Category: In the News

SENS. WYDEN, MERKLEY PUSH FOR WILDFIRE RELIEF FUNDS IN NEXT COVID-19 BILL

U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon lead a group of lawmakers requesting wildfire relief funding in the next coronavirus package currently being debated in Congress. “Entire communities in Oregon and across the West were leveled to ash in the wake of this year’s wildfire season–lives lost and homes

Democratic senators push for $1,200 direct payments in new coronavirus relief package

A group of Democratic senators led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are pressing colleagues to include $1,200 direct payments in a new COVID-19 relief package and say a $908 billion compromise proposal endorsed by moderates doesn’t go far enough.  “Please join us in demanding that any new COVID-relief proposal includes

Wyden, Merkley urge including county payments in year-end federal funding

Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic is one more reason that payments to counties under the Secure Rural Schools and Payment in Lieu of Taxes programs should be prioritized in a year-ending appropriations bill.  “In order to assist these rural counties’ response to

How Lawmakers Want To End Forced Prison Labor & “Finally Abolish Slavery”

Congressional Democrats are aiming to end forced prison labor in the U.S. by modifying a section of the 13th Amendment — a move lawmakers say would “finally abolish slavery.”  Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and outgoing Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO) introduced a joint resolution on Wednesday called the “Abolition Amendment,” which

Senators Wyden and Merkley: “America’s fishing industry needs help….and NOW!”

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today requested that the Government Accountability Office conduct a study to explore ways to ensure that American fisheries receive the expanded economic support they desperately need, by increasing the volume and variety of seafood products the federal government purchases

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s bills include keeping PILT funds alive

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, used his membership on the Senate Appropriations Committee to secure funding for programs that will benefit Oregon, including another round of Payments in Lieu of Taxes. “These bills include key investments to create jobs in the woods and reduce wildfire risk,” Merkley stated in his

US lawmakers unveil anti-slavery constitutional amendment

National lawmakers introduced a joint resolution Wednesday aimed at striking language from the U.S. Constitution that enshrines a form of slavery in America’s foundational documents. The resolution, spearheaded and supported by Democratic members of the House and Senate, would amend the 13th Amendment’s ban on chattel enslavement to expressly prohibit

DELEGATION WANTS OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD EXTENDED

On Monday, Oregon’s congressional delegation pushed the Trump administration to extend the Open Enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace through the end of the year, in light of the severe obstacles Oregonians faced due to COVID-19 restrictions and the historic wildfires. A release from Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley

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