Tag: Civil Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today continued his leadership at the intersection of privacy rights, racial justice, and emerging technologies by introducing the National Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2020, groundbreaking legislation that would prohibit private companies from collecting biometric data—including eye scans, voiceprints, faceprints, and fingerprints—without

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced that federal forces from the Department of Homeland Security would be withdrawing from their occupation of downtown Portland: “This announcement is an important step in ending the deployment of Trump’s secret police

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, with U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, today announced that at their request, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offices of Inspector General (OIG) are opening investigations into the unrequested presence

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and 45 other senators in introducing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bipartisan bill to restore the landmark Voting Rights Act, end the scourge of minority voter suppression and help preserve the

PORTLAND, OR – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, with U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, today formally requested that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offices of Inspector General (OIG) to investigate the unrequested presence and violent actions of

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), today announced that they are introducing the Preventing Authoritarian Policing Tactics on America’s Streets Act, which would block the Trump

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici today demanded answers from the Trump administration after a federal agent shot a peaceful protester in the head with potentially deadly crowd-control munition. The Oregonian suffered a direct hit, resulting in a critical head injury, and is now hospitalized after undergoing surgery.

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with more than 100 members of Congress, are calling on President Trump to direct the federal government to remove all regulations, executive orders and agency policies that discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. The letter comes after the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced they are co-sponsoring legislation that would strengthen the federal and state governments’ ability to investigate police departments with a pattern or practice of unconstitutional and discriminatory behavior. “Real change to uproot systemic racism in police departments demands a firm commitment

Washington, D.C. – Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ workers from discrimination, Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined their colleagues to demand the Department of Justice