Press Releases

Merkley Denounces Unjust Sentencing of Hong Kong Democracy Advocate Jimmy Lai

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and past Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)—issued this statement following the sentencing of Jimmy Lai, an entrepreneur and democracy advocate in Hong Kong who has been imprisoned since 2020 under

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

Wyden, Merkley, DeFazio Preserve Southwestern Oregon Mineral Withdrawal

Washington, D.C. – Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Peter DeFazio today announced that the U.S. Forest Service has told them it will not revisit a southwestern Oregon mineral withdrawal protecting more than 100,000 acres from development. That good news in a letter from Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who oversees

In Bipartisan Letter, Merkley and Young Urge Continued Support for International Food Aid

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Todd Young (R-IN) yesterday urged continued support for international food aid programs that save millions of lives. Merkley and Young are, respectively, the Ranking Member and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee that oversees multilateral institutions and multilateral international development. In the letter, Merkley

Wyden, Merkley Push Zinke for Response to Five-Month-Old Sagebrush Request

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today asked the Interior Department for a positive response to their Sept. 22 letter urging approval for a program that has inmates produce sagebrush plants to help restore sage grouse habitat after fires.  Today’s letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke comes

Merkley Statement on Immigration Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after a Senate vote on the Rounds-King immigration proposal failed: “After President Trump ripped away the legal status of our nation’s DACA recipients, we have been working for months to find a bipartisan compromise that would protect Dreamers –

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