Press Releases
Wyden, Merkley, 31 Senators File Supreme Court Amicus Brief to Support Affordable Access to Birth Control
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., today led a group of more than 30 Democratic Senators in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on the need to protect women's access to affordable birth control. The brief was filed ahead of next month's arguments in the consolidated cases of Zubik v. Burwell, yet another attempt by some employers to interfere with women's access to health care by … Continue Reading
February 12, 2016
Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer Ask EPA’s Help in Portland Over Cadmium and Arsenic Hotspots
Washington - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer today wrote federal environmental regulators asking them to act now in response to the public health concerns of Portlanders in neighborhoods with hotspots of airborne heavy metals. In their letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, the Oregon lawmakers pointed out the extreme community concern over hotspots of dangerously high levels of cadmium and arsenic in southeast and north … Continue Reading
February 11, 2016
Statement from Senator Wyden on the end of the Harney County standoff
"Oregonians across our state are grateful to the Harney County Sheriff's Department, federal law enforcement, and local and state officials for ending this standoff without additional loss of life. The steady resolve of the Burns community and Harney County leaders like County Judge Steve Grasty and Sheriff Dave Ward has kept this sad episode from sparking something much worse. Now that the shadow of violence is lifting from Harney County, Oregonians can return to what we do best -- building … Continue Reading
February 09, 2016
Watch: Wyden Questions CIA Director on Searching Senate Files, Director of National Intelligence on Strong Encryption
Washington, D.C. -Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore, pressed CIA Director John Brennan on the CIA's improper search of Senate files at a rare open hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today. "When you're talking about spying on the committee responsible for overseeing your agency, in my view that undermines the very checks and balances that protect our democracy and it is unacceptable in a free society," Wyden said. The CIA's own Inspector General concluded the CIA "improperly … Continue Reading
February 09, 2016
Wyden, Merkley Urge Pac-12 to Address Student Transfer Policies to Promote Campus Safety
Washington, D.C. - In response to recent steps taken by colleges and athletic conferences to promote safety on campus, Oregon's U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged the leaders of the Pac-12 Conference to consider adopting a conference-wide student conduct policy for transfer students seeking to enroll at a Pac-12 university. In a letter to Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, the senators urged Pac-12 leaders to use an upcoming conference meeting as an opportunity to discuss the … Continue Reading
February 04, 2016
Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer, Bonamici Introduce Bill Allowing Written Marijuana Ads in States Where Marijuana is Legal
Washington, D.C. - Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined with Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici today to introduce a bill that would allow publications in Oregon and other states where marijuana is legal to mail their publications containing written advertising for the product. The Marijuana Advertising in Legal States (MAILS) Act would reverse the outdated declaration by the U.S. Postal Service in December 2015 that prohibited the mailing of newspapers with ads offering to buy or … Continue Reading
February 04, 2016
Wyden, Merkley and Bipartisan Group of Senators Keep Lifesaving Coast Guard Facilities Open in Oregon and South Carolina
Washington - Working together to prevent the closure of lifesaving air facilities in Newport, Oregon and in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today applauded inclusion of language in the final Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 that now heads to the President for signature. The bill, which passed the Senate in December and the House earlier this month, ensures neither region loses current … Continue Reading
February 04, 2016
Wyden, Merkley and Bipartisan Group of Senators Keep Lifesaving Coast Guard Facilities Open in Oregon and South Carolina
Washington - Working together to prevent the closure of lifesaving air facilities in Newport, Oregon and in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Lindsey Graham today applauded inclusion of language in the final Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 that now heads to the President for signature. The bill, which passed the Senate in December and the House earlier this month, ensures neither region loses current search-and-rescue … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Wyden, Durbin, Casey, Merkley Introduce Amendment to Increase Transparency for Oil-by-Rail Transportation
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Robert P. Casey, Jr., D-Pa., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., today introduced an amendment to a broad energy bill to provide more transparent information about shipments of flammable liquids transported by railroads, including crude oil, ethanol and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The amendment would require the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to collect and publish monthly data about flammable liquids transported by … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Wyden, Durbin, Casey, Merkley Introduce Amendment to Increase Transparency for Oil-by-Rail Transportation
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Robert P. Casey, Jr., D-Pa., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., today introduced an amendment to a broad energy bill to provide more transparent information about shipments of flammable liquids transported by railroads, including crude oil, ethanol and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The amendment would require the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to collect and publish monthly data about flammable liquids transported by … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Wyden, Crapo: Fix Wildfire Funding Before It’s Too Late
