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March 10, 2020

Wyden Statement on House FISA Extension Bill

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released the following statement regarding the latest FISA extension bill under consideration in the U.S. House: "The FISA bill posted by the House Rules Committee includes provisions sought by reformers, but falls far short of the meaningful protections for Americans' rights that members from both parties have demanded. It codifies prohibitions on two collection activities that the government had already suspended: the massive and ineffective call detail … Continue Reading


January 23, 2020

Bipartisan, Bicameral Coalition Roll Out New Bill To Reform NSA Surveillance and Protect Americans’ Rights

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today led a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of lawmakers proposing strong new reforms to protect Americans' rights against unnecessary government surveillance. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., sponsored the bill, which is the first comprehensive legislation this Congress to reform Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and prevent abuses of the Foreign Intelligence … Continue Reading


December 13, 2019

Wyden, Warren and Paul Ask Credit Reporting Agencies for Transparency About Their Handling of FBI Requests for Consumer Financial Data

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., yesterday sent letters to the Chief Executive Officers of the three major credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - regarding the companies' lack of transparency in their handling of consumer financial information requested through national security letters (NSLs) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The letters follow the recent release of documents gained via a … Continue Reading


November 14, 2019

In Letter to Wyden, ODNI Reveals the Government Has Stopped Collecting Phone Location and GPS Data Under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act

Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called on Congress to ban warrantless tracking of Americans' locations, following a new letter from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) today revealing that the government has stopped collecting phone location and GPS data under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. In the letter, which Wyden released today, ODNI says it stopped warrantless location-tracking last year, after the Supreme Court ruled that the government must … Continue Reading


November 06, 2019

Wyden, Heinrich Call for Open Intelligence Committee Hearing on Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., today called for open hearings in the Senate Intelligence Committee on Section 215 of the Patriot Act before any markup is held. Wyden and Heinrich are senior members of the Senate Intelligence committee. They have consistently worked for common-sense reforms to surveillance programs to ensure Americans have both security and liberty. “We appreciate that the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on … Continue Reading


October 09, 2019

Wyden and Moran to Introduce Bipartisan Declassification Reform Legislation

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., today announced plans to address the expensive, unnecessary backlog to declassify documents that no longer need to be protected by government secrecy. Wyden, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Moran, a senior Appropriations Committee member, are planning to introduce legislation to reform the declassification process in coming weeks. "Federal agencies are drowning in classified records, and … Continue Reading


October 08, 2019

Wyden Statement on New Revelations About Spying on Americans

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued the following statement in response to a newly declassified opinion by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The opinion revealed multiple abuses of the FBI's backdoor searches for Americans and showed that the FBI does have the ability to count the number times it searches for Americans within its Section 702 foreign surveillance database, despite claims to the contrary. … Continue Reading


August 02, 2019

Wyden Statement on Trump Withdrawing his Nomination of John Ratcliffe for Director of National Intelligence

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released the following statement on Donald Trump withdrawing his nomination of John Ratcliffe for Director of National Intelligence:“That John Ratcliffe was even nominated speaks to the deep disregard for America’s national security at the core of this rotten administration. Given the widespread opposition to Ratcliffe’s nomination, Donald Trump had little choice but to seek a new … Continue Reading


July 29, 2019

Wyden Statement on the Nomination of Rep. John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence

Washington, D.C.- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued the following statement on the nomination of Rep. John Ratcliffe to serve as Director of National Intelligence: "Congressman Ratcliffe is the most partisan and least qualified individual ever nominated to serve as Director of National Intelligence. The sum total of his qualifications appears to be his record of promoting Donald Trump's conspiracy theories about the investigation into Russian … Continue Reading


July 23, 2019

Wyden: AG Barr and Trump Want to Open Government Backdoors into Americans’ Personal Devices Video Available Here

Today I rise to rebut the deeply flawed proposal that the attorney general made this morning. Mr. President, Attorney General Barr today raised a tired, debunked plan to blow a hole in one of the most important security features protecting digital lives of the American people. Mr. Barr, echoing far right Republicans, is once again trying to undermine strong encryption and require government backdoors into Americans' personal devices. Encryption is a technical term that gets thrown around … Continue Reading


June 24, 2019

Wyden: If the Intelligence Community Won’t Release Report on Murder of U.S.-Based Journalist, Congress Must Release It

