Press Releases
Senators Introduce Multi-Year County Payments Renewal
Washington, D.C. - Struggling rural schools and communities were thrown a lifeline today by a bipartisan coalition of U.S. Senators, when they offered a multi-year proposal to restore funding for the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, commonly known as the county payments law. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden offered the amendment to the 2007 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill with the support of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and U.S. Senators Max Baucus … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
Wyden Protests Advanced Closure of the 939th Air Refueling Wing "Pulling the rug out from underneath these brave reservists is unfair"
Washington, D.C. - Protesting the Air Force Reserve Command's announcement today that it is accelerating the closure of the 939th Air Refueling Wing, based in Portland, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden sent the following letter to Air Force Reserve Chief, Lieutenant General John A. Bradley:February 2, 2007Lieutenant General John A. BradleyChief, Air Force Reserve 1150 Air Force PentagonRoom 4E160Washington, DC 20030-1150Dear Lt. Gen. Bradley:I am writing to formally protest your announcement that the … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
Snowe, Wyden Act to Require HHS Secretaryto Negotiate or Medicare Prescription Drugs
Washington D.C. - U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), both members of the Senate Finance Committee, are slated tomorrow to introduce legislation to make the Medicare program a "smarter shopper" by requiring the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate with drug companies for prices under certain circumstances."The rapidly escalating price of prescription drugs threatens to undermine the very drug benefit Congress passed to deliver real savings to … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
Bipartisan Budget Language Inserted to Protect BPA Customers from Rate Hike
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) successfully included language in the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Resolution that is a critical first step to defeating an administration proposal to increase the rates of Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) consumers. Murray, Wyden, and Crapo, all members of the Senate Budget Committee, have been supported in their efforts by a unified, bipartisan delegation of Northwest Senators. On … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
Wyden, Smith Introduce "Mount Hood Wilderness Act of 2007"
Washington, D.C. - Working for the permanent preservation of an additional 128,600 acres surrounding Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith today introduced the "Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act of 2007." The legislation builds on previous efforts to establish a Mount Hood wilderness area, incorporating comments from over 100 community groups and local governments, members of the Oregon Congressional delegation, the governor and the Bush … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
Senate Moves to Declassify CIA Report on 9/11
Washington, DC - U.S. Senate legislation to implement unfinished recommendations of the 9/11 commission includes a bipartisan amendment to declassify the Executive Summary of the CIA Inspector General's Report on 9/11. The CIA report is the only major 9/11 government review that has not been made public, a fact that the Vice Chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Kit Bond (R-MO) and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a senior member of the Intelligence Committee, have spent … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
EPA Bows to Northwest Senators' Concerns on Airborne Benzene
Washington, D.C. - After months of pressuring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt a standard for airborne benzene that didn't "turn the Northwest into an environmental sacrifice zone," U.S. Senator Ron Wyden announced today that the EPA is instituting a nationwide cap on the amount of benzene in gasoline that will reduce benzene levels in the Northwest threefold. The EPA had previously proposed a rule that could have left levels in the Northwest higher than other parts of the … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
Wyden Introduces the "Stop Arming Iran Act"
Washington , D.C. - Working to end the Iranian government's acquisition of sensitive military equipment, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, introduced legislation today that would prohibit the Pentagon from selling surplus parts and equipment for F-14 fighter aircraft. Wyden's legislation would also prohibit the export of F-14 parts already sold. "There is no good reason for the United States to be putting surplus F-14 parts on the … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
Wyden to Head Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
Washington , D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) was today appointed chairman of the U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee. The chairmanship will provide an important platform for Wyden to act on the nation's foremost environmental and natural resource issues."I am honored by this opportunity to assist Chairman Bingaman in protecting our nation's wilderness and public lands, promote sustainable and wise use of our natural resources, and champion important legislation like … Continue Reading
April 04, 2007
Senators Demand that EPA Protect Northwesterners' Health in Setting National Benzene Standards
Washington, D.C. - Citing how an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rule could fail to significantly reduce levels of a cancer-causing chemical in the Pacific Northwest, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) today wrote EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson questioning why the agency is proposing to regulate the chemical in a way that could leave levels in the Northwest higher than other parts of the country.EPA currently … Continue Reading
