Press Releases

Van Hollen, Merkley, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Aid Workers in Conflict Zones

WASHINGTON – Today, on Human Rights Day, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation to protect humanitarian aid workers operating in conflict zones. The lawmakers’ legislation, the Commitment to Aid Workers Act, would strengthen U.S. efforts to safeguard those who risk their

Senate Republicans Block Merkley’s Bill to Prevent War with Venezuela

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after Senate Republicans blocked consideration of his Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act of 2025, which would block federal funds from being used for military actions in Venezuela: “As the Constitution so clearly says, Congress has the power

Senators Blunt Rochester, Merkley, Warnock Introduce Bill to Repair Infrastructure, Bridge Communities

Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) today introduced the Restoring Essential Public Access and Improving Resilient (REPAIR) Infrastructure Program Act. The bill would reauthorize and expand the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Reconnecting Communities Program as the REPAIR Infrastructure Program,

Merkley Denounces New Trump Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after President Donald J. Trump signed a new executive order restricting travel from a number of Muslim-majority nations: “Just like the old ban, the new ban makes our country less safe. Giving ISIS propaganda while ‘solving’ a problem that

Merkley, Brock Smith Convene Task Force on Sudden Oak Death

PORTLAND, OR – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and State Representative David Brock Smith (R-01) today convened an array of stakeholders in the first task force meeting aimed at addressing the spread of Sudden Oak Death, a disease that poses severe economic and environmental threats to counties in Southern Oregon. “Oregon

Merkley Calls on Sessions to Resign

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement regarding U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ failure to disclose his 2016 contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, as reported by the Washington Post last night: “The Attorney General concealed from Congress during his testimony under oath the contacts he

Merkley Statement on the President’s Address to a Joint Session of Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after President Donald J. Trump’s address to a Joint Session of Congress: “In President Trump’s speech tonight we heard the exact same things that we have heard so many times before: vague, nice sounding campaign-style promises of what he

en_USEnglish