WASHINGTON, April 19 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following opening statement at an executive session on March 1, 2022, to vote on the nominations of Robert Gordon, to be assistant secretary for financial resources, January Contreras, to be assistant secretary for Children and Families, and Rebecca Jones Gaston, to be commissioner for the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families: * * * The committee will begin consideration of three n more PR

WASHINGTON, April 19 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following opening statement at a hearing on Feb. 17, 2022, entitled "The President's Fiscal Year 2023 Health and Human Services Budget": * * * The Finance Committee meets this morning with Secretary Becerra to discuss the year ahead for the Department of Health and Human Services. There's a lot to cover, so I'll quickly tick through a handful of issues. First, on telehealth. This committee b more PR

WASHINGTON, April 20 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following opening statement at a hearing on Feb. 17, 2022, entitled "Spotlighting IRS Customer Service Challenges": * * * Once again, it's income tax filing season in America. Struggling after a decade of Republican budget cuts that have decimated its staff, technology and operations, the IRS is overwhelmed. Customer service is suffering. Enforcement against tax cheating by the rich has been  more PR

WASHINGTON, April 22 -- Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, issued the following news release: Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Salud Carbajal (D-CA) announced the subcommittee will hold a hearing titled, "Review of Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Programs."  more PR

WASHINGTON, April 22 -- Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, issued the following news release: Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced the subcommittee will hold a hearing titled, "Examining Workforce Development and Job Creation in Surface Transportation Construction." The hearing will explo more PR

WASHINGTON, April 19 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: U.S. Rep Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, introduced the Securing Protections Against Carbon Emissions (SPACE) Tax Act to create new excise taxes on commercial space flights carrying human passengers for purposes other than scientific research. "Space exploration for recreational purposes isn't a tax-free holiday for the wealthy. Just as Americans pay taxes when bu more PR

WASHINGTON, April 23 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: On Friday, March 22, Earth Day, U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) sent a letter to President Biden urging him to declare a national climate emergency. The letter was signed by over two dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives. In the letter, Blumenauer writes that the scope and urgency of the climate crisis merits the full power of the executive branch in the form of an emergency declarat more PR

WASHINGTON, April 23 -- Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on April 21, 2022: Congressman Peter DeFazio (OR-04) today joined President Joe Biden and his Congressional colleagues in Portland to promote the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Congressman DeFazio worked closely with President Biden, House Democrats, and a bipartisan group of Senators to deliver $550 billion in new investments to improve the more PR

WASHINGTON, April 23 -- Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on April 22, 2022: Congressman Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), and Senator Ron Wyden (OR) commended the Biden Administration's executive order to protect old growth and mature forests. The announcement follows letters sent in 2021 and 2022 by the lawmakers urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior to include protection for old growth and mature  more PR

WASHINGTON, April 20 -- Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, issued the following news release on April 18, 2022: $188.7 million will be invested in Arizona wildfire mitigation efforts for the City of Prescott and the Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI) from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law led by Senator Kyrsten Sinema and shaped by Senator Mark Kelly. The investments comes as part of the USDA Forest Service's 10-year wildfire strategy: Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A St more PR

PORTLAND, Oregon, April 21 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley traveled the Portland and Salem metro areas last week to highlight several of the community-initiated projects he championed in the 2022 federal spending bill. Senator Merkley, with the support of Senator Ron Wyden, used his position on the Senate's Appropriations Committee to secure funding for nearly 150 of these projects across the state--supporting housing, health more PR

PORTLAND, Oregon, April 22 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following statement: * * * Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley joined Oregon leaders in welcoming President Joe Biden to Portland, Oregon. President Biden highlighted investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law at Portland International Airport. After the visit, Senator Merkley issued the following statement: "It's always a good day when the President of the United States visits Oregon and sees the innovative work our more PR

PORTLAND, Oregon, April 23 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senator Ron Wyden (OR), Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), and Congressman Peter DeFazio (OR-04) commended the Biden Administration's executive order to protect old growth and mature forests. The announcement follows letters sent in 2021 and 2022 by the lawmakers urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior to include protection for old growth and mature forests as more PR

WASHINGTON, April 20 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on April 19, 2022: Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced a total of $750,000 in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding headed to three fish passage projects in Tillamook County. All three projects will contribute to the Salmon SuperHwy strategic effort to restore 95 percent historic habitat connectivity for five species of Endangered Species Act-listed salmonids and Pacific lamprey. more PR

WASHINGTON, April 21 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on April 20, 2022: Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced a total of $11,673,000 in federal funding headed to five collaborative forestry projects around Oregon, including a new project in the Rogue River basin. These projects are designed by local timber and environmental stakeholders, selected by a Federal Advisory Committee and funded through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Re more PR

PORTLAND, Oregon, April 23 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on April 22, 2022: Senator Ron Wyden (OR), Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), and Congressman Peter DeFazio (OR-04) commended the Biden Administration's executive order to protect old growth and mature forests. The announcement follows letters sent in 2021 and 2022 by the lawmakers urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior to include protection for old growth and matur more PR

WASHINGTON, April 20 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on April 19, 2022: U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week announced that the City of John Day has earned a $1.8 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to increase broadband connectivity in Grant County. "Reliable broadband is essential infrastructure for Eastern Oregon, just like the Rural Electrification Act opened new opportunities across the nation nearly a century ago," said Wyden, who s more PR

WASHINGTON, April 20 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on April 19, 2022: U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week announced that the City of John Day has earned a $1.8 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to increase broadband connectivity in Grant County. "Reliable broadband is essential infrastructure for Eastern Oregon, just like the Rural Electrification Act opened new opportunities across the nation nearly a century ago," said Wyden, who supp more PR