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
Merkley Announces Key Appropriations Win for Scoggins Dam
Portland, OR – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley announced today that key legislative language was included in the Energy and Water Appropriations committee bill that would dramatically help Scoggins Dam get the needed safety repairs and increased water storage that stakeholders in Washington County have been working on for years. “Washington
Merkley Statement on Banking Committee Markup: “Now Is Not the Time to Be Relaxing the Rules for Wall Street”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the U.S. Senate Banking Committee passed on a party-line vote a sprawling bill that would deregulate many key aspects of the financial industry: “Seven years ago, following a decade of predatory home-lending and risky derivative-trading practices by big
Senators Urge U.S. Trade Representative to Protect Public Health and Environmental Laws from Foreign Trade Tribunals
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, five U.S. Senators expressed concerns that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could undermine current or future public health and environmental laws, and urged the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure that the TPP would exempt such policies from being challenged under foreign trade tribunals known as “investor-state dispute
Merkley Joins Broad Coalition of Democratic Lawmakers in Fight to Outlaw Unfair Consumer Contracts
WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), along with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), led a broad coalition of more than 50 members of Congress in the fight to protect the rights of consumers in Minnesota and across the country who are being hurt by forced arbitration contracts in the
Merkley Offers Amendments to Make Future Trade Agreements Work for Working Americans
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Trade Promotion Authority, or “fast track,” legislation continues to be pending on the Senate floor, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley filed a package of amendments focused on creating good-paying jobs in America. “The trade policy we put in place today will have profound effects on our workers
Merkley, Blumenauer, Wyden, Bonamici, DeFazio Introduce Columbia River Basin Restoration Act to Clean Up Columbia Basin
WASHINGTON – Today, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Senator Ron Wyden, Representative Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), and Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04) introduced the Columbia River Basin Restoration Act. The legislation would authorize $50 million over five years for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a voluntary, competitive Columbia