In The News

Merkley Monthly: Making major investments in the Port of Coos Bay

The Coos Bay World Transforming the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay into the first fully ship-to-rail port facility on the West Coast is a huge opportunity for Oregon and our coastal communities. This project will create good-paying union jobs and permanent local jobs, increase West Coast port capacity by

Three Americans have been freed from prisons in China

NPR The Biden administration says the prisoners were all wrongfully held and that they are being reunited with their families for the first time in many years. They appear to be part of a prisoner swap. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Three Americans have been freed from prisons in China. The Biden

Wyden, Merkley Announce Nearly $1.2 Million for Ecosystem Restoration in Oregon; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation award will benefit residents and projects along Tillamook River

Tillamook County Pioneer Washington D.C.—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced a federal investment of $1.18 million for the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership to help fix the Burton-Fraser Road along the Tillamook River that is limiting fish passage. “Letting our infrastructure crumble over time to a point where it

New tribal village on Columbia River included in federal appropriations bill

Northwest senators took the first step Thursday to fulfilling the promises made to Columbia River fishing tribes in the 1930s. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, added language into an appropriations bill that allows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to start planning a new tribal village

Senators call for NBA to move 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte

Six U.S. senators wrote a letter to the head of the NBA this week calling on him to move the league’s 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte to protest a state law banning anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people. In their letter, the senators — five Democrats and one Republican — urged Adam Silver, the

Understanding the SAFE Act

Payday lenders may seem to be everywhere, but they were not always there. The first payday stores opened in the early 1990s – a byproduct of the same anything-goes deregulatory mania that led to a wave of booby-trapped mortgages and the financial and economic meltdown of 2008. Almost as soon

Wyden and Merkley look to loosen marijuana research restrictions

Oregon’s two U.S. senators have joined a drive to reschedule marijuana as cannabis becomes more widely accepted as a medical treatment. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced last week three federal agencies will consider whether to move marijuana from “Schedule 1” of the federal government’s controlled substance list. Schedule 1 is the most

Senator Merkley Asks IRS For Ways To Fix Tax ID Fraud

As the tax filing deadline approaches, Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley is asking the Internal Revenue Service to improve security. When Mark Ertle was doing his taxes a few years ago, he got a rude awakening. Someone had stolen his identity and filed his taxes to get the refund. “It was denied

Tax ID theft: ‘Watch your bank accounts’

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — More than 600,000 Americans were victims of tax ID fraud as of September 2015 and the IRS paid out $5.8 billion in fraudulent tax returns in 2013. With just a week left before tax day, Senator Jeff Merkley is taking action against tax identity theft. Merkley visited

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