Press Releases

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,

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

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 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

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