Press Releases
Wyden Statement on Proposed DOT Oil Train Rule
Washington, D.C. -Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement on the Department of Transportation's proposed oil train safety rules: "This package includes some good elements, but I urge DOT to strengthen notification of first responders for oil trains moving through their communities and move this proposal quickly to the next stage," Wyden said. "The failure to broaden notification requirements is especially baffling since the DOT's proposal would classify all oil and ethanol … Continue Reading
July 15, 2014
Wyden Submits Net Neutrality Comments to FCC, Calls for Reclassification of Broadband
Washington, D.C. - Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged the Federal Communications Commission to preserve free and open competition on the Internet, in comments filed today. In his submission, Wyden called for the commission to do that by reclassifying broadband providers as Title II common carriers, enforcing rules to ban paid prioritization and ensuring more transparency for consumers. "It is impossible to permit pay-to-play discrimination without disadvantaging everyone who does not pay. … Continue Reading
July 10, 2014
Wyden: CIA Still Must Answer Questions About Searching Senate Files
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement in response to the Justice Department's decision not to investigate either Senate Intelligence Committee investigators who discovered an internal CIA review of interrogation records, or CIA officials who searched Senate files to find out if the Intelligence Committee had obtained that review: "I'm glad to hear that the Justice Department won't attempt to prosecute Senate staff for simply doing their jobs. The CIA … Continue Reading
July 10, 2014
Wyden-Merkley Oregon Caves Bill Passes U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. - Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced the Senate passage of the Oregon Caves Revitalization Act, their bill to add new protection to one of Oregon's most unique natural treasures. The bill passed unanimously late Wednesday night. "This bill is another tribute to Oregon's bounty of precious natural places, and to the unique beauty of the Oregon Caves National Monument," Wyden said. "Passing this legislation will promote recreation in Southern Oregon, boost the … Continue Reading
July 09, 2014
Wyden Statement on The Intercept Report on the Surveillance of U.S. Muslims
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement in response to new allegations about surveillance of U.S. Muslims: "I am unfamiliar with the individuals named in this story, so I will let them speak for themselves. It is clearly appalling to see an ethnic slur used in what appears to be an internal NSA memo, but it would be even more troubling if that kind of prejudice were actually informing US surveillance activities. I appreciate the NSA spokeswoman's statement … Continue Reading
July 08, 2014
Wyden, Merkley Call on Congress to Pass Fire Funding
Washington, D.C. - Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today called on Congress to pass a proposal from the White House to provide additional fire funding to treat the catastrophic wildfires already raging in states across the western United States. President Obama today asked Congress to include an additional $615 million dedicated to wildfire suppression costs as part of an emergency spending request. The request also includes language to allow some fire suppression funding to be … Continue Reading
July 08, 2014
Wyden, Udall Oppose Cybersecurity Bill Due to Lack of Privacy Protections
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's mark-up of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act: "Cyber-attacks on U.S. firms and infrastructure pose a serious threat to America's economic health and national security. We agree there is a need for information-sharing between the federal government and private companies about cybersecurity threats and how to defend against them. … Continue Reading
June 30, 2014
Wyden Releases Details of Backdoor Searches of Americans’ Communications
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement in response to a letter provided by the Office of Director of National Intelligence, which details the number of backdoor searches performed by U.S. intelligence agencies. As this response makes clear, intelligence agencies are searching through communications collected under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - an authority that Congress intended to be used to target foreigners - and are … Continue Reading
June 26, 2014
Wyden, Merkley Highlight NTSB’s Call for Expanded Oil Trains Transparency
Washington, D.C. - First responders need more timely and detailed information about crude-by-rail trains in order to better protect communities, according to a letter from the National Transportation Board released today by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. The senators urged Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to use the information, recommendations and concerns raised by the NTSB to improve crude-by-rail safety, primarily by requiring increased communication … Continue Reading
June 26, 2014
Bipartisan Group of 14 Senators Calls for Senate Vote to Reform Wildfire Funding
Washington, D.C. - Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and 12 Senate cosponsors pressed Senate leadership to allow a full Senate vote on their bipartisan bill to fix the broken system for funding wildfire suppression. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D- Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all 14 cosponsors of the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2013 urged the Senate leaders to quickly bring the bill to the Senate Floor for a full vote or find … Continue Reading
June 26, 2014
Wyden, Udall, Heinrich Press Obama Administration for Additional Transparency on U.S. Drone Policy
