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
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley joined Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today to announce that Phyllis K. Fong, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has opened an investigation into potential suppression and alteration of scientific reports, documents, and communications by political
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today announced key provisions in the U.S. Department of Interior Appropriations bill that provide critical investments in earthquake preparedness, water infrastructure, and wildfire suppression and recovery activities that are of particular importance to Oregon as wildfires become increasingly frequent and extreme. “From
Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development, today announced key provisions in the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill that will help Oregon’s rural communities—from investments in rural housing; to research into the impacts of wildfire smoke on crops;
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) sent a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Inspector General Phyllis Fong requesting that her office broaden its ongoing review of the agency’s proposed Swine Slaughter Inspection Rule to include food safety and animal welfare concerns.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement after the Trump administration announced that they would attempt to put in place a new policy that would kick an estimated 3 million Americans off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement following U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue’s announcement that the Trump administration will relocate USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and Economic Research Service (ERS) to
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced that the $19.1 billion bipartisan disaster package passed by the Senate includes relief for Oregon agriculture affected by severe wildfires and storms, as well as a provision to require the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to make crop
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today sought answers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) following concerns that new agency policy is derailing vital and time-sensitive conservation and forest management programs in Oregon. The USDA has thousands of cooperative agreements in Oregon and across the
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