Press Releases
Wyden and Bicameral Coalition Introduce Bill to Require States to Secure Elections
Washington, D.C. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and 14 Senate co-sponsors today introduced an expanded version of his bill to protect American elections from foreign interference by mandating hand-marked paper ballots and setting new cybersecurity standards for all federal elections. The bill provides the strongest protection for American elections of any proposal currently before Congress. The Protecting American Votes and Elections Act of 2019 is co-sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., … Continue Reading
May 15, 2019
Wyden Continues the Fight to Boost Recreation and Preserve Wildfire Prevention Work in Southwestern Oregon and near Molalla River
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., yesterday highlighted the importance of protecting and enhancing iconic recreation destinations in Southwestern Oregon and on the Molalla River in Clackamas County during a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining hearing on Wyden's Oregon Recreation Enhancement (ORE) Act. Earlier this month, Wyden, who is Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, together, introduced … Continue Reading
May 14, 2019
Wyden Secures Key Provisions in 2018, 2019 and 2020 Intelligence Authorization Acts
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, secured 15 key provisions in the Intelligence Authorization Acts for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 fiscal years. The bill passed the Intelligence Committee this afternoon. "This bill is an important step forward in supporting Intelligence Community whistleblowers, protecting our communications and pushing for transparency and accountability for the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi. These provisions and … Continue Reading
May 14, 2019
Wyden Urges Canada to Ensure Enes Kanter Can Travel Safely to and from Toronto
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ensure Enes Kanter can travel safely to and from Canada, should the Portland Trail Blazers and the Toronto Raptors advance to the NBA Finals. Wyden's letter on behalf of Kanter, a Turkish national playing for the Trail Blazers, comes after Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has retaliated repeatedly against Kanter for using his freedom of expression to criticize his home country's increasingly … Continue Reading
May 14, 2019
Wyden and Cantwell to FCC: Don’t Ignore NASA, NOAA & Navy Concerns on 5G Auction
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, yesterday warned that an ongoing sale of wireless airwaves could damage the effectiveness of U.S. weather satellites and harm forecasts and predictions relied on to protect safety, property and national security. They also released an internal U.S. Navy memo that concluded that reducing the accuracy of weather forecasts could threaten the safety of aircraft and naval … Continue Reading
May 14, 2019
Merkley, Wyden Announce Major Grants for Rural Airports
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced nearly $13 million in grants to support rural airport improvements in North Bend and John Day. In North Bend, $6.6 million will help the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport to construct an aircraft rescue and firefighting building. In John Day, $6.3 million will allow the Grant County Regional Airport to improve runway safety. "Small airports connect rural Oregon to economic opportunity, wildfire fighting … Continue Reading
May 08, 2019
Wyden Raises Concerns Over Expanded Militarization of Southern Border
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today joined 18 other senators in raising concerns over the expanding mission of active-duty U.S. servicemembers deployed to the southern border. The senators demanded a legal justification for increased military activities at the border, including a loosening of restrictions on contact between servicemembers and migrants crossing the border. According to recent reports, the Department of Defense is preparing to ease rules that limit … Continue Reading
May 08, 2019
Senate Passes Bipartisan “Kids to Parks Day” Resolution
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Cory Booker, D-N.J., applauded the passage of their bipartisan resolution, which encourages children to get outdoors by designating May 18, 2019 National Kids to Parks Day.First celebrated by the National Park Trust in 2011, the ninth annual Kids to Parks Day marks the beginning of a summer-long series of events at state … Continue Reading
May 07, 2019
Wyden, Merkley Press Feds to Restore $14 Million in SRS Payments
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today asked the U.S. Agriculture Department to restore recent payments the agency wrongly reduced for schools and counties under the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Act by more than $14 million. In their letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the Oregon senators cited reports that the agency withheld 6.2 percent of the resources intended for distribution under SRS to Oregon and other states. "The loss to schools and counties … Continue Reading
May 07, 2019
Six Senate Intelligence Committee Members Request Public Update On Status of NSA Phone Records Surveillance Program
Washington, D.C. - Six Senate Intelligence Committee members today requested the National Security Agency (NSA) provide a public update on the status of the NSA's phone records surveillance program. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Vice-chair Mark R. Warner, D-Va., Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., sent the request in a letter to NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone today. The text of the letter is below. View a … Continue Reading
May 03, 2019
