US Whitehouse Ngin

Source: United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn issued a statement following her meeting with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and others on NCAA fairness and NIL standards:

“For far too long, the NCAA has refused to allow student-athletes to benefit from the use of their name, image, likeness (NIL). NCAA President Mark Emmert’s resignation is one of many necessary structural changes that will enable the NCAA to support our student-athletes. During my meeting with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and others today, I continued to push for the accountability and fairness measures our student-athletes deserve,” said Senator Blackburn.

BACKGROUND:

• Senator Blackburn has long been a leader on NIL rights for student-athletes.
• She introduced the NCAA Accountability Act to establish due process protections for student-athletes, coaches, and universities that are under investigation by the NCAA for rule violations.

·         Senator Blackburn also backed the Supreme Court decision regarding National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student-athlete benefits. 

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

---

---

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

---

---

Next Article

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

May 04, 2022

Key Oregon projects and policy initiatives included in comprehensive water infrastructure bill

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced a raft of critical projects and policy initiatives for Oregon that have been written into the Water Resources Development Act?(WRDA) of 2022 which passed out of a key Senate committee today. The bill will next head to the Senate floor for a full vote.

“Every one of us wants to know that we can rely on safe water coming from our taps and that other key water infrastructure will be there to keep us and our families safe and healthy,” said Merkley, who serves on the committee that wrote the bill. “From modernizing drinking water systems, to making sure breakwaters and jetties protect our ports and their communities, to shoring up dams and levees so we don’t face floodwaters in our streets, the provisions of this bill will keep Oregonians safe while expanding economic opportunities and putting folks to work with good-paying jobs. Passing these provisions through the committee was a key first step, and I’m looking forward to moving this bill through the Senate.” 

?“Oregonians know water is intrinsic to our state’s quality of life — whether it’s confidence that what’s coming out of the faucet is safe to drink or the knowledge that investments in ports, jetties, levees and breakwaters have been made to generate jobs and keep communities safe,” said Wyden. “This bill provides those protections throughout Oregon while also taking essential and long-overdue steps to replace tribal housing along the Columbia River. I’m glad this legislation has earned committee approval and will work hard to get it through the entire Senate.”

The WRDA bill provides authorizations for studies and projects that upgrade infrastructure like jetties, levees, and breakwaters in Oregon’s communities, such as West Linn and Coos Bay-North Bend, as well as critical funding for ports, such as the Port of Astoria, Port of Bandon, and Port Orford. 

It also continues Merkley’s work to require the federal government to finally fulfill its promise to replace tribal housing that was flooded by the creation of the Dalles Dam in the 1950s. 

Merkley and Wyden have consistently fought to make sure small ports in Oregon and throughout the country receive a share of HMTF funding for dredging and other critical projects. This year’s?WRDA?bill includes language that allows, beginning in October 2022, up to $5 million of HMTF funding for Emerging Harbors—which includes most of Oregon’s ports—to be available for up to 10 maintenance dredging projects in marinas or berthing areas in harbors located adjacent to, or accessible by, a federal navigation project. This will bolster small ports’ access to funding for maintenance projects. 

In keeping with experts’ warnings that the destruction of waterway ecosystems could hamstring local economies and threaten the health of countless species, the senators fought to ensure that the?WRDA?bill authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to carry out efforts to restore salmon and steelhead habitat. The bill also authorizes a number of studies that will support Oregon’s small ports and fish hatcheries. 

Accepted projects and policy initiatives can be found below: 

Columbia River Tribal Housing  

Following the 2018 WRDA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was required to create tribal housing for displaced tribal people of the Columbia River caused by the development of The Dalles Dam. The Corps responded to a 2018 congressional authorization by producing replacement village options that were not mutually acceptable to Columbia River treaty tribes. The 2022 WRDA would require the Corps to revise and then carry out the village development plan for Dalles Dam, Columbia River, Washington and Oregon to address the impacts to Indian villages and housing sites that resulted from construction of multiple dams by the Corps in the Columbia River Basin. 

?Portland Metro Levee System – Authorization of Portland Metro Levee System Chief’s Report 

Authorization of the Army Corps of Engineers Portland Metro Levee System Chief’s Report will reduce flood risk and increase the resiliency and reliability of the 27-mile levee system along the Columbia River in the Portland metro area. The total cost of the project is $110, 498,000 and it has a benefit-to-cost ratio of 3.7 to 1. 

