Jeffery Merkley

Jeff Merkley a Democrat, has represented the state of Oregon in the Senate since 2009.

Abortion Issues
Merkley believes abortions should always be legal.

Education
According to his campaign website, Merkley supports federal government funding universal pre-k programs. He supports increased funding for the Pell Grant program as well as decreased interest rates on Stafford Loans. He supports federal tax incentives to help families save for college.

Employment
Merkley supports increased funding for national job-training programs that retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today's job market. He supports an increased federal minimum wage and the right of workers to unionize. He supports including sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws.

Environment and Energy
Merkley supports strengthening both the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. He would support strengthen emission controls on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles. Merkley seeks to strengthen fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles. He encourages further development and use of alternative fuels, and allowing energy producers to trade pollution credits under "cap and trade" laws.

Health
Merkley supports offering tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage and expanding child healthcare programs.

Immigration
Merkley supports harsher financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

International Policy
Merkley supports U.S. leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and supports the creation of a Palestinian state. He supports greater international sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates.

Iraq War
He believes United States should withdraw troops from Iraq but did not provide specifics on a withdrawal deadline or process.

National Security
Merkley supports increasing federal funding to states and cities for homeland security.

Social Issues
Merkley supports the rights of same-sex couples to marry. He supports federal funding for research on new and existing embryonic stem cell lines.

To hear Jeff Merkley's full position on numerous issues, please visit http://www.jeffmerkley.com/2007/11/jeff_merkley_on_1.php.

Bio
"'As our U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley will bring people together to take on the special interests and fight for regular hardworking Oregonians." Jeff Merkley will deliver the change we need in Washington. He will stand up to the big insurance and drug companies to make health care more affordable and accessible for all of us. He will fight to fix unfair trade deals that have cost Oregon 70,000 manufacturing jobs and will eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. And Jeff will work to end the war in Iraq, bring our sons and daughters home, and fulfill the commitment we have made to our veterans and men and women in uniform. Born in the small town of Myrtle Creek, Jeff Merkley has spent his lifetime fighting for change for Oregon families. The son of a sawmill worker, he spent his early years in Roseburg, where the children of loggers and mill workers learned the value of honest work, good schools, and strong families. Jeff worked hard, earned scholarships and became the first in his family to go to college. He went on to serve as a national security analyst, first for the Pentagon and then for Congress. After returning to Oregon with his wife Mary, Jeff led Habitat for Humanity and worked with low-income families to rebuild neighborhoods and purchase their first home. A fighter for change, Jeff became tired of gridlock in government and sought to end the bickering. Nearly two years ago, Jeff led a band of new leaders to take control of the Oregon House and end the gridlock in state government. As the first Democratic speaker in sixteen years, Merkley brought Democrats, Republicans and citizens together to make real progress addressing Oregon’s challenges. The Oregonian called Jeff’s session as Speaker, “Oregon's most productive in a generation.” As Speaker, Jeff helped lead the fight against special interests to make health care more affordable, clamp down on pay day loan scams, pass landmark environmental legislation, and create thousands of family-wage jobs in Oregon. Working together, Oregonians achieved results – restoring fiscal responsibility by creating the state’s first “rainy day fund,” cutting taxes for working people, and passing sweeping ethics reform to clean up government. In the U.S. Senate Jeff Merkley will continue to bring Democrats, Republicans, and independents together to find solutions to the problems we face – not only for his own children, Jonathan and Brynne, but for every child and family in Oregon. More than 300,000 nurses, firefighters, teachers, steelworkers, electricians, truck drivers, and thousands more working families across Oregon have joined Senator Barack Obama and Senator Ron Wyden to endorse Jeff Merkley's campaign. Environmentalists from the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters have endorsed Jeff’s leadership protecting our environment. And Planned Parenthood of Oregon and NARAL Pro-Choice America have endorsed Jeff and his 100% record protecting a woman’s right to choose. "Today, Speaker Merkley lives in East Multnomah County with Mary, a professional nurse, and their two children, Jonathan age twelve and Brynne age ten.'"

2008 elections
Merkley won the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) in the 2008 congressional elections. He went on to defeat Smith in the November 2008 general election.

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)
Merkley will be assigned committees if and when he is elected to Congress.

Campaign contact information
To contact the Merkley campaign, visit http://www.jeffmerkley.com/2007/09/contact_us.php.

Twitter
 Jeff Merkley posts on Twitter at http://twitter.com/senjeffmerkley/

Latest posts: http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/senjeffmerkley.rss|title=none| max=3| short See all the members of Congress who Twitter

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on Oregon's Senate Race
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 * See how you compare to Jeff Merkley

External articles

 * Aaron Blake. "Oregon House Speaker Merkley set to challenge Sen. Smith in 2008," The Hill. July 26, 2007.