Janelle Bynum
DA teacher can be the difference between a kid thinking “I can’t do that” and “why not me?” Never underestimate that. #WorldTeachersDay
Let’s talk about what’s happening in Oregon, Congress, and everything in between. Ask me anything below ⬇️, and I’ll answer your questions in upcoming newsletters. https://t.co/dKLkggeFnV
College should open up your world. It should never make you afraid to live in it. https://t.co/uKLTEyaICv
I was one of those kids who got an early look at where science could take me. That’s why having Genentech grow right here in Hillsboro matters. Oregon’s next generation of scientists, innovators, and leaders shouldn’t have to look far from home to do groundbreaking research and create lifesaving treatments for people like my best friend’s mom.
Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer. Closing that gap can’t wait. Join Dr. Nathalie Johnson, survivors and advocates today in Portland for a free conversation on improving breast cancer care for Black women. 📍Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Lorenzen Conference Center 🕙 10 AM - 12 PM PT
Shoutout to Trump’s economy! https://t.co/meen6lQ3YM
People need help after an emergency, and the faster that help comes, the better shot they have of rebuilding what was lost. https://t.co/1K8RudOvtf
Gas is expensive. Food is expensive. Buying a house is expensive. Everything is expensive. And yet, the president and my Republican colleagues worry about literally anything else.
Chin all the way up, Gresham Gophers. Barlow got one on you last week. But that’s why we get back up. https://t.co/kAbLOjw5Kr
A paycheck means independence. This National Disability Employment Awareness Month, I’m fighting for a world where no one’s future is limited by a workplace that won’t make room for them.
Mr. President, are you listening? Mortgage rates are through the roof, and families are getting screwed. Stop the foreign wars. Your reckless borrowing and deficit taking is ruining our kids' futures! WTH!!
This week, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 1190, Congresswoman Janelle Bynum’s (OR-05) bipartisan Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act. The legislation would help rural small businesses overcome barriers to accessing capital. The bill updates the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by requiring the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to report annually on the unique challenges rural businesses face when seeking investment. These reports will give Congress better information as it considers ways to improve access to capital for rural job creators. "Rural small businesses shouldn’t have to work twice as hard just because of their ZIP code,” said Congresswoman Janelle Bynum. “The Senate passing this bill gets us one step closer to changing that. Rural entrepreneurs have the ideas and the hustle. They deserve a fair shot to grow them into something bigger." “Rural small businesses are essential to communities across Montana, but too many still face unnecessary barriers when trying to access capital,” said Congressman Troy Downing (MT-02), the bill’s co-lead. “I’m proud of our legislation, which will help make sure rural businesses are no longer overlooked when Congress considers how to expand access to capital and support job creation.” Senator John Kennedy (R-LA.) led the U.S. Senate companion bill to passage. “Rural small businesses are the backbone of many communities across America, but too many face challenges accessing capital. I’m glad the Senate passed our bill to make sure Congress understands those challenges and help rural job creators grow their businesses, create jobs and serve their communities,” said Senator Kennedy. Read the bill HERE. Background: The SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation is required to identify problems that small businesses face when securing access to capital and submit an annual report to Congress. Currently, the Office’s list of applicable entities are minority-owned, women-owned, and disaster-stricken small businesses. This legislation would require the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to add rural small businesses to its list of applicable entities. ###
A little full-circle moment. Come with me back to Madeira, where I got to celebrate 60 years of Co-Curriculum and answer some questions from students about what it’s really like going from Madeira to the workforce, to the state legislature, to Congress. https://t.co/92gobluBuc
Yesterday, Representative Janelle Bynum (OR-05), and Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced $100,000 in federal awards to support displaced Oregonians and wildfire recovery efforts for Central Oregon communities that lost homes in the 2026 wildfires. “No where to sleep. Only the clothes on your back. Food to go is the only option. All in the matter of one day,” said Rep. Bynum. “I’ve heard that story too many times from my constituents. People need help after an emergency, and the faster that help comes, the better shot they have of rebuilding what was lost. And by help I mean money to get the basics. That’s the difference this funding can and will make.” “As wildfires in central Oregon and statewide set new records every year in size and intensity, the rural communities on the front lines of these fights are the most in need of resources for recovery efforts,” Wyden said. “I applaud this federal award that will support Central Oregon communities including Warm Springs residents