Press Releases
Wyden’s County Payments Amendment Accepted into the Senate Transportation Bill
Washington, D.C. - As current funding to rural counties for the Secure Rural Schools program known as county payments has expired, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has successfully included a one-year extension of this vital program into the Senate Transportation bill pending on the floor. The amendment is based on legislation Wyden and a bipartisan group of Senators introduced in September to extend the county payments program and provide a support to rural counties struggling to pay for road … Continue Reading
March 06, 2012
Wyden and Merkley Send Names of Five Finalists for Federal Judgeship to the White House
Portland, OR - Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent to The White House today the names of five finalists to fill a vacant federal district court judgeship in Eugene. The White House will select one of the candidates and forward it to the Senate for confirmation. The five finalists are (in alphabetical order): Suzanne Chanti, Lane County Circuit Court Judge; Hannah Horsley, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Oregon; Bryan E. Lessley, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Eugene, … Continue Reading
March 05, 2012
Wyden Says Attorney General’s Speech at Northwestern University Leaves Questions Unanswered
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a senior member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the below statement regarding Attorney General Holder's speech to Northwestern University this afternoon addressing the president's counterterrorism authorities and the administration's understanding of its power to use lethal force against U.S. citizens. Wyden has been asking to see the Administration's secret legal opinions on this topic for more than a year and last … Continue Reading
March 01, 2012
Wyden Leads Bipartisan Effort to Award Defense of Freedom Medals to Civilian Police Officers Killed in Wars
Washington, D.C. - During the course of the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of civilian police professionals have put themselves in harm's way by going to help train local police forces. More than 20 of them were killed. Those brave men and women are eligible for the Defense of Freedom Medal - the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart - unfortunately the bureaucratic process for nomination is so incredibly difficult for the families of those killed that not one has been … Continue Reading
February 28, 2012
Wyden Report: U.S. Losing Out to China on Goods that Protect the Environment
Washington, D.C. - As President Obama signs an executive order creating an Interagency Trade Enforcement Unit, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden - chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness - issued a report illustrating why trade enforcement matters. Wyden Staff Report: Losing the Environmental Goods Economy to China The report, entitled "Losing the Environmental Goods Economy to China" is the latest in a series of reports … Continue Reading
February 23, 2012
Wyden Schedules Town Halls in Deschutes, Crook, Lake and Klamath Counties
Portland, OR - Oregon Senator Ron Wyden will hold his annual town halls in Deschutes, Crook, Lake and Klamath counties on March 3rd and 4th. The meetings will be held in Bend, Prineville, Lakeview and Klamath Falls. Wyden has been holding town halls in every Oregon county every year beginning in 1996. He held his 600th town hall last August in Wheeler County. Deschutes County Town Hall Meeting Date: Saturday, March 3, 2012Time: 2 p.m.Location: Bend Elks Lodge63120 Boyd Acres RoadBend Crook … Continue Reading
February 23, 2012
Wyden Statement on Proposed Closure of Mail Processing Facilities in Bend, Pendleton, Eugene and Salem
Portland, Or - Oregon Senator Ron Wyden issued the following statement today on the U.S. Postal Service's announcement that it plans to close mail distribution centers in Bend, Pendleton, Eugene and Salem. "The closure of the mail processing facilities in Bend, Pendleton, Eugene and Salem will not only add unnecessary delays to the delivery of mail and put a greater burden on hard-working postal employees throughout the state, it also threatens the integrity of Oregon's vote-by-mail system. … Continue Reading
February 22, 2012
Wyden Statement on the President’s Proposal to Reform the Corporate Tax Code
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued the following statement in response to the Obama Administration's proposal to reform the corporate tax code: "I applaud the President for recognizing the need for tax reform but corporate reform alone is simply not enough. Right now, more than 80 percent of all U.S. businesses are filing their taxes through the individual tax code, not the corporate tax code. Those businesses would see little benefit from this proposal. If we want to … Continue Reading
February 16, 2012
Wyden, Carper, Casey Self-Employment Assistance Bill Included in Payroll Tax Agreement
Washington, D.C. - In a victory for would-be entrepreneurs throughout the country, legislation to give unemployed Americans an opportunity to use their skills to build their own small businesses was included in the agreement on the payroll tax extension. Introduced by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Bob Casey (D-Penn.), the Startup Technical Assistance for Reemployment Training and Unemployment Prevention (STARTUP) Act alters the rules governing the unemployment … Continue Reading
February 13, 2012
Wyden Statement on County Payments Funding in the President’s Budget
Washington, D.C. - Funding for the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act -- commonly known as "county payments" -- is included as "mandatory" spending in President Obama's Fiscal Year 2013 budget released today. (Previous years' budgets have listed the county payments program as "discretionary" spending.) U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued the following statement in support of including the program with this distinction: "While getting county payments in the … Continue Reading
February 09, 2012
Wyden Bill Takes Guessing Game out of Choosing a College Degree
