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
American families deserve a fair shot at an affordable college education
The following guest commentary was written by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley. The promise that the next generation will be able to go further and do better than the last one is the heart of the American Dream. I was fortunate enough to have that chance. I grew up in a
Bill might ease student loan squeeze
Financial counselors at a Springfield home-buying program are increasingly running into a monumental roadblock when they try to help first-time home buyers qualify for a mortgage: student loans. “In counseling, we actually get down and pull their credit reports for them and look at individual line items with them individually,”
Oregon senators join call for increased research into Gulf War illnesses
Peter Greene, 54, says the ailments he suffers from his military service during the First Gulf War make it hard for him to walk the bus stop near his Northeast Portland home. But he and nine other Gulf War veterans recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where they
Sen. Jeff Merkley: Ending student debt with “Pay It Forward”
The U.S. Department of Education reports that the average total cost of going to a public, 4-year college for one year was $21,000 for in-state students in 2011-2012. And while college costs are spiraling upward, so is student debt. The Institute for College Access and Success finds that 7 in
Merkley seeks Dem nomination
WASHINGTON — When Jeff Merkley arrived in the nation’s capital in 2009 as a newly elected senator, it was not his first stint in Washington. But it quickly became obvious to the Portland Democrat that the Congress of which he was now a member was very different from the ones
Minimum wage must reflect cost of living
When I was growing up, my dad worked with his hands to make ends meet, first as a millwright at a timber mill in Southern Oregon and then as a mechanic in Portland. Although we were never rich, his hard work was enough to provide for our family. On the