who were forced to flee from their homes, and I will continue to fight for more resources to support wildfire prevention and recovery across Oregon.” “When disaster strikes, Oregon’s communities show up to help each other. These federal funds will help NeighborImpact provide critical support to Warm Springs families recovering from the devastating July wildfires, including emergency shelter, relocation assistance, and essential household supplies,” said Merkley. “I’ll keep fighting to bring federal resources home to Oregon so our communities have the support they need to recover and rebuild.” "Warm Springs deserves to be included in the regional response to wildfire and other needs on an equal basis with counties. Too often, tribal communities are a place to drive through, not a place to drive to. NeighborImpact values all our neighbors, including tribal neighbors, and the fires that burned at Warm Springs this summer, while devastating, were responded to and will continue to be responded to vigorously and thoroughly with resources, support for displaced people and empathy from our organization and, I hope, neighboring communities. The congressional appropriation funded through NeighborWorks America is a much-appreciated and critical tool enabling us to help in a time of need,” said Scott Cooper, Executive Director of NeighborImpact. The $100,000 in federal awards from the NeighborWorks Disaster Grants program will be distributed to NeighborImpact, a central Oregon nonprofit that serves economically disadvantaged residents of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Thousands of Warm Springs residents were forced to evacuate and several homes were lost in the July 2026 fires. The grant will support the Wildfire Recovery Fund that is used to provide emergency shelter, relocation assistance, provide/replace personal items such as baby supplies, hygiene products, houseware items, laundry and cleaning supplies. ###
A water bill. A library book. Senior services. A birthday party. They might not sound like they have much in common, but in Scio, they can all happen under one roof. I brought home $1 million to help turn the outdated 66-year-old City Hall into a place that can keep showing up for this community.
A same day notice to show up in court isn’t due process, it’s a trap. So I gave Trump a notice of my own: stop rushed immigration hearings right now. https://t.co/YwRU1F17D9
As a mom, I know a good job is about more than a paycheck. It’s about being able to show up when your family needs you. ILWU workers fought for that kind of power on the job, and the Oregon Area District Council fights to protect it. So grateful to have their support! https://t.co/ngSjhEjnsp
Build all the affordable housing you want, but if insurance is too expensive, you are just swapping one cost people can’t pay for another. Let’s do better. https://t.co/ft2g7WRE4u
Today, Representatives Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas, Val Hoyle, and Maxine Dexter, along with U.S. senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, demanded the Trump administration end the practice of “mega master” immigration hearings that expedite the review of hundreds of immigrants’ cases in a day, resulting in a fast-track to removing immigrants without due process. “This unwarranted blitzkrieg of assaults on justice and fair treatment raises serious constitutional concerns and is unworthy of the oaths you swore to uphold,” the Oregon lawmakers wrote to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Sirce E. Owen, Acting Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review and David Venturella, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Over the past year, your agencies have increased the number of immigrants who must appear on little-to-no notice for so-called ‘mega master’ hearings on overcrowded dockets in front of Trump’s handpicked judges at courts across the country, all while stripping immigrants of their legal status, ramping up arrests and detention, and limiting their access to legal counsel for representation in court and fast-tracked asylum interviews,”they wrote. “These policy changes confuse and terrify law-abiding immigrants in our communities and prevent them from having a fair day in court.” The lawmakers wrote that the Portland Immigration Court in Oregon is now holding about two “mega master” hearings every week, in addition to maintaining its previously-scheduled docket hearings and individual merit hearings. That has forced immigrants anticipating court dates in 2027 or 2028 to suddenly show up on extremely short notice and scrambling both to figure out how to get to the court on time, and to find an attorney to represent them. “As if the changes at the Portland Immigration Court weren’t bad enough, the neighboring Tacoma Immigration Court has now had judges deciding in mid-August to stop allowing immigration attorneys across Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska from appearing remotely on behalf of their clients detained at the regional detention center,” the lawmakers continued. “Previously, the Tacoma Immigration Court allowed out-of-state attorneys to represent their clients by making court appearances through video conferencing technology. Now attorneys—and when applicable, expert witnesses— have to attend these hearings in person.” The new requirement for immigration attorneys to represent their clients in person comes as immigration judges allow Department of Homeland Security prosecutors to participate in hearings remotely. In other cases even the presiding judge is attending remotely as well, with attorneys sharing that remote appearances by judges happen in about half the cases that they must attend in-person at the Tacoma Immigration Court. These new in-person requirements also come as attorneys share that the court is sending “notices to appear” and setting hearings for that same morning giving the attorneys little time to prepare or make travel arrangements from out of state. