WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 29, 2023: Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) is calling on using the 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization to improve America's food and agriculture systems. Today's "Shift the Farm Bill: A Call for Reform," event featured remarks by Blumenauer as well as national experts in food, agriculture, health, sustainability, and animal welfare. Blumenauer also announced the introduction of his Food and Farm Ac  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following statement on March 30, 2023: * * * "Today I introduced the Right to Try Clarification Act. This legislation would expand access to life-changing treatments by including in the federal Right to Try Act Schedule I substances that have completed phase 1 clinical studies. "Oregon has a long legacy of ensuring that end-of-life patients have access to the full spectrum of treatment options to alleviate their condition and   more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following statement on March 28, 2023: * * * Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) ranking member of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee released the following statement after the Biden Administration announced the United States and Japan signed a critical minerals agreement: "I fear we are crossing the Rubicon. Today, the Biden Administration set the stage to ignore congressional intent and unilaterally circumvent Congress' co  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: U.S. Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Brian Mast (R-FL) moved to make medical cannabis an option for veterans treating the physical and mental wounds of war. The Veterans Equal Access Act is bipartisan legislation to require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to authorize providers to discuss medical marijuana with veterans and complete forms reflecting their best recommendations. "I cannot te  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 30, 2023: Today Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Kim Schrier, M.D. (D-WA), and Marcus Molinaro (R-NY) introduced bipartisan legislation to make the transition from high school to college easier for students with disabilities by making the support services they need more accessible and affordable. The Respond,  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, issued the following news release: Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, today questioned U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack on support for Oregon specialty crop farmers and rural child care during the committee's first USDA oversight hearing of the 118th Congress. The 5th District includes a portion of Willamette Valley, which is home to farms that produce more than 1  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, issued the following news release: The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, on a bipartisan vote of 225-204. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) supported the legislation, which aims to lower energy prices for Oregon families, decrease global emissions, and reduce the United States' reliance on foreign competitors like China. "Unnecessary red tape is stifling energy sectors across the country, and Oreg  more

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, issued the following floor statement on March 29, 2023: * * * Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) spoke on the House floor Tuesday evening in support of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. The proposal seeks to reduce energy prices by increasing domestic energy production, reforming the energy permitting process, reversing anti-energy policies, streamlining energy infrastructure and exports, and boosting the production and processing of  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, issued the following statement on March 30, 2023: * * * Congresswoman Andrea Salinas (D-Tigard) issued the following statement after she helped reintroduce the Women's Health Protection Act: "I'm proud to be an original cosponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act, legislation that would restore the right to access an abortion in all fifty states. In the nine months since the catastrophic Dobbs decision, thirteen states have completely   more

WASHINGTON, April 1 -- Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, issued the following statement on March 31, 2023: * * * Congresswoman Andrea Salinas (D-Tigard) issued the following statement after it was reported that former president Donald J. Trump was indicted by Manhattan grand jury: "The decision to indict the former president follows a yearslong investigation, and I trust that the members of the grand jury did not make this decision lightly. "If an ordinary citizen were found to have broken the   more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, issued the following statement on March 30, 2023: * * * Congresswoman Andrea Salinas (D-Tigard) issued the following statement after she voted 'no' on H.R. 1: "Today, I voted 'no' on the Polluters Over People Act. Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine demonstrated that the clean energy transition isn't just important for our planet - it's important for our national security. As Oregonians struggle to heat their homes and fill up their tanks, we  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, issued the following news release: As governments, civil society organizations, and leading activists come together this week for the Summit for Democracy, Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-07) and Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley teamed up to introduce a resolution commending environmental defenders and their work to support a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as an integral part of a thriving democracy. Merkley and Grijalva,   more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon, chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries, issued the following statement on March 28, 2023: * * * The Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held a hearing on long-term drought and water storage issues in the West, and potential solutions to the ongoing issues. Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.) issued the following statement in response: "70 million people across the Western United  more

WASHINGTON, April 1 -- Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 31, 2023: Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) led 17 of her colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to retain the regulatory definition of habitat within the Endangered Species Act (ESA). By defining habitat, this CRA will provide clarity and transparency to landowners and businesses in Wyoming and throughout the west. "There is an important distinction betw  more

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following statement on March 29, 2023: * * * Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley--a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--shared the following statement after the Senate passed bipartisan legislation repealing the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs), ensuring that the Gulf and Iraq War-era authorizations can no longer be used as legal justifications to use force and reasserting Congress' cons  more

