Press Releases
Merkley, Wyden, Blumenauer, Bonamici Demand Answers From DOJ Following Prolonged Deputations of State and Local Law Enforcement Officers in Oregon
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden teamed up with Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1) today to press the Department of Justice (DOJ) for more information regarding the recent special deputation of state and local law enforcement officers in Oregon, which the DOJ now indicates will last for the remainder of the year against the wishes of local authorities. "Despite the temporary nature of the public safety emergency caused by … Continue Reading
October 22, 2020
Wyden and Schumer: FBI Must Not Launch Political Investigations to Influence the Election
Washington, D.C. - The FBI must reject pressure from Donald Trump to announce investigations of Joe Biden or his family to influence the presidential election, or else it risks doing lasting harm to our democracy and national security, Senate Intelligence Committee member Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. Following a widely questioned article in the New York Post, that alleged to have obtained … Continue Reading
October 22, 2020
Wyden, Merkley Denounce Trump Administration’s Historically Low Refugee Resettlement Goal
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today denounced the Trump administration's proposal to cap refugee admissions at 15,000 for Fiscal Year 2021-the lowest ceiling in the history of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program -and urged the administration to restore refugee admissions to their long-standing historic average. "The United States has a long, bipartisan legacy of providing refugees protection through resettlement-prior to 2016 we resettled an average of more than … Continue Reading
October 22, 2020
Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Urge DeVos to Help 8.2 Million Federal Student Loan Borrowers Currently Unable to Access Relief
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden are among 34 Senate Democrats urging Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to ensure all struggling federal student borrowers can gain access to crucial federal relief. Since March, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has provided forbearance, waived interest, and halted collections for borrowers whose student loans were directly held by the U.S. Department of Education. But, according to new … Continue Reading
October 21, 2020
Wyden Calls for Disaster Assistance for Winegrape Growers Amid Destructive Wildfire Season
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today asked Senate appropriators to provide additional disaster assistance for winegrape growers devastated by smoke during this year's destructive wildfire season. In the 2019 disaster relief package, Congress provided $3 million through the Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program (WHIP) for winegrowers whose grapes were damaged by wildfires in 2018 and 2019. Due to the fact that wildfires have burned millions of acres of land throughout … Continue Reading
October 21, 2020
Wyden, Merkley Co-sponsor Heroes Small Business Lifeline Act
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today co-sponsored a new comprehensive package of measures that would provide more than $370 billion to the hardest-hit, most vulnerable small businesses in Oregon and nationwide. Both senators said the HEROES Small Business Lifeline Act is a must to respond to the economic fallout of COVID-19 on small business, including minority-owned businesses and industries, such as restaurants and live venues. "Oregon is an overwhelmingly small … Continue Reading
October 19, 2020
Wyden, Merkley: Feds Investing $7.2 Million for Affordable Rental Housing in Morrow, Tillamook and Yamhill Counties
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today welcomed more than $7.2 million in federal resources to renovate affordable housing units in Heppner, McMinnville, Newberg, and Tillamook. "Oregonians working hard to pay rent as well as their bills for groceries, prescription drugs and more know full well how the pandemic's economic fallout has worsened the longstanding challenge of affordable housing," Wyden said. "This much-needed investment will help rural Oregonians to meet … Continue Reading
October 19, 2020
Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Demand Trump Administration Abandon Plans for Expanded Biometric Data Collection in Immigration System
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with U.S. Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), are urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to abandon plans to dramatically expand U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) collection of information about individuals' bodies, both non-citizens and U.S. citizens alike. The Department's proposal would allow DHS to collect biometric information as it … Continue Reading
October 16, 2020
Wyden, Merkley: La Pine Community Health Center Earns $5.5 Million Federal Investment
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that the La Pine Community Health Center has secured $5.5 million in federal resources that will help the non-profit clinic provide services to thousands of rural Central Oregon residents. "High-quality health care goes hand in hand with high quality of life in rural Oregon, especially now during a pandemic," Wyden said. "I'm gratified the La Pine Community Health Center has earned this investment that will help provide … Continue Reading
October 16, 2020
Walden, Merkley, Wyden Applaud Official Signing of the Bill to Rename Bend VA Clinic after Robert Maxwell
Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) and Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) applauded the signing into law of a bill introduced by the Oregon delegation to rename the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic in Bend after Robert Maxwell, a World War II veteran and Medal of Honor Recipient who lived in Bend. The bill was signed into law on Tuesday, October 13, 2020. At the time of Maxwell's passing, he was the oldest Medal of Honor recipient in the nation and one of four … Continue Reading
