Senator Merkley’s website indicates that he often holds town hall meetings
across his state of Oregon. A number of press releases indicate that he has
held the meetings to update constituents on his work in Washington, answer
questions, and engage in discussions about constituent concerns. In 2013 he has
held numerous town hall meetings. His website even shows an interactive map
that indicates where and when he will be holding a town hall meeting. The meetings indicate that Merkley puts much time and effort into connecting
and understanding his constituency. His efforts to build a good reputation may
be due in part to this term being his first term. Many people do not know much
about him and his policies, but by going out to the people often and giving them
the information in person he builds credibility, and helps build support for
his next election.
According to a press release posted on Merkley’s website in October 2012
he and two other senators traveled to Israel during the congressional recess.
Merkley said this about the trip in the press release:
“This visit to Israel is an opportunity to meet with some
of the region’s top leaders and get an on-the-ground perspective on some of the
complex foreign policy challenges that directly impact America,” said Merkley. “I’m
also looking forward to meeting with leaders in one of the world’s most vibrant
technology and innovation hot spots and keeping an eye out for opportunities
for Oregon companies.”
I was surprised to read that he went to Israel because
usually when I think of Congress I think of them dealing strictly with national
issues. But the Senate does hold some power in declaring war and dealing with
foreign nations, thus Merkley's international trip can be attributed to those
powers that are unique to the Senate when dealing with international affairs.
Merkley’s website houses a great database to reference all
of the press releases that have been issued about him and his work. The
releases range from his statement about the Presidents state of the Union
speech, to revealing information about new bills he introduced to the Senate.
If I were a concerned voter from Oregon, I believe I would
find the press release section especially helpful because even when the Senator
is not in the state you can learn about what he is doing, and what he has to
say about it.
As I researched Merkley’s use of franking and mailers to
constituents. I stumbled upon an issue from his campaign days. “Jeff Merkley calls out Gordon Smith for urban/rural
doubletalk,” was the title of the story published on Blueoregon.com.
Blueoregon.com is a website that provides opportunity for commentary on the
politics in Oregon. In 2007 Merkley’s opponent incumbent Senator Gordon Smith
sent out mailings to the Portland area in an effort to appeal to more
democratic voters. Merkley responded to Smith’s mailing with his own mailing
that said this:
"The enclosed brochure was mailed from Smith’s
U.S. Senate office at taxpayer expense. In it he touts work he claims to have
done with two prominent Democrats: our other Senator, Ron Wyden, and Senator
Hillary Clinton. Smith likes to tell people in Portland that he works closely
with Hillary Clinton. Does he talk about his work with prominent Democrats like
Hillary Clinton when he’s in your town?
That isn’t the way I will run my campaign. I’ll
stand by my principles, no matter what. I won’t pretend to be anyone other than
who I am, no matter which part of the state I might be visiting. That’s what a
Senator for all Oregonians owes to the people he represents."
According to govtrack.us (a website that makes it easy to
track the activities of the U.S. Congress) Merkley falls on the far left of the
Democratic spectrum. His leadership score in Congress is somewhere in the
middle of the pack and he has missed 11 of the 1,207 roll call votes that have
occurred during his time in office.Merkley has sponsored and cosponsored a multitude of bills
since taking his seat in the Senate. Bills that he has recently proposed to the
Senate include:
S. 172: SAFE Lending Act of 2013
A bill to amend the Truth in Lending Act to address
certain issues related to the extension of consumer credit, and for other purposes.
It has 4 co-sponsors.
S. 160: Medical Debt Responsibility Act of 2013
A bill to exclude from consumer credit reports medical
debt that has been in collection and has been fully paid or settled, and for
other purposes.
It has 6 co-sponsors.
***In VERY recent news, Merkley has been pushing his
constituents to sign petitions in favor of passing the Senates Violence Against
Women act through the House. His website has had a large portion devoted to
promoting the Act. As of Thursday February 28, 2013 the House passed the Senate version of the bill, after being unable to agree upon their own terms of
the bill. Jeff was pretty pumped.
He posted a nice shout out on his website/facebook page.
