Press Releases
Wyden, Merkley and Bipartisan Group of Senators Keep Lifesaving Coast Guard Facilities Open in Oregon and South Carolina
Washington - Working together to prevent the closure of lifesaving air facilities in Newport, Oregon and in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Lindsey Graham today applauded inclusion of language in the final Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 that now heads to the President for signature. The bill, which passed the Senate in December and the House earlier this month, ensures neither region loses current search-and-rescue … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Wyden, Durbin, Casey, Merkley Introduce Amendment to Increase Transparency for Oil-by-Rail Transportation
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Robert P. Casey, Jr., D-Pa., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., today introduced an amendment to a broad energy bill to provide more transparent information about shipments of flammable liquids transported by railroads, including crude oil, ethanol and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The amendment would require the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to collect and publish monthly data about flammable liquids transported by … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Wyden, Durbin, Casey, Merkley Introduce Amendment to Increase Transparency for Oil-by-Rail Transportation
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Robert P. Casey, Jr., D-Pa., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., today introduced an amendment to a broad energy bill to provide more transparent information about shipments of flammable liquids transported by railroads, including crude oil, ethanol and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The amendment would require the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to collect and publish monthly data about flammable liquids transported by … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Wyden, Crapo: Fix Wildfire Funding Before It’s Too Late
View Video of Sen. Wyden's Remarks Here Washington, D.C. - Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, took to the Senate floor last night to renew their bipartisan call for a permanent fix to wildfire funding, and to end the senseless practice of raiding fire prevention and other Forest Service accounts just to fight this year's fires. Wyden and Crapo introduced an amendment to the energy bill currently on the Senate floor that would end fire borrowing for good, stop the … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Senators Press FCC on Unauthorized Equipment Fees Charged to Consumers
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Al Franken, D-Minn., Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., today asked Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler about the unfair payment practice of charging consumers equipment fees they do not owe and what the FCC is doing to protect consumers. Last year, more than 30 percent of consumer complaints to the FCC about Internet service and 38 percent of complaints … Continue Reading
February 03, 2016
Wyden Calls for End to Taxpayer-Funded Partisan Planned Parenthood Investigations
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden joined Democratic colleagues in calling for an end to ongoing, politically-motivated House and Senate investigations into Planned Parenthood, in light of the many independent state investigations across the country that have cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing. Wyden met in Medford last weekend with Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon. He and his fellow Democrats joined their colleagues in both chambers on a letter this week to Republicans calling … Continue Reading
February 02, 2016
Wyden, Blumenauer, Polis, Massie Host Industrial Hemp Expo
Washington, D.C. -Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., today hosted an Industrial Hemp expo at the U.S. Capitol bringing together leading policymakers and entrepreneurs in the movement to restore industrial hemp to U.S. agriculture. The expo, which drew more than 100 visitors, featured television personality Montel Williams and former CIA Director James Woolsey as keynote speakers. It showcased more than a dozen small … Continue Reading
January 27, 2016
Wyden Applauds FCC Set-Top Box Proposal Increasing Competition and Consumer Choice
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today applauded a proposal by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler to increase choice and innovation in the set-top box market. The Chairman's proposal would create a framework for providing innovators, device manufacturers and app developers the information they need to develop new technologies that will give consumers a choice when accessing video programming. A Senate inquiry last year found almost all multichannel video … Continue Reading
January 27, 2016
With audio: Wyden Statement on Malheur Wildlife Refuge Arrests
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today issued the following statement: "My overriding priority is that the remaining militants will leave the refuge peacefully and in short order. Oregonians expect their safety and the rule of law to be preserved, so I commend the FBI for moving to arrest the leaders of this illegal occupation. It is deeply unfortunate that these militants' actions have resulted in violence. There was an immediate threat that the occupation in Harney County … Continue Reading
January 21, 2016
Wyden, Democratic Senators and Leading Researchers Push for Funding Gun Violence Research
