Peter DeFazio News

STATE OF PLAY: Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will spend her second day in Portland, Ore., on Friday, where she'll announce new cooperation on energy with state officials.

After two decades of wishful thinking by too many residents and benign neglect by too many policymakers, at least two of Oregon's timber counties have reached the fiscal cliff -- literally.

May 22 - Sen. Bernie Sanders today introduced legislation that would ban bankers from sitting on the boards of directors for 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks that regulate the financial industry.

Meet 10:00 am at the Department of Food and Agriculture at 1220 N Street, Sacramento, March at 11am to the State Capitol to lobby against Monsanto.

Legislation targeting patent trolls is picking up steam in Congress. Sen. John Cornyn became the latest lawmaker to offer a solution, introducing a bill aimed at making it easier for the victims of frivolous patent suits to fight back.

May 22 - In a continuing victory for the food movement and consumer advocates, yesterday the Connecticut Senate voted 35-1 in support of legislation that would require foods that are genetically engineered to be labeled.

Republicans on the House Rules Committee agreed Tuesday to make nine Democratic amendments in order to a bill authorizing construction of the Keystone pipeline, including one that would gut the bill entirely.

Rep. Ed Markey hasn't yet won the Massachusetts special election for the open Senate seat, but some of his colleagues are already weighing in on his committee seats.

Cave Junction, Oregon--April 24, 2013-- Link Phillippi, President of Rough & Ready Lumber with his wife, Jennifer Phillippi, CEO and co-owner of the family-owned mill say they have been pleading with members of Congress for 23-years to do something about log supplies.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley is being dragged into the partisan infighting surrounding revelations that the Internal Revenue Service wrongly targeted Tea Party groups seeking non-profit status.

Vermont seemed more likely than ever to become the first US state to mandate the labeling of genetically modified food after a bill passed the state house, though legislators worry about a lawsuit threat from biotech giant Monsanto.

Whether the food industry likes it or not, when it comes to GMO labeling, the " train appears to have left the station", according to former FDA associate commissioner of foods Dr David Acheson.

Ire over the Internal Revenue Service's targeting conservative groups. Anger over the Justice Department's snooping on The Associated Press.

As we move toward the fifth anniversary of the great financial crisis of 2008, people should be outraged that cutting Social Security is now on the national agenda, while taxing Wall Street is not.

Food from genetically modified organisms has been popular in the news lately, as companies try to get their products approved by federal regulators, and lawmakers try to make the labeling of these foods mandatory by law.

Americans have made it abundantly clear they want the ability to make informed decisions about what they eat.

The way U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader sees it, not enough of his colleagues in Congress are being honest enough with constituents.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., is in position to become the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources -- if a couple of elections go his way.

The Vermont House of Representatives on May 10 passed a three-year-old bill that would require the labeling of genetically engineered food sold within that state.

Congress is moving forward an online Internet tax bill designed to level the online playing field between big retailers with storefronts and other online businesses.