?Ecosystem Restoration General Investigation Feasibility Study for the Mill Creek Levee Project on the Walla Walla River, Authorization  

The Army Corps of Engineers constructed the Milton-Freewater Levee project for flood control purposes in 1951. The project reduced the historic 5-mile floodplain width to approximately 200 feet and has since impacted ecological functions within the reach. To address these ecological impacts, a feasibility study is requested to identify actions to improve floodplain-riverine processes, stop channel incision, enhance fish passage and rearing habitat, and decrease surface water seepage while having no negative impacts and likely improving flood risk management.? 

?Nationwide Low-Head Dam Inventory 

Low-head dams are engineered structures built into and across stream and river channels for a variety of important purposes. In the 1800s, low head dams were constructed across rivers and streams nationwide to provide services such as diverting water for irrigation or municipal and industrial water uses. Others are in place to prevent erosion of embankments or to control flooding impacts. The structures are numerous and widespread. Nicknamed “drowning machines,” low-head dams have proven over time to be extremely hazardous to public safety, as well as having negative impacts on fish populations and ecosystems. The bill would establish a Nationwide Low-Head Dam Inventory and a State Low-Head Dam Inventory and Rehabilitation Program to be administered by the USACE in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Bureau of Reclamation. 

?Lane County Environmental Infrastructure (Sec. 219) Authorization  

The bill adds Lane County to the list of eligible entities to receive Section 219 (Environmental Infrastructure) funding from the USACE. This authorization will allow Lane County to pursue critical USACE assistance and funding to support water supply and storage, treatment and distribution systems, and wastewater treatment systems. 

? 

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

I have often said  lasting and positive change doesn’t come from the top down, but from the grass roots up. And that path to success hit home once again during my recent visits around the state with the Oregonians I and Senator Merkley teamed up with to secure congressionally directed investments in their projects. I am proud to report our state was second nationwide for projects funded. The range of investments was both broad and deep.

We invested in cutting-edge research in sustainable lumber, getting $449,000 for Oregon State University’s innovative Tall Wood Design Institute. I saw and heard firsthand in Corvallis how this investment will support students and researchers to lead the way on engineering sustainable wood products like cross-laminated timber that have the potential to change the face of the construction industry for generations to come.

We invested in hope and housing. Salem’s Center for Hope & Safety has received $2 million to build HOPE Plaza – a unique project that will provide permanent low-income housing, employment opportunities, and wraparound supportive services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking in Marion and Polk counties. I was able to tour the site for this shovel ready project that will address the severe housing shortage and increase in demand for services, which has been worsened by the COVID pandemic and wildfire crises.

We invested in Community Health Centers, which are critical in rural areas where preventative health care goes a long way toward saving lives. I’m proud to have teamed up with Congresswoman Bonamici and our colleagues in the delegation to deliver more than $2.8 million to support health centers in Newberg, Port Orford, and Brookings. Virginia Garcia in Newberg is writing the prescription for delivering quality health care to Oregonians in Yamhill and Washington counties. I was glad to support Coast Community Health in Port Orford several years ago and look forward to its expansion into Brookings.

And we invested in hunger prevention. Senator Merkley and I delivered $2 million to help CAPECO in Pendleton provide food and services for isolated Oregonians in Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam and Wheeler counties. 

Along with CAPECO, these shining examples are just a small sampling of how innovative Oregonians at the grass roots can drive crucial community-driven projects that pack a punch in all corners of our state.

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

Friday, April 15, 2022

This week I was grateful to host U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai here in Oregon for a series of conversations and tours about how to build a stronger and fairer playing field for both Oregon’s iconic fishing and powerhouse semiconductor industries. She and I joked that she was taking the Oregon “fish and chips” tour.

On a clear, bright Astoria morning, Ambassador Tai and I toured Cape Windy, a fishing trawler captained by Paul Kujala, who outlined some of the biggest issues facing generational fishers like himself: namely, a fair shot at competing in that global economy. And Oregon fishers up and down the Coast from Astoria south to Brookings – are not getting that fair shot. 

According to the United Nations, 90 percent of fisheries are fully fished, overfished, or otherwise depleted. Foreign government subsidies are a huge culprit in this global fisheries crisis, allowing foreign fishing vessels to pillage the waters of developing countries and flood U.S. markets with illegally caught fish. In addition to the environmental cost, these outrageous subsidies unfairly tilt the tables against American fishers, costing jobs in small-town, fishing-dependent economies along the Oregon Coast.