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., pressed the Obama administration today for additional transparency on U.S. drone policy, including its interpretations of when it can take lethal action outside of declared war zones and against Americans. The senators - all members of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence - also said the American people have a right to know the "limits and boundaries" of the president's power to … Continue Reading
June 25, 2014
Wyden Statement on Supreme Court Aereo Decision
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Aereo's services were illegal in ABC v. Aereo. "I am concerned by the Supreme Court's decision today in ABC v. Aereo. This country needs a legal regime that encourages innovation. Although the Court limited its holding to the specific service in question, its convoluted "public performance" finding creates uncertainty as to what other cloud-based technologies may run afoul of … Continue Reading
June 25, 2014
Wyden: Supreme Court Decision on Cellphone Searches Huge Win For Privacy
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that law enforcement must obtain a warrant in most cases to search an arrested person's cellphone. "Today's decision is a huge win for individual privacy. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court acknowledged that searching a person's cellphone is actually more invasive in many cases than going through their home. At a time when the details of a person's whole life can … Continue Reading
June 23, 2014
Wyden Statement on the Release of Justice Department Memo on Using Lethal Force Against Americans
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement today on the release of a 2010 Justice Department Memo on the use of lethal force against Americans: "I believe every American has the right to know when their government believes it is allowed to kill them, and the public release of this memo is a positive step toward reducing the secrecy that surrounds this question. However, there are many important questions that this memo does not address. It is my hope that … Continue Reading
June 20, 2014
Wyden Congratulates House on Bipartisan Vote to Ban Backdoor Searches
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement today, praising the House vote last night to ban backdoor searches: "Last night the House of Representatives took a big step forward for Americans' privacy rights by voting to prohibit intelligence agencies from deliberately reading Americans' emails and private communications without a warrant. As Americans learned last summer, the NSA is currently scooping up a potentially huge number of Americans' emails, under an … Continue Reading
June 20, 2014
Wyden, Udall, Heinrich Urge President to End Bulk Collection While Congress Works to Pass Real Surveillance Reform
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) urged President Obama to take immediate steps - while Congress works to pass true surveillance reform - to end the ongoing bulk collection of Americans' phone records. The senators, who all serve on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the president should take every step he can under current law to end bulk collection, and rely on individual requests to the Foreign Intelligence … Continue Reading
June 19, 2014
Wyden, Grassley Press for Answers on Continuous Monitoring of Whistleblower and Legislative Branch Communications
WASHINGTON - Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Wyden are pressing the Director of National Intelligence to explain in detail how the intelligence community plans to implement continuous monitoring of security clearance holders without undermining legal protections for whistleblowers or constitutional protections for the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. In a letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Grassley and Wyden noted that any monitoring … Continue Reading
June 12, 2014
Wyden Praises New Whistleblower Protections, Raises Alarm on Limits to Intelligence Professionals’ Free Speech Rights, in Senate Speech
Washington, D.C. - In remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., highlighted a provision in the 2014 Intelligence Authorization bill which provides new statutory protections for intelligence agency whistleblowers. Wyden and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, succeeded in including the new protections in the bill, which passed unanimously late Wednesday evening. Wyden also raised serious concerns about a new policy directive from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence … Continue Reading
June 11, 2014
Wyden, Merkley Seek Answers on Oil Trains Order
Washington, D.C. - To help first responders in Oregon and other states receive better information about oil trains traveling through their communities, Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley asked the National Transportation Safety Board about the sufficiency of last month's emergency order issued by the Department of Transportation, in a letter yesterday. The DOT's emergency order currently requires railroad companies to notify states of crude oil shipments only from the Bakken region, … Continue Reading
June 09, 2014
Following New Report, Oregon Senators Call for Changes at Local VA Hospitals and Accountability for Those Who Let Down Oregon’s Veterans
WASHINGTON - Following the release of a new report that revealed vast numbers of Oregon veterans have been unable to access care at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities, Oregon's Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden called Monday for renewed accountability and dramatic action to turn around a system they described as failing Oregon's veterans. The report revealed that both the Portland VA Medical Center and the Roseburg VA Medical Center were among the worst in the nation … Continue Reading