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also been routinely denying immigration attorneys access to their clients at detention centers, and transferring clients thousands of miles away to detention centers across the country. “Immigration court proceedings must uphold fairness and rule of law and not be politicized to satisfy Donald Trump’s arbitrary detention quotas. We call on the Trump administration to discontinue policies and tactics that undermine constitutional due process. Our legal system relies on accountability; therefore, we demand that you establish fair and meaningful hearings that provide a genuine day in court and uphold the integrity of our nation’s immigration system,” the lawmakers concluded. The lawmakers ended their letter demanding a written response by October 15th, 2026 detailing the steps that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security will take to achieve the following: Terminate “mega master” hearings. Provide immigrants with sufficient notice of their proceedings. Reduce hardships on immigration attorneys. Ensure that immigration judges hear cases individually, free from political influence. The full text of the letter is available here. ###
35 days. That’s it. Consider this your sign to check your voter registration, figure out when and how you’re voting, and get that voting plan LOCKED IN. https://t.co/mCmMKPY007
Can AI lower my gas bill tho?
Genentech has been part of my story since 1990, when I won a National Science Foundation trip to its San Francisco headquarters. Seeing science in action helped set me on a STEM path to Boeing, General Motors, McDonald’s, and ultimately Oregon. Now, the opportunity I had more than three decades ago is within reach for every child in our state.
BOLD PAC is bringing more voices, more communities, and a new generation of leaders to Congress – and I’m so proud to be part of what they’re building. https://t.co/9Fv9rXYzRC
I want to know what’s in the water my family drinks. You should too. Microplastics are showing up everywhere, and I’m pushing to make sure the EPA is actually doing the research to understand what that means for our health. https://t.co/PtWrDcg3km
The lawmakers argue that to continue protecting Americans’ health, they need to understand what the EPA has accomplished in its work on microplastics and what progress still needs to be made. They also emphasize the urgency of this review amid emerging research connecting microplastics to adverse health consequences and serious environmental risks. In the letter, the lawmakers write: “Even as the EPA's FY2023-FY2026 research plan approaches its conclusion, Congress lacks a clear assessment of what the EPA has accomplished in its work on microplastics and what work remains necessary to support reliable monitoring, risk assessment and potential regulatory action.” Later in the letter, they write: “Addressing microplastic pollution is critical for protecting the health of Americans and safeguarding our waterways and ecosystems. Our constituents deserve to know what microplastic exposure means for their families’ health, and the requested information above will be critical in informing Congress’s work in tackling this challenge." The letter was also signed by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representatives Jesús G. "Chuy" García (IL-04), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C), Emanuel Cleaver II (MO-05), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Dave Min (CA-47), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Laura Friedman (CA-30), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Judy Chu (CA-28), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Mike Levin (CA-49), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), and Zoe Lofgren (CA-18). In July, Rep. Bynum led a bicameral letter, urging the Environmental Protection Agency to add microplastics to the agency's recently published Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6). This letter urged the EPA to begin monitoring microplastics in America's drinking water, citing a growing body of research linking the emerging contaminant to serious adverse health effects. Rep. Bynum also introduced the bicameral, bipartisan Microplastics Safety Act to require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a study on the health impacts of microplastics in food, water, and other products. The new legislation is a critical step forward in better understanding the threat of microplastics to human health. Background Researchers at the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) define microplastics as plastic particles ranging in size from 5 millimeters to one nanometer. Microplastics have been found in every ecosystem on the planet, as well as in food, beverages, and animal and human tissue. When Environment Oregon sampled 30 of Oregon’s most iconic rivers, lakes, and urban waterways, they found microplastic fibers in 100% of the samples. The full text of the letter is available here. ###