January 24, 2007
West Coast Senators Put County Payments on Senate Agenda
Washington, D.C. - A bipartisan coalition of West Coast Senators today announced the introduction of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Reauthorization Act of 2007, legislation that would restore funding for the critical "county payments" law by reauthorizing the successful program for seven years. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, introduced a bill with U.S. Senators Ted Stevens (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), … Continue Reading
January 23, 2007
Wyden Reacts to the State of the Union
Statement of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) in response to President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech:"At community meetings from Oregon to Maine, two topics dominate: Iraq and health care. I want to work in a bipartisan manner on both issues and I want to keep my door open to the Bush Administration on both of these issues."Thus far, the President has not convinced me that overstretching our military even further is going to make a bit of difference in Iraq and I will oppose the … Continue Reading
December 06, 2006
Wyden to Hold Up EPA NomineeOver High Levels of Benzene in Oregon, Northwest
Portland - Saying that Oregon and the Northwest could be hurt - not helped - by a proposed new federal rule regarding the amount of the cancer-causing chemical benzene that can be in gasoline, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today said he would hold up the confirmation of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) General Counsel nominee Roger Martella unless the rule is changed to protect Oregonians and others in the Northwest.According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and … Continue Reading
December 06, 2006
Wyden Calls for Investigation of Chinese Hardwood Plywood Issue, Says Practices Are Hurting U.S, Oregon Industries
Washington, D.C. Noting that approximately 70 percent of North Americas hardwood plywood is manufactured by companies headquartered in Oregon, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today called on three federal agencies to investigate alleged abuses by the Chinese that have greatly harmed the domestic hardwood plywood industry.Nearly 2,000 Oregonians work in the hardwood plywood industry.In separate letters to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of … Continue Reading
December 06, 2006
Wyden Urges Senate Energy Panel to Bring Kempthorne to Hill to Answer Questions about Interior Ethics Abuses
Washington, D.C. - In the wake of a scathing Inspector General's report and news accounts alleging serious charges against personnel at the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today urged the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to hold a hearing so that Senators may question Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne about the allegations and what he has done to address ethics problems since becoming Secretary.Wyden, a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, … Continue Reading
December 06, 2006
Smith-Wyden Unveil Health Care Plan
PORTLAND, OR - Today, U.S. Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) unveiled a proposal creating a pilot program to give access to provide health insurance to uninsured Americans and those with catastrophic health care costs. The Catastrophic Health Coverage Promotion Act creates at least four state-based pilot projects that target the uninsured and individuals with catastrophic … Continue Reading
December 06, 2006
Wyden slams Administrationproposal for salmon disaster relief
Newport, OR - After meeting with commercial fishers in Newport to discuss the Administration's latest response to the salmon fishery crisis, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today blasted the Commerce Department for proposing Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to help salmon fishers instead of direct aid or a declaration of a commercial fishery failure."What our fishing communities needed to hear from the Secretary of Commerce is that real help is on the way now," Wyden said. "Instead, our … Continue Reading
December 06, 2006
Wyden Blocks Two Interior Department Nominees over County Payments Funding
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, keeping his promise to block Administration nominees until there is "an acceptable way to fully fund county payments," today placed a "hold" on the nominations of two Interior Department nominees: John Ray Correll, nominated to be Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and Mark Myers, nominated to be a Director of the United States Geological Survey. The county payments law provides vital funding for rural schools, roads … Continue Reading
December 06, 2006
Wyden, Grassley, Senate Rules Committee Leaders Announce Offensive Against Secret Holds
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Trent Lott (R-MS) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) today announced a new offensive against the Senate's practice of secret holds, under which a single Senator can block legislation or a nominee without revealing his or her identity.Wyden has worked with Grassley for more than a decade to end the practice of secret holds. Their amendment requiring a Senator who places a hold to make it public within three days was included in the … Continue Reading
December 06, 2006
U.S. Senate passes Defense spending bill with millionsfor Oregon nanotech, other defense projects
Washington, D.C. - The full U.S. Senate last night approved its Defense appropriations bill, which includes millions of dollars in funding for Oregon projects advocated by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith. In addition to more than $11 million for Oregon nanotechnology projects through the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), the legislation includes significant funding for research and development of new medical, energy and other technologies with the potential … Continue Reading
