Press Releases

Ranking Member Merkley: Interior-Environment Funding Bill Boosts Wildfire Resiliency, Water Infrastructure, and Climate Investments in Oregon and Across the Nation

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) released the following statement after the Senate passed the Interior-Environment Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Appropriations bill in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 82-15: “Oregonians turned out in record numbers during my town halls last year and delivered

Merkley, Sullivan, Curtis, Kaine Push for Bipartisan Crackdown on Chinese Government-Controlled Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in U.S.

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)—a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and past Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)—teamed up with current CECC Chair Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Senator John Curtis (R-UT), and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) to introduce bipartisan legislation that

Merkley, Whitehouse Introduce Legislation to Monitor and Track Methane Emissions

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, along with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), today introduced the Methane Emissions Research Act of 2022, a bill intended to empower the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to measure and quantify methane emissions from domestic oil and gas operations. “In the short term, methane

Wyden, Merkley, Senators Emphasize Western Drought and Conservation in Bipartisan Letter

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to give parity to the priorities of growers and communities in Oregon and the West through existing authorities, new funding, and collaboration across government. “The American West is in crisis. Across the major basins of the American West – including the Colorado

Wyden, Merkley Announce New River Democracy Act

Updated maps can be found here. Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced a new River Democracy Act that reflects input from communities across Oregon over the past year to update the total mileage of rivers and streams in Oregon that would be added to the national Wild and Scenic Rivers

Merkley Statement on Need for Sick Leave for Railroad Workers

Washington D.C. – After the Senate voted on a forced labor agreement between railroad corporations and workers that excluded reasonable sick leave, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement: “I voted no. It is completely messed up that our rail workers are on continuous call, have no sick

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