Tag: Civil Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement announcing his support and co-sponsorship of new legislation drafted by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA-37), and House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY-10) to tackle police

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today announced legislation, the National Police Misconduct Database and Transparency in Hiring Act, that would create a national database of police misconduct to create greater oversight and accountability across America. This legislation would help ensure that police officers who have been removed

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today joined Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to introduce legislation that would ensure Americans are able to vote this year, despite disruptions caused by COVID-19. The bill would expand early in-person voting and no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail to all states, and

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today issued the following statement marking the one-year anniversary of the House’s passage of H.R. 1, the For the People Act. Along with Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), Merkley is the co-lead of the For the People Act in the U.S. Senate. “I

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley urged the Trump administration to withdraw proposed rules that would expand federally funded discrimination against members of the LGBTQIA+ community, women, non-religious people and religious minorities. Wyden, Merkley and other Senate Democrats sent three separate letters to the Departments of Education,

Portland – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer today asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate whether a black Portlander’s civil rights were violated by local police departments. The Oregon lawmakers’ letter to U.S. Attorney Billy Williams follows a report this week in The

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, joined by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), today pushed the Trump Administration to permanently shut down the Homestead child prison in Florida. The Senator’s push follows reporting from the Miami Herald that children are likely to

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following alarming reports that the Trump Administration is purposefully forcing pregnant asylum seekers to await their hearings in dangerous conditions in Mexico, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General to open an immediate, priority investigation into the treatment of

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thirteen months after his first trip to McAllen, Texas pushed the issue of family separation to the top of the national debate, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley returned to McAllen today with a delegation of 12 Senate Democrats. Merkley helped lead the on-the-ground mission to investigate the Trump