Press Releases
Merkley, Wyden, Western Senators Push Senate Leadership To Provide Housing Assistance To Communities Impacted by 2020 Wildfires
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden teamed up with with U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to push Senate leaders to deliver critical housing assistance to Americans struggling to find reliable shelter in the wake of catastrophic wildfire damage in western states. This year alone, fires in the west burned over 5.8 million acres, claimed over 30 lives, and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their … Continue Reading
December 10, 2020
Wyden, Portman Introduce Open Courts Act to Reform Federal Court Record System to Ensure Easy & Free Use For All Americans
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rob Portman (R-OH) have introduced the Open Courts Act to reform the federal government's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER), a database of federal judicial filings. This consensus legislation builds off the Electronic Court Records Reform Act that Wyden and Portman introduced in 2019. The PACER system is outdated and charges exorbitant fees to users. This bill will reform PACER to solve these problems and ensure easy and free … Continue Reading
December 10, 2020
Wyden, Casey Release New Report Showing Nursing Home Rates of Death and Infection are Rising Rapidly
Washington, D.C. - As the nation enters what experts predict will be the most severe months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of COVID-19 deaths and infections among residents and workers in nursing homes is rapidly rising. Today, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, and Bob Casey (D-PA), Ranking Member of the Special Committee on Aging, are releasing a report that shows that the already dire situation in nursing homes is worsening. In November, more … Continue Reading
December 09, 2020
Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Urge Help for Working Class in COVID-19 Relief Proposal
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined four of their colleagues in urging their fellow senators to recognize the enormity of the economic and public-health crisis posed by the pandemic, by ensuring that any COVID-19 relief proposal includes $1,200 in direct payments to adults and $500 to their children, and rejecting any provisions that give liability shields to corporations that threaten the health and safety of their workers and customers. In a letter to … Continue Reading
December 09, 2020
Wyden, Colleagues Press FBI and DHS for Information on QAnon Threat Posed to America and Abroad
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today joined his colleagues in requesting from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a written assessment to Congress on the threat posed by QAnon in the United States and abroad. The senators also requested information on the role of foreign influence operations in the inception and amplification of QAnon conspiracy theories. In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Principal Deputy … Continue Reading
December 08, 2020
Wyden, Neguse Lead Call for Wildfire Relief Funds to be Included in Next COVID-19 Relief Package
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., today led their colleagues in sending a letter to House and Senate leadership requesting that funds for wildfire risk mitigation and recovery efforts be included in the next COVID-19 relief package. "Entire communities in Oregon and across the West were leveled to ash in the wake of this year's wildfire season-lives lost and homes and small businesses destroyed, and all on top of a life-threatening global … Continue Reading
December 08, 2020
Wyden, Merkley Urge Feds to Begin Expedited Review of Klamath Dam Removal Plan
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today wrote federal regulators to urge consideration of an amended application for the Lower Klamath Project and begin environmental reviews as soon as possible of the plan's four proposed dam removals. The Oregon senators' letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Secretary Kimberly D. Bose comes in the wake of the Nov. 17 announcement by Oregon and California agreeing to become co-licensees with the Klamath River Renewal … Continue Reading
December 07, 2020
Wyden, Merkley Urge Inclusion of County Payments in End-of-Year Federal Funding Efforts
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today that the COVID-19 pandemic is one more reason that payments to counties under the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) and Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) programs should be prioritized in a year-ending appropriations bill. "In order to assist these rural counties' response to the current public health crisis, as well as to invest in infrastructure, schools, and law enforcement, Congress must include a reauthorization of SRS," Wyden … Continue Reading
December 04, 2020
Wyden Applauds House Passage of Cannabis Legalization Legislation
Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today applauded House passage of the MORE Act, legislation to legalize cannabis at the federal level - and includes Wyden's proposal, developed in partnership with Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., to establish clear rules of the road to responsibly tax and regulate cannabis. Wyden released the following statement: "Today commonsense and justice prevailed, and the federal government is closer than ever to closing the chapter on failed cannabis prohibition - a … Continue Reading
December 04, 2020
Wyden Calls For Virtual Exam Software Companies to Improve Equity, Accessibility & Privacy For Students
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is pressing three of the largest virtual testing companies used by schools and testing administrators amid the COVID-19 pandemic to address alarming equity, accessibility, and privacy issues faced by students using the platforms. Recent reports indicate students, particularly students of color and those with disabilities, have had severe issues using the software, been locked out of tests, or wrongly accused of cheating. For example, students of color … Continue Reading