View Video of Sen. Wyden's Remarks Here Washington, D.C. - Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, took to the Senate floor last night to renew their bipartisan call for a permanent fix to wildfire funding, and to end the senseless practice of raiding fire prevention and other Forest Service accounts just to fight this year's fires. Wyden and Crapo introduced an amendment to the energy bill currently on the Senate floor that would end fire borrowing for good, stop the … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Senators Press FCC on Unauthorized Equipment Fees Charged to Consumers
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Al Franken, D-Minn., Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., today asked Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler about the unfair payment practice of charging consumers equipment fees they do not owe and what the FCC is doing to protect consumers. Last year, more than 30 percent of consumer complaints to the FCC about Internet service and 38 percent of complaints … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Wyden Calls for End to Taxpayer-Funded Partisan Planned Parenthood Investigations
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden joined Democratic colleagues in calling for an end to ongoing, politically-motivated House and Senate investigations into Planned Parenthood, in light of the many independent state investigations across the country that have cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing. Wyden met in Medford last weekend with Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon. He and his fellow Democrats joined their colleagues in both chambers on a letter this week to Republicans calling … Continue Reading
February 02, 2016
Wyden, Blumenauer, Polis, Massie Host Industrial Hemp Expo
Washington, D.C. -Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., today hosted an Industrial Hemp expo at the U.S. Capitol bringing together leading policymakers and entrepreneurs in the movement to restore industrial hemp to U.S. agriculture. The expo, which drew more than 100 visitors, featured television personality Montel Williams and former CIA Director James Woolsey as keynote speakers. It showcased more than a dozen small … Continue Reading
January 27, 2016
Wyden Applauds FCC Set-Top Box Proposal Increasing Competition and Consumer Choice
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today applauded a proposal by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler to increase choice and innovation in the set-top box market. The Chairman's proposal would create a framework for providing innovators, device manufacturers and app developers the information they need to develop new technologies that will give consumers a choice when accessing video programming. A Senate inquiry last year found almost all multichannel video … Continue Reading
January 27, 2016
With audio: Wyden Statement on Malheur Wildlife Refuge Arrests
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today issued the following statement: "My overriding priority is that the remaining militants will leave the refuge peacefully and in short order. Oregonians expect their safety and the rule of law to be preserved, so I commend the FBI for moving to arrest the leaders of this illegal occupation. It is deeply unfortunate that these militants' actions have resulted in violence. There was an immediate threat that the occupation in Harney County … Continue Reading
January 21, 2016
Wyden, Democratic Senators and Leading Researchers Push for Funding Gun Violence Research
Washington, DC - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today called for immediate funding of a gun violence research agenda at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Joining a group of Democratic senators and renowned national researchers, Wyden noted how a 1996 Republican appropriations rider prohibiting federal funds from being used to advocate or promote gun control has been misconstrued as a ban on funding scientific research into the causes of gun violence. "The discussion around … Continue Reading
January 21, 2016
Wyden, Heinrich and Hirono Ask for Straight Answers About Unauthorized CIA Search of Senate Files
Washington, D.C.- Senate Intelligence Committee Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), today called on the president and CIA director to finally acknowledge that the CIA's search of Senate files was improper and will not happen again. CIA officials secretly searched Senate Intelligence Committee files in January 2014, while the committee was investigating the agency's use of torture from 2002-2007. Director Brennan repeatedly denied that the search … Continue Reading
January 15, 2016
Wyden Statement on Federal Coal Leasing Environmental Review
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement after the Interior Department announced it would conduct an environmental review of the federal coal leasing program: "A wholesale review of the federal coal program is long overdue," Wyden said. "This provides an opportunity to make sure taxpayers get a fair return for coal mined on public lands, take action against climate change and ensure our clean water and clean air are protected. This review should examine … Continue Reading
January 12, 2016
Wyden Response to the State of the Union Address
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement after the president's State of the Union address: "My hope is that Congress uses this moment of reflection to renew our commitment to creating opportunity for all, while protecting and upholding American values. "Congress must to do more to help working families in Oregon and across the country get ahead by tackling the tough, fundamental issues that are critical to the health of our economy. "Education has … Continue Reading
