Press Releases
Wyden, DeFazio Urge UAS Use to Fight Wildfires
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio today asked federal officials what's being done to deploy more unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to fight wildfires raging throughout Oregon and the West. As Ranking Member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. DeFazio last year authored legislation that directed the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of the Interior, and Department of Agriculture to expedite the safe use of UAS to support firefighting … Continue Reading
September 14, 2017
Wyden Introduces Bill to Provide Free Credit Protections to All Americans after Equifax Security Breach
Washington, D.C. - In response to reports that millions of Americans' personally identifiable and credit card information was exposed in a data breach at Equifax Inc., U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced legislation to allow hardworking Americans to protect themselves from financial fraud at no cost. Wyden's Free Credit Freeze Act would guarantee all consumers can use PIN numbers to freeze and unfreeze their credit free-of-charge to stop fraudsters from opening new unauthorized financial … Continue Reading
September 12, 2017
Wyden, Hatch Request Information on Equifax Breach
WASHINGTON - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called on Equifax Inc., to respond to reports that the firm experienced a data breach exposing personally identifiable information such as Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and driver's license numbers of about 143 million Americans. In addition, credit card information of more than 200,000 people was compromised. "The scope and scale of this breach appears to make it one … Continue Reading
September 08, 2017
Oregon Delegation Presses New Forest Service Chief for Full Cooperation to Fight Wildfires
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Greg Walden today pressed the new chief of the U.S. Forest Service for full cooperation in bringing much-needed resources to wildfire-ravaged communities across Oregon. In a letter to Forest Service Chief Tony Tooke, the Oregon lawmakers stressed the need for the agencies, the administration and Congress to come together to battle the catastrophic fires … Continue Reading
September 07, 2017
Wyden, Crapo, Bipartisan Senators Urge Congress to Pass Wildfire Funding Fix in Any Future Disaster Aid
Washington, D.C. - With large fires blazing across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, a bipartisan group of senators led by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, today urged Senate Leaders Mitch McConnell and Charles E. Schumer to include a wildfire funding fix in any future disaster aid legislation that passes through Congress. In addition to Wyden and Crapo, the letter's signers include Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Martin Heinrich, … Continue Reading
September 06, 2017
Wyden Pushes Trump Administration to Support Wildfire Funding Fix in Disaster Aid for Hurricane Harvey
Washington, D.C. - After the governors of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and California declared states of emergency from wildfires ripping across the West, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today pushed the Trump administration to include wildfire funding fix in any request to Congress for disaster aid. Wyden has repeatedly pushed Congress to pass a wildfire fix and reform the way the federal government fights wildfires. Wyden and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, first introduced in 2013 the Wildfire … Continue Reading
August 22, 2017
Wyden Secures Key Amendments on FY2018 Intelligence Authorization Act
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, secured three key amendments to the Intelligence Authorization Act for the 2018 fiscal year, which was recently made public. A report on the threat to the United States from Russian money laundering. The amendment calls on intelligence agencies to work with elements of the Treasury Department's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, such as the Financial Crimes Enforcement … Continue Reading
August 15, 2017
Wyden, Murray, Merkley, Democratic Senators Urge NCAA to Promote Campus Safety
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and five of their Senate Democratic colleagues today urged the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Commission to Combat Campus Sexual Violence to promote campus safety by recommending uniform policies for prospective student-athletes and athletes seeking to transfer between universities. In a letter to the NCAA commission, the senators urged the commission to evaluate new … Continue Reading
August 09, 2017
Oregon Delegation Announces Partial Federal Disaster Relief for Severe Winter Storms
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's entire congressional delegation today announced the White House will grant a partial federal disaster declaration for a few days of a winter weather-related losses across the state this January. The decision is a reversal of an earlier denial of federal disaster relief for the state. The disaster declaration will allow local governments to seek much-needed federal relief for damage caused by winter storms from Jan. 7-10. But that is likely to fall far short of the … Continue Reading
August 04, 2017
Wyden, Boozman, Markey Bill to Ensure Equal Treatment for Wounded Guard and Reserve Members Goes to President’s Desk
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., John Boozman, R-Ark., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., today announced their bipartisan legislation to restore GI benefits to members of the Guard and Reserve is headed to the president's desk as part of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also known as the Forever GI Bill. The GI Bill Fairness Act passed the Senate this week as part of the Forever GI bill, a broader package to improve veterans' education benefits and … Continue Reading
