Throughout my career, I’ve worked to help strengthen our communities, increase employment, and ensure everyone gets a fair shot.  Here are some examples of how I’ve helped make a positive difference for Rhode Island and our nation:

 

EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

  • Took tough votes to help restore fiscal discipline and create record surpluses.  Opposed the unfunded Bush tax cuts for the rich, the Iraq war, and special interest giveaways that helped lead to record deficits.
  • Through my work on the Appropriations Committee, invested federal dollars in Rhode Island’s infrastructure and schools to help create good-paying jobs and build a strong foundation for future economic growth. 
  • Served on the Payroll and Unemployment Insurance Conference Committee, which broke a partisan log jam and hammered out the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. 
  • Helped pass the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act and the Small Business Jobs Act, which included tax breaks for family and small businesses to hire unemployed workers as well as purchase new equipment.
  • Championed the extension of unemployment benefits and an increase in the minimum wage. 
  • Wrote the work sharing law allowing businesses to take proven, cost-effective steps to save jobs and prevent layoffs in partnership with the states.
  • Voted for the Recovery Act to help stabilize the economy and save and create over 12,000 jobs throughout the Ocean State according to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
  • Helped pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to help prevent discrimination in the workplace and promote equal pay for equal work.
  • Voted to cut billions of dollars from the budget while also seeking to protect critical programs such as Pell grants and Medicare that are vital to Rhode Island families.
  • Secured $15 million in federal funds to get Rhode Island’s Exeter Job Corps Academy up and running.  Job Corps provides education and job training for disadvantaged and at-risk youths between the ages of 16 and 24.
 

KEEPING RI MOVING: INVESTING IN ROADS, PORTS, AND MASS-TRANSIT

  • Played a critical role in modernizing T.F. Green Airport and expanding the runway to help attract new business and jobs to Rhode Island. 
  • Championed critical road, highway, bus, rail, and port projects in Rhode Island and delivered millions of dollars in federal funding to improve Rhode Island’s roads, repair our bridges, expand commuter rail service, modernize RIPTA buses, upgrade our ports and airports, and ensure access to high-speed rail.
  • Helped write the last two major surface transportation bills, which included over $1.7 billion in combined funding for Rhode Island and ensured the state receives about $3 in federal highway funding for every $1 Rhode Islanders pay in gas taxes. 
  • Secured $55 million to make the Rhode Island Freight Rail Improvement Project (FRIP) a reality and expand our state’s freight rail service, create jobs, and grow Rhode Island’s economy.  The Boston Globe said the project “was a pipe dream until Reed began to lobby Representative Bob Carr, the Michigan Democrat who was chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over such projects.”
  • Directed over $22 million to upgrade Quonset’s Port of Davisville and over $10 million to help transform the Port of Providence into a modern marine cargo center that will diversify shipping options in the region.  Together with the significant investments secured for road, pier, and freight rail improvements, these projects are helping to make Rhode Island an increasingly important shipping hub.  And thanks to these efforts, Quonset Point’s automobile terminal has quadrupled its business.
  • Helped expand commuter rail service to South County. 
  • After the Governor of Florida turned down federal high-speed rail funding, moved quickly to help redirect $28 million of that money to upgrade Rhode Island train stations and railways.
  • Secured over $84 million to enable RIPTA to modernize its bus fleet and expand public transportation options throughout the state.
 

PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND HOLDING WALL STREET ACCOUNTABLE

  • Championed consumer rights and fought hard to protect Americans from predatory lending practices.
  • Strengthened investor protections, ensuring the transparency of complex financial markets and products, and helped improve federal oversight of investment banks and securities firms.
  • Wrote several key pieces of the historic Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street, including a provision establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that is helping to prevent deceptive practices and provide consumers with the information they need to make informed choices when shopping for mortgages, credit cards, and other consumer financial products. 
  • Created the independent Office of Financial Research to provide early warnings to regulators about financial problems so they can keep pace and act on the information.
  • Created CFPB’s Office of Service Member Affairs, a consumer watchdog for servicemembers, veterans, and their families, that will help monitor financial scams and respond to complaints. 
  • When the economy collapsed in 2008, wrote the law ensuring taxpayers would share in the rewards when the banks recovered.  As a result, taxpayers have earned more than $9.4 billion in additional dividends – money that would have otherwise been kept by the rescued banks.
  • Helped pass “swipe fee” reform law that prevents credit card companies and big banks from imposing unreasonable fees on consumers and small businesses each time a customer uses a debit card. 
  • Cosponsored the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which President Obama signed into law, establishing fair and sensible rules for how and when credit card companies can raise interest rates.
  • Helped pass historic ethics reform bill to make government more transparent and lawmakers more accountable.
 

