Congress on Silencing of Scientists \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Senators, Representatives put Pruitt on notice\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington, DC \u2013 With the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledging fault, a group of federal lawmakers offered a forceful warning today never to repeat a troubling incident earlier this fall.\u00a0 In October, the EPA withdrew its scientists from an important workshop on the health of Narragansett Bay and the threats posed by climate change and other environmental factors.\u00a0 After a group of New England members of Congress demanded an explanation, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt responded with a letter assuring the members of Congress that \u201c[p]rocedures have been put in place to prevent such an occurrence in the future.\u201d\u00a0 Pruitt also said the EPA would continue to fulfill its obligations under the National Estuary Program (NEP), which helps to protect estuaries like the Narragansett Bay.\r\nSenators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Richard Neal (D-MA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), David Cicilline (D-RI), Joe Kennedy (D-MA), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Bill Keating (D-MA) issued the following joint statement on Administrator Pruitt\u2019s letter:\r\n\u201cAmericans rely on the EPA for accurate science to keep their communities healthy and safe, and to plan for serious environmental threats to their economies and way of life.\u00a0 After the EPA\u2019s reckless and shortsighted decision to muzzle its own scientists from presenting to the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, we appreciate Administrator Pruitt\u2019s commitment never to let this happen again.\u00a0 We will hold him to that commitment.\u00a0 This administration has stocked the EPA with industry lobbyists and climate deniers.\u00a0 They include people like John Konkus, who brags about scrubbing all of the agency\u2019s grants for the words \u2018climate change.\u2019\u00a0 These rigidly ideological political appointees have no place in deciding whether the American people can access the science done on their behalf.\u201d\r\nThe State of the Narragansett Bay and Its Watershed workshop took place in Providence, RI, on October 23, and centered on the release of a 500-page report detailing the health of the Bay, problems it faces, and the progress made to address these issues. \u00a0The EPA, which helped fund the research through its administration of the NEP, was scheduled to send three EPA-affiliated scientists to present material they had contributed to the report and share their expertise on the challenges facing the Bay.\u00a0 Just days before the workshop and without explanation, the EPA barred the scientists from presenting.\u00a0\r\nThe EPA\u2019s actions were a \u201cblatant example of the scientific censorship we all suspected was going to start being enforced at EPA\u201d under Administrator Pruitt\u2019s leadership, chair of the science advisory committee of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program John King told the New York Times.\u00a0 According to the Times\u2019s reporting, at least one of the EPA scientists had planned to address climate change and related factors in her presentation.\u00a0 \u201cThey don\u2019t believe in climate change, so I think what they\u2019re trying to do is stifle discussions of the impacts of climate change,\u201d King added.\r\n\u201cYou would not have taken kindly to Washington bureaucrats telling scientists in Oklahoma they couldn\u2019t speak with Oklahoma organizations to come up with \u2018neighborhood solutions\u2019 to better protect public health and a critical economic asset,\u201d the members wrote in response to the incident.\u00a0 \u201cNeither do we.\u201d\r\nA copy of Administrator Pruitt\u2019s letter to the members is available here.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/markey-whitehouse-and-harris-lead-call-to-protect-strong-fuel-economy-standards", "Markey, Whitehouse and Harris Lead Call to Protect Strong Fuel Economy Standards", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.06.17\n\t\t\t Markey, Whitehouse and Harris Lead Call to Protect Strong Fuel Economy Standards \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t In letter to EPA, Senators highlight benefits that save consumers money at the pump, reduce climate pollution and ensure energy security\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Washington (December 6, 2017) \u2013 Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), members of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today led a group of 24 Senators in calling on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to not weaken light-duty vehicle emissions standards for model 2022 through 2025 and strenuously object to revisiting emissions standards for model year 2021, which were never supposed to be part of the EPA\u2019s midterm evaluation. Since reaching an historic agreement with the Obama administration and state leaders, the auto industry has gone from the brink of economic disaster to record auto sales in 2015 and 2016, including adding 700,000 U.S. jobs. The average fuel efficiency of vehicles has already gone up five miles per gallon, saving drivers nearly $35 billion. The EPA has found that the net benefits of the fuel economy standards are nearly $100 billion and would reduce oil consumption by 1.2 billion barrels.\r\n\u201cWe urge you not to weaken these vehicle emissions standards, and allow the auto industry to ensure its continued success and further its innovation while maintaining a standard that brings clear public health, climate, and consumer benefits,\u201d write the Senators in their letter to the EPA. \u201cAs you move to reevaluate the sound technical conclusions your agency reached last year in the mid-term evaluation, we expect you will consider the facts, the science, and the law, which all lead to the single conclusion that the standards are achievable.\u201d\r\nA copy of the letter can be found HERE.\r\nOther Senators signing the letter include Chris Van Hollen (D-Md,), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash,), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.).\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-statement-on-senator-al-franken", "Whitehouse Statement on Senator Al Franken", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.06.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Statement on Senator Al Franken \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC \u2013 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement regarding Senator Al Franken (D-MN):\r\n\u201cGiven what we have learned in recent weeks, I expect Senator Franken to step aside.\u201d\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/time-to-wake-up-eroding-shorelines-and-confidence-in-congress", "Time to Wake Up: Eroding Shorelines and Confidence in Congress", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In this week\u2019s \u201cTime to Wake Up\u201d speech, Sen. Whitehouse discusses how coastal communities in every corner of the country, in blue states like Rhode Island and red states like North Carolina, are facing the threat of climate change. Just a few weeks ago, credit service Moody's announced that cities and states along the coast need to prepare for climate risks like sea level rise and storm surge, or risk credit downgrades. Luckily, Rhode Island coastal communities are taking these threats seriously and preparing.