Press Releases
Wyden, Udall, Portman, Landrieu Renew Bipartisan Kids to Parks Day Push
U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Mark Udall, D-Colo., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Mary Landrieu, D-La., joined together this week to urge America's youth to live active lifestyles and to enjoy and protect our nation's special places by introducing a resolution to mark the fourth annual Kids to Parks Day. Launched in 2011 with the National Park Trust, Kids to Parks Day has become the national kickoff to a summer of events at local, state and national parks. The U.S. Senate passed the resolution … Continue Reading
May 12, 2014
Advisory: Wyden to Hold Reddit AMA on Net Neutrality With Alexis Ohanian on Tuesday
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of reddit, will hold a reddit "Ask Me Anything" on net neutrality and promoting an open Internet on Tuesday at 2 p.m. PST/5 p.m EST. The joint AMA question-and-answer session will be posted here, shortly before it is scheduled to … Continue Reading
May 09, 2014
Wyden, Merkley Call for Expanded Transparency In Oil Trains Order
Washington, D.C. - Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged the Department of Transportation to ensure railroads notify states of all oil shipments moving by train, not just oil from one region of the country, as a DOT emergency order issued earlier this week required. The emergency order announced by the DOT on Wednesday would only require rail companies to notify State Emergency Response Commissions of rail shipments of oil produced in the Bakken Formation region found in Montana … Continue Reading
May 09, 2014
Senators Urge FCC to Promote Net Neutrality, Reverse Proposal to Create Internet Toll Lanes
Washington, D.C. - In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, 11 U.S. senators called for the FCC to protect net neutrality and reject efforts by big cable companies to extort businesses for the right to provide content at the fastest Internet speeds. Net neutrality - the principle that all Internet traffic travels at the same speed, regardless of its source - governed the Internet for decades, to the benefit of innovators, consumers and the U.S. economy. Sens. … Continue Reading
May 07, 2014
Wyden, Udall Welcome House's Step Toward Reining in NSA's Bulk Collection of Americans' Phone Records
U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who serve on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and have been at the forefront of the bipartisan and bicameral effort to rein in NSA overreach and end the bulk collection of Americans' phone records, welcomed the U.S. House of Representatives' step today toward reforming the NSA's domestic surveillance. "I will continue to fight for additional steps to protect both American security and American liberty, like closing the … Continue Reading
May 07, 2014
Wyden: DOT Oil Trains Order a Positive Step, But Communities Need More Security
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D- Ore., today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Transportation announced new efforts to improve the safety of oil-by-rail shipments: "Oregon's first responders told me they needed more information about the oil trains travelling through our communities, which is why I've continued pushing the Department of Transportation to listen to those concerns,"Wyden said. "Today's announcement sounds like a positive step toward filling the … Continue Reading
May 06, 2014
Wyden: National Climate Assessment Confirms Need to Act on Climate Change
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement on the National Climate Assessment, released today: "Today's report adds to the ever-growing body of scientific evidence and on-the-ground proof that the effects of climate change are already being felt in every region of the United States," Wyden said. "This assessment confirms what the people of the Pacific Northwest already know - that sea levels are rising, wildfires are getting worse and water supplies are … Continue Reading
May 02, 2014
Merkley and Wyden Announce $11 Million for Upper Klamath Basin
Washington DC - Today, Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will invest up to $11 million in the Upper Klamath Basin over the next five years for water conservation, water quality, and fish habitat restoration efforts. This funding is designed to help with current drought conditions and will also support ranchers and farmers in the Klamath Basin with implementing commitments they have … Continue Reading
May 01, 2014
Wyden Urges Congress to Reform Wildfire Funding Ahead of Fire Season
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D- Ore., today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior released a report stating this year's fire season is already projected to exceed the current budget by $470 million: "Today's news makes clear that the federal government has to change the way it funds firefighting and it needs to be done now," Wyden said. "It is time to break the destructive cycle that underfunds fire prevention and … Continue Reading
April 25, 2014
Wyden Announces Decision that Clears the Way for the Sale of Wine Growlers in Oregon
Portland, OR - Oregon Senator Ron Wyden today announced that the federal agency that regulates the sale of alcohol has agreed to rescind an order than would have blocked the sale of wine growlers in Oregon. In a letter to members of the Oregon delegation the administrator of the federal Alcohol, Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau Bureau's administrator wrote that he is immediately rescinding its ruling with respect to wine sold in growlers. "This is news that deserves a toast - Wine growlers are … Continue Reading
April 25, 2014
Wyden Welcomes FDA’s Common-Sense Pledge to Revise Flawed Rule on Brewers’ Spent Grains
