Ron Wyden
U.S. Senator from Oregon
Ronald Lee Wyden was born in May 1949 in Wichita, Kansas. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, on a basketball scholarship, and later transferred to Stanford University where he received his undergraduate degree. He earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Oregon School of Law.
While teaching gerontology at several Oregon universities, Wyden founded the Oregon chapter of the Gray Panthers. He was also director of the Oregon Legal Services Center for the Elderly and served on the Oregon State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators.
He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served 15 years until being elected in a special election to the United States Senate. He assumed office in February 1996.
He is divorced from Laurie with whom he has two adult children and is now married to Nancy and they have three children. Wyden is Jewish.
In the News…
A bill to reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would afford new protections for constitutional rights has been introduced in Congress by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, Representative Warren Davidson of Ohio, and Representative Zoe Lofgren of California.
At present, Section 702 allows only for the “individualized and limited” surveillance of “non-U.S. persons who are reasonably believed to be located outside the United States and who are assessed by the intelligence community to possess or communicate specific types of foreign intelligence information identified by the attorney general and the director of national intelligence.”
Surveillance law has not kept up with changing times, Senator Wyden said, adding, “Our bill continues to give government agencies broad authority to collect information on threats at home and abroad, including the ability to act quickly in emergencies and settle up with the court later. But it creates much stronger protections for the privacy of law-abiding Americans, and restores the warrant protections that are at the heart of the Fourth Amendment.”
“The FISA Court and the Director of National Intelligence have confirmed that our government conducted warrantless surveillance of millions of Americans’ private communications,” Senator Lee said. “It is imperative that Congress enact real reforms to protect our civil liberties, including warrant requirements and statutory penalties for privacy violations, in exchange for reauthorizing Section 702. Our bipartisan Government Surveillance Reform Act stops illegal government spying and restores the Constitutional rights of all Americans.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Senator Wyden today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Ron Wyden
Senator from Oregon
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
