Press Releases
Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Introduce Resolution Recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they have joined their Senate Democratic colleagues in introducing a Senate resolution recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month. "As we celebrate the milestones and contributions of the LGBTQ community this Pride Month, we must continue the fight for full equality of LGBTQ individuals in Oregon and nationwide. Period. Full stop," Wyden said. "The radical far-right majority on the Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning … Continue Reading
June 02, 2022
Merkley, Wyden Announce Over $4 Million for Mass Timber and Wood Projects
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced Oregon will be receiving a total of $4,170,737 to fund 2022 wood innovations and community wood grants. As Chairman of the Subcommittee that funds the Forest Service, Senator Merkley secured $20 million for these nationally-competitive grants in addition to $12 million provided in the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act. Oregon will be receiving approximately one-eighth of the $32 million national … Continue Reading
May 31, 2022
Wyden, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Address Disparate Treatment of Afghan and Ukrainian Refugees
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has joined his colleagues in sending a letter to the Biden administration with concerns about the stark inconsistencies in the treatment of humanitarian parole applicants from Ukraine and Afghanistan. "The inconsistent treatment of Afghan and Ukrainian humanitarian parole applications is troubling. Afghans and Ukrainians have turned to humanitarian parole because other pathways out of their respective countries and to the United States, such as family … Continue Reading
May 31, 2022
Wyden, Colleagues Urge App-Store CEOs to Prohibit Data Practices Threatening Individuals Who Seek Abortion Services
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and four Senate colleagues are urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook to prohibit apps on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store from using data mining practices that could facilitate the targeting of individuals seeking abortion services. "This system of data collection and distribution has the potential to directly threaten individuals who exercise their right to choose," Wyden and colleagues wrote in their letter to Google … Continue Reading
May 27, 2022
Wyden, Merkley: Boutique Air to Continue Providing Essential Air Service Contract at Pendleton Airport
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has selected Boutique Air to continue providing Essential Air Service (EAS) between Pendleton and Portland with 21 nonstop round trips a week between the two cities. "Regular air service is a cornerstone critical for continued economic growth, access to specialty health services and quality of life in Eastern Oregon," Wyden said. "Commercial air service provides a key … Continue Reading
May 26, 2022
ENR Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Wyden Bills to Address Western Water Crisis
Washington, D.C. - This week the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing on two bills introduced by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore. -- the Water for Conservation and Farming Act and the Watershed Results Act -- that address drought and would protect Oregon's water supplies. This hearing is a key step to get a committee vote to send these bills to the full Senate for consideration. "In Oregon, communities in the Klamath and Deschutes Basin are looking at … Continue Reading
May 26, 2022
Wyden, Merkley: Feds to Invest $520,000 in New Fire Station for Baker Rural Fire Protection District
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced the U.S. Agriculture Department will provide a $220,000 loan and a $300,000 grant to help the Baker Rural Fire Protection District acquire land and a building in Baker City to serve as a new fire station and also as a site for regional training and meetings. "Defending lives and property from the threat of fires is crucial to quality of life for Oregonians living and working in rural communities," Wyden said. "I'm … Continue Reading
May 25, 2022
Wyden Announces First of Three Veterans-Focused Town Halls for Eastern Oregon
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today that the first of three on-line town halls he secured just for Eastern Oregon veterans, their families and veterans service providers to ask top Veterans Administration (VA) officials health care questions -- including about the agency's proposals to reduce physical and mental health services in the region -- will be at 10:30 am on Saturday, June 4. This first veterans-focused town hall meeting for Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Baker and … Continue Reading
May 25, 2022
Wyden, Merkley: $1.65 Million to Oregon for Ecosystem Restoration
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that Oregon will receive a total of $1.65 million from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for ecosystem restoration projects throughout the state. "The passage of the once-in-a-generation Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has provided the Bureau of Land Management with the unique opportunity to put people to work in rural Oregon addressing some of our most dire conservation needs," Wyden said. "Whether restoring … Continue Reading
May 24, 2022
As MAGA Republicans Seek to Criminalize Abortion, Wyden, Eshoo and 40 Members of Congress Call on Google to Limit Collection and Storage of Location Data
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., with 40 members of Congress, called on Google to stop collecting and retaining location information, to prevent extremist prosecutors from using that information to identify people obtaining abortions, in a letter sent today. "We believe that abortion is health care. We will fight tooth and nail to ensure that it remains recognized as a fundamental right, and that all people in the United States have control … Continue Reading