October 15, 2020
Wyden Demands Investigation of Federal Agencies Surveilling Black Lives Matter Protests
Washington, D.C. - Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) are urging the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), an independent federal agency, to investigate allegations that government agencies have been surveilling recent Black Lives Matter protests. The lawmakers' detailed letter states the importance of protests in advancing civil rights, cites several uninvestigated press reports of protester surveillance by federal … Continue Reading
October 15, 2020
Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Expand Tribal Broadband Application Deadline
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with 11 of their Senate colleagues, have introduced a bill to expand the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window to allow Tribal Nations and Native Hawaiian organizations the time they need to apply for spectrum licenses for unassigned spectrum over their own lands-a critical step to expanding broadband access in their communities. In 2019, The FCC created the 2.5 GHz Rural … Continue Reading
October 14, 2020
Merkley, Wyden Announce $1.7 Million in Funding for Economic Development in Eight Rural Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced that eight rural communities throughout Oregon will be receiving $1.7 million in federal funding to create jobs, upgrade essential facilities, and improve quality of life. The funding, which is being administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development program, will support essential services for 24,091 Oregonians in Tillamook, Lane, Lincoln, Grant, Baker, and Douglas counties. "Every … Continue Reading
October 14, 2020
Merkley, Wyden Announce $2.7 Million for Wildfire Resiliency, Conservation Efforts in the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced that $2.7 million in federal funding is headed to the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests to implement a cross-boundary restoration project that will improve forest resiliency, reduce long term costs of fire management, and improve watershed conditions. This investment in the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests will support the execution of a strategically located series of controlled … Continue Reading
October 13, 2020
Wyden, Merkley, DeFazio: Coos Bay Rail Line Secures $9.9 Million Federal Grant for Improvements
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio today announced the Coos Bay Rail Line has secured a $9.9 million federal grant to rehabilitate and replace ties and resurface track along the 121 miles of track from Coos Bay to Eugene. "The Coos Bay Rail Line plays a crucial role in supporting a robust economy that generates jobs on the South Coast and southern Oregon," Wyden said. "I'm glad the rail line has earned this key investment to make needed … Continue Reading
October 09, 2020
Wyden Co-sponsors Legislation to Make Payroll Tax Deferral Optional, including for Military Members and Federal Employees
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said today he is co-sponsoring legislation that would make Donald Trump's payroll tax deferral scheme optional for any worker whose employer chooses to participate, including federal employees and service members. "Donald Trump's phony payroll tax cut is the worst kind of election-time gimmickry - deceiving American workers for a few weeks with a sham executive order and then saddling them with a post-election double tax in 2021," said Wyden, ranking … Continue Reading
October 08, 2020
Wyden Will Hold Virtual Eastern Oregon Town Hall on October 14
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today announced he will have a live on-line town hall on Wednesday, Oct. 14 hosted by Town Hall Project for residents of Umatilla, Union, Morrow, and Wallowa counties. Anybody wanting to watch Wyden's virtual regional town hall beginning at 11:30 am on Wednesday, Oct. 14 can go to this Facebook link. Video at that link is available as well to people who don't have a Facebook account. Residents of Umatilla, Union, Morrow, and Wallowa counties who would … Continue Reading
October 08, 2020
Senate Democrats Release New Report Detailing the Assault on Our Democracy by Republican-appointed Judges
"Donald Trump's judicial nominees, as well as judges nominated by previous Republican presidents, are responsible for the vast majority of the decisions that have resulted in voter suppression and made it nearly impossible to regulate political spending" Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Tom Udall, D-N.M., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., today led Senate Democrats in releasing a new report outlining the ways campaign finance laws and the right to vote … Continue Reading
October 07, 2020
Wyden, Merkley: Baker Technical Institute Earns Federal Health Care Training Grant for Students in Eastern Oregon
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that the Baker Technical Institute has secured a $147,203 federal grant to increase access to health care training for rural students in remote and frontier areas of eastern Oregon. The rural development investment in the Baker facility will allow it to establish a state-of-the-art distance learning system that lets students participate in health care classes remotely at the Blue Mountain Hospital in John Day, Harney … Continue Reading
October 07, 2020
Wyden Will Hold Virtual Central Oregon Town Hall on October 12
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today announced he will have a live on-line town hall on Monday, Oct. 12 hosted by Town Hall Project for residents of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties. Anybody wanting to watch Wyden's virtual regional town hall beginning at 11:30 am on Monday, Oct. 12 can go to this Facebook link. Video at that link is available as well to people who don't have a Facebook account. Residents of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties who would like to participate … Continue Reading
