WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement on June 5, 2024, at a hearing on renewing and revitalizing trade preference programs: * * * As Prepared for Delivery This morning the Finance Committee meets to discuss how the United States can strengthen its trading partnerships around the globe through trade preference programs. I'm going to focus on two of the biggest and most important of these programs: the Generali  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, issued the following news release: Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed appropriations legislation to fund military construction projects, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and related agencies in fiscal year 2025. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) released the following statement after supporting the package, which includes $412 million above President Biden's budget request for family housing and other projects support  more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release: Following UnitedHealth Group (UHG) ransomware cyberattack, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to immediately mandate systemically important health care companies to improve their cybersecurity practices, and to protect against cyberattacks that can shut down medical centers for weeks and leave patients  more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Oregon, issued the following statement on June 5, 2024: * * * Today, U.S. Representative Val Hoyle (OR-04) released the following statement after voting against H.R. 8580, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2025: "House Republicanshad a chance to put forward a solid, bipartisan measure to helpveteransbut have instead chosen to play politics. This MilCon-VA funding bill is extreme and will hurt servic  more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley--a member of both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee--and House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-05) issued the following statement in response to ongoing violence in Burma's Rakhine State that further threatens the Rohingya community: "We cannot stay silent in the face of the Burmese military and Arakan   more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, alongside U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), and Andrea Salinas (OR-06) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Administrator Bruce Summers, who oversees the agency's Agricultural Marketing Service, calling on the USDA to deliver critical federal support to West Coast fishermen and seafood harvesters, processors, a  more

WASHINGTON, June 7 -- Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon, issued the following news release: Today, Congressman Cliff Bentz (OR-O2) announced that Tyler Correa, a senior from Phoenix High School, out of a record number of 40 submissions, has been selected as the winner of OR-02's 2024 Congressional Art Competition! Tyler's artwork, Strawberries, was chosen by a panel of three judges who praised the piece as having 'amazing textures and details". Tyler may travel to Washington, D.C., to see her artwork   more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Congressman Earl Blumenauer, founder and co-chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus and ranking member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, introduced the Domestic Bicycle Production Act to reinvigorate bike manufacturing in the United States. "Domestic manufacturing is the missing piece of the bike revolution. My legislation would give bike manufacturers the foothold they need to establish a thriv  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release on June 4, 2024: Today, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Brian Mast (R-FL), Dave Joyce (R-OH), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) successfully passed their amendment in the Republicans' VA spending package to end the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) prohibition on assisting veterans in accessing medical marijuana. Current VA policy prevents providers from recommending, making referrals, or completing forms for med  more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Today, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, alongside Congressman Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) demanded the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reconsider its guidance preventing providers from assisting veterans in accessing medical marijuana. The letter comes after the lawmakers, along with Representative Brian Mast (R-FL), succe  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: "I am so proud to announce my funding requests for fiscal year 2025," said Rep. Salinas. "After successfully delivering over $14 million in community project funding for Oregon's Sixth District earlier this year, I am already hard at work to secure even more federal dollars that will help make life better for you and your neighbors. These requests are the product of countless meetings and conversations that   more

WASHINGTON, June 8 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement at a hearing on keeping the promise of Social Security for first responders and public servants in Ohio, on June 7, 2024: * * * As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Chairman Brown, for holding today's hearing and for all the witnesses for participating. For nearly 90 years, Social Security has been a bedrock program on which millions of seniors and Americans with disabilit  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement from a hearing dated May 21, 2024, entitled "Child Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Advantaged Accounts Benefitting American Children": * * * The Finance Committee has a long, bipartisan tradition of working together on issues related to helping people save. This morning's hearing, with a focus on child savings accounts and other savings programs for kids, is another opportu  more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement from a hearing dated May 23, 2024, entitled "Front Lines of the Fentanyl Crisis: Supporting Communities and Combating Addiction through Prevention and Treatment": * * * This morning the Finance Committee gathers to discuss the scourge of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl. Fighting fentanyl requires fitting all of the pieces of the puzzle together. Already this year, Con  more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement from a hearing dated May 22, 2024, entitled "The Family First Prevention Services Act: Successes, Roadblocks, and Opportunities for Improvement": * * * Over a decade ago, the Finance Committee decided it was time to do something to improve our nation's approach to foster care and help families stay together. Back then, it was clear that there were two options: keeping a k  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement on June 4, 2024: * * * Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement on the House Republican budget proposal for the IRS, which would gut funding for enforcement aimed at wealthy tax cheats and would shut down the new Direct File program set to open up nationwide in 2025: "If not for the fact that the Republican party belongs to Don  more

