WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Noting that the bus and motorcoach industry is an important link in the nation's transportation network that has a major economic impact and employs nearly 90,000 Americans, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) Act of 2020. This bipartisan legislation would provide $10 billion in emergency economic relief fundi  more

WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released an article published in the latest edition of the Harvard Journal on Legislation that details corporate interests' capture of our federal judiciary and proposes a range of legislative solutions to counter it. In Dark Money and U.S. Courts: The Problem and Solutions, Whitehouse traces the history of corporations' campaign to wrest control of the courts by f  more

WASHINGTON, July 1 -- The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Health issued the following testimony by Ex-Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, D-Rhode Island, founder of The Kennedy Forum, in a virtual hearing entitled "High Anxiety and Stress: Legislation to Improve Mental Health During Crisis" on June 30: It has been 11 years since the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (Federal Parity Law), which I authored with my Republican colleague Rep. Jim R  more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), voted in support of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, sweeping legislation that will invest more than $1.5 trillion to rebuild and enhance America's infrastructure while creating millions of good-paying jobs and combatting the climate crisis. The legislation passed the House by a vote of 233-188. "To rebuild our country and get Americans to work, we need bold investments l  more

WASHINGTON, June 30 -- Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) played a pivotal role in passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA), bring down the cost of prescription drugs, and expand access to quality, affordable health care. "There has never been a worse time to try to rip away health care from the American people," Cicilline said while speaking f  more

WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, announced that the state will receive $8,433,558 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to improve public safety and bolster Rhode Island's emergency preparedness efforts. These federal funds are targeted to help Rhode Island government agencies and organizations prepare f  more

WASHINGTON, June 30 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following statement: Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of its Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities, issued the following statement regarding reports that Russian military intelligence offered bounties on coalition forces in Afghanistan, including American troops. * * * "I am incredibly alarmed by media reports of Russian military   more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) voted late this evening to advance the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) out of the House Committee on Armed Services. The annual defense policy bill, which authorizes $732 billion in funding for the military over the next year, passed by a vote of 56-0. "It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity each year to set the policy that ensur  more

WASHINGTON, July 1 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Congressmen Jim Langevin (D-RI), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Jason Crow (D-CO) announced their intention to offer an amendment to the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act that requires the Department of Defense to continue to plan for and confront the national security impacts of climate change. The announcement comes the same day the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis unveiled its comprehensive c  more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, announced that the state will receive $8,433,558 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to improve public safety and bolster Rhode Island's emergency preparedness efforts. These federal funds are targeted to help Rhode Island government agencies and organizations prepare for,  more

WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Congressmen Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and David Cicilline (RI-01) just introduced legislation to reduce gun violence by banning the home manufacture of "ghost guns" -- firearms that require no background check, have no serial number, and are essentially impossible to trace if used in committing murder, robbery or other crimes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a nationwide surge in "build-it yo  more

WASHINGTON, June 29 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following statement: After it was publicly reported that U.S. Intelligence concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops and coalition forces in Afghanistan, and that President Trump was briefed on the matter in March, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee and an ex officio member of the Intelligence  more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: In an effort to boost water infrastructure projects and provide clean, safe drinking water for all Rhode Islanders, U.S. Senator Jack Reed announced $21,789,000 in Congressionally-appropriated State Revolving Funds (SRFs) for water infrastructure projects in Rhode Island. Administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal funding will flow to two federal-state loan programs that sup  more

WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: In an effort to help libraries nationwide respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue providing communities with needed services, resources, technology, and broadband access, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced the Library Stabilization Fund Act. This legislation would provide $2 billion in federal funding for public libraries nationwide through the Institute of Museum and Library Se  more

WASHINGTON, June 29 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following statement: In the wake of a federal appeals court ruling that the Trump Administration wrongly sidestepped Congress in ordering the U.S. Department of Defense to divert $2.5 billion in military funding to a U.S.-Mexico border wall - in a move that illegally violated the Constitution's Appropriations Clause - U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee and a senior member of the Appr  more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release on July 1: As cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to spike in many states nationwide and as American families, businesses, communities, and states continue to struggle to cover costs during the pandemic, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is urging President Trump and Congressional Republican leaders to jumpstart talks on the next COVID-19 relief bill, which Reed says should be a targeted, multi-tr  more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, announced that the state will receive $8,433,558 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to improve public safety and bolster Rhode Island's emergency preparedness efforts. These federal funds are targeted to help Rhode Island government agencies and organizations prepare for, re  more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following statement: In a midnight tweet seeking once again to divide rather than unite Americans, President Trump vowed to prioritize keeping bases named after Confederate generals over the welfare of U.S. forces who are fighting to defend our nation. President Trump explicitly threatened to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021 unless it drops a bipartisan provision establishing a Pentagon comm  more

WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release on July 2: Late last night, Congress unanimously voted to extend the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) authority to approve Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans through August 8, 2020. U.S. Senator Jack Reed supported the extension, but says more comprehensive action by Congress is needed to rescue the economy. Earlier this week, hours before the program expired, the U.S. Senate unanimously a  more

WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release on July 2: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called on the Justice Department Inspector General to investigate the aborted federal antitrust investigation of four automakers' agreement with the state of California over auto fuel emissions standards. Citing last week's hearing in the House Judiciary Committee featuring whistleblower testimony from a former top Antitrust Division official, Whitehouse   more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) have introduced the bipartisan Telehealth Response for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services (TREATS) Act to support the expansion of telehealth services for substance use disorder treatment. The bill would build upon previous federal action to waive regulatory restrictions for accessing care during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the t  more

WASHINGTON, June 30 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent letters to Marathon Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Conoco Philips, Denbury Resources, and the Koch Companies requesting information on the corporations' lobbying for a major corporate giveaway in COVID-19 relief legislation. The loophole has allowed the companies to claim tax benefits worth hundreds of millions of dollars based on losses that had nothing to do with t  more

WASHINGTON, June 30 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following statement on June 29: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement today on the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision eroding the independence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Whitehouse led a friend-of-the-court brief in the case calling out the special interest campaign to achieve today's outcome. * * * "The Consumer Financial Prot  more

WASHINGTON, July 2 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, announced that the state will receive $8,433,558 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to improve public safety and bolster Rhode Island's emergency preparedness efforts. These federal funds are targeted to help Rhode Island government agencies and organizations prepar  more

WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) cosponsored the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. This legislation would designate Juneteenth as a permanent holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The bill would also establish a Juneteenth Federal Holiday Commission to encourage ceremonies and activities in celebration of the holiday throughout the natio  more