Press Releases
As LGBTQ Rights Case Heads to Supreme Court, Merkley and Wyden Join Amicus Brief in Support of Equal Treatment in Public Accommodations
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced that they have joined an amicus brief in support of equal rights for the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. A ruling for Masterpiece Cakeshop could create a "license to discriminate," allowing businesses to deny service to Americans, including LGBTQ people. The Senators were joined on the brief, which was led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and … Continue Reading
November 06, 2017
Wyden, Merkley Praise Rural Infrastructure Loans for Eastern Oregon
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today welcomed federal investments totaling more than $60 million for rural economic infrastructure in eastern Oregon. The Umatilla Electric Co-op Association will receive a $48.8 million loan and the Harney Electric Co-op will receive a $11.7 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Modern electric infrastructure that's reliable is a must for residents and businesses to create jobs and ensure a good quality of life for … Continue Reading
November 06, 2017
Wyden Introduces Private Prisons Bill
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today introduced legislation that would disqualify private prisons from receiving tax subsidies unavailable to other corporations. Wyden's bill is a companion to legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. Both bills deal with private prisons' ability to qualify as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) -- corporate entities that do not pay tax and whose shareholders … Continue Reading
November 02, 2017
Wyden, Merkley Introduce VA Construction Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week introduced legislation that would improve the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) ability to serve America's veterans by removing roadblocks to construction of some VA projects. The bill would expedite the process for more routine construction at VA facilities, including clinics, by raising the cap on such projects from $10 million to $20 million. Currently, Congress must individually approve VA construction projects … Continue Reading
November 01, 2017
Merkley and Wyden Push Back on Trump Administration’s Secret, Error-Riddled Cascade-Siskiyou Monument Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today pushed back against the Trump administration's leaked draft report that recommended diminished protections for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, pointing out serious concerns with both the factual inaccuracy of the report and lack of transparency surrounding the report. Despite the fact that a leaked version of the report appeared in the media over a month ago, the administration still has not released the report to … Continue Reading
October 30, 2017
Bipartisan Western Senators Press White House to Extend Critical Lifeline Funding in Future Disaster Aid Request
Washington, D.C. - A bipartisan group of western senators today urged the White House and the White House budget office to fulfill the federal government's promise to rural communities by extending a critical lifeline that funds road repairs, schools and law enforcement in rural communities in any future emergency disaster supplemental funding bill it sends to Congress. Led by U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the senators pushed for a two-year reauthorization of the … Continue Reading
October 30, 2017
Wyden Statement on Indictments of Trump Campaign Officials
Washington, D.C. -Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement on indictments filed today against three Trump campaign officials: "Today's indictments against Mr. Manafort, Mr. Gates and Mr. Papadopoulos are stark reminders of how the special counsel's investigation is critical to the rule of law and our national security. The allegations against Mr. Papadopoulos come after previously confirmed ties between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and raise more questions about which … Continue Reading
October 27, 2017
Wyden, Merkley Urge Extension of Greater Sage-Grouse Comment Period
Washington, D.C. - Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to extend the comment period by 45 days for changes to the Greater Sage-grouse conservation plans. The letter from Wyden and Merkley as well as five other Western senators responds to the Trump administration publishing a Notice of Intent earlier this month to amend Greater Sage-grouse conservation plans with only a 45-day comment period closing on November 27, 2017. The existing … Continue Reading
October 26, 2017
Oregon Lawmakers Honor Portland Thorns’ Championship
Washington, DC - Oregon's congressional delegation today honored the Portland Thorns' recent National Women's Soccer League Championship with matching Senate and House resolutions that also praised the franchise for inspiring young people to volunteer in their community. The resolutions offered by Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, Greg Walden, and Kurt Schrader come after the Thorns won their second NWSL championship in five … Continue Reading
October 25, 2017
Wyden: Congress Must Pass Wildfire Funding Fix in Disaster Aid
Washington, D.C. - As fires continue to burn during the most expensive wildfire season on record, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., tonight urged Senate leadership to include a wildfire funding fix in any future disaster aid legislation. In a speech tonight on the Senate floor, Wyden urged Congress to pass legislation he introduced with a bipartisan coalition of western senators that would end "fire borrowing," which forces agencies to rob funds from fire prevention funding to put out fires. The … Continue Reading
October 25, 2017
Wyden, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Expand Background Checks and Reduce Gun Violence
