WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 -- The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on active-duty commissioned officers' participation in the tuition assistance program. The report (GAO-19-699R) is titled "DOD Education Benefits: Data on Officer Participation in and Views on Proposed Changes to the Tuition Assistance Program". The report was sent to Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, chairman, Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, D  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Recognizing that election security is a matter of national security, the Senate Appropriations Committee today approved a bipartisan amendment sponsored by Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) to add $250 million in election security funding for states to the fiscal year 2020 Financial Services and General Government funding bill. If enacted, the $250 million will allow s  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) today introduced the Supporting Providers of English Language Learning (SPELL) Act. The legislation aims to address the English learner (EL) teacher shortage by making highly-qualified EL teachers eligible for up to $17,500 in student loan forgiveness. Congressmen Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) joined Langevin on the bill as original cosponsors. "In R  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Congressman Jim Langevin (RI-02), along with Congressman David Cicilline (RI-01), submitted the following statement to the Congressional Record to commemorate the bicentennial of the Congdon Street Baptist Church in Providence: "Madam Speaker, I rise with my colleague, Congressman David Cicilline, to celebrate the bicentennial of the Congdon Street Baptist Church. Over the last 200 years, the church h  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Today, the U.S. Senate approved the Autism CARES Act of 2019, which was cosponsored by U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Mike Enzi (R-WY). The Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support (Autism CARES) Act provides coordinated and expanded federal resources for autism research and services. Passage of this bill ensures the continuation of critical federal   more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: Democratic Policy and Communications Chair David N. Cicilline (RI-01) introduced the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Through Promoting Competition Act of 2019 today to increase competition in the prescription drug market by prohibiting pharmaceutical companies from engaging in harmful "product hopping" that increases corporate profits at the expense of consumers. "Pharmaceutical companies hav  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 -- Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, issued the following statement in response to a report in the Wall Street Journal that e-commerce giant Amazon manipulated its online search system in 2018 in ways that could benefit its own in-house products: "This is the kind of self-dealing that benefits powerful corporations, but harms competition, consumers, workers, and small business   more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: In an effort to increase staffing levels at the Cranston Fire Department and decrease emergency response times, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Jim Langevin today joined Mayor Allan Fung in announcing $2,673,657 to help Cranston hire 15 new firefighters. The federal funds are being awarded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fir  more

WARWICK, Rhode Island, Sept. 20 -- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: In an effort to enhance fire protection and emergency response capabilities across the state, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today announced a total of $4,216,959 in federal funding to help a dozen fire departments across the state purchase new equipment and recruit new firefighters. Fire departments in Warwick, East Providenc  more

WARWICK, Rhode Island, Sept. 16 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - Senator Reed helps increase RI's share of LWCF by $700k over last year's funding levels to expand outdoor recreation opportunities * * * Parks, trails, and wildlife refuges across the Ocean State are in line for new upgrades and improvements thanks to an infusion of federal dollars from a land and water conservation fund. Today, at Goddard Memorial State Park, U.S. Senator Jack Reed  more

NEWPORT, Rhode Island, Sept. 9 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following remarks at the 2019 Rochambeau Dialogue at Salve Regina University: "Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. I would like to thank Salve Regina, Dr. Kelli Armstrong, Dr. Jim Ludes and Dr. Iskander Rehman for the invitation. The Rochambeau Dialogue recognizes the longstanding and extraordinary military and political alliance between the United States and France. The depth of our alliance stems back to  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - THUD Appropriations Ranking Member Reed delivers over $364 million to help upgrade RI's highways, bridges, and mass transit programs; and over $250 million for core community, housing, and homelessness prevention programs * * * Today, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the fiscal year 2020 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appr  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - Federal SAFER grant will help Cranston hire 15 new firefighters * * * In an effort to increase staffing levels at the Cranston Fire Department and decrease emergency response times, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Jim Langevin today joined Mayor Allan Fung in announcing $2,673,657 to help Cranston hire 15 new firefighters. The federal funds are being awarded thro  more

WARWICK, Rhode Island, Sept. 20 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - Warwick Fire Department nets over $1.1 million for new equipment and training, East Providence granted over $800k for new communications equipment. Additional funding for Woonsocket, Middletown, Harmony (Chepachet), Little Compton, Coventry, North Scituate, and Saylesville (Lincoln) Fire Departments, along with the Rhode Island Fire Academy in Exeter, the Rhode Island Fire Chiefs Asso  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 -- Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: The fiscal year 2020 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Senate Appropriations bill provides $74.3 billion in discretionary budget authority - $2.6 billion more than the fiscal year 2019 enacted level, and $15.8 billion more than the President's request. The programs and activities supported by this bill include significant responsibilities entrusted to the Federal g  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following statement, which was published in the Congressional Record on Sept. 16, on climate change: I am here today on the Senate floor for "Time to Wake Up" speech No. 253. If you felt like the heat this summer was particularly brutal, you were not imagining things. July was the hottest month ever recorded, according to NOAA. The Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization noted, "July has rewritten cl  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - Federal SAFER grant will help Cranston hire 15 new firefighters * * * In an effort to increase staffing levels at the Cranston Fire Department and decrease emergency response times, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Jim Langevin today joined Mayor Allan Fung in announcing $2,673,657 to help Cranston hire 15 new firefighters. The federal funds are being awa  more

WARWICK, Rhode Island, Sept. 20 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - Warwick Fire Department nets over $1.1 million for new equipment and training, East Providence granted over $800k for new communications equipment. Additional funding for Woonsocket, Middletown, Harmony (Chepachet), Little Compton, Coventry, North Scituate, and Saylesville (Lincoln) Fire Departments, along with the Rhode Island Fire Academy in Exeter, the Rhode Island Fire Chi  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - Top corporations and financial firms have already pledged to fight deforestation - now they ought to deliver, dozen senators write Failure to act risks tipping point for climate, biodiversity * * * Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led a dozen colleagues in writing a pair of letters to corporate signatories to the New York Declaration on Forests, calling for th  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, and Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following statements in honor of the bicentennial of the Congdon Street Baptist Church in Providence: Mr. REED: "Mr. President, today I join with my colleague Senator Whitehouse, the city of Providence, and the State of Rhode Island in celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Congdon Street Baptist Church, Rhode Island's oldest Black congregation. For generations, it has   more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - Letter Calls for Details of Rudy Giuliani and Justice Department Officials' Involvement in Quashing Prosecution of Purdue Executives * * * Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) pressed the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over a 2006 memo laying out federal prosecutors' strong criminal case against Purdue Pharma--and related documents that could show why the Dep  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - RI's Narragansett Bay is largest estuary in New England * * * U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse today announced that the U.S. Senate has declared September 14 through September 21, 2019 as National Estuaries Week in a resolution that was unanimously approved last month. Sponsored by Whitehouse and 26 Senate colleagues, the bipartisan legislation recognizes the importance of coastal and e  more

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release: * * * - The senators followed up on questions raised to the Assistant Attorney General of Antitrust at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights oversight hearing earlier this week * * * U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote to Attorney General William Barr expressing  more