Oregon’s fishers play fair by fishing sustainably and following the law. I’ll always fight for their interests, which is why I’m pushing hard for a meaningful and enforceable outcome by the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference in June. In the meantime I am also drafting a bill that would increase transparency about countries providing harmful subsidies and that would stop seafood produced with forced labor from entering our borders. 

From fish, we traveled to Hillsboro for a tour of (computer) chips with Intel. Earlier this week I joined Intel for the grand opening for its Mod3 expansion of the D1-X research facility. Computer chips are the beating heart of the 21st century economy. And that Intel expansion represents a powerful infusion to keep pumping both good-paying jobs and economic activity throughout the Silicon Forest and statewide. 

Oregon’s proven history as a linchpin in U.S. chip manufacturing is one of the reasons why I’m co-chairing a state semiconductor task force. Our state’s largest manufacturing export category is computer and electronic products like semiconductors that account for more than 30,000 jobs in Oregon, paying an average of $149,000 a year – two critical reasons that I’m working on a bipartisan basis to pass the FABS Act to bolster our domestic manufacturing of semiconductors, generating jobs here in Oregon and nationwide. 

This week’s visits served as a crucial reminder of how fortunate we are to have Ambassador Tai at the helm of the Office of the United States Trade Representative to fight for Oregon and our entire country to have their fish AND chips – a diverse economy of both historic industries and 21st century jobs. 

Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) announced that they sent a letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and John Kennedy (R-LA) respectively, asking them to support the President’s request to include more than $200 million in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office to support a reliable, clean energy source for the United States. 

“As a renewable energy source available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, geothermal energy offers a unique approach to ensuring reliable energy access, while addressing the effects of climate change,” wrote the Senators. “It has the potential to be a clean domestic energy source that will allow the U.S. to further secure our energy grid, reduce our dependency on foreign sources of energy, and take forward-thinking steps to expand our domestic energy options.” 

“Western states like Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah all have significant potential for increased geothermal energy production,” the Senators continued. “By supporting this funding, we can grow a domestic industry that will create American jobs and transform our energy grid to be more sustainable, more secure, and more resilient as additional climate challenges arise.”

The full text of the letter to Chair Feinstein and Ranking Member Kennedy can be found here.

###

Source: United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)

Klobuchar’s office helped secure an expedited visa for Valentyna to leave Kharkiv and join her daughter, Anna, in Minnesota in time for Mother’s Day

WASHINGTON – Local TV across Minnesota highlighted U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)’s meeting this weekend with Anna Hansen and her mother, Valentyna Zinchenko, a Ukrainian mother and daughter reunited in Minnesota with help from Senator Klobuchar and her office.

“A Ukrainian mother and daughter were reunited in Minnesota. We’re hearing from them for the first time today. Anna Hansen was a grad student in Mankato when the invasion began. She wanted to get her mother out of Kharkiv,” KSTP detailed. “She reached out to Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office to expedite her mother’s visa and get her to the United States. And then last month, the mother and daughter were reunited. Her mom was even able to attend her daughter’s graduation.”

“A Ukrainian native in Minnesota was able to give her mother the very best Mother’s Day gift of all with the help of Senator Amy Klobuchar: she was able to bring her mom to Minnesota just in time for her graduation,” said KMSP.  

“Separated by war but reunited just in time for Mother’s Day, a mother and daughter are back together after months apart…The story behind this reunion…shows us how Senator Amy Klobuchar helped make it possible,” WCCO highlighted. “It was Anna’s mission to get her mother out of Ukraine and then to Minnesota…Klobuchar’s office went through the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany to gain approval for Zinchenko’s visa petition…On April 28th, Valentyna arrived safely to her new home.” 

“Anna says she’s grateful her mother was there for her graduation. The two even spotting their native flag at the [graduation] ceremony. They’re spending their first Mother’s Day together in the United States,” said KARE.

“In a feel-good story just in time for Mother’s Day… a Ukrainian mother and daughter have been reunited in Minnesota,” KIMT shared. “Zinchenko hid in a cellar for nine days as [Kharkiv] faced constant bombardment. That’s when Hansen reached out to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office which helped Zinchenko find safe passage to Germany, where she successfully secured an immigrant visa.” 

