Press Releases
Merkley, Wyden: $72 Million Coming to the Klamath Basin to Boost Ecosystem Restoration and Support Collaboration that Drives Water Reliability Solutions
Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that $72 million in new federal funding is headed to the Klamath Basin for critical ecosystem restoration projects and agricultural infrastructure modernization. Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced a historic agreement with the Klamath Tribes, Yurok Tribe, Karuk Tribe, and Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) that cements their commitment to working together to drive long-term solutions to the … Continue Reading
February 14, 2024
Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Urge Education Department to Address FAFSA Rollout Issues
Washington D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley and Senate colleagues today called on the U.S. Department of Education to urgently address the operational issues with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form that impacts many students in Oregon and nationwide. “We are supportive of the Department’s decision to make these adjustments in the updated form, but were disappointed to hear these adjustments would lead to even further delays in this year’s FAFSA … Continue Reading
February 13, 2024
Wyden Reveals Phone Data Used to Target Abortion Misinformation at Visitors to Hundreds of Reproductive Health Clinics
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., revealed today that an anti-abortion political group used mobile phone location data to send targeted misinformation to people who visited any of 600 reproductive health clinics in 48 states. In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, Wyden urged the government to act quickly to protect the privacy of patients, and to hold the data broker accountable for misleading statements about its actions. As a … Continue Reading
February 10, 2024
Senator Wyden Postpones Josephine County Town Hall For Crucial Senate Vote
Washington, D.C. - Due to ongoing negotiations in the U.S. Senate, Senator Wyden has to postpone his town hall in Josephine County, which was scheduled on Feb. 12 at 3:30 p.m. at Rogue Community College Redwood Campus in Grants Pass. “I made a promise to Oregonians that I would come to every county every year to listen to you about issues that affect your county and region,” Wyden said. “I also made a promise to work hard on your behalf in DC and stay as long as it takes to get the work done. … Continue Reading
February 09, 2024
Senator Wyden Postpones Clatsop County Town Hall For Crucial Senate Vote
Washington, D.C. - Due to ongoing negotiations in the U.S. Senate, Senator Wyden has to postpone his Clatsop County Town Hall, which was scheduled on Feb. 11 at noon at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria. “I made a promise to Oregonians that I would come to every county every year to listen to you about issues that affect your county and region,” Wyden said. “I also made a promise to work hard on your behalf in DC and stay as long as it takes to get the work done. I look forward … Continue Reading
February 09, 2024
Senator Wyden Postpones Lincoln and Tillamook County Town Halls For Crucial Senate Vote
Washington, D.C. - Due to ongoing negotiations in the U.S. Senate, Senator Wyden has to postpone his town halls in Lincoln and Tillamook Counties at the following times and locations: Lincoln County Town Hall: Feb. 10 at noon at Lincoln City Cultural Center, 540 NE Hwy. 101, Lincoln City Tillamook County Town Hall: Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. at Port of Tillamook Bay Officers Mess Hall, 6825 Officer's Row Road, Tillamook “I made a promise to Oregonians that I would come to every county every year … Continue Reading
February 08, 2024
Senator Wyden Cancels Polk County Town Hall Due to Crucial Senate Vote
Washington D.C. - Due to ongoing negotiations in the Senate and an unexpected vote, Senator Wyden has to postpone his Polk County Town Hall scheduled for Feb. 9 at 4:30 p.m. at the Nesmith Readiness Center in Dallas, Oregon. “I made a promise to Oregonians that I would come to them to hear about issues that affect their specific county and region,” Wyden said. “While I won’t be able make it this time for my Polk County Town Hall, I look forward to finding a new date to hear from anyone in the … Continue Reading
February 07, 2024
Wyden, Merkley Announce $440,000 for Hermiston Municipal Airport
Washington, D.C. - Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced an investment of $440,000 for the City of Hermiston from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to improve the Hermiston Municipal Airport. “It is absolutely essential to keep rural communities connected to services, especially in case of emergencies like natural disasters,” Wyden said. “This federal investment will help Hermiston Airport to expand, and provide vital resources to the folks in the region … Continue Reading
February 07, 2024
Update: Oregon Delegation Announces Over $7 Million for Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration
Washington, D.C. - Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), andLori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05), announced today the U.S. Department of Commerce is sending Oregon a total of $7,050,722 for the fishery disaster declared for 2018, 2019, and 2020 Oregon Chinook salmon ocean commercial?fisheries in the state. The Oregon delegation first announced the … Continue Reading
February 06, 2024
Wyden Urges Senate to Support Judge Amy Baggio’s Nomination
Watch a video of Wyden deliver his remarks here As prepared for delivery I come to the floor today to reiterate my strong support for Judge Amy Baggio’s nomination to serve for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Judge Baggio has a proven track record as both a jurist and a litigator. She spent a decade as a public defender, and in her career on the bench, she has presided over hundreds of civil and criminal matters and handled 42 trials, half of which were jury … Continue Reading
February 06, 2024
Wyden, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Investigate, Measure Environmental Impacts of Artificial Intelligence