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-epw-hearing-on-the-nomination-of-rd-james-to-the-army-for-civil-works", "Whitehouse Remarks in EPW Hearing on the Nomination of R.D. James to the Army for Civil Works", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-help-hearing-on-department-of-education-and-department-of-labor-nominations", "Whitehouse Remarks in HELP Hearing on Department of Education and Department of Labor Nominations", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senator Whitehouse questions Kenneth Marcus to be Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights for the Department of Education, Johnny Collett\u00a0 to be Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services for the Department of Education, Scott Mugno to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the Department of Labor , and William Beach to be Commissioner of Labor Statistics for the Department of Labor.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-help-hearing-on-department-of-education-and-department-of-labor-nominations-2017-12-06", "Whitehouse Remarks in HELP Hearing on Department of Education and Department of Labor Nominations", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senator Whitehouse questions Kenneth Marcus to be Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights for the Department of Education, Johnny Collett  to be Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services for the Department of Education, Scott Mugno to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the Department of Labor , and William Beach to be Commissioner of Labor Statistics for the Department of Labor.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/videos/watch/whitehouse-remarks-in-judiciary-hearing-on-firearm-accessory-regulation-and-nics", "Whitehouse Remarks in Judiciary Hearing on Firearm Accessory Regulation and NICS", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "About\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Services\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAgency Assistance \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuccess Stories \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrants \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlag Requests \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVisiting D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Resources \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Sheldon \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Events\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Dinners \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity Outreach \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Issues\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue List \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLegislation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  News\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Releases \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn the News \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeeches \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOp-Eds \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPress Kit \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  Videos\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tx\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMENU", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/senators-press-doj-leaders-on-trump-tweets-aimed-at-influencing-justice-department", "Senators Press DOJ Leaders on Trump Tweets Aimed at Influencing Justice Department", "2017-12-05", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.05.17\n\t\t\t Senators Press DOJ Leaders on Trump Tweets Aimed at Influencing Justice Department \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC \u2013 Following a pattern of President Donald Trump\u2019s tweets apparently intended to direct the work of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Senators are asking top Department leadership what they are doing to safeguard the Department\u2019s operations and prosecutions from Oval Office influence.\u00a0 Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Al Franken (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) posed their questions in letters sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray.\r\n\u201cWith the power of his position, amplified through social media, the President need not have actual communications with any person at DOJ to make his opinions perfectly clear.\u00a0 He knows that.\u00a0 The public knows that.\u00a0 And ultimately, federal judges who may be called upon to hear cases brought by DOJ know that,\u201d the Senators write in their letter to Rosenstein.\u00a0 \u201cAs a lifelong prosecutor, you must appreciate that if the Department were to develop a reputation as making litigation decisions based on presidential tweets, it would cast a shadow on every action DOJ and FBI take.\u00a0 New measures of attempted influence require new counter-measures to \u2018ensure that partisan considerations do not influence the handling of particular cases.\u2019\u201d\r\nThe Senators ask each official:\r\n \r\nDo you believe public statements by President Trump about particular matters that are being, or could be, investigated or prosecuted by DOJ or the FBI are consistent with relevant policies governing contacts between the Department and the White House?\u00a0 If so, please explain your answer.\r\n \r\n \r\nDo you believe such public statements by President Trump could inject improper partisan considerations into the handling of particular cases by DOJ attorneys? Please explain your answer.\r\n \r\n \r\nDo you believe such public statements by President Trump could undermine\u00a0 prosecutions or other litigation before federal courts?\u00a0 Please explain your answer.\r\n \r\n \r\nHave any federal courts cited the President\u2019s comments as factors contributing to their rulings or decisions?\u00a0 If so, please explain the circumstances of each case and any specific steps the Department has taken to address the courts\u2019 concerns.\r\n \r\n \r\nDo you believe public statements by President Trump could erode public confidence in the integrity of Department decisions?\u00a0 Please explain your answer.\r\n \r\n \r\nWhat specific steps have you taken as Deputy Attorney General to ensure that those DOJ officials who have \u201cprimary responsibility to initiate and supervise investigations and cases\u2026are insulated from the influence that should not affect decisions in particular criminal or civil cases\u201d such as social media messages or other public statements by the President?\r\n \r\n \r\nHave you raised any concerns about the DOJ\u2019s independence with the White House?\u00a0 If so, what steps if any have been taken to address those concerns?\r\n \r\nFull text of the letter to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein is below.\u00a0 PDF copies of all three letters are available here, here, and here.\r\nDear Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein,\r\nIn your confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, you were asked by several members of the Committee, orally and in writing, whether you understood and were prepared to enforce the policy governing contacts between the White House and DOJ related to ongoing investigations and prosecutions.\u00a0 You referenced a 2009 memorandum by Attorney General Eric Holder as the operative policy and wrote in response to a question from Senator Coons that \u201cit would be my responsibility to ensure that partisan considerations do not influence the handling of particular cases.\u201d\r\nThe 2009 policy states:\r\n\u201cThe Assistant Attorneys General, the United States Attorneys, and the heads of the investigative agencies in the Department have the primary responsibility to initiate and supervise investigations and cases.