“A Ukrainian daughter and her mother are reunited in Minnesota, just in time for Mother’s Day. Anna’s mother, Valentyna Zinchenko, was living in a northeastern Ukrainian city targeted by Russian forces. With Klobuchar’s help, she was able to come to Minnesota on April 28th, in time for her daughter’s graduation and Mother’s Day,” KTTC featured. 

Last month, Hansen, a Ukrainian graduate student at Minnesota State University Mankato, reached out to Klobuchar’s office asking for assistance in expediting her mother’s pending visa petition. Her mother, Zinchenko, was living in Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine which has been targeted by Russian forces since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Klobuchar’s office reached out to the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany and successfully secured approval for Zinchenko’s visa petition. Following a 36-hour train ride from Kharkiv via Poland to Germany, Zinchenko and Hansen were reunited in Frankfurt. Hansen and Zinchenko applied for the immigrant visa together at the US Consulate in Frankfurt and Zinchenko traveled to Minnesota on April 28.

Klobuchar has actively worked to help Minnesotans affected by Putin’s senseless invasion of Ukraine. In March, she helped secure the release of Tyler Jacob, a Winona native unjustly detained by Russian forces. Her office worked closely with Tyler’s family, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to locate Tyler and facilitate his safe return to Minnesota.

In March, Klobuchar also successfully pushed the Biden administration to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukrainians living in the U.S. to prevent them from being forced to return to Ukraine during the ongoing conflict. 

Photos can be downloaded HERE.

###

Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)

Rosen Led Request to Secure Funding Through Bipartisan Government Funding Bill for Fiscal Year 2022

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) announced that NeighborWorks America has awarded Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada and Nevada H.A.N.D. grants totaling $900,000 to support efforts to develop and maintain affordable housing, revitalize and sustain neighborhoods, and create jobs. Last year, Senator Rosen led the request, joined by Senator Cortez Masto, to secure this funding as a part of the Fiscal Year 2022 government funding package. 

“As housing prices in Nevada continue to rise at alarming rates, I am doing everything I can to make sure Nevada families have more access to quality, affordable housing options,” said Senator Rosen. “I am pleased to see that the NeighborWorks funding I requested will bring nearly $1 million to support affordable housing initiatives in Nevada, providing more families a place to call home. I will continue working to lower prices and ensure Nevadans can have access to affordable housing.” 

“Every Nevadan deserves access to affordable housing,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “I was proud to support efforts to secure this funding, which will help families across the state find a safe place to live and call home.” 

“Nevada HAND is thrilled that our long-standing and continued partnership with NeighborWorks has resulted in grant funding in 2022,” said Waldon Swenson, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Nevada HAND. “The grant money received supports local solutions and helps our organization continue to address the shortage of affordable housing in Nevada. Nevada HAND currently has 35 affordable apartment communities in Southern Nevada that provide high-quality affordable housing for over 8,000 low-income working families and seniors. Once again, Congress has demonstrated that it has a sharp eye for a sound investment. Thank you to NeighborWorks for being a valued partner and helping us support our residents and communities.”

“We are so thankful to Senator Rosen for her tireless efforts in advocating on behalf of Affordable Housing,” said Michelle Merced, CEO of Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada. “On April 19th, the Senator took time out of her busy schedule to meet with community leaders and residents as she fully comprehends that Southern Nevada is short of 85k affordable units. Being the first NeighborWorks affiliate here in Southern Nevada for 30 years, we are proud and appreciate the funding we received as they help us build better neighborhoods block by block.”

NeighborWorks America is a Congressionally-chartered, national nonprofit that helps create opportunities for Americans to live in affordable and safe homes by providing community development organizations in all fifty states with financial resources and counseling services.

###

Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the recent news that the U.S. Supreme Court plans to overturn Roe v. Wade and what Congress can do to protect the reproductive rights of millions of Americans. Yesterday, Senator Rosen issued a statement on these reports and reiterated her support for codifying Roe into law.

Watch video HERE

“I can just tell you, my phone has been ringing off the hook – texts, calls coming in. Women and girls are crying, are scared. They don’t want to go back 50 years,” said Senator Rosen. “[Overturning Roe] is not going to stop abortions. This is going to stop women from getting safe abortions.”

Senator Rosen has been a leader in the fight for women’s reproductive rights. She helped introduce and voted in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation to protect the constitutional right to access reproductive health care and provide a safeguard against dangerous state-level abortion bans and restrictions. Last year, Senator Rosen signed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold Roe v. Wade.

###