PROVIDING ACCESS TO QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE

  • Helped pass the landmark health insurance reform law and has been nationally recognized for work to provide all children with access to affordable health care.
  • Helped broker a bipartisan agreement that prevented over 600,000 children nationwide from potentially losing their health insurance and boosted SCHIP funding for Rhode Island from $13.2 million to $69.5 million – the highest percentage increase of any state.
  • Authored the bipartisan Conquer Childhood Cancer Act, a law that expands research programs aimed at improving childhood cancer treatments and ultimately finding a cure for childhood cancer. 
  • Increased funds for vital immunization and disease prevention programs for children and adults.
  • Authored the bipartisan Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act, establishing critical care networks nationwide so that more paramedics and first responders can get trauma care patients to the right doctor at the right time.
  • Worked on a bipartisan basis on laws to expand mental health care services and youth suicide prevention efforts, and to support the National Marrow Donor Program, which provides donor matching information for patients in need of a bone marrow transplant. 
  • Wrote the Better Pharmaceuticals and Devices for Children Act (BPDCA) to help ensure drugs and medical devices are specifically tested, labeled, and proven to be safe and effective for children.
  • Helped adjust the “wage index” to ensure that Rhode Island’s hospitals and their workers get the same kind of federal reimbursement as their counterparts in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
  • Successfully pressured the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to strengthen labeling and testing standards for sunscreen products.
  • Successfully pressured the FDA to finalize regulations that would require stricter approval and oversight of indoor tanning devices to better reflect the risks, including a visible black-box warning that explicitly states that sunlamp products should not be used on persons under the age of 18.
  • Helped pass the bipartisan Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act to reduce youth suicide. 
 

INVESTING IN EDUCATION

  • Continuing the proud tradition of Claiborne Pell, championed financial aid programs for students so that more young people can afford to attend college.
  • In 2010, helped pass the largest investment in college aid in history, ending a flawed system that gave away billions in federal subsidies to private banks -- including some that fed the 2008 financial meltdown -- and instead put those taxpayer dollars directly in the hands of students to pay for their education. 
  • Wrote the law streamlining the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to ensure more students could complete the form and get financial aid.
  • To support effective teaching and effective school leadership, authored legislation to improve the professional development and mentoring of educators and wrote laws to reform the recruitment, training, and retention of teachers.
  • To help more children learn to read and ensure they gain critical career and college readiness skills, championed the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, which has provided over $100 million for school libraries to purchase books and computers, train librarians, and stay open longer so that more kids have access to educational opportunities.
  • In an effort to strengthen museum and library services across the nation, wrote the Museum and Library Services Act of 2010, which authorizes nearly $300 million in federal assistance to museums and libraries nationwide.  Rhode Island libraries and museums have received over $18 million in federal grants from these programs to leverage their resources and strengthen operations, upgrade technology, and expand access to services at the state and local level.
  • Helped secure $21.7 million to improve Rhode Island’s digital infrastructure and increase broadband coverage throughout the state.
  • Increased federal investment in after school and summer school programs. Teamed up with pediatricians and non-profits to help promote reading as part of children's well-being.
  • Authored key provisions of the Head Start for School Readiness Act to provide comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children up to age five and prepare them for school.
  • Created the Parent Policy Council to improve parental involvement in Head Start.
  • Helped pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to increase funding for school meal programs so that more kids have access to a stable source of nutritious food.
 

ENSURING RHODE ISLAND FAMILIES HAVE SAFE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

  • Championed affordable rental housing through his efforts to successfully preserve the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), a program that has helped construct affordable rental units and housing for many Americans.
  • In 2010, Reed helped write key sections of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and directed it to implement major reforms in the mortgage industry.
  • To reduce homelessness nationwide, wrote and passed the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act.  This law, which helps provide billions of dollars for targeted homelessness assistance grants, consolidated programs and allowed more funding to flow to communities that demonstrate a commitment to the goals of preventing and ending homelessness.
  • Created a national affordable housing trust fund to help build and maintain affordable housing in communities throughout the country. 
  • Secured over $104 million in federal foreclosure prevention funds for Rhode Islanders through the Hardest Hit program and Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds.  The Hardest Hit program, which is administered by Rhode Island Housing, offers targeted foreclosure prevention assistance to qualified Rhode Islanders who are unable to make their mortgage payments due to a hardship such as job loss.  The Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds help local communities acquire, redevelop, or demolish foreclosed properties and turn around distressed neighborhoods.
  • Reed’s innovative REO Rehab-to-Rent strategy was adopted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to help stabilize the housing market.
  • Increased funds to remove lead-based paint from homes, educate families about the dangers of lead poisoning, and train inspectors and workers to identify lead contamination in housing.  Helped secure over $47 million for Rhode Island lead poisoning prevention programs since 1998.
 

PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND INCREASING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

  • As Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, worked on a bipartisan basis to provide funds to preserve and protect millions of acres of parks, monuments, and wilderness nationwide.
  • Helped pass a landmark energy bill that raised fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks for the first time in thirty-two years, saving consumers more than $3,000 in fuel costs over the lifetime of new vehicles. The law also provided incentives for increased efficiency in buildings and homes and improved appliance efficiency standards.
  • Led bipartisan effort to boost funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help seniors and low-income families pay their energy bills. 
  • Delivered $9.15 million in federal funds to help construct a combined sewer overflow system in Providence and reduce pollution flowing into the Bay.
  • Strengthened the Safe Drinking Water Act to require water utilities to provide customers with regular reports on the safety and quality of their drinking water.
  • Increased funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Funds (SRF), which has helped leverage more than $200 million in investment in communities throughout Rhode Island to repair and replace aging water and sewer infrastructure.
  • Helped secure over $25 million in federal weatherization assistance to create green jobs and enable more Rhode Islanders to make energy-efficiency improvements to reduce their energy bills.
  • Supported historic investments in clean energy to help double the amount of electricity we get from wind and solar power.
  • Secured more than $7 million over the last decade to support environmental cleanups in Rhode Island and revitalize former industrial and commercial sites throughout the state, transforming them from abandoned and blighted properties into community assets.
  • Helped protect Rhode Island’s coastline from the expansion of off-shore oil drilling and supported efforts to permanently bar new leasing in national marine sanctuaries.
  • Successfully fought efforts to gut the Clean Air Act, defeating legislation that would have overturned the EPA’s scientific finding that greenhouse gases are pollutants that impact public health and welfare.
  • Directed $58.4 million in federal funding over the last decade for conservation projects to help protect open spaces, sustain Rhode Island’s fish and wildlife populations, and enhance outdoor recreation opportunities.
  • Secured crucial $2.2 million in federal funding for the preservation of 41 acres of pristine shoreline at Rocky Point.
  • Protected Rhode Islanders, our working waterfront, and the environment by helping to block a risky proposal to build a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in an area that would have required LNG tankers to pass by eleven Rhode Island towns and cities and more than 25 miles of densely populated coastline.
  • Led the fight to crack down on excessive market manipulation, which can inflate energy prices.  Successfully convinced both the Bush and Obama Administrations to form federal task forces to help ferret out unscrupulous and excessive speculative conduct in the energy commodity markets.
  • Secured over $4 million in federal funding to help hatch the Rhode Island Aquaculture Initiative, which is helping to create jobs, restore the health of the Bay, and promote ecologically sustainable development.
  • Successfully fought efforts to end the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) grant program and secured over $2 million for Rhode Island to monitor water quality and clean and preserve Ocean State beaches.
  • Supported the launch of Project Clean Sweep with non-profits and volunteers to rid Narragansett Bay of over 630 tons of trash and marine debris and secured a commitment from the U.S. Navy to remove hazardous, old anti-submarine floats that littered Rhode Island’s shorelines.
 

ENHANCING OUR SECURITY AND ADVANCING AMERICA'S INTERESTS

  • Voted against the Iraq war and backed efforts to begin the responsible drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
  • As the Chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, led the effort to include critical funding for Virginia-class submarines and other key shipbuilding programs.
  • Delivered billions of dollars to increase veterans’ health care programs.  Also helped pass the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, giving substantially more benefits to veterans and their families for college and job training after their service.
  • Has advanced arms control and non-proliferation efforts, including the ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists. 
  • Strongly supports U.S.-led international development programs, which contribute to global stability and America’s security.
  • Voted to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and was a leading proponent of efforts to integrate women into our combat and submarine forces.
  • Has delivered funding to maintain a strong, well-equipped National Guard that can rapidly respond to emergencies in Rhode Island and across the country.
  • Helped pass an assault weapons ban to help get dangerous, military-style guns off the streets, and has fought to keep it in place. 
  • Delivered eight C 130J Super Hercules airplanes to the Rhode Island Air National Guard.  These planes help the 143rd Airlift Wing transport troops, equipment, and supplies to combat and humanitarian missions.