Tag: Foreign Policy and National Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ahead of major national elections in Honduras later this month, Members of Congress led by Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20), Chuy García (D-IL-04), and Hank Johnson (D-GA-04) are pushing the U.S. State Department to do more to ensure

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and FU.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are leading a bipartisan effort to increase humanitarian access and improve living conditions for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. More than 900,000 Rohingya are currently taking refuge in Bangladesh

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley urged Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mayorkas and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Jaddou to implement a blanket waiver on fees for Afghans applying for humanitarian parole to come to the United States. They, along

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today announced that both houses of Congress have passed a provision proposed by Merkley to help ease the transition to the U.S. for recently evacuated Afghan refugees who are relocating to America. Last week,

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), issued the following statement applauding the issuing of general licenses to enable the flow of humanitarian aid into Afghanistan. In August, Merkley led a letter pressing the Biden administration to take this step

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today announced that he has introduced the Welcoming Evacuees Coming from Overseas to Mitigate Effects of Displacement (WELCOMED) Act of 2021 in the U.S. Senate. The legislation was previously introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Seth Moulton (D-MA) and

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley teamed up with U.S. Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53) today to lead a group of 32 lawmakers in urging the Biden administration to take specific steps to ensure that humanitarian aid can continue to reach Afghans in need despite the takeover of the

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—released the following statement today after the end of the United States’ military evacuation process in Afghanistan: “After twenty years of fighting that cost us thousands of lives and trillions of dollars, President Biden has finally

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley is working alongside nine members of the U.S House of Representatives to ask President Biden to assist in evacuating high-risk Afghan partners in collaboration with NGOs. Specifically, the lawmakers requested in a letter to President Biden that the administration ensure the evacuation