\u00a0 These officials, like their superiors and their subordinates, must be insulated from the influence that should not affect decisions in particular criminal or civil cases.\u201d\r\nIn order to insulate key law enforcement officials from improper political influence in prosecutorial decisions, the policy limits initial communications on investigations and cases to the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General and Associate Attorney General (for civil matters only) at DOJ and the Counsel to the President, the Principal Deputy Counsel to the President, the President and the Vice President at the White House.\r\nIn just the past month, the President has made numerous public statements that appear intended to influence DOJ\u2019s and FBI\u2019s activities.\u00a0 For example:\r\n \r\nOn November 2 and 3, President Trump made a series of posts to his Twitter account calling on DOJ and FBI to investigate a variety of matters related to the 2016 election:\r\n\r\n\u201cEverybody is asking why the Justice Department (and FBI) isn't looking into all of the dishonesty going on with Crooked Hillary & the Dems..\u201d\u00a0\r\n\u201c[Senator Warren] just stated that the Democrats, lead [sic] by the legendary Crooked Hillary Clinton, rigged the Primaries! Lets [sic] go FBI & Justice Dept.\u201d\r\n\u201c....People are angry.\u00a0 At some point the Justice Department, and the FBI, must do what is right and proper. The American public deserves it!\u201d\r\n\u201c....This is real collusion and dishonesty. Major violation of Campaign Finance Laws and Money Laundering - where is our Justice Department?\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\nIn a letter dated November 13, 2017, to Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Robert W. Goodlatte, Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd confirmed that the Attorney General \u201chas directed senior federal prosecutors to evaluate\u201d several matters related to Hillary Clinton, including the sale of Uranium One and the Clinton Foundation.\r\n \r\nAs DOJ has reviewed under the antitrust enforcement authority the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner, President Trump has made a series of disparaging comments about Time Warner subsidiary CNN:\r\n\r\n\u201cWhile in the Philippines I was forced to watch @CNN, which I have not done in months, and again realized how bad, and FAKE, it is. Loser!\u201d (Nov. 15)\r\n\u201c@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!\u201d (Nov. 25)\r\n\u201cWe should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!\u201d (Nov. 27)\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\nOn November 20, the Department announced it would be seeking to block the proposed merger in federal court.\u00a0 The case is now pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.\r\n \r\nThis past weekend, following General Michael Flynn\u2019s plea of guilty to making false statements to the FBI, President Trump tweeted the following:\r\n \r\n \r\n\u201cMany people in our Country are asking what the \u201cJustice\u201d Department is going to do about the fact that totally Crooked Hillary, AFTER receiving a subpoena from the United States Congress, deleted and \u201cacid washed\u201d 33,000 Emails? No justice!\u201d (Dec. 2)\r\n\u201cAfter years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters - worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness.\u201d (Dec. 3)\r\n \r\nWith the power of his position, amplified through social media, the President need not have actual communications with any person at DOJ to make his opinions perfectly clear.\u00a0 He knows that.\u00a0 The public knows that.\u00a0 And ultimately, federal judges who may be called upon to hear cases brought by DOJ know that.\u00a0 As a lifelong prosecutor, you must appreciate that if the Department were to develop a reputation as making litigation decisions based on presidential tweets, it would cast a shadow on every action DOJ and FBI take.\u00a0 New measures of attempted influence require new counter-measures to \u201censure that partisan considerations do not influence the handling of particular cases.\u201d\r\nSo we can better understand what steps DOJ is taking to protect its credibility in the federal courts and with the American people, we request you respond to the following questions not later than December 15, 2017:\r\n \r\nDo you believe public statements by President Trump about particular matters that are being, or could be, investigated or prosecuted by DOJ or the FBI are consistent with relevant policies governing contacts between the Department and the White House?\u00a0 If so, please explain your answer.\r\n \r\n \r\nDo you believe such public statements by President Trump could inject improper partisan considerations into the handling of particular cases by DOJ attorneys? Please explain your answer.\r\n \r\n \r\nDo you believe such public statements by President Trump could undermine\u00a0 prosecutions or other litigation before federal courts?\u00a0 Please explain your answer.\r\n \r\n \r\nHave any federal courts cited the President\u2019s comments as factors contributing to their rulings or decisions?\u00a0 If so, please explain the circumstances of each case and any specific steps the Department has taken to address the courts\u2019 concerns.\r\n \r\n \r\nDo you believe public statements by President Trump could erode public confidence in the integrity of Department decisions?\u00a0 Please explain your answer.\r\n \r\n \r\nWhat specific steps have you taken as Deputy Attorney General to ensure that those DOJ officials who have \u201cprimary responsibility to initiate and supervise investigations and cases\u2026are insulated from the influence that should not affect decisions in particular criminal or civil cases\u201d such as social media messages or other public statements by the President?\r\n \r\n \r\nHave you raised any concerns about the DOJ\u2019s independence with the White House?\u00a0 If so, what steps if any have been taken to address those concerns?\r\n \r\nThank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/senators-request-gao-study-of-trump-changes-to-key-measure-of-carbon-pollution-cost", "Senators Request GAO Study of Trump Changes to Key Measure of Carbon Pollution Cost", "2017-12-05", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.05.17\n\t\t\t Senators Request GAO Study of Trump Changes to Key Measure of Carbon Pollution Cost \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC \u2013 Seven Senators have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the governments\u2019 method for calculating the social cost of carbon\u2014the measure of long-term damage done by carbon pollution\u2014after the Trump administration dramatically reduced estimates of the costs of climate change in recent actions.\u00a0 Using a lower estimate for the social cost of carbon could allow the administration to undermine a range of environmental regulations by exaggerating the compliance costs compared to the societal benefits of reduced carbon emissions.\u00a0 Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) made the request in a letter to the Comptroller General today.\r\nEarlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order disbanding an important interagency working group charged with formulating the social cost of carbon and withdrew the guidance it had issued.\u00a0 The Trump administration also directed agencies to use an outdated Office of Management and Budget policy to monetize the value of greenhouse gas emissions from changes in federal regulation.\u00a0 The result has been a severe downtick in the value of the social cost of carbon.\u00a0 The Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s assessment of its proposed rule to repeal the Clean Power Plan, for example, dropped the social cost of carbon from $45 per ton to as low as $1 per ton for 2020.