Standing Up for Human and Civil Rights

WASHINGTON – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today introduced a Senate Resolution to recognize, commemorate, and celebrate the 55th anniversary of the enactment of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. President Lyndon Johnson proposed the legislation just days after the civil rights march from Selma to

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today testified before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, emphasizing Oregonians’ cry for justice and an end to systemic racism, and providing firsthand accounts of demonstrators’ experiences in Portland after the Trump administration escalated tensions by sending unmarked federal forces into the city. Nkenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today continued his leadership at the intersection of privacy rights, racial justice, and emerging technologies by introducing the National Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2020, groundbreaking legislation that would prohibit private companies from collecting biometric data—including eye scans, voiceprints, faceprints, and fingerprints—without

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced that federal forces from the Department of Homeland Security would be withdrawing from their occupation of downtown Portland: “This announcement is an important step in ending the deployment of Trump’s secret police

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, with U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, today announced that at their request, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offices of Inspector General (OIG) are opening investigations into the unrequested presence

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and 45 other senators in introducing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bipartisan bill to restore the landmark Voting Rights Act, end the scourge of minority voter suppression and help preserve the