Merkley, Wyden Press Veterans Affairs on Clinic Wait Times
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden are pressing Veterans Affairs about wait times at the Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Salem, which, according to a report by the Statesman Journal newspaper, is subjecting veterans to multi-month waits for routine appointments. According to the most recent information in the VA database, veterans who are new primary care patients will to wait an average of 80 days for an appointment. … Continue Reading
May 03, 2019
Merkley, Wyden Introduce Bill to Protect West Coast from Dangerous Offshore Drilling
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden on Thursday joined colleagues in introducing the West Coast Ocean Protection Act to permanently ban offshore drilling in federal waters off the coast of Oregon, Washington and California. Last year, the Trump administration released its five-year offshore leasing plan that proposed opening up the entire West Coast to new drilling despite widespread opposition in Pacific coast states. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt … Continue Reading
May 02, 2019
Wyden Calls on Attorney General Barr to Resign
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, today called on Attorney General William Barr to resign. "Attorney General William Barr yesterday continued his campaign of misinformation. I have warned for months that AG Barr was hired to protect Trump's presidency at all costs and erode constitutional checks on the president's power. That is why I strongly opposed his confirmation. In his short time in office, AG Barr's partisan lies and … Continue Reading
May 02, 2019
Wyden Presses Interior Solicitor General Nominee on “Non-existent Record of Ethics Enforcement”
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today at a U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing raised serious concerns about Department of the Interior Solicitor General nominee Daniel Jorjani's "non-existent record of ethics enforcement during his time as Acting Solicitor." Wyden cited several examples for his concerns, including investigations into wrongdoing at the agency that were closed without resolution due to a lack of cooperation or records production, … Continue Reading
May 01, 2019
Wyden, Merkley Introduce Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today introduced legislation that would boost recreation opportunities in Southwestern Oregon and on the Molalla River in Clackamas County while preserving wildfire prevention work in both of those regions. The senators' Oregon Recreation Enhancement (ORE) Act would create the Rogue Canyon Recreation Area and the Molalla Recreation Area, expand the Wild Rogue Wilderness Area, and prohibit destructive mining on pristine rivers in … Continue Reading
April 30, 2019
Wyden Statement on ODNI Transparency Report: Congress Must Oppose Reauthorizing Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act Without Answers to Questions on Surveillance
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called for answers to several outstanding questions following the release of the annual transparency report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). “The annual ODNI transparency report, while welcome, nonetheless provides a valuable window into how much the American public still doesn’t know about how sprawling surveillance authorities are being used by the federal government. “To start, this report is … Continue Reading
April 30, 2019
Oregon Delegation Seeks Relief for Late February Storm
Washington, D.C. - The entire Oregon congressional delegation today sought a federal disaster declaration for damages in the state caused by a late February storm that brought snow, freezing rain, floods and landslides. U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, Greg Walden, Suzanne Bonamici and Kurt Schrader estimated in their bipartisan letter to the White House that especially hard-hit Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jefferson and Lane counties are eligible … Continue Reading
April 30, 2019
Wyden Introduces Bill to Protect LGBTQ Americans From Housing Discrimination
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and colleagues today introduced a bipartisan bill that would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the classes protected from discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) to ensure equal housing opportunities for all Americans. “It’s 2019 and Americans can still be denied housing based on who they love or how they identify. That alone is unconscionable. LGBTQ Americans deserve explicit and equal protection under the law, especially when it … Continue Reading
April 30, 2019
Wyden Calls for Investigation into AG Barr’s Handling of the Mueller Report
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today joined with 11 other senators in urging an investigation into Attorney General William Barr’s conduct while handling Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and report. “Attorney General Barr’s actions raise significant questions about his decision not to recuse himself from overseeing the Special Counsel’s investigation, whether his actions with respect to the release of the report complied with Department of Justice policies and practices, … Continue Reading
April 25, 2019
Wyden, Merkley Join Effort to Preserve Sea Grant Program Funding After Trump Administration Proposed Cuts
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined 25 of their Senate colleagues in an effort to preserve funding for the National Sea Grant College Program (Sea Grant) following the Trump administration's proposal to eliminate its funding in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget. In a bipartisan letter to U.S. Senators Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and … Continue Reading
