Press Releases
Wyden Requests Investigation of ICE Bulk Surveillance of Money Transfers
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today called for an investigation of a previously secret surveillance program which collected millions of money transfer records from people sending money to or from the Southwest United States and Mexico. Under the program, Homeland Security Investigations used a form of subpoena power to order two companies to turn over every money transfer over $500, to and from California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. This data was shared with … Continue Reading
March 08, 2022
Merkley, Wyden Announce U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now Accepting Restoration Proposals for Klamath Basin
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will begin accepting grant proposals for restoration activities in the Klamath Basin. Over the next five years, project proposals that are approved will receive federal funding to address longstanding water problems in the Basin. As Chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Merkley secured this pool of $162 million dedicated specifically for … Continue Reading
March 07, 2022
Wyden, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Consumers by Banning Forced Arbitration
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden joined colleagues today in introducing legislation that would prohibit banks and other financial institutions from using forced arbitration clauses in Oregon and nationwide against consumers seeking restitution and justice. "For too long now, companies considered 'too big to fail' have been exploiting their power over consumers through confusing arbitration clauses and secretive proceedings," Wyden said. "It is time to rein in the power of … Continue Reading
March 07, 2022
Wyden: FEMA Extends Rent Deadline and Assistance to Fire Survivors Living in Temporary Direct Housing
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today announced, after meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell, that April rent for 2020 fire survivors who are living in FEMA temporary direct housing will not be due until May 1, and will be lower than market rate for some families. "For Oregonians needing FEMA housing, the flames of the 2020 fires have been extinguished, but the road to recovery after the devastating fire remains a long and winding … Continue Reading
March 03, 2022
Merkley, Wyden Announce Nearly $28 Million in FEMA Funds Headed to Oregon
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced major federal funding totaling $27.8 million is headed to the State of Oregon. These funds, dispersed through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), will be used to cover emergency protective measure expenses incurred throughout the state as a direct result of protecting against and preventing the spread of COVID-19, and from the devastating impacts of wildfires … Continue Reading
March 03, 2022
Wyden, Colleagues Call Out Drug Manufacturers For Squeezing American Families With Rapid and Widespread Price Hikes on Prescription Drugs
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden joined colleagues today in expressing concern over findings from two new analyses that reveal troubling, widespread, and rapid price increases for brand name drugs in January 2022. "The large, across-the-board price increases of popular, brand name prescription drugs appear to be an example of pharmaceutical companies taking advantage of their abusive market power to expand already-large profits. And the coordinated and timely price increases ring of … Continue Reading
March 02, 2022
Wyden: Oregon to Receive More than $4.5 Million to Promote Equitable Access to Unemployment Insurance Systems
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden this week announced that Oregon will receive more than $4.5 million in grant funding from the United States Department of Labor (DOL) to address disparities in access to unemployment insurance (UI). "Throughout the pandemic, millions of workers across the country have relied on jobless benefits to make ends meet, but accessing those benefits has been challenging for too many Oregonians, " said Wyden, who secured enhanced unemployment insurance during … Continue Reading
March 01, 2022
Wyden, Brown Release Statement Following Vote for Independent Union By Tridonex Workers in Mexico
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, issued the following statement following news that workers at the Tridonex auto-parts plant in Matamoros voted overwhelmingly in favor of the independent union Sindicato Nacional Independiente de Trabajadores de Industrias y Servicios "Movimiento 20/32" (SNITIS). SNITIS, an independent Mexican union, will replace the incumbent "protection" union. This vote follows a similar result for the General Motors … Continue Reading
February 28, 2022
Wyden, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Tap Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Washington, D.C. - In an effort to combat a sharp rise in oil prices amid Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today urged President Biden to stabilize gas prices and help working families by releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Drawing down oil from the federal government's stockpile now and then replacing it later with less expensive crude oil could help temporarily keep gas prices down for Oregonians, strengthen U.S. national security, … Continue Reading
February 28, 2022
Wyden Announces Town Hall Schedule in Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon for March
Portland - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today announced he will have six live on-line town halls hosted by People's Town Hall in March for residents of Malheur, Harney, Grant, Baker, Klamath and Jackson counties Wyden has held 1,001 town halls statewide in fulfillment of his pledge to hold at least one town hall each year in each of Oregon's 36 counties. "Nothing has been more important in my public service than keeping my promise to listen to Oregonians in each county each year. And coming off my … Continue Reading
