You won’t see a different cave or a new chateau at the Oregon Caves National Monument. But some are calling the expansion of the landmark, with legislation attached to a defense spending bill signed last week by President Obama, a monumental change. The monument will be nearly 10 times its original
Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., joined Friday with Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian and Oregon LGBT leaders to announce his plan to push broad LGBT civil rights legislation in the next Congress. Merkley laid out his rationale and plan for across the board protections for LGBT Americans and announced that
The designation of Bowman Dam near Prineville as “wild and scenic” reeked of nonsense. It earned its place in Valhalla as one of the worst jokes that the federal government has inflicted on Central Oregon. But thanks to the efforts of Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, and Sen. Jeff Merkley,
WASHINGTON — Local officials and stakeholders expressed gratitude and relief Friday after the bill codifying the water sharing plan for the Crooked River zipped through both chambers of Congress on Thursday on the last day the House was in session. After almost four years and two sessions of Congress, it
Members of Oregon’s and South Carolina’s congressional delegations found a way around the U.S. Coast Guard’s internal budgeting process Wednesday, passing a bill that blocks the agency from closing its helicopter air stations at Newport and Charleston, S.C. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., called the Coast Guard authorization bill “a literal
Rather than trying again to pass a law banning workplace discrimination, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley plans to introduce a broader measure in 2015 to outlaw discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations. “Oregon and the nation are on a trajectory towards equality, and
A bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in hiring and firing has been introduced in some form — and then failed to become law — in nearly every Congress for the past two decades. On Wednesday, a champion of that bill,
A group of Senate Democrats are pressuring the administration to make its controversial climate regulation on carbon pollution from existing power plants stronger. In a letter to Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy on Tuesday, the senators called on the administration to strengthen the requirements in its proposed rule and finalize a
Washington • The Labor Department issued a rule Wednesday to protect employees of federal contractors from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The rule would carry out terms of a workplace anti-discrimination law signed by President Barack Obama on July 21. “Americans believe in fairness and opportunity.
WASHINGTON — In the year since Senate Democrats — led by Oregon’s Jeff Merkley — changed the rules on filibustering executive nominees, including federal judges below the U.S. Supreme Court, the number of empty judgeships has dropped to the lowest level since the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency. As
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