\r\nThe Senators ask the GAO to look at states and other countries\u2019 social costs of carbon; the Trump administration\u2019s justification for dramatically changing the way it discounts the costs or benefits of regulation change affecting carbon pollution; and the rationales that have been used to support various discount rates in assessing the social cost of carbon.\r\nFull text of the Senators\u2019 letter to the GAO is below.\u00a0 A PDF copy is available here.\r\nDecember 5, 2017\r\nThe Honorable Gene L. Dodaro\r\nComptroller General of the United States\r\nU.S. Government Accountability Office\r\n441 G Street, NW\r\nWashington, DC 20548\r\nDear Mr. Dodaro:\r\nWe write to ask the GAO analyze the social cost of carbon.\u00a0 Various statutes, executive orders, and guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) direct federal agencies to analyze the benefits and costs of proposed regulations.\u00a0 These regulatory impact analyses can also provide affected entities, agencies, Congress, and the public with important information about the potential effects of new regulations.\r\nIn 2008, a federal appeals court held that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act by failing to include in its cost-benefit analysis of fuel economy standards for light trucks the benefits of carbon emission reduction.\u00a0 The court noted that monetized estimates existed of the social cost of carbon (SCC)\u2014the dollar value of the net damages of an increase in emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.\u00a0 In 2009, in part because agencies used varying SCC estimates, the White House convened an interagency working group to develop SCC estimates for government use, and it issued final estimates in a 2010 guidance document.\u00a0 Since then, the working group has issued revised estimates on several occasions and also developed estimates for damages from an increase in emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, which are also greenhouse gases.\u00a0 Federal courts have upheld agencies\u2019 use of these SCC estimates.\u00a0 In addition, the National Academies has recommended improvements to the working group\u2019s process, including by updating SCC estimates roughly every five years to remain consistent with the current state of scientific knowledge.\r\nThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2014 that, in developing the original estimates, the working group used consensus-based decision making, relied largely on existing academic literature and models, and took steps to disclose limitations and incorporate new information.[1]\u00a0 In 2014, GAO also issued a report on environmental regulations and recommended that OMB should consider clarifying the relationship between the working group\u2019s guidance document and OMB Circular A-4, which provides direction to federal agencies for systematic evaluation of benefits and costs.[2]\r\nIn March 2017, Executive Order 13783 disbanded the working group and withdrew SCC guidance documents as no longer representative of governmental policy.\u00a0 The order directs agencies to be consistent with OMB Circular A-4 when monetizing the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from regulations.\u00a0 As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s draft regulatory impact analysis for its proposed rule that would repeal the Clean Power Plan includes revised values reducing the SCC from approximately $45 per ton to as low as $1 per ton for 2020 (both figures in 2011 dollars).\r\nWe request that GAO build on its past work on this topic.\u00a0 In particular, we would like GAO to answer the following questions:\r\n \r\nTo what extent have individual states developed and/or used estimates for the SCC; what have been the differences, if any, in these estimates and uses?\r\nTo what extent have other countries developed and/or used estimates for the SCC; what have been the differences, if any, in these estimates and uses?\r\nTo what extent have estimates been developed and/or used for the social cost of other greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide?\r\nWhat justification did the Trump administration use to support its change from a default discount rate of 3% for climate -focused regulations to 7%?\r\nWhat rationales have been advanced to support the use of various discount rates in assessing the social cost of carbon?\u00a0 To the extent that discount rates are based on evolving factors like interest rates and economic growth rates, should they be periodically reevaluated?\r\n \r\nPlease contact Aaron Goldner (Senator Whitehouse) at (202) 224-2921 to discuss in detail the specific scope of work and timelines for completing this request.\r\nThank you in advance for your consideration.\r\n###\r\n  \r\n\r\n[1]GAO, Regulatory Impact Analysis: Development of Social Cost of Carbon Estimates, GAO-14-663 (Washington, D.C.: July. 24, 2014).\r\n\r\n\r\n[2]GAO, Environmental Regulation: EPA Should Improve Adherence to Guidance for Selected Elements of Regulatory Impact Analyses, GAO-14-519 (Washington, D.C.: July. 18, 2014).\r\n\r\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-and-whitehouse-urge-fcc-chairman-pai-to-delay-vote-rolling-back-net-neutrality-rules", "Reed & Whitehouse Urge FCC Chairman Pai to Delay Vote Rolling Back Net Neutrality Rules", "2017-12-04", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/04/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and 25 of their colleagues sent a letter today to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai, expressing concern over reports that bots impersonating Americans filed hundreds of thousands of phony comments to the FCC during the net neutrality policymaking process.\u00a0 The Senators are strongly urging the Chairman to delay the planned December 14 vote to roll back net neutrality rules until an investigation of the state of the record is conducted.\r\nReed and Whitehouse say that the Trump Administration\u2019s plan to dismantle net neutrality will undermine the principles of a free and open internet and be an unprecedented giveaway to big broadband providers, benefitting a few big corporations at the expense of their customers who use the internet every day.\r\n\u201cA free and open Internet is vital to ensuring a level playing field online, and we believe that your proposed action may be based on an incomplete understanding of the public record in this proceeding,\u201d the Senators wrote. \u201cIn fact, there is good reason to believe that the record may be replete with fake or fraudulent comments, suggesting that your proposal is fundamentally flawed.\u201d\r\n\u201cWithout additional information about the alleged anomalies surrounding the public record, the FCC cannot conduct a thorough and fair evaluation of the public\u2019s views on this topic, and should not move forward with a vote on December 14, 2017,\u201d the Senators continued.\r\n\u201cThe FCC must invest its time and resources into obtaining a more accurate picture of the record as understanding that record is essential to reaching a defensible resolution to this proceeding,\u201d the Senators concluded.\r\nIn addition to Reed, Whitehouse, and Hassan, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angus King (I-ME), Al Franken (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ).\r\nSee below for the full text of the letter:\r\nDecember 4, 2017\r\nThe Honorable Ajit Pai  Chairman  Federal Communications Commission  445 12th Street Southwest  Washington, DC 20554\r\nDear Chairman Pai:\r\nWe are deeply concerned by your recently released proposal to roll back critical consumer protections by dismantling the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s (FCC) current net neutrality rules. A free and open Internet is vital to ensuring a level playing field online, and we believe that your proposed action may be based on an incomplete understanding of the public record in this proceeding. In fact, there is good reason to believe that the record may be replete with fake or fraudulent comments, suggesting that your proposal is fundamentally flawed.