U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley is on the UO campus today for a 10 a.m. press event in the Knight Library Browsing Room to announce the introduction of "pay it forward" style legislation.

Vice President for Research and Innovation Kimberly Espy will provide a welcome. State Rep. Phil Barnhart (D-Eugene) is also participating, along with student body presidents from the UO, LCC and OSU. 

The event, which is open to the public, has been organized by Merkley's staff and will focus on student debt. The senator's staff was provided background information about the UO's successes in providing aid to middle- and lower-income Oregonians, and in helping students limit and manage debt.

Merkley is also speaking at noon today at the City Club of Eugene, which is meeting at the UO School of Law. He will discuss "Reversing the Decline of the Middle Class: Saving the American Dream." The event, cosponsored by the UO's Wayne Morse Center and the League of Women Voters, is free and open to the public.

- from the UO Office of Strategic Communications