December 02, 2020
Wyden, Warren, Markey, Schatz Secure DHS IG Investigation of CBP Phone Location Data Surveillance Program
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, today announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will launch an inspector general investigation into Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) warrantless tracking of phones in the United States following an inquiry from the senators earlier this year. "If federal agencies are tracking American citizens without warrants, the public deserves answers and … Continue Reading
December 02, 2020
Wyden Statement on Trump's Demands to Repeal Section 230 in NDAA
Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released the following statement on Donald Trump's demands to repeal Section 230 in the NDAA: "I'd like to start for the Blazers, but it's not going to happen either. It is pathetic that Trump refuses to help unemployed workers, while he spends his time tweeting unhinged election conspiracies and demanding Congress repeal the foundation of free speech … Continue Reading
December 01, 2020
Wyden, Merkley Introduce Bill to Ensure More Wildfire Resilient Power Grid
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today introduced new legislation to incentivize utility companies to do more to reduce wildfire risks as aging power infrastructure ignite wildfires in Oregon and across the West. Wyden and Merkley's Wildfire Resilient Power Grid Act of 2020 would ensure power companies do their part to reduce the risk of wildfires through power system upgrades such as the undergrounding of power lines, fire safety equipment installation and proper … Continue Reading
December 01, 2020
Merkley, Wyden Announce Nearly $1.5 Million in Funding to Improve Health Care on Coquille Tribe’s Kilkich Reservation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced that $1.49 million in funding is headed to the Coquille Indian Tribe in North Bend to purchase equipment and medical supplies needed to help the community meet the mounting challenges of the coronavirus crisis. The funds-which are being allocated through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed in March-are being directed to the Ko-Kwel Wellness Center, which is … Continue Reading
December 01, 2020
Wyden, Merkley Urge Extension of Pandemic Unemployment Programs in COVID-19 Relief Package
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged Senate leadership to include extensions of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs in the next coronavirus relief package. Both of these programs are set to expire on Dec. 26,.Wyden and Merkley noted in their letter along with 30 other senators to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "As the virus surges going … Continue Reading
November 30, 2020
Oregon Delegation Press to Extend Open Enrollment Period to Dec. 31
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, Greg Walden, Kurt Schrader and Suzanne Bonamici today pushed the Trump administration to extend the Open Enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace through the end of the year in light of severe obstacles Oregonians faced due to COVID-19 and historic wildfires. "The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe health and economic consequences for Oregon. To date, nearly 60,000 Oregonians … Continue Reading
November 23, 2020
Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer Urge Justice Department to Ensure Portland Police Compliance with Use-of-Force Settlement Agreement
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer today urged federal officials to ensure the Portland Police Bureau is complying with a 2014 settlement agreement addressing the bureau's use of force against people with mental illness. The three Oregon lawmakers wrote in their letter to the U.S. Department of Justice that they are concerned Portland police are not complying with the August 29, 2014, settlement agreement with the Justice Department. "The … Continue Reading
November 23, 2020
Wyden, Merkley Co-sponsor Legislation to Increase Production of Critical Personal Protective Equipment
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they are co-sponsoring legislation that would increase the production of critical personal protective equipment (PPE) like N-95 masks and improve the transparency of the supply and distribution of medical supplies needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Protect Our Heroes Act of 2020 was introduced as coronavirus cases spike nationwide and as frontline health care workers face shortages of critical protective equipment. … Continue Reading
November 23, 2020
Merkley, Wyden, Colleagues Call on GSA Administrator to End Unprecedented Delay, Provide Critical Transition Resources to President-Elect Biden
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have teamed up with 36 of their colleagues in calling on General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Emily Murphy to end her unprecedented delay, immediately ascertain former Vice President Joe Biden as President-elect and Senator Kamala Harris as Vice President-elect, and make available the transition resources that are provided by law. This delay creates unacceptable risks to national security and Coronavirus … Continue Reading
November 19, 2020
Wyden, Merkley: Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to Receive $350,000 Federal Grant
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will receive a $350,000 federal grant to buy two transit vehicles that will provide service to work, schools, health care and other services. "The economic impact from COVID-19 has landed hard on Oregon's tribes, making it more crucial than ever to continue investments that provide infrastructure support during this crisis and afterward," Wyden said. "I'm glad the Confederated … Continue Reading
