Press Releases

PROVIDENCE, RI – Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline announced $3,884,710 in new federal funding for seventeen fire departments across the state.  The delegation says the cities, towns, and fire districts are receiving federal funds to purchase vital equipment, including fire hoses, trucks, high-tech breathing equipment, and personal protective equipment (PPE). The federal funds are made available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and will help local fire departments prioritize operations and safety during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement today: “The actions of the Trump Administration have brought Iran closer to having a nuclear weapon. Their abrupt departure from the Iran Deal, and their failure to stop the expiration of the arms embargo with Iran have imperiled us all.” “We knew that the expiration of the arms embargo was coming. The Trump Administration re-imposing sanctions, known as snapback, is a failure of foresight, ability to negotiate, and will further diminish the United States’ credibility on the world stage. Containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which should be a shared and serious priority, may now be even more difficult.” 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) questioned Attorney General Barr at today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing.

WASHINGTON – U.S. House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) delivered closing remarks at the end of today’s hearing with the CEOs of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google. Click the image below to watch a video of Cicilline’s remarks. A transcript is embedded at the end of this email.  David N. Cicilline Closing Remarks July 29, 2020 I want to thank the witnesses for their testimony today. And my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Today we’ve had the opportunity to hear from the decisionmakers at four of the most powerful companies in the world. This hearing has made one fact clear to me—these companies as they exist today have monopoly power. 

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, today announced that $71.3 million in funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has been distributed to five Rhode Island hospitals to offset the costs of caring for coronavirus patients.  The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “We set this funding aside in the CARES Act to help local hospitals and providers who are struggling with the fallout of this pandemic, but the Trump Administration’s distribution has been slow and uneven.  While I’m glad Rhode Island hospitals are finally receiving this additional infusion of CARES Act assistance, more needs to be done to help offset their COVID-19 related losses,” said Senator Reed.

PAWTUCKET - U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) issued the following statement today: “Over the course of his 80 years of life, on a journey that took him from a sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, John Lewis never stopped fighting to extend the blessings of liberty to all Americans. "Whether he was leading us on another march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, sitting in against gun violence on the floor of the U.S. House, or joining Black Lives Matter protesters outside the White House just a few weeks ago, John Lewis always was the Conscience of the Congress. Our country will miss this modern-day saint, this giant of our times."

WASHINGTON – Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Chair David N. Cicilline (RI-01) issued the following statement today: “This is an enormous victory for the basic principle that no one is above the law. The Court held today that Congress has the constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight of the executive branch. There is a clear need for that oversight in this case as President Trump continues trying to hide his connections to Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The President is already whining about this decision on Twitter. While he does that, I know that the House will continue our work to hold him accountable For The People.”

PAWTUCKET – U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement tonight: “This is a terrible decision. Leaving the WHO at this moment makes our country less safe. We should be leading the world in the fight against this pandemic, producing protective equipment, and developing a vaccine. Instead, the President is waving a white flag of surrender to the disease and telling the American people to fend for themselves. Once again, President Trump has failed to lead.”

WASHINGTON – 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 yourself” gun kits used for creating homemade ghost guns. These kits often come with the tools and instructions needed to turn the functional parts of a firearm – the unfinished frame and receiver – into a weapon. Because some buyers think the do-it-yourself stage takes too long to complete the weapon, metal milling machines specifically designed to rapidly finish ghost guns are now being marketed and sold to the public.