May 24, 2022
Wyden, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Protect Health Insurance of Striking Workers
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today joined colleagues in introducing legislation that would ensure continued health coverage for workers, even during strikes and lock-outs. The Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act would ensure that striking workers continue to receive health benefits earned and negotiated in their contracts by penalizing an employer for terminating the coverage of an employee's health insurance during a lock-out. The bill would create a separate unfair … Continue Reading
May 24, 2022
Merkley, Wyden Announce Almost $4 Million in Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants Headed to Oregon
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced a total of $3,978,520 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) headed to four Oregon communities to assist with expenses related restoring and modernizing water infrastructure damaged by wildfire, droughts, and other extreme weather events.? "Oregonians' resilience has been inspiring through the recent extreme weather events and an ongoing global pandemic, but nobody should have to … Continue Reading
May 20, 2022
Wyden Announces Five Oregon Town Halls
Portland - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today announced five upcoming live on-line town halls hosted by People's Town Hall for residents of Lincoln, Tillamook, Deschutes, Wasco and Hood River counties. Heading into these upcoming virtual town halls, Wyden has held 1,017 town halls statewide in fulfillment of his pledge to hold at least one town hall each year in each of Oregon's 36 counties. "I've kept my promise to hold annual town halls in each of our state's 36 counties because Oregonians … Continue Reading
May 19, 2022
Wyden, Bipartisan Group of Senators Announce “Kids to Parks Day” Resolution
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Cory Booker, D-N.J., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Richard Burr, R-N.C., today announced their bipartisan resolution that encourages children to get outdoors and promote healthy outdoor recreation by designating May 21, 2022 National Kids to Parks Day. First celebrated by the National Park Trust, the twelfth annual Kids to Parks Day marks the … Continue Reading
May 19, 2022
Wyden Presses Interior Secretary on 2022 Wildfire Preparedness In Oregon
Washington, D.C. - Amid warnings about potentially difficult wildfires in the months ahead for Oregon and the West, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today pressed U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to use newly available wildfire management funds provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and urged her to work with local communities on wildfire response plans. At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the federal Interior Department's budget, Wyden asked specifically about the … Continue Reading
May 19, 2022
Wyden, Merkley Announce Support for Alexis Taylor as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at USDA
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today issued a statement of support for Alexis Taylor, nominated to be Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture: "For the last six years, Alexis has worked tirelessly to protect the health and safety of Oregon families and to support our state's tens of thousands of farmers and ranchers as they put food on our tables. Alexis understands the important role agriculture plays in … Continue Reading
May 19, 2022
Wyden, Merkley Introduce Legislation to End Subsidies for Corporate Union Busting
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week joined with colleagues to introduce legislation that would curb corporate union-busting campaigns by denying tax breaks for attempts to dissuade employees from unionizing. "Workers are using their power. They are securing historic victories as they unionize for better pay, better hours, and better working conditions. The wealthiest corporations in the country are pulling out all the stops in an effort to crush workers' … Continue Reading
May 19, 2022
Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Urge President Biden to Rapidly Implement National Strategy to Address Infant Formula Crisis, Prevent Future Shortages
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week joined colleagues in urging President Biden to immediately assign a coordinator within the White House to work with manufacturers directly and oversee the development and implementation of a national strategy for increasing the resiliency of the infant formula supply chain and protecting against future contamination and shortages. The senators asked that the national strategy rapidly address immediate needs associated with … Continue Reading
May 18, 2022
Key Committee Holds Hearing on Wyden, Blumenthal Legislation to Protect Domestic Abuse Survivors From Gun Violence
Click here for video of Wyden's remarks at the hearing. Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution today held a hearing on the Lori Jackson - Nicolette Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to protect domestic violence survivors from gun violence. The bill is named for two women who were both shot and killed by their abusive, estranged partners even … Continue Reading
May 18, 2022
Wyden, Colleagues Blast Data Brokers for Collecting and Selling Location Data of People Who Visit Abortion Clinics
Text of letters (PDF) Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today with colleagues blasted companies for collecting and selling the cellphone-based location data of people who visit abortion clinics and risking the safety of anyone seeking access to abortion services. In the wake of the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the senators are demanding answers about the companies' data collection practices and calling on them to create a complete and … Continue Reading