February 25, 2022
Wyden, Brown Release Statement Following Abruptly Scheduled Mexican Union Election in Tridonex USMCA Rapid Response Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tridonex, an auto parts factory located in Matamoros in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico and subsidiary of a U.S. company, has continually interfered in workers' organizing efforts. Today, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, issued the following statement following news of a rushed union election at Tridonex' Matamoros plants in Mexico, to be held on February 28, and the lack of sufficient guarantees to ensure a fair election under USMCA enforcement. … Continue Reading
February 25, 2022
Wyden Releases Statement on the Supreme Court Nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement on President Biden's historic nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court: "Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is eminently qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, with more than a decade on the federal bench and distinguished service as a public defender and in private practice. "At a time when the six Republicans on the Supreme Court are re-writing the law to serve the interests of the … Continue Reading
February 23, 2022
Wyden, Markey Urge OSTP to Establish a National Cross-Government Public-Access Policy for Federally Funded Research
Washington, D.C. -U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., today sent a letter to Dr. Alondra Nelson, Deputy Director of Science and Society, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), urging for the establishment of a national government-wide public-access policy for federally funded research with a focus on equity, sustainability, and strategic technological development, guaranteeing rapid access for all federally funded research articles with broad re-use rights. … Continue Reading
February 23, 2022
Wyden, Merkley, Western Colleagues Call for Megadrought Emergency Relief
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are joining Western colleagues in calling on Senate leadership to include $616 million in emergency drought funding and agricultural assistance in the omnibus appropriations bill as the West continues to suffer from the worst megadrought in more than 1200 years. "The Colorado River, the lifeblood of seven western states, could lose 29 percent of its flow by the 2050s and 55 percent by 2100, and federal assistance is essential to … Continue Reading
February 23, 2022
Wyden, Merkley Urge Feds to Invest in Keno Dam on the Klamath River
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week urged the Bureau of Reclamation to invest in critical facility upgrades at Keno Dam on the Klamath River that would benefit irrigation, water quality, wildlife refuges, and salmon and steelhead fisheries. The Oregon senators noted in their letter to Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton that the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) they both supported has a new program targeting aquatic … Continue Reading
February 18, 2022
Oregon Lawmakers Ask Federal Agencies to Protect and Restore Old Growth Forests
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio and Suzanne Bonamici this week asked the U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture to follow congressional intent in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to protect and restore old-growth forests as well as protect other carbon-rich mature forests in Oregon and nationwide. The Oregon lawmakers wrote that the U.S. Forest Service's climate plan and 10-year wildfire strategy of … Continue Reading
February 18, 2022
Merkley, Wyden Sound the Alarm, Urge More Funding to Address Sudden Oak Death
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management strongly urging the agency to put funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to go towards the mitigation and treatment of Sudden Oak Death, a disease that poses severe economic and environmental threats to counties in Southern Oregon. "Sudden Oak Death poses a significant threat to a multitude of ecosystems and plant species and has already killed millions of … Continue Reading
February 17, 2022
Merkley, Wyden Secure Over $1.5 Million in Federal Funding to Strengthen Oregonian’s Seafood Economy Amidst the Ongoing Pandemic
Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced a total investment of $1,532,089 million in grant money headed to the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA). These funds will be distributed to Oregon seafood processing facilities and processing vessels to cover expenses incurred preparing for, preventing exposure to, and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oregon is among 24 other states that will be receiving this funding. "Our seafood processors and … Continue Reading
February 16, 2022
Wyden, Colleagues Urge DOJ to Investigate Sackler Family Members for Role in Fueling Opioid Epidemic
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today joined six colleagues in calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether members of the Sackler family personally engaged in criminal conduct in connection with Purdue Pharma's admitted criminal wrongdoing in fueling the devastating opioid epidemic. The senators also urged DOJ to investigate whether any of the Sacklers' subsequent conduct warrants criminal investigation as well. In 2020, DOJ resolved its civil and criminal … Continue Reading
February 14, 2022
Wyden, Senators Urge U.S. Labor Department to Process Firefighter Injury Claims Faster
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today joined with U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and a bipartisan group of senators calling on the Labor Department to expedite the creation of a special claims unit to handle firefighter compensation claims in advance of the 2022 wildfire season in Oregon and nationwide. "Federal wildland firefighters have recently reported difficulty getting their medical treatment costs for work-related injuries covered by the government within a reasonable … Continue Reading
