Merkley, Wyden Lead the Charge to Limit DHS’ Use of Facial Recognition Technology Amid Trump’s Rapidly Growing Surveillance State
Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced they introduced the ICE Out of Our Faces Act. The bicameral legislation would rein in the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), banning agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs
Merkley, Senate and House Lawmakers: Trump Administration Risking a New Arms Race with Failure to Renew Nuclear Treaty with Russia
Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—co-chair of the Congressional Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group and a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—led his Senate and House colleagues in raising urgent concerns about the expiration this week of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
Klobuchar, Heinrich, Merkley, Colleagues Raise Concerns About National Trail Program
WASHINGTON – Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies are
Merkley, Wyden Introduce Legislation to Crack Down on Foreign Countries that Help Alleged Criminals Escape Accountability in the U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today introduced two new pieces of legislation that would impose significant consequences on foreign consulates that help their citizens escape legal accountability within the U.S. Merkley and Wyden’s legislation follows investigative reporting by the Oregonian that found Saudi consular officials
Oregon Members Call for Unemployment Insurance for All Federal Employees
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Kurt Schrader, along with Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, and Peter DeFazio, sent a letter today to the Department of Labor asking to make clear that federal employees deemed “essential” or “excepted” may be eligible for unemployment insurance. The
Merkley Presses FCC to Take on Predatory, Threatening Robocalls
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today pressed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai on whether the Commission is doing enough to protect consumers from predatory robocalls, including ones that impersonate federal law enforcement agencies. Merkley’s action today follows a robocall he received in recent months, purporting to
Merkley, Wyden Join Push To Protect Dreamer Data
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced today that they are cosponsoring the Protect DREAMer Confidentiality Act of 2019, a bill to safeguard the private information—such as addresses and telephone numbers—of the young immigrants known as Dreamers to ensure they are not targeted by the Trump
Merkley Asks FBI to Open Perjury Investigation into Secretary Nielsen
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today formally requested that FBI Director Christopher Wray open a perjury investigation into Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, after new documents show that Nielsen lied in sworn testimony to Congress about the administration’s family separation policy. A previously-undisclosed administration memo, which Merkley
Wyden, Merkley Join Colleagues to Introduce Legislation to Raise the Minimum Wage
Washington, D.C. – Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week joined House and Senate colleagues to introduce legislation to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 in 2024. The Raise Wage Act of 2019 would also index future minimum wage increases to median wage growth and ensure all workers are