Press Releases
Oregon Delegation Announces Millions of Dollars for Improvements at Oregon Airports
PORTLAND, OR - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, and U.S. Congressmen Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio and Greg Walden, today announced more than $16.2 million in grant funding for taxiway improvements at airports in Oregon. "Oregon's airports connect our state to economic opportunity-not to mention wildfire fighting resources, health care, and more," Merkley said. "This significant investment in airport taxiways will improve both safety and access for Oregon's airports, and I … Continue Reading
June 04, 2019
Wyden Introduces New Bipartisan Legislation to Combat Affordable Housing Crisis
Washington, D.C. - As Oregon and the country face an affordable housing and homelessness crisis, Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today joined Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and a bipartisan group of legislators to introduce a bill that would increase investment in affordable housing and provide more resources and stronger protections for at-risk groups. “Housing is a right, and the lack of affordable housing is at crisis levels in communities all over America,” Wyden said. “Working … Continue Reading
June 04, 2019
Oregon Judicial Selection Panel Resumes Taking Applications for 9th Circuit Vacancy
Washington, DC - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Greg Walden today announced that new applications are being accepted through June 21 for the Oregon vacancy on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Finalists chosen by the three Oregon lawmakers' bipartisan judicial selection committee will be forwarded to the White House for its consideration. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacancy arose when Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain went on senior status in 2017. Interested … Continue Reading
June 03, 2019
Wyden Calls for Investigations into Trump Administration Efforts to Undercount Minority Communities, Politicize 2020 Census
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., joined a group of 13 senators in calling for federal investigations after new evidence came to light last week, revealing deeply partisan and undemocratic motives behind the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. In a letter to the inspectors general of the departments of Justice and Commerce, the senators raised concerns that government officials concealed the role of a partisan political operative who pushed the Trump … Continue Reading
May 23, 2019
Wyden Statement on the Use of the Espionage Act in Indictment of Julian Assange, Potential Threats to First Amendment
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement in response to the use of the Espionage Act in indicting Julian Assange and its potential threats to the First Amendment: "This is not about Julian Assange. This is about the use of the Espionage Act to charge a recipient and publisher of classified information. I am extremely concerned about the precedent this may set and potential dangers to the work of journalists and the First Amendment." … Continue Reading
May 23, 2019
Wyden, Crapo, Merkley, Risch Reintroduce Legislation to Provide Long-term Stability for Secure Rural Schools Program
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, today reintroduced legislation to provide much-needed financial certainty for rural counties to ensure they have the long-term funding needed for schools, road maintenance, law enforcement and other essential services. The bipartisan Forest Management for Rural Stability Act, which the senators first introduced in December 2018, makes the Secure Rural Schools program-which … Continue Reading
May 23, 2019
Merkley, Wyden Announce Relief for Oregon in Bipartisan Disaster Package
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced that the $19.1 billion bipartisan disaster package passed by the Senate includes relief for Oregon agriculture affected by severe wildfires and storms, as well as a provision to require the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to make crop insurance available to hemp farmers, and $720 million to address fire borrowing. "One of the reasons I wanted to be on the Senate Appropriations Committee was to make sure … Continue Reading
May 23, 2019
Wyden, Merkley, Walden Urge Feds to Keep Letting Local Firefighters Battle Blazes on Federal Lands
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Greg Walden urged federal officials today to restore a proven practice that lets the federal government keep using local fire departments as partners to fight wildfires. The three Oregon lawmakers wrote Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt about their agencies' recent suspension of a practice dating back to 1955 that authorizes local fire departments in Oregon to participate and support … Continue Reading
May 22, 2019
Wyden, Merkley Press Union Pacific on Layoffs
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today demanded Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) answer questions about its proposed layoffs of nearly 200 people in Hermiston and the damage those job cuts would do to worker safety, transportation and the regional economy. "These UPRR decisions to reduce jobs at Hinkle Yard, and close the Hinkle Supply Warehouse and Mechanical Locomotive Shop in Hermiston, Oregon will devastate this rural community by hamstringing the economic … Continue Reading
May 22, 2019
Wyden, Merkley Honor Keanon Lowe in Senate
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week honored Keanon Lowe with Congressional Record statements praising the Parkrose High School coach and security guard for his heroism last week during a gun scare at the northeast Portland school. The senators noted that Lowe, a former University of Oregon football player, likely saved lives of students, teachers and administrators when he spotted an armed student in a classroom, tackled the student, wrestled away the gun, and … Continue Reading
