Tag: Agriculture

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today is leading the introduction of the Frontline At-Risk Manual (FARM) Laborers Protection Act, groundbreaking legislation that establishes critical protections, including 10 days of paid leave and hazard pay, for America’s agricultural workers. He was joined by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Richard Blumenthal

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), teamed up with Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), to press USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to increase the agency’s efforts to speed

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with a bipartisan group of 30 of their Senate colleagues, have sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to urge the administration to provide urgent relief to America’s farmers during the coronavirus crisis. Agricultural businesses are critical

WASHINGTON, DC — Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today announced the expansion of a pilot program that will allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in Oregon to use their benefits to purchase food online from Amazon and Walmart. The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20), Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), Rodney Davis (R-IL-12), and Rob Woodall (R-GA-7) today led the introduction of the Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat (MONARCH) Act. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would provide urgent protections for the struggling western monarch

WASHINGTON, DC — Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today announced that he has joined U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Representatives Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) in introducing a groundbreaking Farmers Bill of Rights resolution—which affirms the rights of family farmers, ranchers, and traditional agricultural communities in Oregon and

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., as authors of the legislation that legalized hemp production nationwide, today requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) make several changes as it develops its final rule for the U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program. Wyden and Merkley,

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley joined Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) today to introduce new, bipartisan legislation to help states create pollinator-friendly habitats along roads and highways. This legislation would help address the steep decline of pollinator populations, which poses a serious