Washington, D.C. - Higher education is often the ticket to success, offering opportunities to those with college degrees that those who do not have degrees are often denied. It is also, often times, an extremely expensive investment that many students and families must scrimp, save and borrow in order to afford. However, when it comes to the return on that investment, there is a lack of reliable information available to students and families regarding what the likelihood and cost of student … Continue Reading
February 08, 2012
Wyden Continues to Press Justice Department to Explain the Extent of its Authority to Kill Americans
Washington, D.C. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden called the Administration's refusal to share legal opinions pertaining to the executive branch's understanding of its authority to kill Americans "an indefensible assertion of executive authority." Wyden has been pressing the Justice Department and other administration officials to share its legal interpretations of the government's authority in this area for more than a year but, as the Senator writes, "it … Continue Reading
February 06, 2012
Passage of FAA Bill Will Improve Commercial Air Service, Protect Crater Lake and Increase UAV Testing Sites
Washington, D.C. - With the Senate passage of the long-held up Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill today, Oregon and its western neighbors are poised to see many economic and environmental benefits. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) announced that among the many provisions in the FAA bill are some that will improve commercial air travel in the Pacific Northwest, protect Crater Lake from noisy helicopter flyovers, improve opportunities for the development of the unmanned aerial … Continue Reading
February 02, 2012
Wyden Cosponsors Bill to Compensate Servicemembers for Miscalculation of Leave Time Under PDMRA
Washington, D.C. - As the bureaucratic struggles over the Defense Department's handling of the Post-Deployment Mobilization Respite Absence (PDMRA) program continue, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), has joined U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) and other Senate colleagues in introducing legislation to restore miscalculated leave time and compensate servicemembers for their missed leave. The Fair Military Leave Act will fix bureaucratic mistakes that miscalculated the leave time owed to … Continue Reading
January 31, 2012
Bipartisan Coalition of Lawmakers Urges Colleagues to Consider TRIP Bonds as an Additional Way to Fund Transportation Infrastructure Projects
Washington, D.C. - Following today's Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announcement that the Federal Highway Trust Fund has a much deeper deficit than previously believed, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers from both houses of Congress are urging their colleagues to look at tax credit bonding to fund important infrastructure projects. U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Reps. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) have introduced legislation known as … Continue Reading
January 30, 2012
ADVISORY: Former CBO Director Holtz-Eakin to Join Bipartisan Coalition at Press Conference Calling for New Ways to Fund Infrastructure Projects
Washington, D.C. - With the Congressional Budget Office's expected announcement tomorrow that the National Highway Trust Fund's deficit will continue to grow, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), former-CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin and a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of lawmakers will hold a press conference tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. to discuss how Transportation Regional Infrastructure Project bonds (TRIPs) can be a viable way to fund much-needed transportation projects. By utilizing tax credit … Continue Reading
January 27, 2012
Wyden Schedules Annual Polk, Yamhill, Columbia County Town Halls
Portland, OR - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden will host town halls in Polk and Yamhill counties on Saturday, February 4th, and in Columbia County on Sunday, February 5th. The meetings will be held in Independence, Newberg and Scappoose. Senator Wyden has been holding town halls in every Oregon county every year since 1996. Polk County Town Hall Meeting Date: Saturday, February 4, 2012 Time: 1:30 p.m. Location: Civic Center 555 South Main … Continue Reading
January 26, 2012
Wyden Statement on USDA Announcement of a New Forest Planning Rule
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued the following statement in response to the Forest Service's announcement that the Department of Agriculture will issue a new planning rule to govern how the Forest Service develops its forest plans: "I am pleased that the Forest Service is moving forward with the long-awaited planning rule that will provide much-needed certainty to get new forest plans in place. I am particularly happy to see the strong emphasis on collaboration and … Continue Reading
January 26, 2012
Wyden Cosponsors Constitutional Amendment To “safeguard against the influence of big money” in U.S. Elections
Washington, D.C. - In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizen's United v. FEC giving corporations and special interests the same free speech rights as individuals, hundreds of independent groups known as "Super PACs" have already collected and spent millions of dollars and can raise and spend unlimited funds to influence elections while completely shielding their identities. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) - continuing his decades-long effort to inject more transparency into … Continue Reading
January 24, 2012
Wyden Response to the President’s State of the Union Address
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released the following statement in response to President Obama's State of the Union Address: "President Obama laid out his plan to help hard working Americans get back on their feet and rebuild an economy devastated by the financial collapse of 2008. One of the most encouraging things I heard from the President tonight was his interest in ending the perverse incentives that the broken tax code gives to American businesses to ship jobs … Continue Reading