May 22, 2019
Wyden, Merkley Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Promote Cleaner Transportation Fuel, Healthier Forests
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today introduced bipartisan legislation to allow the use of biomass from certain federal lands needing ecological restoration in the making of renewable fuels to promote healthier forests, more carbon sequestration, cleaner transportation fuels and strong protections for old growth forests. Current law does not allow the use of federal biomass in the making of renewable fuels as defined by the Renewable Fuel Standard. Wyden and … Continue Reading
May 22, 2019
Wyden, Paul Bill Requires Warrants to Search Americans’ Digital Devices at the Border
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., today introduced the Protecting Data at the Border Act to stop the government from forcing Americans to face indiscriminate and suspicionless searches of their phones, laptops and other digital devices just to cross the border. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., are lead co-sponsors and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., is introducing the House companion bill. The bipartisan bill prevents law enforcement … Continue Reading
May 21, 2019
Wyden Says No to Republican Control of Women’s Bodies
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor against the recent passage of some of the nation's strictest abortion bans in U.S. history: Mr. President, right now in state capitals across the country, Republican lawmakers are passing extreme bills that throw 45 years of settled law on reproductive rights out the window. This is an open, coordinated attack on Roe and a woman's right to choose the healthcare she needs. These … Continue Reading
May 21, 2019
Wyden Introduces Bill to Protect Campaigns, State Parties From Foreign Hackers
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today introduced a bill to defend campaigns and state parties against foreign hackers. The Federal Campaign Cybersecurity Assistance Act is the third bill Wyden has introduced this year to guard American democracy against cyberattacks, following legislation to protect election infrastructure and Senate cybersecurity. This bill would allow national party committees to provide cybersecurity assistance to state parties, individuals running for … Continue Reading
May 20, 2019
Merkley, Wyden, Bipartisan Senators to Trump Administration: Selling Off BPA Assets Would Increase Rates for Consumers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have joined their bipartisan colleagues in opposing a provision in President Trump's Fiscal Year 2020 budget that would auction off the transmission assets of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and other Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) through the Department of Energy. In a letter to Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Mick Mulvaney, the senators wrote: "We write to oppose the proposal in the … Continue Reading
May 17, 2019
Oregon Delegation Announces Portland Wins a Flight Slot at Tokyo Airport
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, with Congresspeople Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Greg Walden, today announced that, following their appeal to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the agency has selected Portland International Airport to receive one of 12 newly opened flight slots at Tokyo's Haneda International Airport. "Portland direct flight to Tokyo has, for 35 years, helped build significant … Continue Reading
May 16, 2019
Wyden Blasts White House Campaign to Pressure Websites Over Fake Bias Claims
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today blasted the White House’s move to pressure websites over unfounded claims of anti-conservative bias. In fact, online platforms have moved far too slowly to target hateful and vile content online, as multiple reports have demonstrated, and have allowed Donald Trump to promote white nationalists on Twitter. “Platforms have a lot to answer for, but taking down white supremacist content and this bad-faith charge of bias isn’t one of them,” … Continue Reading
May 16, 2019
Wyden, Merkley Welcome Restoration of Full SRS Payments for Counties and Schools
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today welcomed the U.S. Agriculture Department decision to restore full Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program payments for counties and schools. The decision follows Wyden and Merkley's call for the agency to release the more than $14 million in payments after reports that the agency wrongly withheld 6.2 percent of the resources intended for distribution under SRS to Oregon and other states. "When it comes to making sure our roads and … Continue Reading
May 16, 2019
Merkley, Wyden Join Colleagues in Introducing Bill to Reduce Bullying and Harassment at Colleges
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden on Wednesday joined 23 colleagues in introducing legislation aimed at reducing bullying and harassment, including cyberbullying, at colleges and universities around the country. "Cyberbullying has escalated harassment to disturbing new heights, and we must act to decisively say that this behavior is not acceptable," Merkley said. "I authored the Equality Act to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTQ Americans, and now we … Continue Reading
May 16, 2019
Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer, Bonamici: Portland an Ideal “Pilot City “for New Eco-Packaging Effort
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici this week urged UPS and TerraCycle to consider Portland as a pilot city for its eco-friendly Loop system that reduces consumer reliance on single-use packaging. The four Oregon lawmakers wrote top UPS and TerraCycle officials that Portland's proven commitment to sustainability makes it an ideal candidate for a test market as their companies move toward full implementation of the … Continue Reading
