Press Releases
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, 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 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 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
January 24, 2024
Merkley, Wyden: City of Ashland Will Use $10 Million for Energy Efficiency Improvements
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced the City of Ashland has received a $10 million loan from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Rural Energy Savings Program to help finance a relending program in the city for qualified consumers who will implement energy efficiency measures that will help combat climate chaos and save consumers money. “This access to capital provides opportunity for Ashland community members to make critical improvements … Continue Reading
January 24, 2024
Wyden, Merkley Join Call for Restored Low-Income Water Assistance
Washington, D.C. - Oregon U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they have joined Senate colleagues in calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to restore funding for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) for Fiscal Year 2024. The crucial funding that expired at the end of FY23 gave assistance to low-income families, Tribes, and urban communities with water and wastewater bills. “Water and sewer bills are rising more than twice as quickly as inflation … Continue Reading
January 23, 2024
Merkley, Wyden, and Blumenauer Announce $200 Million Federal Investment for Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Replacement
Washington, D.C. - Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) today announced $200 million in federal funding to help cover costs needed to replace the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge in Oregon and Washington. The major funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects (INFRA) program, which received a significant boost from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. … Continue Reading
January 18, 2024
Wyden, Merkley Announce $300,000 for Ecosystem Restoration in Oregon
Washington, D.C. - Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced a $300,000 investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to restore habitat along Gilliam County’s Thirtymile Creek, a tributary of the John Day River in Oregon’s Prineville District. “Right now, there is a huge need to restore aquatic habitats and ecosystems in Oregon and nationwide,” said Wyden. “This investment builds upon many others to help reach that goal and fight climate change wherever it … Continue Reading
January 17, 2024
Wyden, Duckworth Urge DOT to Help Americans With Disabilities By Fixing Flawed Service Animal Form
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., urged the Department of Transportation to fix flaws in its system that create unnecessary burdens on Americans with disabilities who travel with service animals. The senators called on DOT to fix the form that the government requires people with disabilities to complete to fly with service animals. Currently the form is only available as a .PDF document, which is incompatible with many mobile browsers and with … Continue Reading
January 17, 2024
Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Urge FERC to Strengthen and Finalize Transmission Planning Rule
Washington, D.C. - Oregon U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined senate colleagues in sending a bicameral letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Willie Phillips urging the agency to strengthen and finalize its proposed transmission planning and cost allocation rule in order to address the growing need for reliability, affordability, and clean electricity. “In recent years, we have witnessed numerous examples of grid resilience issues, which have highlighted … Continue Reading
January 17, 2024
Wyden, Colleagues Recognized for Effective Oversight of the U.S. Organ Transplant System
Washington, D.C. - Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden was recognized along with a bipartisan group of Senate colleagues by The Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy for their work to enhance competition in the U.S. organ transplant system and increase access to necessary care for patients. “Government services shouldn’t prioritize industry insiders over patient care, especially when lives are on the line,” said the Senators. “We’re honored to be recognized for this unified effort to shine … Continue Reading
January 16, 2024
Merkley, Wyden Join Colleagues’ Bipartisan Call to Address Long-Term Drought in Farm Bill
Washington, D.C. — Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) in a bipartisan effort calling on the Senate Agriculture Committee to address long-term drought in the upcoming farm bill. “Agriculture is the economic backbone for rural communities in our states. However, severe, long-term drought is devastating these rural areas. During periods of droughts, our farmers and ranchers face diminishing crop and livestock … Continue Reading
January 12, 2024
Wyden, Colleagues Call for a Review of Navy Federal After Reported Racial Disparities in Mortgage Lending
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, along with his colleagues Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Jack Reed (D-RI), Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee; Raphael Warnock (D-GA); Tina Smith (D-MN); John Fetterman (D-PA); Tim Kaine (D-VA); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV); and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) called on the Department of Housing and Urban … Continue Reading
January 12, 2024
Wyden, Colleagues Sound Bipartisan Alarm on JBS Request to Trade Shares on NYSE, Citing Threat to U.S. Markets
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden joined Senate Colleagues in urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler to consider the risk JBS S.A. (JBS) poses to the integrity of U.S. capital markets and the legal rights of U.S. investors as they consider the company’s proposal to list on the New York Stock Exchange. “As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) considers this proposal, we urge the SEC to protect the integrity of U.S. capital markets and the … Continue Reading
January 12, 2024
Wyden, Lummis Urge Investigation into Hack of SEC Social Media Account
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., urged the Inspector General of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to open an investigation into the recent hack of the SEC’s social media account and the SEC’s apparent failure to follow cybersecurity best practices, in a letter released today. On January 9, 2024, the SEC revealed that an unknown party had hacked its official account on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Later … Continue Reading
January 11, 2024
Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Demand Amazon Improve its Treatment of its Delivery Drivers
Washington, D.C. - Oregon U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they have joined Senate colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy requesting information about the company’s Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program and its efforts to avoid legal liability for the persistent mistreatment of DSP drivers. The senators are also seeking information regarding Amazon’s justification for refusing to bargain with union representatives of DSP employees and requiring … Continue Reading
January 10, 2024
Wyden, Merkley Announce $1 Million for OSU to Support Multicultural Students, Forestry Workforce and Agricultural Sciences
Washington, D.C. - Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced more than $1 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for Oregon State University (OSU). “In my meetings throughout the state with Oregon’s agricultural sector, I’m always asking how I can support them do what they do best: grow things, add value and ship their products around the world,” Wyden said. “One thing I’m hearing is the need for … Continue Reading
January 09, 2024
Wyden Statement on FTC Holding Location Data Broker Accountable
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden released the following statement on the FTC holding X-Mode Social/Outlogic accountable for selling Americans’ location data: "I commend the FTC for taking tough action to hold this shady location data broker responsible for its sale of Americans' location data. In 2020, I discovered that the company had sold Americans' location data to U.S. military customers through defense contractors. While the FTC's action is encouraging, the agency should not … Continue Reading
