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Jeff Alan Merkley is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Oregon since January 6, 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Merkley has focused on issues such as healthcare, climate change, and economic inequality throughout his tenure. He has been an advocate for progressive policies and has worked to address the challenges facing working families in Oregon and across the nation. Merkley is known for his commitment to transparency and accountability in government, often speaking out against perceived injustices and advocating for reforms.
An authoritarian President emboldened by a rubberstamp Congress, emboldened by a deferential Supreme Court, is sending military troops against American citizens who are peacefully protesting in city after city. This is un-American. It is a…
Our responsibility is to, yes, express our views. Yes, protest. But best done at a distance from these federal troops … because their goal is to create an engagement, an engagement that will lead to conflict.
Trump is sending troops to Portland with the goal of 'doing a number' on the city.
it is by way of real honor to bring the interns on their shadow day to track my participation in hearings and speeches and floor votes and conversation with other Senators because it is really hard for our interns to get a full vision of…
our report details what we saw during our recent trip to the region, including the destruction of Rafah that has reduced the city to rubble, and what we heard from experts in the field about how the Netanyahu government is systematically…
The nomination process is entirely broken. People are sick and tired of bringing their expertise to the Senate and basically being an automaton in a nomination factory. So that is why there is great sympathy for us working together to…
just minutes ago, I was outside and was running up the steps to the Senate Chamber in order to cast a vote on the issue before the Senate, and the issue before the Senate was whether or not we would pass a bill to release the Epstein…
Unfortunately, it didn't reflect reality at all. And that makes it just extremely difficult to listen to what essentially amounted to pure propaganda.
Trump and congressional Republicans continue to falsely claim that their Big, Ugly Betrayal of a bill is a windfall for working families.
nobody in our country should ever be above the law, certainly not powerful people who believe that they can perpetrate crimes on victims and get away with it because they have so much wealth and so many lawyers and so many friends in high…
Absolutely. I so appreciate your bringing this additional information to bear. Our colleague across the aisle who objected noted the Republicans also voted for this amendment--your amendment--in committee. So I am wondering, if we bring it…
If I understood your presentation right, this is, word for word, exactly the same--this bill--as the amendment you proposed in the appropriations meeting.
All across America, ordinary men and women know that, if they commit a crime, they will pay the fine. If they commit a crime, they will do the time. They don't have fancy lawyers. They don't have friends in high places. They don't have the…
This seems extremely--well--minimal. We are preserving the records. Earlier, we asked for a vote on a bill that would be a complete disclosure because we believe that disclosure is merited given a set of extraordinary…
But I invite him to come back because the provision he is talking about does not require the release of the Epstein files--not at all. And so he has come to the floor, and he said Democrats blocked a provision, and he won't tell you what I…
Well, I appreciate my colleague from Maryland bringing this forward. It seems like the absolute minimum we should do now is protect the evidence for the future. Certainly, it should be released, as both of us have spoken to. I really…
So the Republicans in committee said we support the idea, but let's do it by voice vote because we don't want to have our names recorded, yea or nay; is that correct?
I so much appreciate your amendment, which we advocated for, which you presented very well in the Appropriations Committee, that said that all the files have to be retained so that nothing is destroyed--no missing minutes on a White House…
I was hoping my colleague would stay on the floor to have a little bit of discussion about the topic he just raised because there seemed to be some missing elements in his discussion. And isn't that kind of what happens here, where we hear…
So even though it was passed out of committee by voice vote, and you offer a proposal simply to keep the records intact--which I must say, should never have to be asked anyway--but why would any Member of the Senate object to the principle…
If that is accurate, I am just trying to understand why they would do so. If his name is in the files and it is simply in the context of he attended a certain event, something of that nature, or maybe Mr. Epstein went to an event at one of…
Well, I can tell you I have read through it, and it looks like, to me, exactly the same. And we heard from our colleague from Wyoming that this was a Republican proposal, which you clarified that, actually, you introduced it but also…
this amendment protects the work that we are doing today from a future rescission happening in a partisan basis. Now, realize this only affects FY 2026 and therefore only bills that have been both passed here and in the House and signed by…
When I came here as an intern some 49 years ago, Senator Hatfield was very engaged on the Appropriations Committee, and he was later chair. I really enjoyed interning for him and hearing how appropriators really considered themselves as…
Politicians like Jeff Merkley
