Senator Jeff Merkley comes from a family of fighters. According to family lore, his grandmother lived for a time in a boxcar during the Great Depression. Jeff’s mother stretched a dollar as far as anyone possibly could, and his father overcame a serious illness and went on to work in a lumber mill and become a union machinist. Life wasn’t glamorous, but together, Jeff’s parents saved enough to buy a modest home, take their children on annual camping vacations, and retire comfortably after a lifetime of contributing to their community.
We have made promises to our seniors that they have honored through decades of hard work, and that we must keep to seniors today and tomorrow. Jeff believes that Social Security and Medicare are a covenant with our seniors, and has fought against efforts to privatize or weaken these essential programs.