\r\nTo this end, we request a thorough investigation by the FCC into reports that bots may have interfered with this proceeding by filing hundreds of thousands of comments. Furthermore, an additional 50,000 consumer complaints seem to have been excluded from the public record in this proceeding, according to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by the National Hispanic Media Coalition.\u00a0 Without additional information about the alleged anomalies surrounding the public record, the FCC cannot conduct a thorough and fair evaluation of the public\u2019s views on this topic, and should not move forward with a vote on December 14, 2017.\u00a0\r\nNew York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has spent the past six months conducting an investigation into the fraudulent comments, and found that \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d of comments may have impersonated New York residents, a violation of state law. He further asserts that the FCC has not cooperated with requests for additional data and information. Data scientist Jeff Kao has also run an analysis of the public record, and estimates that over a million comments filed in support of repealing net neutrality may have been fake. These reports raise serious concerns as to whether the record the FCC is currently relying on has been tampered with and merits the full attention of, and investigation by, the FCC before votes on this item are cast.\r\nA transparent and open process is vitally important to how the FCC functions. The FCC must invest its time and resources into obtaining a more accurate picture of the record as understanding that record is essential to reaching a defensible resolution to this proceeding.\u00a0 As a result, we are requesting that you delay your planned vote on this item until you can conduct a thorough review of the state of the record and provide Congress with greater assurance of its accuracy and completeness.\u00a0\r\nThank you for your immediate attention to this matter.\r\nSincerely,\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-and-reed-urge-fcc-chairman-pai-to-delay-vote-rolling-back-net-neutrality-rules", "Whitehouse & Reed Urge FCC Chairman Pai to Delay Vote Rolling Back Net Neutrality Rules", "2017-12-04", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.04.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse & Reed Urge FCC Chairman Pai to Delay Vote Rolling Back Net Neutrality Rules \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Letter follows reports that bots impersonating Americans may have flooded FCC net neutrality policymaking process with fake comments\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and 25 of their colleagues sent a letter today to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai, expressing concern over reports that bots impersonating Americans filed hundreds of thousands of phony comments to the FCC during the net neutrality policymaking process.\u00a0 The Senators are strongly urging the Chairman to delay the planned December 14 vote to roll back net neutrality rules until an investigation of the state of the record is conducted.\r\nWhitehouse and Reed say that the Trump Administration\u2019s plan to dismantle net neutrality will undermine the principles of a free and open internet and be an unprecedented giveaway to big broadband providers, benefitting a few telecommunications giants at the expense of their customers who use the internet every day.\r\n\u201cA free and open Internet is vital to ensuring a level playing field online, and we believe that your proposed action may be based on an incomplete understanding of the public record in this proceeding,\u201d the Senators wrote. \u201cIn fact, there is good reason to believe that the record may be replete with fake or fraudulent comments, suggesting that your proposal is fundamentally flawed.\u201d\r\n\u201cWithout additional information about the alleged anomalies surrounding the public record, the FCC cannot conduct a thorough and fair evaluation of the public\u2019s views on this topic, and should not move forward with a vote on December 14, 2017,\u201d the Senators continued.\r\n\u201cThe FCC must invest its time and resources into obtaining a more accurate picture of the record as understanding that record is essential to reaching a defensible resolution to this proceeding,\u201d the Senators concluded.\r\nIn addition to Whitehouse, Reed, and Hassan, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angus King (I-ME), Al Franken (D-MN), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).\r\nSee below for the full text of the letter:\r\nDecember 4, 2017\r\nThe Honorable Ajit Pai\r\nChairman\r\nFederal Communications Commission\r\n445 12th Street Southwest\r\nWashington, DC 20554\r\nDear Chairman Pai:\r\nWe are deeply concerned by your recently released proposal to roll back critical consumer protections by dismantling the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s (FCC) current net neutrality rules. A free and open Internet is vital to ensuring a level playing field online, and we believe that your proposed action may be based on an incomplete understanding of the public record in this proceeding. In fact, there is good reason to believe that the record may be replete with fake or fraudulent comments, suggesting that your proposal is fundamentally flawed.\r\nTo this end, we request a thorough investigation by the FCC into reports that bots may have interfered with this proceeding by filing hundreds of thousands of comments. Furthermore, an additional 50,000 consumer complaints seem to have been excluded from the public record in this proceeding, according to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by the National Hispanic Media Coalition.\u00a0 Without additional information about the alleged anomalies surrounding the public record, the FCC cannot conduct a thorough and fair evaluation of the public\u2019s views on this topic, and should not move forward with a vote on December 14, 2017.\u00a0\r\nNew York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has spent the past six months conducting an investigation into the fraudulent comments, and found that \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d of comments may have impersonated New York residents, a violation of state law. He further asserts that the FCC has not cooperated with requests for additional data and information. Data scientist Jeff Kao has also run an analysis of the public record, and estimates that over a million comments filed in support of repealing net neutrality may have been fake. These reports raise serious concerns as to whether the record the FCC is currently relying on has been tampered with and merits the full attention of, and investigation by, the FCC before votes on this item are cast.\u00a0\r\nA transparent and open process is vitally important to how the FCC functions. The FCC must invest its time and resources into obtaining a more accurate picture of the record as understanding that record is essential to reaching a defensible resolution to this proceeding.\u00a0 As a result, we are requesting that you delay your planned vote on this item until you can conduct a thorough review of the state of the record and provide Congress with greater assurance of its accuracy and completeness.\u00a0\r\nThank you for your immediate attention to this matter.