The coronavirus has now killed over 150,000 Americans and cost more than 40 million their jobs, but the Senate’s leadership has continued to drag their feet when it comes to providing Americans with the relief they desperately need. That’s beyond unacceptable.

Throughout the pandemic, Jeff has been in frequent touch with families, business owners, workers, and frontline workers about their challenges and needs during this unprecedented time. He has continued to fight to bring their suggestions to Washington -- including expanded unemployment benefits; protections for workers on the frontlines; resources for local communities and states for the upcoming school year; a national contact tracing and testing plan; and precautions to make sure our election in November is safe, fair, and secure.

All of these priorities, and more, were included in the HEROES Act that the U.S. House of Representatives passed over two months ago, so Jeff has been keeping the pressure on Senate leadership to bring that bill to the floor for consideration -- including a push last month to cancel the July recess in order to pass much needed relief. Now that Senate leadership is finally coming to the table to discuss legislation, Jeff will keep fighting for the resources and programs that will make a real difference for Oregon’s working families.

Enhancing In-Flight Safety During the Pandemic

“Filling planes to capacity, forcing passengers to sit shoulder to shoulder for hours at a time, is incredibly irresponsible during a pandemic,” Jeff said. “I’ve seen with my own eyes that airlines are willing to put their profit margins ahead of the health of their customers.”

To address concerns from travelers and recent reports of increasingly full flights, Jeff introduced the Maintaining Important Distance During Lengthy Epidemics (MIDDLE) Act of 2020 in July -- legislation that would enhance in-flight safety by requiring face masks in order to board a plane and banning the sale of middle or otherwise adjacent seats for the duration of this public health emergency. As Jeff said when he introduced the legislation, “If taxpayers are going to bail out airlines because they provide an essential service, it is not too much to expect the airlines not to make the pandemic worse.”

Freedom of Speech and Assembly

When our founders created this nation, they had a vision for a country where people could come together to speak their minds, free from fear that they would be punished by their government for sharing their views. So when federal agents without any identification were sent to Portland last month, where they teargassed demonstrators and pulled others into unmarked vans, Jeff stood up for Oregonians’ constitutional rights.

“Federal forces have shot an unarmed protester in the head with impact munitions, and paramilitary forces in camouflage have been grabbing people off the streets and putting them into unmarked vans,” Jeff said last month. “These are the actions of an authoritarian regime, not a democratic republic. This gross violation of Americans’ civil rights must end immediately.”

We shouldn’t let bad actions of a very few be an excuse to quash the rights of everyone else. “I don’t condone vandalism and I condemn anyone threatening harm to anyone,” Jeff said. But, he continued, the federal law enforcement did not arrest the violent few. They attacked the peaceful many. The violence came overwhelmingly not from the street, but from the President’s forces.

In addition to demanding that Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf remove these forces from Oregon and helping open critical investigations from the Inspectors General of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, Jeff introduced a standalone bill and a No Secret Police in America amendment to Congress’ National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit the deployment of secret paramilitary forces in America.

To read Jeff’s statement welcoming the July 29 announcement that federal forces would be withdrawn from Portland, click here.

Fighting Hunger During The Crisis

No child in Oregon -- regardless of where they live or how much money their parents make -- should ever go hungry. That’s why Jeff is keeping a steady drumbeat on the need to protect students’ access to much-needed meals amid school closures caused by the pandemic.

In July, Jeff teamed up with a bipartisan group of his Senate colleagues to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees nutrition programs, to continue to provide flexibility to students and their families by extending a number of waivers designed to keep meals within reach. Jeff is also calling for additional support to help schools cover costs associated with delivering those meals to their students. As many of Oregon’s school districts are now announcing that they will begin the school year with remote learning, continuing and strengthening these programs will be crucial for Oregon’s children this fall.

432 Town Hall Meetings!

Last week, Jeff completed his 432nd town hall meeting, which closed out his 12th annual town hall tour, once again hosting a meeting for each of Oregon’s 36 counties. The tour began in January with his 397th town hall, and included 24 in-person town hall meetings before the coronavirus hit. Rather than canceling the remaining stops on his tour, Jeff hosted the remaining 12 meetings remotely, offering constituents with options to participate by phone, smartphone, tablet, or computer.

“I couldn’t imagine doing my job without these critical opportunities to hear your valuable insights,” Jeff said. “During these uncertain times, I was determined to continue having these important conversations, while also respecting experts’ health and safety guidelines, and avoiding the risk of spreading COVID-19 through in-person gatherings.”

Over the years, Jeff’s town hall tours have inspired a wide variety of bills, efforts, programs, including the push to legalize hemp as an agricultural commodity, a pathway to finance local water infrastructure upgrades, and funding for critical dredging projects for Oregon’s small ports.

Thank you!

Thank you for reading -- and don't forget, you can see the latest updates by liking Jeff on Facebook and following Jeff on Twitter. And be sure to check Merkley.senate.gov for more information and current events.

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