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today joined 27 of his Senate colleagues in introducing legislation that would expand federal background checks to the sale or transfer of all firearms by private sellers, with certain reasonable exceptions. "It's increasingly clear that gun violence tragedies in this country demand more than thoughts and prayers from Congress," Wyden said. "The overwhelming majority of Americans support common-sense background checks, and this legislation is a … Continue Reading
October 25, 2017
Wyden Votes Against Intelligence Committee Spying Bill
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement after voting 'no' on the Senate Intelligence Committee bill to reauthorize the powerful spying authority known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: "I voted against the Intelligence Committee bill because it does not include the reforms needed for the government to go after foreign threats while protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans. If Section 702 is to be reauthorized, it needs the reforms included in … Continue Reading
October 24, 2017
Bipartisan Coalition Introduces USA RIGHTS Act to Reform Secretive Warrantless Spy Program
Washington, D.C.-Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and a bipartisan coalition of senators today introduced the USA RIGHTS Act, which reforms a sweeping, secretive government spying program to protect the Constitutional rights of Americans, while giving intelligence agencies authority to target foreign terrorists, criminals and other overseas intelligence targets. Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Ted Poe, R-Texas, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., Rep. Ted … Continue Reading
October 20, 2017
Wyden, Merkley Want Answers From ICE About Portland Arrest
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today asked federal immigration officials to explain the arrest this week of Carlos Bolanos after what appears to be an illegal entry of a private home in the Portland metro area. "In a video of Mr. Bolanos' arrest, plainclothes agents appear to have illegally entered a private residence, exclaiming 'we don't need a warrant to come in this home,'" the Oregon senators said in their letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). … Continue Reading
October 20, 2017
Wyden Supports Successful PILT Amendment
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) joined his colleagues in voting Thursday night to include an amendment to the Senate budget resolution that would provide permanent and mandatory funding for the Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. The amendment blocked a Republican attempt that would have significantly decreased this critical PILT funding for rural Oregon communities. "The PILT program provides rural communities in Oregon and across the country with desperately needed funding … Continue Reading
October 20, 2017
Wyden, Merkley, Crapo, Cantwell, Risch, Murray Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Boost Fire Prevention Efforts
Washington, D.C. - In the wake of another historic wildfire season, a bipartisan group of western senators introduced a common-sense bill to better prepare for and prevent costly wildfires. The Wildland Fires Act of 2017 will help further the federal and state firefighting agencies' "National Cohesive Fire Strategy" by authorizing additional funding for at-risk communities and directing federal agencies to treat their most-at-risk forests to better protect communities and to re-establish … Continue Reading
October 19, 2017
Wyden: Secretary Perry is Putting Coal Executives over American Consumers
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to withdraw a proposed Energy Department rule that Wyden stressed is a thinly veiled attempt to prop up uncompetitive coal companies at the expense of American consumers. The Department of Energy's proposed Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule, which Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced in September, would do nothing to achieve its stated goal of improving the reliability of the electricity … Continue Reading
October 18, 2017
Wyden Amendment to Budget would Stop Republican Funding Cuts to Meals on Wheels
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today introduced an amendment to the budget legislation the Senate is considering that would protect the Meals on Wheels program from Republican efforts to gut the program and use that funding to pay for tax cuts for wealthy Americans. The amendment would block any Republican budget proposal that would slash funding for Meals on Wheels. "The list of appalling things in this budget grows by the hour, but among the worst is that Republicans … Continue Reading
October 18, 2017
Wyden, Merkley, Crapo, Colleagues Press Senate Leadership to Include Bipartisan Wildfire Funding Fix in Upcoming Disaster Aid Legislation
Washington, D.C. - With deadly fires still raging in California and across the West, a bipartisan group of senators led by Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, today pressed Senate Leaders Mitch McConnell and Charles E. Schumer in a letter to include a wildfire funding fix in disaster aid legislation the Senate will soon consider. In addition to Wyden, Merkley and Crapo, the senators who signed the letter are Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Dianne Feinstein, … Continue Reading
October 18, 2017
Wyden, Merkley Ask VA Secretary About High Veteran Suicide Rate in Western States
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to find solutions to the high veteran suicide rate across the Western United States. The Oregon senators' letter with nine of their Senate colleagues to VA Secretary David J. Shulkin, M.D. notes that the veteran suicide rate throughout the West is 7 percent higher than the rest of the country. A lack of doctors in remote areas, increased isolation by veterans suffering from PTSD, and … Continue Reading
