Meet David
Congressman David N. Cicilline is a champion for Rhode Island. From day one in Congress, David has been a fierce advocate for greater progress and opportunity in America, working his hardest each day so every Rhode Islander can achieve the security of a good life. From protecting Medicare and Social Security, to making it easier for students to finish college without a mountain of debt, to increasing investments in job training and rebuilding America’s infrastructure, to tackling the climate crisis, and cleaning up corruption in Washington – David is at the forefront of every major effort in the House to ensure more Rhode Islanders can reach the middle class and live their retirement with dignity.
These have been extremely difficult times for our state and nation, and David is working hard every day to deliver for Rhode Island. Whether it is advocating for federal funding to help Rhode Island recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, championing infrastructure investments that create good-paying jobs in our state, fighting for the priorities that reflect our shared values, doing everything he can in Congress to help lower costs for families and workers at a time when they need it most, or helping constituents secure the benefits they’ve earned and deserve – David is there for Rhode Islanders.
As Chair of the Subcommittee responsible for ensuring greater opportunities for consumers, workers, and small business owners, David has introduced legislation to prohibit price gouging during market disruptions like the COVID pandemic and crack down on abuses by big oil and gas companies overcharging Rhode Island families and workers at the pump. He’s leading efforts to address structural problems in our economy that allow a handful of huge corporations to dominate food, fuel, and other essential markets and drive up prices. Congressman Cicilline led a bipartisan investigation into digital markets that showed how large online platforms, like Google and Facebook, use their market dominance to disadvantage small businesses and harm consumer privacy. Based on these findings, David has worked to introduce a bipartisan package of bills to rein in Big Tech and protect consumers.
As a former defense attorney, Cicilline has hit his stride on the Judiciary Committee – authoring the Equality Act – a comprehensive civil rights bill banning discrimination against the LGBTQ community that passed the House, introducing the Assault Weapons Ban Act with a record number of cosponsors, and championing passage of immigration reform and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act – comprehensive legislation to increase accountability in policing and address racial injustice. David was a cosponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation to codify a woman’s right to choose, which passed the House in September 2021. He is actively advocating for the Senate to pass the legislation. David is proud that Rhode Island protects a woman’s right to choose at the State level, but knows we must ensure that this right is extended to every woman across the country, no matter where they live.
As a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Cicilline has been a leader on international human rights and has advocated for a comprehensive, balanced approach to the full range of national security challenges, including cyber-security, homegrown terrorism, engagement with allies, and combating destabilization abroad to ensure we remain safe at home. David believes in a diplomacy-first approach to international affairs, and is a founder and co-chair of the House Diplomacy Caucus. David has traveled to countries around the world to advocate for democratic governance, and is one of Congress’ leading champions for human rights for all people. David is a member of the House Democracy Partnership, a bipartisan commission of the U.S. House of Representatives working directly with parliaments around the world to bolster democracies. Congressman Cicilline is concerned that authoritarianism is on the rise, and knows we must do all that we can to ensure that democracy thrives by supporting a free press, stopping the spread of disinformation, empowering democratic movements, and not giving in to tyrants when they gain power.
In Congress, Cicilline continues to deliver for Rhode Island’s First District by bringing home hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding each year to improve roads, schools, public safety, childcare, and more. As one the architects of the Make it in America Agenda in Congress, Cicilline has worked to reinvigorate American manufacturing – authoring legislation signed into law to help American manufacturers compete against foreign businesses for U.S. government contracts, and another that would provide new federal resources for local manufacturing economies like Rhode Island’s.
Prior to being elected to Congress in 2010, Cicilline served as the Mayor of Providence for eight years, and four terms as a State Representative from the East Side of Providence and neighboring Pawtucket.
