Forty-One Senators Push to Keep Harmful Environmental Riders Out of Appropriations Bills
Senators warn that inclusion of poison pills harming the environment would undermine Senate’s ability to pass bipartisan spending bills Washington, D.C. – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior,
Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Raise Concerns about Food and Nutrition Service Reorganization
Oregon senators warn that reorganizations would “further weaken the ability of the agency to administer federal nutrition assistance programs.” Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today joined Senate colleagues in raising strong concerns about the plan to reorganize the Food and Nutrition Service at the U.S.
Merkley, Salinas, Pacific Northwest Democrats to Secretary Rollins: Act Quickly to Hire Agricultural Research Staff Across the Region
Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representative Andrea Salinas (OR-06) led a group of their Pacific Northwest colleagues in pressing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins over her commitment to promptly fill critical staff positions that remain vacant at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service
Senators Urge Administration to Take New Fossil Fuel Leases Off the Table in Offshore Drilling Plan
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent last Thursday, June 2, 2016 to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, eleven United States Senators urged the Obama Administration to take new fossil fuel leases off the table and protect vulnerable Arctic ecosystems in the Administration’s 2017-2022 offshore leasing program. The letter, which was
Oregon Leaders call for Oil Train Moratorium in the Columbia River Gorge
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, Governor Kate Brown and Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici released the following statement today calling for a temporary halt to oil train traffic in Columbia River Gorge in light of last Friday’s derailment of a Union Pacific oil train in Mosier, OR:
Merkley Applauds Major New CFPB Rule On Small Dollar Lending
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a long-awaited proposed rule on small dollar lending. The rule will crack down on predatory lending models that are based on trapping consumers in unaffordable and escalating cycles of debt. “I
Merkley Announces New Suicide Hotline for Veterans
Medford, OR – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley visited the Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics in White City, OR today to discuss the high rates of suicide among veterans and his role in helping push for a new direct connection for veterans to access. Senator Merkley was joined at today’s
Merkley Statement on House GOP Blocking Spending Bill over Anti-LGBT Discrimination Amendment
WASHINGTON D.C.—Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement in reaction to a surprise vote by House Republicans to defeat a routine energy and water spending measure because the bill included an amendment protecting LGBT Americans from discrimination by federal contractors: “Today’s vote in the House by the majority to
Merkley Applauds House Passage of Landmark Toxic Chemicals Reform Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a landmark toxic chemicals reform bill that marks the first major reform of chemical safety laws in 40 years. Merkley worked with a bipartisan coalition to help craft the U.S. Senate version