Jeff Merkley for Oregon

Background:

Born in the small town of Myrtle Creek, Jeff Merkley has spent his lifetime fighting for working people. As the son of a sawmill worker, Jeff's parents instilled in him the value of honest work, good schools, and strong families. He worked hard, earned scholarships and became the first in his family to go to college. He attended Stanford University and then earned a scholarship to the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy at Princeton. Upon graduating, he was awarded a Presidential Management Fellowship and served 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.
In 2006, Jeff led a band of progressives to take control of the Oregon House and became the first Democratic speaker in sixteen years. He fought 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.
Speaker Merkley lives in Portland with his wife Mary, a professional nurse, and their two children, Jonathan and Brynne.

Goals:

For years, Gordon Smith has given powerful corporations and well-connected lobbyists in D.C. the upper hand instead of the working Oregonians.
Jeff Merkley knows first-hand it's time to crack down on big corporations outsourcing American jobs and create economic opportunity for every Oregon worker right here at home.
Our veterans deserve our full support and gratitude for their service. As Oregon's next U.S. Senator, Jeff will ensure that we honor our veterans when they return home by fully funding the VA and offering quality health care and support services. And we must end the disasterous Iraq war and bring our troops home immediately.

Rising energy prices and increased carbon emissions make it essential that America take immediate action to combat global warming. This has been a centerpiece in Jeff's campaign and will continue to be a priority in Washington, D.C.
Jeff Merkley will bring Democrats, progressives, and independents together to build a better nation not only for his own children, Jonathan and Brynne, but for every child and family in Oregon – a future with family-wage jobs, affordable healthcare, a clean and healthy environment, and safe and thriving communities.

Issues:

Energy independence and conservation.
Strengthening the economy, creating quality jobs and universal health care.
Ending the war in Iraq and ensuring quality care for our veterans.

Grassroots Support:

From the beginning, Jeff Merkley has set out to create the largest, grassroots campaign Oregon has ever seen. Jeff understands that to win, he has to build a coalition of people from every corner of the state and talk to people one-on-one. Jeff has launched a "100 Town Tour for Change" where he will visit 100 towns across Oregon over the next 100 days to meet voters and talk about the issues that matter to them. Unlike Gordon Smith, this campaign is about Oregonians and the real problems people are dealing with. The time to change the direction of our country is now and Oregon has a huge opportunity to be a part of it.

DFA Values:

Jeff Merkley believes that over time we’ve seen the tax burden shift from corporations to working people while at the same time, prices have gone up and wages have remained stagnant. Jeff believes we have to swing the pendulum back to put working people first. We must close tax loopholes that send jobs overseas, invest in the new energy economy to create family-wage “green collar” jobs in America, and start investing in America again instead of an endless war. Jeff Merkley will always defend a woman’s right to choose and will continue to champion human rights as he's done as Oregon House Speaker.