Gebruiker:Haaftjlv/JeffMerkley

Jeff Merkley From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search Jeff Merkley Jeff Merkley, 115th official photo.jpg United States Senator from Oregon Incumbent Assumed office January 3, 2009 Serving with Ron Wyden Preceded by Gordon Smith 64th Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives In office January 3, 2007 – January 2, 2009 Preceded by Karen Minnis Succeeded by Dave Hunt Member of the Oregon House of Representatives from the 47th district In office January 3, 1999 – January 2, 2009 Preceded by Frank Shields Succeeded by Jefferson Smith Personal details Born Jeffrey Alan Merkley October 24, 1956 (age 62)

Political party Democratic Spouse(s) Mary Sorteberg (m. 1992) Children 2 Education Stanford University (BA) Princeton University (MPP) Website Senate website

Jeffrey Alan Merkley, Myrtle Creek (Oregon), V.S., 24 oktober 1956 is een Amerikaanse politicus, die sinds 2009 Senator is voor de staat Oregon . Hij is lid van de Democratische Partij (Verenigde Staten).

Prior to his election to the Senate, Merkley was a five-term member of the Oregon House of Representatives representing the state's 47th district, located in central Multnomah County at the eastern side of Portland. From 2007 to 2009, he served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.

Merkley defeated two-term Republican incumbent Gordon Smith in 2008 and went on to defeat Republican challenger Monica Wehby in his bid for reelection in 2014. Throughout his tenure, Merkley has been a leading progressive voice in the Senate and was the only U.S. Senator to endorse Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.

Contents 1 Early life, education and early career 2 Oregon legislature 3 U.S. Senate 3.1 2008 election 3.2 Tenure 3.3 Committee assignments 4 Political positions 4.1 Asylum and immigration 4.2 Defense and foreign policy 4.3 Banking regulation 4.4 Infrastructure 4.5 Health care 4.6 Housing 4.7 Energy 4.8 Campaign finance 4.9 Senate reform 4.10 Supreme Court 4.11 Postal reform 4.12 Social issues 4.13 Immigration 5 Personal life 6 Electoral history 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

Early life, education and early career Merkley was born in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, the son of Betty Lou (née Collins) and Darrell Philip Merkley.[1] His paternal grandmother was born in Calliope, Queensland, Australia.[2] He attended first grade in Roseburg, Oregon before moving to Portland with his family.[3]

He graduated from David Douglas High School, obtained a bachelor of arts degree in International Relations from Stanford University in 1979, and earned a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University in 1982.[4][5] After completing his master's degree, Merkley was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow, working at the Office of the Secretary of Defense on the security of American military technology. After his fellowship, he worked in the Congressional Budget Office, where he analyzed nuclear weapons policies and programs.[6]

In 1991, Merkley returned to Portland, where he served as executive director of Portland Habitat for Humanity until 1994.[7]

He started the Walk for Humanity, initiated the Journey for Mankind, launched development of the Habitat Home Building Center, and initiated a pilot project for "YouthBuild" in which gang-affected youth built homes in their own neighborhoods.[8]

He served as Director of Housing Development at Human Solutions, where he worked to make available affordable housing complexes[9] and launching Oregon's first Individual Development Account (IDA) program that helps low-income families save money to buy homes, attend college, or start businesses.[10]

Merkley was President of the World Affairs Council of Oregon[11] for seven years and continues to serve on the Board of Trustees.[12]

Oregon legislature In 1998, Merkley was elected as a Democrat to the Oregon House of Representatives from district 16 in east Portland (District 47 after the 2002 redistricting). He succeeded Frank Shields, who moved from the House to the Oregon State Senate due to term limits.[13] In its endorsement, The Oregonian predicted that Merkley was the most likely of several Democrats to "accomplish something positive in the Legislature."[11] Following the 2003 session, he was elected Democratic leader, and after Democrats gained a majority in the Oregon House in the 2006 Oregon statewide elections, he was chosen (in a unanimous vote of the 31 incoming Democrats) to serve as Speaker of the House in the 74th Oregon Legislative Assembly.[4]

During Merkley's tenure as Speaker, the Oregon House passed several pieces of legislation: it created a state "rainy day fund" (a savings account to protect public schools against an unstable economy); increased funding in Oregon public schools by 14 percent ($1 billion) and by 18 percent ($1.4 billion) in state universities; banned junk food in schools (effective 2009); expanded the Oregon indoor smoking ban; revised the Oregon Bottle Bill; outlawed discrimination by sexual orientation and gender identity in housing and in the workplace; and gave same-sex couples state-granted rights, immunities, and benefits.[14]

U.S. Senate 2008 election

Merkley campaigning for Senate Main article: United States Senate election in Oregon, 2008 On August 13, 2007, Merkley received the endorsements of Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski and former Democratic Governor Barbara Roberts.[15] He was endorsed in December 2007 by the Oregon AFL-CIO, the state's largest labor federation. The union federation's leaders cited Merkley's 97% record of voting in the interests of working families, and his electability in a general election against the incumbent senator Gordon Smith.[16] Merkley was the first federal candidate to be cross-nominated by the Independent Party of Oregon.

