Press Releases

Merkley, Mannion Champion Legislation to Make Mental Health Care Accessible for Every Student in America 

Washington, D.C. – During Mental Health Awareness Month, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Congressman John Mannion (NY-22) announced the reintroduction of the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act, legislation that would significantly boost the availability of mental health providers in America’s public schools. Mental illness affects nearly 20 percent of American youth. This bicameral legislation would put additional mental health providers in elementary and

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: Trump Firefighting Reorganization Plan ‘Literally Playing with Fire’

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees funding for the U.S. Interior Department and U.S. Forest Service, released the following statement after President Trump issued an executive order directing the agencies to reorganize and consolidate wildland firefighting efforts: “Instead of focusing on

Merkley, Murphy, Gomez, Beyer: Let Every American Choose Medicare

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, Connecticut’s U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy, and U.S. Representatives Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34) and Donald Beyer (D-VA-08) today reintroduced the Choose Medicare Act. This revolutionary proposal opens Medicare to all Americans with a new ‘Part E’ and builds on the system we have today

Merkley: Forest Service Dangerously Unprepared for Wildfire Season

Washington, D.C. – Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) issued the following statement after a hearing with U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz on the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the agency: “Forest Service Chief Schultz’s testimony only underscored the immense, serious challenges facing communities

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