Washington, D.C.-If the Intelligence Community refuses to publicly release information about which Saudi officials are responsible for ordering the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today vowed to invoke a special Senate procedure to force the release of that information. In a speech on the Senate floor, Wyden, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned that the administration's inaction in response to the murder of a U.S.-based journalist puts reporters … Continue Reading


May 23, 2019

Wyden Statement on the Use of the Espionage Act in Indictment of Julian Assange, Potential Threats to First Amendment

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement in response to the use of the Espionage Act in indicting Julian Assange and its potential threats to the First Amendment: "This is not about Julian Assange. This is about the use of the Espionage Act to charge a recipient and publisher of classified information. I am extremely concerned about the precedent this may set and potential dangers to the work of journalists and the First Amendment." … Continue Reading


May 22, 2019

Wyden, Paul Bill Requires Warrants to Search Americans’ Digital Devices at the Border

Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., today introduced the Protecting Data at the Border Act to stop the government from forcing Americans to face indiscriminate and suspicionless searches of their phones, laptops and other digital devices just to cross the border. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., are lead co-sponsors and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., is introducing the House companion bill. The bipartisan bill prevents law enforcement … Continue Reading


May 14, 2019

Wyden Secures Key Provisions in 2018, 2019 and 2020 Intelligence Authorization Acts

Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, secured 15 key provisions in the Intelligence Authorization Acts for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 fiscal years. The bill passed the Intelligence Committee this afternoon. "This bill is an important step forward in supporting Intelligence Community whistleblowers, protecting our communications and pushing for transparency and accountability for the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi. These provisions and … Continue Reading


May 07, 2019

Six Senate Intelligence Committee Members Request Public Update On Status of NSA Phone Records Surveillance Program

Washington, D.C. - Six Senate Intelligence Committee members today requested the National Security Agency (NSA) provide a public update on the status of the NSA's phone records surveillance program. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Vice-chair Mark R. Warner, D-Va., Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., sent the request in a letter to NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone today. The text of the letter is below. View a … Continue Reading


April 30, 2019

Wyden Statement on ODNI Transparency Report: Congress Must Oppose Reauthorizing Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act Without Answers to Questions on Surveillance

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called for answers to several outstanding questions following the release of the annual transparency report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). “The annual ODNI transparency report, while welcome, nonetheless provides a valuable window into how much the American public still doesn’t know about how sprawling surveillance authorities are being used by the federal government. “To start, this report is … Continue Reading


April 12, 2019

Wyden, Heinrich Press Trump Administration, Again, to Declassify Information on AG Barr

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., today sent a letter to the Trump administration urging the declassification of information relating to Attorney General William Barr. The letter, addressed to National Security Advisor John Bolton and the Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, is a follow up to a letter sent January 16, 2019, before Barr was confirmed, also pressing for the declassification of information related to Barr. The senators, both … Continue Reading


March 28, 2019

Wyden, Paul, Amash and Lofgren Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Permanently End Mass NSA Surveillance of Phone Records

Washington, D.C. - Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., today introduced the Ending Mass Collection of Americans' Phone Records Act in the Senate and House to permanently end the National Security Agency's scandal-plagued program to surveil Americans' phone records. "The NSA's sprawling phone records dragnet was born in secrecy, defended with lies and never stopped a single terrorist attack. Even after Congress acted in … Continue Reading


March 21, 2019

Wyden, Paul, Leahy, Daines Question DOJ Over Government Surveillance of Americans’ Location Information

Washington, D.C. -Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mt., today asked the Department of Justice a series of questions about when and how the government can collect information about Americans' location, in a bipartisan letter to Attorney General William Barr. The senators asked Attorney General Barr how the Supreme Court's decision in Carpenter v. United States, that the government must get a warrant to obtain location … Continue Reading


March 05, 2019

Wyden Calls for Permanent End to NSA Phone Records Program

Washington, D.C. - Senior Senate Intelligence Committee member, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement on the National Security Agency (NSA) telephone records program today: "I cannot comment on classified matters referenced in media reports. However, it is increasingly clear to me that the NSA's implementation of reforms to the phone records dragnet has been fundamentally flawed. In my view, the administration must permanently end the phone records program and Congress … Continue Reading

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