Merkley won the Democratic nomination to challenge Smith in 2008, narrowly defeating activist Steve Novick and four others in the Democratic primary.[17] Given the difficulty of running against an incumbent senator, Merkley was initially thought to have only a moderate chance of unseating Smith. But in July 2008, a Rasmussen poll showed Merkley with a lead over Smith, albeit within the margin of error.[18] By August, after strongly negative campaigning on both sides, Rasmussen reported that Merkley's support had deteriorated, with Smith taking a strong lead in the polls. Merkley's favorable rating was at 42%, while his unfavorable rating had risen to 45%.[19]

Polls taken shortly before the election indicated that Merkley's standing had once again improved, with Merkley's 12-point deficit turning into a slight lead.[20]

On election night, the Merkley-Smith race was too close to call, but media outlets including The Oregonian called the race for Merkley on the morning of November 6, and Smith conceded later that morning.[21] Ultimately, Merkley defeated Smith by three percentage points, 49% to 46%. While Merkley only carried eight counties, one of them was his home county of Multnomah County, which he won by a staggering 142,000-vote margin—a deficit which proved too much for Smith to overcome. Merkley thus became the first person to unseat an incumbent Oregon senator since Bob Packwood's defeat of Wayne Morse in 1968.

Merkley formally resigned his seat in the Oregon House in a letter to Secretary of State Bill Bradbury on January 2, 2009.[22] He was sworn as a Senator on January 6, 2009. Upon his swearing-in, Oregon was represented in the Senate by two Democrats for the first time since Maurine Brown Neuberger served alongside Morse from 1960 to 1967.

Tenure

Merkley's first Congressional official photo Merkley has accumulated a progressive record during his Senate career to date. Merkley became the first Democratic member of the Senate to announce that he'd vote against the confirmation of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, citing Bernanke's failure to "recognize or remedy the factors that paved the road to this dark and difficult recession." As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Merkley became a leading force in the effort to pass the Wall Street reform bill. Along with Michigan Senator Carl Levin, he successfully added an amendment, usually called the Volcker Rule, to the Dodd–Frank Wall Street reform bill, which banned high-risk trading inside commercial banking and lending institutions. Merkley also championed an amendment that banned liar loans, a predatory mortgage practice that played a role in the housing bubble and subsequent financial collapse.[23]

He was a founding signatory of a mid-February 2010 petition to use reconciliation to pass legislation providing for a government-run health insurance program in the Senate.[24] Merkley also championed legislation that provides new mothers with a private space and flexible break times to pump breast milk once they return to work. Merkley's breastfeeding amendment was included in the health care reform law and signed into law by President Obama in 2010.[25]

In late February 2010, Merkley again made headlines when he unsuccessfully tried to persuade Republican colleague Jim Bunning of Kentucky to drop his objection to passing a 30-day extension of unemployment benefits for jobless Americans. Bunning replied, "Tough shit." A spokesman for Merkley said that the Oregon senator did not hear Bunning's remark at the time.[26]

In late 2010, Merkley began circulating a proposal to his fellow Senate colleagues about the need to force Senators to filibuster in order to block legislation.[27] In 2011, Merkley introduced a bill to reform the filibuster and help end gridlock in the Senate. He was joined by Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa.

Merkley was the only member of the Senate to endorse fellow Senator Bernie Sanders in his bid for the Democratic nomination for President.[28]

On April 4, 2017, Merkley held the senate floor for 15 hours 28 minutes in protest of the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

In early June 2018, Merkley received national attention when he attempted to visit a facility holding the children of jailed adults who had attempted to cross the border to seek asylum. Children were removed from their parents and placed in the custody the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Merkley filmed his attempt to visit a facility located in a former Walmart in Brownsville, Texas. He was refused entrance and the police were called and arrived as he continued to try to speak with the facility administrator. He commented in the film, "I think it's unacceptable that a member of Congress is not being admitted to see what is happening to children whose families are applying for