WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Eighteen State Attorneys General and a county attorney submitted a public comment letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture expressing strong opposition to the agency's Interim Final Rule which revises the department's regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The states contend that the USDA's new rule disrupts a long-standing framework intended to protect the environment by requiring federal agencies to assess the environmental consequence  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following news release: * * * After Republicans Passed The Largest Healthcare Cut In History And On The 60th Anniversary Of The Creation Of Medicaid And Medicare, Ranking Member Merkley, Leader Schumer, And Senate Democrats Introduce Legislation To Reverse Devastating Healthcare Cuts In Republicans' "Big, Ugly Betrayal" After Republicans passed legislation earlier this month that woul  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, issued the following news release: * * * Cantwell Delivers Opening Statement at July 30 Markup U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening statement at the July 30, 2025, Full Committee Markup: "Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I want to first acknowledge, as yo  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Merkley Acts to Preserve Bipartisan Funding Agreements in Congress * Washington, D.C. - As the Senate considers bipartisan legislation to set funding for a portion of the federal government, Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley offered an amendment to reaffirm that bipartisan funding agreements made by Congress cannot be undone by the Administration or partisan maneuvers in Congress. Merkley offered an ame  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (TNSLrpt) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Insight white paper (No. IN11701) on Aug. 1, 2025, by disability policy analyst Scott D. Szymendera. Here are excerpts: * * * Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulation of Employee Exposure to Heat Employees who work outdoors, including those in industries such as construction and agriculture, may be exposed to extreme heat conditions. Similarly, certain indoor work situations - such   more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, urged his colleagues to pass legislation to curb President Trump's "catastrophic trade war." In a speech prepared for delivery, Wyden highlighted how tariffs are raising costs for American consumers and battering U.S. businesses, and he pushed to rein in the president's use of emergency powers. * * * Here is the text of the statement: I rise to support my colleagues who are seeking to free America  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Call for Restoration of Voting Rights Act * Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., said today they have joined Senate colleagues in reintroducing legislation that would update and restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act of 1965 that federal court rulings have eroded in recent years. "Six decades after Congress passe  more