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: As governments, civil society organizations, and leading activists come together this week for the Summit for Democracy, Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley teamed up with Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-07) to introduce a resolution commending environmental defenders and their work to support a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as an integral part of a thriving democracy. Merkley and Grijalva, a  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is awarding Oregon non-profits, state, and local governments $49,970,799 through the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program to support efforts across the state to address homelessness and promote access for individuals and families facing homelessness to resources and programs. "Access to saf  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is awarding Oregon non-profits, state, and local governments $49,970,799 through the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program to support efforts across the state to address homelessness and promote access for individuals and families facing homelessness to resources and programs. "Access to safe a  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined colleagues in a letter to President Biden raising concerns over reports that the Administration is considering a return to the inhumane and ineffective practice of detaining migrant families, after previously ending family detention in December 2021. "Under both the Obama and Trump Administrations, family detention had disastrous effects on migrant fa  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release and letter: Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined colleagues in a letter to President Biden raising concerns over reports that the Administration is considering a return to the inhumane and ineffective practice of detaining migrant families, after previously ending family detention in December 2021. "Under both the Obama and Trump Administrations, family detention had disastrous effects on m  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 30, 2023: Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, along with Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Dick Durbin (D-IL), today announced that their bipartisan resolution expressing deepest condolences to and solidarity with the people of Turkiye and Syria and calling for robust humanitarian aid following the catastrophic earthquake last month has unanimously passed  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release on March 28, 2023: Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., ramped up his investigation into auto supply chain links to forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China, with new questions for automakers and tier 1 suppliers in letters sent today. Importing goods made with forced labor is illegal under federal trade laws. Wyden sent an initial round of questions t  more

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release on March 29, 2023: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today released the findings of a two-year investigation into Swiss bank Credit Suisse's compliance with its 2014 plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for enabling tax evasion by thousands of wealthy U.S. individuals. The committee's investigation uncovered major violations of that  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement on March 30, 2023, at a Finance Committee hearing: * * * The Finance Committee meets this morning to continue our long-standing efforts to lower the cost of health care for taxpayers and patients. Today the committee focuses on pharmacy benefit managers - in particular the new strategies, like charging administrative fees tied to the price of a drug, that these multibillio  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 30, 2023: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he is co-sponsoring legislation that would close a loophole letting gun sales proceed if a background check is not completed within a certain time period, even if the gun buyer is not legally allowed to buy a gun. The gap in existing law has allowed thousands of gun sales to prohibited buyers, including the sale of the firearm used by the shooter in the deadl  more

WASHINGTON, March 31 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 30, 2023: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today introduced legislation that would protect consumers from online free trial scams and hard-to-cancel recurring-payment programs. The bill requires companies to shift extending subscriptions and memberships from "opt-out" conditions to "opt-in." "I have long supported efforts to increase transparency so Oregonians and consumers across the nation are not harmed by un  more

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 29, 2023: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today that he and Senate colleagues from both parties have reintroduced legislation that would help better inform consumers when they buy cheese. The CURD (Codifying Useful Regulatory Definitions) Act would codify a formal definition of "natural cheese," a term commonly used on food packaging that currently has no official definition. "Oregonians are proud of our   more

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release and letter on March 29, 2023: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., today urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to end the use of paid confidential informants to obtain large quantities of Americans' personal information without court oversight. The senators called for new transparency about the use of informants to acquire private data. Federal investigators have documented the Drug  more

WASHINGTON, March 28 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release and letter on March 27, 2023: U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today joined colleagues urging the U.S. Department of Defense to protect national security interests by providing service members access to protected leave for abortion and reproductive health care services. "Following the Dobbs decision, the RAND Corporation estimates that 40% of active duty women serving in the continental United States fa  more

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 29, 2023: U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that Bend Municipal Airport will receive $1.6 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to invest toward the $15 million cost of building a permanent control tower. "Reliable and safe air service is crucial for Oregonians and our state's economy," Wyden said. "I am gratified to see these dollars from the Bipartisan Infrast  more

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on March 29, 2023: U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that Bend Municipal Airport will receive $1.6 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to invest toward the $15 million cost of building a permanent control tower. "Reliable and safe air service is crucial for Oregonians and our state's economy," Wyden said. "I am gratified to see these dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastruc  more