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Ranking Member Shaheen, Foreign Relation Democrats Statement on State Department Personnel Cuts

July 10, 2025

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released a statement on announced plans by the State Department to terminate personnel.

Wyden, Merkley Lawmakers Raise Concerns About Abusive Practices in the Electronic Monitoring and Private Probation Industries

August 9, 2024

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with five senators and 12 House members, sent a letter to eight private probation and electronic monitoring (EM) companies, expressing concern about the industries’ abusive business practices, which often drive poor and vulnerable communities into cycles of debt or

Consumer watchdog must crack down on payday lending

March 18, 2015

Maryann Olson’s monthly Social Security check wasn’t enough to cover the cost of orthopedic shoes that she desperately needed so she turned to a payday lender. However, her $150 loan quickly turned into $1,900 in debt. I heard many stories from people like Maryann when I was fighting to end

We Must Improve the Safety of Our Nation’s Food Supply

November 18, 2010

I want to start by thanking Chairman Harkin, who worked with me to include provisions to help small farms and processors and organic farms so that they have before them in this bill provisions that support them and will help make them successful. The last thing we want to see

It’s time to pass Wall Street reform and put middle class families first

July 14, 2010

Mr. President, I rise to address the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill and to share the reasons it makes a great deal of sense to restore the lane markers and traffic signals to our financial system–lane markers and traffic signals that were ripped away carelessly, thoughtlessly over the course of a

Wall Street: A Story in Millions, Billions and Trillions

April 26, 2010

Mr. President, tonight we had a vote in which 57 Members of this body said we should proceed to have a fully public debate and votes on issues related to Wall Street and Main Street; 57, far more than a majority, said it is time for us to come to

Chairman of the Fed Must Protect Consumers

January 28, 2010

Mr. President, I rise today to oppose the nomination of Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Fed. I do so as a member of the Banking Committee who voted against his nomination in that committee, because I researched his record, and on that record I believe that Ben Bernanke is

Rebuilding the Financial Foundation for Our Families

January 22, 2010

We Need a Strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency

July 8, 2009

Mr. Merkley: I rise to give voice to my strong support for President Obama’s proposal to create a consumer financial protection agency separate from our prudential banking regulators. I believe establishing this new independent agency is critical to protecting the economic security of the American middle class and ensuring the

Transparency for Homeowners Act and Promoting Mortgage Responsibility Act

April 28, 2009

Mr. Merkley: Mr. President, I am introducing two pieces of legislation to address the very heart of our economic crisis–the housing market and the deceptive lending practices that have placed millions of homes at risk of foreclosure. In the last few years, millions of families were led into unsustainable home