\r\nSincerely,\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/speeches/senator-jack-reeds-remarks-reagan-national-defense-forum", "Senator Jack Reed's Remarks: Reagan National Defense Forum", "2017-12-02", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/02/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Thank you to the Reagan National Defense Forum for honoring me this evening with the Peace Through Strength Award.\u00a0 I have had the privilege of attending nearly every event since 2013, and have always found the discussions to be marked by thoughtfulness and insight, and not partisanship.\u00a0 Previous award recipients include two of the most dedicated Senators I\u2019ve had the privilege to work with on the Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin and the current Chairman, Senator John McCain.\u00a0 So I am humbled to be here tonight.\u00a0 Or, as Senator McCain would point out: how could someone without a college education receive such an award?\u00a0 \u00a0\r\nIt is also an immense honor to be alongside Secretary George Shultz, who played a monumental role in guiding U.S. foreign policy at the height of the Cold War.\u00a0 Starting as a United States Marine, later as the head of the Office of Management and Budget and Secretary of Treasury under the Nixon Administration, and then as President Reagan\u2019s Secretary of State for nearly 7 years, he has been an inspiration to all who seek to serve.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\r\nThe profound sense of duty, dignity, and decency that both President Reagan and Secretary Shultz brought to their service contributed to their success.\u00a0 They invested their offices with respect and, in turn, they received the respect and admiration of their countrymen and the world.\u00a0 Their example is more important today than at any time in our history.\u00a0\r\nThis year marks the 30th anniversary of President Reagan\u2019s famous speech in Berlin in which he challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall dividing East and West.\u00a0 What lessons can be drawn from that historic address in 1987?\u00a0\r\nFirst, President Reagan clearly understood the importance of principled U.S. leadership in the global competition between free societies and the forces of domination and destruction.\u00a0 In this struggle, the United States served as the guardian of a rules-based international order that kept the peace since the end of World War II.\r\nIn Berlin, President Reagan stressed that our values as a free society are a source of American strength.\u00a0 He was well aware that his audience was on both sides of the Wall, and he appealed to the universal desire for freedom.\u00a0 He said, \u201cWe believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\nPresident Reagan also understood that the United States is stronger standing with our allies and partners.\u00a0 He remarked that by standing firm together, the Western nations had forced the Soviets back to the negotiating table after they had walked away years earlier.\u00a0 President Reagan spoke of a \u201ccommunity of freedom,\u201d and warned that the Soviet Union could either join or end up becoming obsolete.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\nFinally, President Reagan understood the importance of balancing a strong defense with our commitment to promoting peace.\u00a0 In Berlin, President Reagan said \u201cwe must maintain defenses of unassailable strength.\u00a0 Yet we seek peace; so we must reduce arms on both sides.\u201d \u00a0This reflects the same wise advice given by Secretary Shultz to the Senate Armed Services Committee a few years ago, when he advised that we needed to be realistic and strong, and then \u201cdon\u2019t be afraid to engage with your adversaries, but do it on your [own] agenda and from your strengths.\u201d\u00a0\r\nPresident Reagan was not afraid to pursue diplomatic efforts to promote peace and lessen the nuclear threat.\u00a0 As a result of this vision, President Reagan cultivated a relationship with Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev across four summits in Geneva, Reykjavik, Washington and Moscow.\u00a0 The Reagan-Gorbachev diplomacy laid the groundwork for unprecedented arms control agreements.\u00a0\r\nThe wisdom of President Reagan\u2019s words are as compelling today as they were 30 years ago.\u00a0\r\nToday, we confront a security challenge in Europe that many hoped had disappeared forever with the fall of the Berlin Wall. \u00a0The Kremlin is seeking to re-write the end of the Cold War.\u00a0 Its seizure of Crimea is the first re-drawing of international boundaries in Europe by military force since the end of World War II. \u00a0A revanchist Russia is modernizing its military and using hybrid warfare, propaganda, and subterfuge to undermine Western institutions, divide the alliance, and coerce its neighbors.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\nThe Kremlin has targeted democracy in the United States and across Europe.\u00a0 While recognizing that Russia cannot defeat the United States and its allies militarily, Putin has weaponized information, using cyber hacking, bots, trolls, and disinformation, to launch attacks against the key institutions of our free societies, including our elections.\u00a0 Today, unlike during President Reagan\u2019s day, American institutions have let down their guard against foreign, state-produced propaganda and fake-news.\u00a0 And we have not yet seen leadership emerge from this Administration to push back against these Russian malign influence activities.\u00a0\r\nRussia is just one of a number of actors seeking to fracture the existing international order and exploit these rifts for their own gains.\u00a0 North Korea threatens stability in the Pacific with its nuclear saber-rattling; China inhibits freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and coerces its neighbors economically; Iran has worked to destabilize the Middle East and supports the murderous Assad regime in Syria; and non-state actors like Al Qaeda and ISIS commit horrific violence in the name of a distorted ideology across the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere.\u00a0 \u00a0\r\nIn light of these unprecedented and complex challenges, how do we ensure the cause of peace going forward?\u00a0\r\nFirst, we need to remain resolute in support of our fundamental American values.\u00a0 No one was more resolute than Ronald Reagan.\u00a0 We must be equally firm in advocating the principles of respect for human dignity, democracy, and the freedom of sovereign nations to choose their own paths.\u00a0 We must reject foreign propaganda that asserts a moral equivalency between Western democracies and autocratic states.\u00a0 Our military men and women pledge to defend America and its values with their lives.\u00a0 We need to speak clearly in support of those values.\u00a0\r\nSecond, ensuring the cause of peace requires that our military remain strong, as President Reagan so often reminded us.\u00a0 A credible, capable military is necessary to convince our adversaries that they are better off choosing peaceful engagement over confrontation.\u00a0 However, this will not be achieved on the cheap and should not be put on a credit card.\u00a0 The mindless budget cuts of the last several years under the Budget Control Act and sequestration have harmed our military readiness, prevented needed investments, and delayed needed adjustments to our force structure.\u00a0 The results have been costly and, in some cases, tragic.\u00a0 We must recognize our duty to fully support our military personnel, both during their service and for the decades after they return to civilian life.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\nThird, we must stand with our allies and partners in opposing foreign efforts to undermine the international order.