Portland, OR - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued a statement welcoming the Food and Drug Administration's announcement it will rewrite its controversial plan to regulate spent grains from brewers. Spent grains - the result of the brewing process - are often given or sold to nearby ranchers and farmers to use as animal feed. At roundtables across Oregon over the past two weeks, brewers and ranchers told Sen. Wyden the FDA rule issued earlier this year would have created burdensome new regulations … Continue Reading
April 23, 2014
NEWS CONFERENCE: Senator Ron Wyden, Winery Owners and Oregon Winegrowers Association on the Selling of Wine Growlers
Portland, OR - Senator Ron Wyden, local winery owners and representatives of the Oregon Winegrowers Association will hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m., Friday, April 25, 2014, to discuss what is being done to resolve the conflict between federal regulations and an Oregon law that allows the selling of wine growlers the same way as beer growlers. Who: Oregon Senator Ron Wyden Tom Danowski, executive director, Oregon Winegrowers Association Bill Sweat, Oregon Winegrowers … Continue Reading
April 23, 2014
Senator Wyden in Bend on Saturday for Oregon National Guard Officers Association Annual Conference, Receive Medal of Merit Award
Portland, OR - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden will be in Bend on Saturday, April 26, 2014, to attend the annual conference of the Oregon National Guard Officers Association and receive the Charles Dick Medal of Merit. The annual award recognizes the contributions to the National Guard by elected representatives. Who: Oregon Senator Ron Wyden Members of the Oregon National Guard Officers Association What: Speak … Continue Reading
April 22, 2014
NEWS CONFERENCE, 10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 24th
Ashland, OR - The alliance between one of Oregon's oldest industries, agriculture, and one of the newest, craft beer, is at risk of being torn apart by federal regulators. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, members of the Oregon Brewers Guild and representatives of agriculture will hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 24, 2014, at Caldera Brewery & Restaurant in Ashland to review ongoing FDA attempts to regulate the longstanding use of brewing by-products, such as spent grain, by … Continue Reading
April 18, 2014
Wyden Hails Historic Upper Klamath Basin Agreement Signing Along Banks of Spring Creek
Klamath Falls - Senator Ron Wyden, Governor John Kitzhaber, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Senator Jeff Merkley, Undersecretary of the Department of Commerce Kathryn Sullivan, California Resources Secretary John Laird, Klamath Tribal Chair Don Gentry, and members of the Klamath Basin Task Force gathered today along the banks of the Klamath River for the official signing of the Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement. The historic agreement is the result of more than nine months … Continue Reading
April 18, 2014
Wyden Welcomes Secretary Jewell, Encourages Oregonians to Enjoy the Outdoors During National Parks Week
Washington, D.C. - In honor of National Parks Week, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., encouraged Oregonians to enjoy the state's natural treasures and take advantage of free admission to National Parks this Saturday and Sunday (April 19 and 20). Wyden also welcomed Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who will kick off National Parks Week on Saturday, at one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon, Crater Lake. "It is truly fitting that Secretary Jewell will launch National Parks week at Crater Lake, which is a crown … Continue Reading
April 17, 2014
Senator Wyden in Eugene on Monday for Two Events: VA Clinic Groundbreaking and Investiture of U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane
Portland, OR - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden will be in Eugene on Monday, April 21, 2014, to participate in the groundbreaking of the new Department of Veterans Affairs Community Based Outpatient Clinic and speak at the investiture of U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane. VA Clinic: 1 p.m., NW Corner of Chad Drive and Old Coburg Road McShane Investiture: 2:45 p.m. Federal Courthouse, 405 E. 8th Ave, … Continue Reading
April 07, 2014
Wyden Calls Former CIA Director’s Attack on Senator Feinstein “Outrageous”
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released the following statement in response to former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden's remarks suggesting that the Senate Intelligence Committee's landmark report on torture and coercive interrogations was not objective because the committee's Chairman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, is too "emotional." "General Hayden's suggestion that Chairman Feinstein was motivated by 'emotion' rather than a focus on the facts is simply outrageous. … Continue Reading
April 07, 2014
Wyden’s 700th Town Hall in Wheeler County, City of Fossil, on April 16th ; Other Town Halls in Hood River, Wasco, Gilliam and Sherman Counties
Portland, OR - On April 16, 2014, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden will hold his 700th town hall in the Wheeler County town of Fossil, site of his first town hall as a United States Senator in 1996. The Wheeler County town hall will be preceded by town halls in Hood River and Wasco counties on April 15 and Gilliam County earlier on April 16 and followed by Sherman County on April 17. Hood River County Town Hall Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 Time: 12:15 p.m. Location: Hood … Continue Reading
April 04, 2014
Oregon Delegation Applauds Release of Timber Payments to Oregon Counties
Washington, D.C. - Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Reps. Peter DeFazio, Greg Walden, Kurt Schrader, and Suzanne Bonamici applauded the Forest Service announcement that it will soon release $67.8 million in payments to 33 Oregon counties under the Secure Rural Schools program. Oregon is expected to receive more than $107 million in timber payments, once the Interior Department releases its funding to counties in the coming weeks. The program will distribute a total of $329 million … Continue Reading
