Ron Wyden

Ronald Lee Wyden, a Democrat, has been a Senator for Oregon since 1997.

Iraq War
Wyden voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq in Oct. 2002.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Transparency
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Tobacco issues
Wyden is a strong critic of the tobacco industry. He spoke against the tobacco industry on ABC's "Day One" program about nicotine manipulation. He appeared with Rep. Henry Waxman at a press conference in April 1994 and as far back as 1983 pressed to have the ingredients of cigarettes made public..

Network neutrality legislation
Wyden sponsored the Internet Non-Discrimination Act of 2006 (S.2360) in March 2006. . The bill would codify network neutrality in law. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which is controlled by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), where it has been stalled ever since. After the House committee vote on April 26, 2006, proponents of network neutrality urged the Senate committee to take up the issue. 

See network neutrality legislation for more.

Universal health care
In December 2006, Wyden announced that he was readying a proposal to provide health care to all Americans. His plan, called the Healthy Americans Act, was developed in association with the Citizens' Health Care Working Group, a panel created in 2003 by legislation sponsored by Wyden and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The plan calls for employers to cash out their current health care plans, pass that savings along to employees in higher wages, then requires employees to buy their choice of private plans with those savings. 

Vote-by-Mail
On March 23, 2007, Hill News reported that Sen. Wyden was working on a Vote-by-Mail bill, which may be similar to the bills recently introduced by Susan Davis in the House.

Internet tax legislation
Wyden coauthored both 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act which was signed into law on October 21, 1998 by President Bill Clinton and the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act, which was signed into law on December 3, 2004 by President George W. Bush. Both of these bills worked to prevent taxation on internet access.

Background
Ronald Lee Wyden was born on May 3, 1949 in Wichita, Kansas. Wyden attended the University of California, Santa Barbara on a basketball scholarship before receiving his B.A. with distinction from Stanford University. He received a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law and taught gerontology at several Oregon universities. During this time he was the founder of the Oregon chapter of the Gray Panthers. Senator Wyden's apartment is in Portland, Oregon; he has two children, Adam and Lilly, by his former wife Laurie. They separated and filed for divorce in 1998. Senator Wyden married Nancy Bass, owner of Manhattan's Strand Book Store in 2005.

In the 1980 Democratic primary, Wyden upset incumbent Rep. Bob Duncan in Oregon's third Congressional District. Later that fall, Wyden easily defeated his Republican opponent. Wyden was reelected in each of the subsequent elections.

Senate Career
Wyden holds the Senate seat once held by his mentor, the late Wayne Morse--who was the last Democratic Senator from Oregon before Wyden's election. He was elected in a bitter special election in January 1996 following the resignation of Bob Packwood, the man who defeated Morse. Wyden narrowly defeated the state senate president, Gordon Smith, who was elected later that year to Oregon's other senate seat. In the Senate, Wyden serves on the following Committees: Finance; Intelligence; Energy and Natural Resources, Budget and the Special Committee on Aging. He was elected to a full term in 1998. In 2004, he was elected to another full term, receiving 64% of the vote compared to 31% for his main opponent, Republican Al King.

Positions and Views
In 2005, Wyden was one of five Senate Democrats who joined 44 Republicans in voting "yes" on Amendment no. 2516, brought to the floor by Republican senator Lindsey Graham, which ruled that enemy combatants did not have the right to Habeas Corpus.

Wyden voted against authorization of military force in Iraq. On social issues like gay rights, abortion, and gun control he is fairly liberal, but on economic and fiscal issues he often breaks ranks. Though Wyden voted against the two major tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, he has sided with Republicans on such matters as requiring a super-majority to raise taxes, cutting the capital gains tax, and eliminating the estate tax. He is a firm supporter of free trade, and is more moderate on issues affecting business than many in his party.

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * Senate Committee on the Budget
 * Senate Committee on Finance
 * Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
 * Senate Special Committee on Aging
 * Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
 * Subcommittee on Water and Power
 * Subcommittee on Energy
 * Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * Senate Special Committee on Aging
 * Senate Committee on the Budget
 * Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
 * Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests - Ranking Minority Member
 * Subcommittee on National Parks
 * Subcommittee on Water and Power
 * Senate Committee on Finance
 * Subcommittee on Health Care
 * Subcommittee on International Trade
 * Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Bike Caucus
 * Democratic Policy Committee
 * Oregon Women's Political Caucus
 * Senate Centrist Coalition
 * Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus

Resources

 * Official website
 * Campaign website
 * See how you compare to Ron Wyden

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Chuck Currie, M.Div.
 * Oregon League of Conservation Voters
 * Loaded Orygun
 * Oregon Citizens Utility Board
 * Jack Bog's Blog
 * Worldwide Pablo
 * The Archimedes Movement
 * NewWest.net -- A Refreshing, new kind of journalism.

Articles

 * It's in the mail: how liberal Ron Wyden won a U.S. Senate seat in Oregon's revolutionary special election - voting by mail by David Beiler, Campaigns and Elections, April, 1996.
 * Michale Donnelly, "Will the Real Ron Wyden Please Stand Up?:One Senator; Many Masters", Counterpunch, November 8, 2003.
 * "Senator Wants Universal Health Care Plan," Associated Press (via NY Times), December 13, 2006.
 * Aaron Blake, "Two vote-by-mail bills on their way", Hill News, March 23, 2007.

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