\u00a0 We must assure the world that we will uphold our alliance pledges, including under Article 5 of the NATO treaty and our commitments to Japan and South Korea.\u00a0\r\nFourth, ensuring peace requires that our military strength is matched by diplomatic capabilities, a lesson both President Reagan and Secretary Shultz demonstrated in words and deeds.\u00a0 Unfortunately, within the past year, we\u2019ve seen the decimation of the leadership ranks at the Department of State, and this must stop.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0If we are going to ask our men and women in uniform to take military action, and our allies to stand with us in conflict, we must first be able to assure them that we have exhausted every diplomatic avenue for peace.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\nFinally, we are stronger as a nation when we come together in a bipartisan way to tackle our major foreign policy and national security challenges.\u00a0 Despite the ever-growing partisanship, we must continue to work to restore civility and respect to our public discourse.\u00a0 Under Senator McCain\u2019s leadership, Congress last month passed for the 56th year in a row the National Defense Authorization Act. \u00a0This unparalleled record of success reflects a longstanding bipartisan commitment to support our military and offers an example for Congress to work together on other issues.\u00a0\r\nThe American public needs to recognize that our national security and the integrity of our democracy depend on building our resilience against those who seek to exploit our differences to weaken our nation.\u00a0 This is not a Republican or Democratic issue; it is an issue of national security. \u00a0Ultimately, our strength lies in our ability to engage with each other respectfully and honestly and work for the common good.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\nAlthough President Reagan and I could never be mistaken for one another\u2014I, for one, am a man of normal height, and he was unusually tall\u2014we are both Irish.\u00a0 And, I believe President Reagan would share my appreciation for the words of another Irishman, the renowned poet Seamus Heaney, who wrote:\u00a0\r\nHistory says, don't hope   On this side of the grave.   But then, once in a lifetime   The longed-for tidal wave   Of justice can rise up,   And hope and history rhyme.\r\nThree decades ago, hope and history rhymed.\u00a0 If we remain true to our principles and ideals, hope and history will rhyme once again in our lifetimes.\u00a0\u00a0\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-statement-on-senate-passage-of-trumptax", "Whitehouse Statement on Senate Passage of TrumpTax", "2017-12-02", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.02.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Statement on Senate Passage of TrumpTax \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC \u2013 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on the passage of Republicans\u2019 tax proposal:\r\n\u201cTrumpTax is a scam.\u00a0 Tonight, while most Americans were sleeping, Senate Republicans voted to hike taxes on millions of middle-class families to pay for tax cuts for President Trump and his billionaire friends.\u00a0 This so-called \u2018tax reform\u2019 moves our nation in the wrong direction by every measure: it will send more American jobs overseas, increase health insurance premiums, explode our national debt, and pollute an already-complicated tax code with new loopholes and gifts for the very wealthy.\u00a0 It\u2019s a giveaway to Republican donors, and the American people should take note.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/cicilline-statement-flynn-guilty-plea", "Cicilline Statement on Flynn Guilty Plea", "2017-12-01", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "David Cicilline", "C001084", "cicilline.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON - Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Co-Chair David N. Cicilline, a member of the House Democratic Leadership and the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees, issued the following statement today after President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI:\n\u201cThis is incredibly serious. President Trump's former National Security Adviser just pled guilty to lying to the FBI. No matter how much the President diminishes this ongoing investigation, it's clear that Robert Mueller is doing his job.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/langevin-statement-former-national-security-advisor-michael-flynn-lying-fbi", "Langevin Statement on Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn Lying to the FBI", "2017-12-01", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jim Langevin", "L000559", "langevin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), a senior member of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees, released the following statement regarding President Trump\u2019s former National Security Advisor, Michael T. Flynn, pleading guilty to lying to the FBI:\n\u201cI am deeply disturbed that President Trump\u2019s senior-most advisor on national security issues lied to the FBI. Michael Flynn was entrusted with guiding policies integral to the defense of our nation, and it is clear he violated that trust. Equally worrying, he lied about contacts with Russian officials in the lead up to the inauguration, contacts that rightfully raise questions about the Trump campaign, transition, and Administration\u2019s cozy relationship with a country that has actively sought to undermine our democracy. This development only further reinforces my concerns about the President\u2019s judgment, and I am worried that his hiring decisions, his policies, and his tweets are compromising our security and our position as a global leader.\n\u201cToday\u2019s charges, coming just one month after the indictments of Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, are further validation of special counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s investigation. That investigation must be allowed to continue, free of political interference of any kind, in order to help restore faith in our institutions and demonstrate again that no one is above the law.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/-reed-statement-on-republican-tax-bill", "Reed Statement on Republican Tax Bill", "2017-12-01", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/01/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013\u00a0Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed issued the following statement:\r\n\u201cThis trickle-down tax plan is a disaster for the middle-class and threatens America\u2019s long-term economic security.\u00a0 It irresponsibly cuts benefits for students, seniors, working parents, and many others and is designed to put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block.\r\n\u201cI support responsible\u00a0investments in repairing our infrastructure and educating Americans.\u00a0 Tax cuts that\u00a0spur\u00a0real\u00a0job growth and increase take-home pay\u00a0should be part of any package to help the middle-class.\u00a0 But I oppose this stunning transfer of wealth from taxpayers to millionaires.\u00a0 In fact, the non-partisan CBO shows that by 2027, people making $40,000 to $50,000 will see their taxes go up by $5.3 billion more in taxes, while those in the $1 million and up category would get a $5.8 billion cut.\u00a0 And the Joint Committee on Taxation, which serves as another non-partisan\u00a0government budget referee, concluded that\u00a0President Trump\u2019s plan\u00a0will balloon the federal budget deficit over $1 trillion in the next decade.\r\n\u201cCongress should work together to responsibly cut taxes for working families,\u00a0restore our infrastructure,\u00a0invest in the middle-class, and help small businesses grow.