Tag: Civil Rights

Backed By Coalition of Voting Rights Advocates, Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer, Cicilline Introduce National Vote-By-Mail Bill

July 14, 2016

Washington, D.C. – Backed by a broad coalition of voting rights groups, Oregon’s Senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley and Representative Earl Blumenauer and David Cicilline, D-R.I., today introduced a new bill to expand Oregon-style vote-by-mail nationwide and cut through bogus obstacles to voting. “Too many states are making working Americans,

Mourning Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

July 7, 2016

The ubiquity of video cameras today has shown the rest of the country what African Americans have always known: that with shocking and horrifying regularity, African-American men and boys are the victims of the police—the very people charged with keeping all of us safe. I don’t know what it’s like

Members of Congress Urge Court to Recognize Protections for LGBT Americans

June 29, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 128 Members of Congress, led by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), have filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Christiansen v. Omnicom Group, Inc., arguing that workplace discrimination on the basis

Merkley Statement on House GOP Blocking Spending Bill over Anti-LGBT Discrimination Amendment

May 26, 2016

WASHINGTON D.C.—Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement in reaction to a surprise vote by House Republicans to defeat a routine energy and water spending measure because the bill included an amendment protecting LGBT Americans from discrimination by federal contractors: “Today’s vote in the House by the majority to

Elizabeth Warren and more than 100 House Democrats blast lack of diversity at the Fed

May 12, 2016

The Federal Reserve System is one of the most important institutions in the entire American government. Its composition is also almost shockingly non-diverse, with zero African Americans or Latinos serving on the key panel whose decisions impact job creation and the pace of economic growth, despite fairly overwhelming evidence that

Wyden, Merkley Urge Dept. of Education to Clarify Legal Protections for LGBT Students

May 3, 2016

Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined 38 other Democratic senators in urging the Department of Education to release comprehensive guidance on the protections for transgender and gender non-conforming students in our middle schools, high schools, and colleges. Students across the country are protected

Dems Will Urge GOP House Leaders To Hold Hearing On LGBT-Rights Bill

April 27, 2016

The Equality Act was introduced with gusto last summer — a cabaret of celebrity Democratic Congress members taking turns at a lectern extolling the bill to ban LGBT discrimination federally. But nine months later, the legislation languishes without a hearing. On Thursday morning, several of those same lawmakers will press

NBA chief: ‘No discussion of moving the All-Star Game’ over bathroom law

April 15, 2016

The National Basketball Association has no plans to move next year’s All-Star Game outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, despite the state’s controversial anti-LGBT law, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced on Friday. “The law as it now stands is problematic for the league,” Silver said at a news conference in New

Senators call for NBA to move 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte

April 13, 2016

Six U.S. senators wrote a letter to the head of the NBA this week calling on him to move the league’s 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte to protest a state law banning anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people. In their letter, the senators — five Democrats and one Republican — urged Adam Silver, the

Merkley, Kirk, Leahy, Booker, Baldwin, Murray Issue Bipartisan Call for NBA to Move 2017 All-Star Game out of North Carolina

April 12, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Patty Murray (D-WA) wrote to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver urging him to move the 2017 NBA All-Star game away from Charlotte, North Carolina. The Senators’ call for