Jeff Merkley is an American politician who has a progressive record of her career. He is serving as a junior Senator from Oregon. He was one of the members of five-term members of the Oregon House of Representatives from House District 47. He was also the speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from January 3, 2007, to January 2, 2009.
Early Life and Education
Born as Jeffery Alan Merkley, Jeff Merkley was born on October 24, 1956, in Myrtle Creek, Oregon to parents Betty Lou Collins and Darrell Philip Merkley. He studied at Roseburg till the first grade prior to moving to Portland. He attended David Douglas High School and has graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor degree in International Relations in the year 1979. He earned his master’s degree in 1982 from Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
Political Career
After the completion of his master’s degree, he started working at the Office of Secretary of Defense as a Presidential Management Fellow. After the completion of his fellowship, Jeff Merkley worked as the analyzer of nuclear weapons, policies, and programs with the Congressional Budget Office. He served as the executive director of Habitat for Humanity based in Portland from 1991-1994. Besides, he also served as the Director of Housing Development at Human Solutions and President of the World Affairs Council of Oregon for seven years and began to serve on its Board of Trustees.
In 1998, he was elected as a Democrat to the Oregon House of Representatives. After the democrat won with a majority in 2006 Oregon statewide elections, he was chosen to be the Speaker of the Oregon Legislative Assembly.
Power and policy
Jeff Merkley became the Senator of United States on January 6, 2009. He has a progressive record of his senator career till date. He was the first democratic member to vote against the confirmation of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke citing his failure. He became the leading force in the effort to pa s s the Wall Street reform bill. Jeff Merkley made an effort to urge President Obama to expedite the transition of military and security to the Afghan government in 2011.
It was Jeff Merkley who supported the Reid-Feingold Amendment which involved the redeployment of troops from Iraq. He also supported Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He was the leader who tried to reform the rules of Senate including the topic concerning the filibuster.
Jeff Merkley was the open supporter of same-sex marriage and introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act during 111th United States Congress. He also cosponsored legislation to allow the gay Americans to serve openly in the military. He was also the part of the video which was an antibullying initiative aimed for LGBT youth.
Personal Life
As the successful professional life, Jeff Merkley also has a successful marital life. He has been married to his wife Mary Sorteberg and is blessed with two children, named Jonathan Merkley and Brynne Merkley. His wife is very supportive and understanding. She trusts him and this has been Jeff’s strength to move forward. The couple is happy together and enjoying their decades-long marital life.
Net worth
It is not known how much Jeff Merkley earns in a year. However, he earns a lucrative amount of salary adding up his net worth. His net worth was reported to be $1.6 million based on the Senate personal disclosure report in 2009.
by Bchrome, 27 Jan, 2017