\u00a0 Instead, Republicans are using a closed process to benefit multi-national corporations and mega-donors at the expense of hardworking Americans.\u00a0\r\n\u201cI encourage Americans everywhere to look at the facts and let Congress know what you think of this bill.\u00a0 Republicans are\u00a0sadly\u00a0prioritizing corporations over people.\u00a0 People need to speak up before it is too late.\u00a0 I\u00a0suspect\u00a0President Trump\u00a0will try and claim this bill as a win for regular Americans, but the truth and the math are not on the President\u2019s side.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-calls-for-senate-hearings-into-congressional-sexual-harassment-and-discrimination", "Reed Calls for Senate Hearings into Congressional Sexual Harassment & Discrimination", "2017-12-01", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/01/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Jack Reed today called on Senate Republican leaders to hold bipartisan public hearings on policies and laws regarding the handling of sexual harassment and discrimination cases on Capitol Hill.\u00a0\r\n\u201cSexual harassment and discrimination must not be tolerated and Congress needs to increase protections for workers, reform the process used to report harassment and discrimination, and make any settlement process transparent so voters are fully informed.\u00a0 The current system is clearly broken and needs to change, and that should start with serious, substantive hearings,\u201d said Senator Reed.\u00a0 \u201cI urge my Republican colleagues to hold public hearings to help prevent discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace and ensure the system is fair and workers feel empowered to report misconduct.\u00a0 In particular, we need to address transparency when it comes to settlements.\u201d\r\nThe U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives recently passed resolutions requiring Senators and U.S. Representatives and staff to participate in certified anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training.\u00a0\r\nBut Reed says training alone is not enough, there should be public hearings to determine the most effective solutions for overhauling the Contract With America\u2019s Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) of 1995, which established the procedures Capitol Hill staffers must follow to report sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace.\u00a0 The Office of Compliance, a watchdog created by the CAA, oversees complaints lodged by Capitol Hill employees, ranging from lawmakers\u2019 staff, to maintenance and support personnel, to Capitol Police officers.\u00a0\r\n\u201cSexual harassment in the workplace is a serious, widespread problem,\u201d said Reed. \u00a0\u201cCongress should start the process of reform with an open hearing that sheds more light on the scope of the issue and leads to positive changes.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-statement-on-flynn-indictment-and-continuing-criminal-investigation", "Reed Statement on Flynn Indictment & Continuing Criminal Investigation", "2017-12-01", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/01/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today, after former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, White House national security adviser, and retired Lt. General Michael T. Flynn pleaded guilty in a deal with the Special Counsel investigating foreign meddling in the 2016 elections, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), an ex officio member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued the following statement:\r\n\u201cToday\u2019s admission of guilt raises serious questions about both Flynn\u2019s judgment and Trump\u2019s credibility.\u00a0 It is further evidence that members of the Trump campaign appear to have engaged in unpatriotic and criminal activity and were undermining U.S. policy and working counter to American interests.\r\n\u201cThis is now the fourth senior Trump associate to face federal criminal charges, and second to plead guilty.\r\n\u201cAt some point in the near future, the President himself should answer questions under oath about his role in terms of what he did and what he - or senior members of his team - directed others to do.\u00a0 He owes the American people honest, straightforward answers.\u00a0 We live in the greatest country on earth, and protecting our democracy starts with protecting our elections.\r\n\u201cIt is disturbing that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin seem to be birds of a feather in terms of refusing to acknowledge Russian interference in our 2016 presidential election.\u00a0 The American people deserve to know why.\u00a0 They deserve the facts.\u00a0 Today\u2019s plea deal is further proof that this is not a \u2018witch hunt.\u2019\u00a0 It is an evolving and much-needed criminal investigation.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-statement-on-flynn-guilty-plea-cooperation", "Whitehouse Statement on Flynn Guilty Plea, Cooperation", "2017-12-01", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Sheldon Whitehouse", "W000802", "www.whitehouse.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.01.17\n\t\t\t Whitehouse Statement on Flynn Guilty Plea, Cooperation \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, DC \u2013 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, released the following statement on former National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn\u2019s guilty plea for lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about his contacts with a top Russian official, as well as Flynn\u2019s cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller:\r\n\u201cAs we learned at our subcommittee hearing in May, General Flynn made a false statement to the FBI about his contacts with a top Russian official.\u00a0 The White House Counsel knew that and waited 18 days before removing Flynn from his position.\u00a0 A false statement, made in the White House, by the National Security Advisor, about a call with a foreign adversary, looks like a prison case to me.\u00a0 And as Sally Yates\u2019s testimony made clear in our hearing, Mr. Flynn\u2019s behavior constituted a serious risk to national security and a betrayal of the public trust.\u00a0 Three-star generals don\u2019t want to go to prison, so his cooperation is no surprise.\u00a0\r\n\u201cWith this guilty plea and cooperation, Mr. Mueller can pursue the whole truth of the Trump campaign\u2019s involvement in Russia\u2019s meddling in our election, and any obstruction of justice.\u00a0 Flynn\u2019s testimony has the potential to shed light on some of the most pressing questions about the behavior of the President, his top advisers, and his campaign.\u00a0 Special Counsel Mueller\u2019s investigation must proceed without interference from the President or his administration.\u201d\r\nIn May, at a Senate Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee hearing, former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates raised serious concerns with the Trump administration\u2019s handling of information on contacts between a top Russian official and Flynn.\u00a0 Yates revealed that she warned the White House that Flynn\u2019s continued dishonesty about his inappropriate contacts with the Russian government posed a national security risk\u2014a warning that Trump failed to act upon for 18 days while Flynn took part in highly sensitive matters, and that administration officials have repeatedly mischaracterized since Flynn\u2019s resignation.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 1267, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", 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