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and Senate colleagues today introduced legislation that would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop standards to measure and report the full range of artificial intelligence’senvironmental impacts, as well as create a voluntary framework for AI developers to report environmental impacts. “AI will continue to grow rapidly across every industry, and the infrastructure required to operate AI systems will have commensurate … Continue Reading
February 05, 2024
Wyden, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Provide Every Child in Oregon and Nationwide with Economic Opportunity
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and Senate colleagues introduced legislation last week that would create children’s savings accounts for every single child in Oregon and nationwide. These savings accounts would build lifelong wealth and economic self-sufficiency for kids from families with limited resources. Funds from the accounts could be used for post-secondary education, starting a business, buying a house or retirement security. “Part of the story of America is that anybody can … Continue Reading
February 02, 2024
Wyden, Colleagues Introduce Antitrust Legislation to Prevent Algorithmic Price Fixing
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today introduced legislation that would prevent companies from using algorithms to collude to set higher prices. “Collusion is collusion, whether you do it over the phone or using an algorithm,” Wyden said. “This legislation, along with my Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, will send a strong message to corporations that they won’t get away with coordinating to ratchet up prices on consumers.” Price fixing and … Continue Reading
January 31, 2024
Wyden Announces Five Town Halls on the Northern Coast and Southern Oregon
Portland, OR - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today announced he will continue his 2024 town hall schedule with five in-person town halls in Polk, Lincoln, Tillamook, Clatsop, and Josephine counties in February. Including his seven town halls in January, Wyden has held a total of 1,072 town halls throughout Oregon in fulfillment of his pledge to hold at least one town hall each year in each of Oregon’s 36 counties. “I made a commitment when I was first elected to the Senate to hold these … Continue Reading
January 31, 2024
Wyden Introduces Legislation To End Future Capture And Breeding Of Whales For Public Display
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today reintroduced legislation that would end the future capture and breeding of whales for public display. “Whales that are held in captivity live much shorter lives than in the wild, and despite rules passed to improve conditions in public display settings, this fact persists,” Wyden said. “Banning the trade and breeding of these four species of whales for the purpose of public display would further improve animal welfare nationwide. Additionally, … Continue Reading
January 30, 2024
Wyden and Welch Introduce Legislation to Crack down on Companies that Inflate Rents with Price-Fixing Algorithms
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., today introduced legislation to crack down on companies that help landlords increase rents in already high-priced markets. These services allow landlords to collude to set prices via software and price-setting algorithms. Reporting by ProPublica and other news outlets demonstrated how companies like RealPage and Yardi advertise their products as “property management software,” but in fact help landlords coordinate … Continue Reading
January 30, 2024
Wyden, Eshoo, Fitzpatrick Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Children from Online Exploitation
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Representatives Anna G. Eshoo, D-Calif., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., today reintroduced bipartisan legislation to confront online child exploitation and reverse a decade of underfunding key enforcement and prevention efforts. The Invest in Child Safety Act would direct more than $5 billion in mandatory funding to investigate and target the predators and abusers who create and share child sexual abuse material online. It also … Continue Reading
January 29, 2024
Wyden and Clarke Press Justice Department to End Funding for Flawed Predictive Policing Systems
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., called on the Justice Department to halt federal funding for flawed software that claims to predict where crime will occur, unless it is proven not to discriminate and meets standards for effectiveness and accuracy. Senators Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Peter Welch, D-Vt., John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Edward Markey, D-Mass., joined the letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, which was … Continue Reading
January 26, 2024
Wyden, Colleagues Call for Student Debt Cancellation for Borrowers Facing Financial Hardship
Washington, D.C. — Oregon’s U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today joined Senate and House colleagues in calling on the Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to host a fourth session of student debt negotiated rulemaking to consider relief for borrowers experiencing financial hardship. In total, nearly 40 lawmakers from the Senate and House signed the letter. “While we appreciate the efforts of the Department and the negotiating committee, we are concerned that, without full consideration of … Continue Reading
January 25, 2024
Wyden Releases Documents Confirming the NSA Buys Americans’ Internet Browsing Records; Calls on Intelligence Community to Stop Buying U.S. Data Obtained Unlawfully From Data Brokers, Violating Recent FTC Order
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released documents confirming the National Security Agency buys Americans’ internet records, which can reveal which websites they visit and what apps they use. In response to the revelation, today Wyden called on the administration to ensure intelligence agencies stop buying personal data from Americans that has been obtained illegally by data brokers. A recent FTC order held that data brokers must obtain Americans’ informed consent before … Continue Reading
