Congressman Kurt Schrader released the following statement today on the delayed U.N. Security Council on a resolution regarding the Israeli-Palestinian dispute: “I urge President Obama to keep with long-standing U.S. policy and veto the UN Security Council resolution that singularly condemns Israel in the dispute with Palestine. Legitimate and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine requires bilateral negotiations, not a one-sided resolution placing blame on a single party. This resolution wo...
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Today, the House of Representatives unanimously passed two bills introduced by Congressman Kurt Schrader and Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley that will streamline the fee-to-trust process for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The bills will provide considerable help to the two tribes in their continued efforts to restore land that was lost during federal policies of allotment and termination of tribal recognition in 1954. “For the past six years we’...
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Congressman Schrader has signed onto the following letter which is currently being circulated among Members of Congress. The deadline to sign the letter is 5pm ET today, November 15th, and the full list of signers will be released tomorrow. Dear President-elect Trump: Immediately following your victory, many Americans were optimistic and hopeful that you would take the steps necessary to unify our country following the divisive and contentious election. In your election night speech you said, “N...
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Washington, DC – On the eve of a meeting between Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), Reps. Dave Reichert (R-WA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) led a letter urging both parties to continue discussing an extension of their current contract covering operations at the 29 West Coast container ports. Although the current contract does not expire until 2019, the last time the contract expired in 2014 there was no resolution until...
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Today, the Federal Communication Commission announced that they will postpone a vote on the new set-top box proposal to allow more time for its consideration. Initially introduced in January, the proposal has since been modified without being made available for public review and comment. “I am pleased the FCC has listened to our concerns and will be delaying a vote on the new set-top box proposal,” said Rep. Schrader. “We all share the goal of greater consumer choice and competition in the video...
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Today, Congressman Kurt Schrader (OR-5) introduced the Medicare Enrollment Protection Act of 2016 along with Congressman Bob Dold (IL-10) to protect seniors from coverage gaps in Medicare. Under current law, anyone 65 and older who does not enroll in Medicare Part B within 8 months of retiring or being laid off from his or her job is penalized with a higher lifetime premium and a delayed start to Medicare coverage. This includes those who opt into COBRA coverage which essentially extends the cov...
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Washington, D.C. – After Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Representatives Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader, Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici raised concerns about funding for industrial hemp pilot projects last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken a key step by clarifying which industrial hemp research programs are eligible for existing federal funding. The guidance from the USDA provides a response to a bicameral letter the legislators sent last year for funding for ...
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Today, the House voted 310-116 to pass H.R. 5620, the VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016. This bill addresses the VA’s outdated and broken benefits appeals process for veterans. An amendment to the bill, offered by Congressman Tim Walz (D-MN-1), would strip controversial provisions from the bill. “While I am opposed, as evidenced by my vote on the Walz Amendment, to sections of H.R. 5620 which go too far in reducing employment protections for rank and file VA employees...
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Today, Congressman Kurt Schrader (OR-5), Congressman Jim Cooper (TN-5), Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) and Congressman Collin Peterson (MN-7) introduced legislation that will initiate a reasonable three-year phase-in of the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule. The new rule, proposed in May, raises the threshold for employees who are exempt from overtime pay from $23,660 to $47,476, and goes into effect immediately on December 1, 2016. The Overtime Reform and Enhancement Act, introduced to...
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Representatives Kurt Schrader (OR-5), Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-7), Mike Simpson (ID-2), Derek Kilmer (WA-6), and David Reichert (WA-8) led a group of 54 other representatives in calling for an immediate fix to the practice of “fire borrowing,” which forces federal land agencies to take money from other important projects to cover the costs of dealing with wildfires. Many of these projects are used to prevent wildfires from spreading out of control. The Western United States is still experiencing dry c...
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