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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Spirit of Defenders Award for Public Service
A conservation leader in the Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has an energetic record of advocacy on the side of environmental protection, health, and conservation. Beginning his public service in 1984 as Special Assistant Attorney General of Rhode Island, Whitehouse was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island by President Clinton in 1994 and served as Rhode Island Attorney General from 1999-2003. In 2006 was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and as Chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Oversight. In the Senate, he has introduced measures that would help wildlife populations adjust to global warming, cosponsored aggressive legislation to significantly reduce global warming pollutants and championed efforts to maintain a strong Endangered Species Act. Over the course of his career, he has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court to protect public wetlands from development; sued to block Bush administration efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act; and led the investigation into a devastating oil spill in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay.
Sheldon Whitehouse received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.
For his effective and determined leadership in the Senate on behalf of the environment and wildlife, we are pleased to present Senator Sheldon Whitehouse with the Spirit of Defenders Award for Public Service.
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