WASHINGTON, June 4 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement on June 3, 2024: * * * Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued a statement after Social Security Administration Inspector General Gail Ennis announced her resignation: "Inspector General Ennis' decision to resign is the correct one," Wyden said. "Under her leadership, the Inspector General's office at Social Security has fallen into disarray, plague  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement on Tax Court and Treasury Inspector General Nominations, on June 4, 2024: * * * The Finance Committee meets this morning to discuss four nominations. James Ives is nominated to serve as inspector general of the Department of the Treasury. And Rose Jenkins, Adam Landy, and Kashi Way are all nominated to serve as judges of the United States Tax Court. I'll begin with the Trea  more

WASHINGTON, June 8 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release: Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today sent a letter to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Board of Directors to correct several misunderstandings put forward by the board in recent weeks as implementatio  more

WASHINGTON, June 7 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following news release: Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Senate Finance Committee members Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.), today called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to take additional measures to prevent abuse of pancreata procurement by organ procurement organizations (OPOs) after rates of pancreata recovery hav  more

WASHINGTON, June 2 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senator in Sunday Oregonian op-ed: "Let generations to come commemorate the achievements on and off the court of two men who truly were trailblazers." Portland - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today wrote in The Sunday Oregonian about the recent passing of Bill Walton and advocated for the Portland Trail Blazers to honor this iconic player's memory on and off the floor with a statue outside the Moda Center of Walton and  more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senators Ron Wyden and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said today they have introduced bipartisan legislation that would support ranchers who rely upon federal lands in Oregon and nationwide to graze their livestock. "After embracing the Bureau of Land Management pilot program, ranchers in eastern Oregon worked closely with me to include updated operational flexibility in my community-crafted Malheur Community Empowerme  more

WASHINGTON, June 4 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senator Ron Wyden said today he has joined Senate colleagues in calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to secure federal investment for small businesses in rural Oregon and nationwide through the Rural Business Development Grant Program (RBDG). "Since launching in 2015, RBDG funding has provided support for planning, technical assistance, job training, and other business development needs in rural areas   more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Representative Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., this week introduced legislation in the Senate and House that would hold student loan servicers accountable for negligence and wrongdoing. The Student Loan Servicers Accountability Act would examine student loan servicers' role in hurting borrowers' credit ratings, as well as ensure additional strict performance standards and terms for se  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced the designation of the Banks-Vernonia State Trail to the National Trails System. The newly designated trail joins a network of more than 1,300 existing national recreation trails, which can be found in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. "We know that getting outdoors is good for our physical and mental health," Wyden said. "We're fortun  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced the designation of the Banks-Vernonia State Trail to the National Trails System. The newly designated trail joins a network of more than 1,300 existing national recreation trails, which can be found in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. "We know that getting outdoors is good for our physical and mental health," Wyden said. "We're fo  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they have joined seven colleagues in urging student loan servicer Navient to cancel decades-old private student loans pushed onto borrowers attending fraudulent, for-profit colleges. "We write to urge the Navient Corporation to cancel the decades-old, predatory student loans in its portfolio that are governed by the FTC's 'Holder Rule' and subject to claims and d  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they have joined seven colleagues in urging student loan servicer Navient to cancel decades-old private student loans pushed onto borrowers attending fraudulent, for-profit colleges. "We write to urge the Navient Corporation to cancel the decades-old, predatory student loans in its portfolio that are governed by the FTC's 'Holder Rule' and subject to claims and defe  more

WASHINGTON, June 6 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today joined Senate colleagues in calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to allow small cannabis businesses in Oregon and other states that have legalized cannabis sale and use to access Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. "SBA's current policy excludes from its loan and entrepreneurial development programs all small businesses with "direct" or "indirect" pr  more