WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, the Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), announced today that legislation he co-authored with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has passed the U.S. Senate and is headed to the President's desk to be signed into law. The legislation, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, will ban U.S. imports of products that are made with slave labor in the Xinj more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (TNSRep) -- Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, issued the following news release on Dec. 16, 2021: Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Dina Titus (D-NV) released a staff report on the committee's investigation into the General Services Administration's (GSA) manage more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 -- The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus issued the following statement on Dec. 15, 2021, by Chair Judy Chu: The Senate confirmed Judge Jennifer Sung to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She will be the first AAPI judge from Oregon on the Ninth Circuit. Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), who has written in support of Judge Sung in the past, issued the following statement: "I am thrilled that Jud more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on Dec. 16, 2021: Congressional Cannabis Caucus Co-Chairs Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) today released a year-end progress memorandum that includes steps taken by Congress throughout 2021 in the cannabis space. Co-Chairs Blumenauer and Lee also detail their top priorities for 2022, including federal descheduling, sentencing reform, industry equity, and research. "The table is set and the ti more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (TNSRep) -- Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, issued the following statement on Dec. 15, 2021: * * * Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the below statement on a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report he requested on the use of less-lethal force by several Departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, during the 2020 civil demonstrations in Wa more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 -- The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment issued the following testimony by Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis involving a hybrid hearing on Dec. 8, 2021, entitled "Promoting Economic and Community Redevelopment and Environmental Justice in the Revitalization and Reuse of Contaminated Properties": * * * I am Lucy Vinis, the Mayor of Eugene, Oregon and am here with you today to testify about Eugene's experience with the Environmental more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), and Representatives Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-07), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-04) are leading a congressional effort urgently requesting supplemental funding be included in the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations bill e more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on Dec. 16, 2021: U.S. Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) today led a bipartisan group of 78 Representatives urging the Department of the Interior to "immediately issue an emergency listing to temporarily restore federal protections through the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to the gray wolf." They wrote: "While we appreciate the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS)  more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 -- Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on Dec. 13, 2021: U.S. Congressman Kurt Schrader (OR-05) was pleased to host U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack virtually and welcome U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie in person in Oregon's 5th Congressional District to discuss new disaster relief funding for the state though the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (II more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 -- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, issued the following statement: * * * The U.S. Senate confirmed Jennifer Sung's nomination to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding Ms. Sung's confirmation: "Throughout her extraordinary tenure on the Oregon Employment Relations Board, Jennifer Sung has demonstrated a commitment to impartiality, a th more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on Dec. 16, 2021: Today Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53) are calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to amend the Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) general license on humanitarian assistance to authorize education programming activities in Afghanistan. In a letter to Secretary Blinken and Secretary Yellen, the lawmaker more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release on Dec. 13, 2021: Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called on the Biden administration to limit Medicare Part B premium increases for seniors. Half of the proposed increase is attributable to potential costs associated with covering Aduhelm, an Alzheimer's drug that was given accelerated approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) despite limi more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) delivered the following remarks at the Cato Institute in support of defending Americans' civil liberties and urging comprehensive federal action to protect Fourth Amendment rights. "In my view, it's essential to prevent data brokers from acting like so many termites and chewing through the framework of our fundamental rights," Wyden said. "...Restoring a system that puts our righ more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following statement on Dec. 15, 2021: * * * U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued the following statement after voting against the National Defense Authorization Act today. "I appreciate my colleagues' hard work to assemble this bill, which makes important improvements to U.S. defense policy. In particular, I support increasing pay for service members and civilians employees of the Defense Department, improved mental health services more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today welcomed notification from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that it's responding to his call for action tackling the troubling growth in unfair fees imposed by middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers on small independent pharmacies and Medicare Part D beneficiaries in Oregon and nationwide. The letter to Wyden from CMS saying it plans to issue propos more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on Dec. 15, 2021: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., today called on the Biden Administration to sanction four mercenary hacking corporations under the Global Magnitsky Act, for enabling human rights violations by authoritarian regimes. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairwoman C more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release: Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released updated text of the Finance Committee's title of the Build Back Better Act. The updated text includes both technical and policy changes, as well as modifications to ensure compliance with Senate budget rules. "The Finance Committee has made targeted improvements to the Build Back Better Act, and is ready more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: As the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) begins to make an impact across the nation, Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced the allocation of $43 million in federal funding to Oregon's airports for key infrastructure needs. * "Having safe and sustainable airports benefits Oregonians who want to stay connected to out-of-state loved ones, and businesses that re more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on Dec. 17, 2021: As the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) begins to make an impact across the nation, Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced the allocation of $43 million in federal funding to Oregon's airports for key infrastructure needs. "Having safe and sustainable airports benefits Oregonians who want to stay connected to out-of-state loved ones, and busine more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) praised the bipartisan, bicameral agreement to send the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to President Joe Biden's desk. The bill will ensure that goods made with the slave labor from Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) do not enter the U.S. market. Rubio and Merkley previously authored the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act  more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on Dec. 13, 2021: U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said today that he and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) are pushing federal officials to end barriers that patients face in getting their birth control covered by insurance without cost-sharing--obstacles that still persist despite the Affordable Care Act (ACA) contraception coverage protections. In a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, more PR

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 -- The Congressional Western Caucus issued the following news release on Dec. 16, 2021: Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Rep. Mike Simpson (ID-02), and Vice Chair Bruce Westerman (AR-04) led 19 Members in a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland regarding the Administration's decision to update the greater sage-grouse land management plans coupled with their proposed mineral withdrawal of 10 million acres of federal lands in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. more PR