August 04, 2017
Wyden, Merkley Secure Major Win for Oregon Crab Fisheries
Washington, D.C. - A bill introduced by Oregon's Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to strengthen Oregon's crab fishery passed the United States Senate and will now head to the president's desk for signature into law. The bill permanently extends a decades-long fishery management agreement that has been vital to the Pacific Northwest's Dungeness crab fishery. Without this legislation, crab fisheries in Oregon faced an uncertain future without an approved fishery management plan. "The signature … Continue Reading
August 03, 2017
Wyden Joins Senators Calling on FCC to Extend Net Neutrality Comment Period
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today joined a group of 21 senators in calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to extend the reply comment period for its proposal to undo the Open Internet Order and net neutrality protections. In 2015, the FCC adopted the Open Internet Order, which reclassified broadband as a telecommunication service under Title II. The D.C. Circuit Court upheld the rules in its 2016. The FCC's Open Internet Order prohibits internet service providers … Continue Reading
August 03, 2017
Wyden Suggests Ways to Estimate Americans Swept Up Under Foreign Surveillance Program
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today asked Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to consider new ways to estimate the number of Americans swept up under a surveillance program intended to target foreigners. Wyden has sought that estimate since 2011, but Coats recently announced the administration was abandoning efforts to determine how many Americans are caught up in foreign intelligence dragnets. In a letter to Coats, Wyden asked the executive branch to estimate the number … Continue Reading
August 03, 2017
Wyden, Booker, Durbin Urge Consumer Protection Agency to Bring Transparency to Small Business Lending for Women and Minority Entrepreneurs
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to bring transparency to small business lending by identifying barriers that prevent women and minority entrepreneurs from starting small businesses. The senators pressed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to follow through with implementing a provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that required the CFPB to collect and make available … Continue Reading
August 03, 2017
Wyden, Bonamici Announce Bipartisan Effort to Prevent Student Loan Defaults
Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., and a bipartisan group of colleagues announced the SIMPLE Act, legislation to reduce administrative burdens on struggling student loan borrowers. The legislation allows vulnerable borrowers to automatically enroll in affordable income-driven loan repayment plans and it removes burdensome paperwork requirements for totally and permanently disabled borrowers whose loans are … Continue Reading
August 03, 2017
Wyden, Risch, Merkley, Heinrich Urge Congress to Pass Bipartisan Wildfire Funding Fix in Senate Bill
Washington, D.C. - As wildfire season rages across Oregon, Idaho and the West, Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., today urged the Senate to pass a wildfire funding fix included in new legislation to address funding for floods and other natural disasters. A wildfire funding fix similar to the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, which Wyden and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, first introduced in 2013, was included in July in legislation under … Continue Reading
August 01, 2017
Wyden Votes ‘No’ on Nomination of Christopher Wray to lead FBI
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., voted against confirming Christopher Wray as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations today. "In his public and private statements, Chris Wray failed to oppose government backdoors into Americans' personal devices, or to acknowledge the facts about encryption - that it isn't about liberty versus security, it's about more security versus less security. While I appreciate his willingness to continue studying the issue, other officials who have … Continue Reading
August 01, 2017
Wyden Statement on Legislation to Wreck Foundation of the Internet and Social Media
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement on legislation today that attacks a fundamental pillar of the internet, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act: "Not long after 50 members voted to throw out much-needed internet privacy rules, yet another group of senators is attacking a fundamental pillar of the internet. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is widely viewed as the legal basis for all of social media and it has been vital to the … Continue Reading
August 01, 2017
Wyden, Bipartisan Senators Ask Justice Department to Fully Inform Judges About Stingray Impacts on Innocent Americans
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, today asked the Department of Justice to fully inform judges about the impacts of stingrays and other IMSI-catchers on innocent Americans' communications, including 911 calls. "We are concerned that the Department may not be adequately disclosing to courts important details about how stingrays work and their impact on innocent Americans," the senators wrote, in a letter … Continue Reading
August 01, 2017
Wyden to AG Sessions: Release Task Force Recommendations on Marijuana, Violent Crime, Immigration Policies
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to release recommendations on marijuana, violent crime and immigration policies from the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety. In a statement last week, Sessions said he is already making changes to Justice Department policies based on recommendations provided by the task force. In a letter to Sessions today, Wyden said Americans have a right to know … Continue Reading