Washington, DC - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today called for immediate funding of a gun violence research agenda at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Joining a group of Democratic senators and renowned national researchers, Wyden noted how a 1996 Republican appropriations rider prohibiting federal funds from being used to advocate or promote gun control has been misconstrued as a ban on funding scientific research into the causes of gun violence. "The discussion around … Continue Reading
January 21, 2016
Wyden, Heinrich and Hirono Ask for Straight Answers About Unauthorized CIA Search of Senate Files
Washington, D.C.- Senate Intelligence Committee Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), today called on the president and CIA director to finally acknowledge that the CIA's search of Senate files was improper and will not happen again. CIA officials secretly searched Senate Intelligence Committee files in January 2014, while the committee was investigating the agency's use of torture from 2002-2007. Director Brennan repeatedly denied that the search … Continue Reading
January 15, 2016
Wyden Statement on Federal Coal Leasing Environmental Review
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement after the Interior Department announced it would conduct an environmental review of the federal coal leasing program: "A wholesale review of the federal coal program is long overdue," Wyden said. "This provides an opportunity to make sure taxpayers get a fair return for coal mined on public lands, take action against climate change and ensure our clean water and clean air are protected. This review should examine … Continue Reading
January 12, 2016
Wyden Response to the State of the Union Address
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement after the president's State of the Union address: "My hope is that Congress uses this moment of reflection to renew our commitment to creating opportunity for all, while protecting and upholding American values. "Congress must to do more to help working families in Oregon and across the country get ahead by tackling the tough, fundamental issues that are critical to the health of our economy. "Education has … Continue Reading
January 07, 2016
Senators Urge Executive Action to Limit Anonymous Campaign Contributions
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., were joined by 27 other senators today in urging the president limit anonymous political spending in elections by requiring new transparency for previously secret campaign contributions. In a letter to President Barack Obama, the senators called on the president to issue a final Executive Order to require federal contractors to disclose their political donations before submitting bids for government work. The … Continue Reading
January 05, 2016
Democrats File Amicus Brief Standing Up for Women’s Access to Constitutionally Protected Health Care
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Representatives Diana DeGette, D-Colo., Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., Judy Chu, D-Calif., and Marc Veasey, D-Texas, led a group of 155 Democrats and 2 Independents in filing an amicus brief in the case of Whole Woman's Health v. Cole. The case is currently pending before the Supreme Court of the United States and represents the most comprehensive challenge to the Supreme Court's historic ruling in Roe v. Wade … Continue Reading
December 23, 2015
Wyden Kicks Off New Year With Town Halls
Portland, Ore. - Senator Ron Wyden next month will hold town halls starting on Jan. 3, including his 750th town hall. Fulfilling his promise to hold annual town halls in each of Oregon's 36 counties, Wyden will kick off 2016 with town halls between Jan. 3 and Jan. 6 in Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Wasco, Wheeler, Gilliam, Sherman and Hood River counties. On Jan. 5, Wyden will be in Wheeler County for his 750th town hall - the location of his first town hall 20 years ago in Fossil when he … Continue Reading
December 21, 2015
Wyden, Merkley Seek Further Information About Federal Efforts to Facilitate Medical Marijuana Research
Washington, DC -Oregon's Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to send a follow-up letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seeking additional information about the agencies' efforts to … Continue Reading
December 18, 2015
Wyden, 7 Senators Call for Transparency for LGBT Students at Schools Seeking Religious Exemptions
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Al Franken, D-Minn., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., today called for greater transparency and accountability after a recent rise in the number of colleges and universities seeking religious exemptions under the law that protects students from discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. Congress … Continue Reading
December 18, 2015
Wyden Votes ‘No’ on Harmful Cyber Bill and Weakening Oversight of Surveillance Programs
Washington, D.C. -Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today voted against a legislative package containing a dangerous "cybersecurity" bill and provisions to undermine independent oversight of government surveillance programs. Republican leaders inserted an extreme version of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) and the flawed 2016 Intelligence Authorization Act into a broader package of spending and tax bills. "These unacceptable surveillance provisions are a black mark on a worthy package … Continue Reading
December 17, 2015
Wyden, Blumenauer Win Battle for Cidermakers
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (both D-Ore.) said today their work to update outdated regulations and taxes for cider-makers in new legislation will promote continued job creation in Oregon's growing cider industry. The provisions included in the bipartisan Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act approved Thursday by the House would modernize outdated cider regulations by broadening the definition of hard cider to remove the punitive tax on ciders containing … Continue Reading