Press Releases

Merkley Statement on 25th Anniversary of September 11 Terrorist Attacks

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement in remembrance of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001: “I will never forget that day 25 years ago: the clear blue morning sky, the billowing black smoke, the clouds of white ash, and everywhere, the confusion and fear. Our

Merkley Statement on Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley – the lead Democrat on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee which oversees federal funding for the Smithsonian Institution – released the following statement after the Institution announced Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III would be retiring after a five-decade career as a museum

Merkley Announces Internship Scholarships for Oregonians

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today announced a new scholarship program to enable Oregonians who could otherwise not afford to participate in a congressional internship to gain experience in his Washington D.C. and Portland offices. In addition to the existing Otto and Verdell Rutherford Congressional Intern Scholarship, which

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

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