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UNITED STATES SENATOR
RON WYDEN
Biographical Information |
In
serving Oregon in the United States Senate, Ron Wyden pursues creative,
bipartisan solutions to tough issues, offers unprecedented
accessibility to his constituents, and stands up for Oregonians
no matter the odds.
Creative,
Bipartisan Solutions
Ron
Wyden constantly reaches across the aisle to build coalitions on
important issues. He works closely with
Oregon's junior Senator, Gordon Smith, on many issues and
at the beginning of each Congress the two produce a bipartisan
agenda for their state.
In the areas of health care, technology, natural resources and other
areas, Ron Wyden has produced important results.
Since
his days as co-director of the Oregon Gray Panthers, Ron Wyden has
been a respected voice on health care. In 2003, he authored the
bipartisan Health Care
that Works for All Americans law, which is being implemented
in 2005 and 2006 to do what's never been done before: walk the American
people through the tough choices of health care and reform the system
through public input and political accountability. He authored the
first law to protect seniors from
unscrupulous Medicare insurance scams and exposed
the tobacco companies for hiding the addictiveness of nicotine.
His bipartisan legislation reformed
the community health center law to make vital health services
available to thousands of poor families at no additional cost to
taxpayers, and increased
Medicare reimbursement to states like Oregon, which the federal
government has shortchanged for keeping their health costs down.
To help women fighting cancer, Wyden exposed
and eliminated waste in the case of the Pacific yew, a so-called
"trash tree" that became the original source of the breakthrough
pharmaceutical Taxol.
Widely
recognized as an expert on technology policy, the Senator passed
bipartisan laws prohibiting
discriminatory taxes on Internet commerce and promoting the
use of digital signatures. The
Senator was selected for the American Electronics Association Legislator
Hall of Fame and was named 2000 Legislator of the Year by the Information
Technology Council.
In
the natural resources field, Ron Wyden wrote with Senator Larry
Craig (R-Idaho) what has become known as the County
Payments Bill, legislation that the Forest Service considers
"the most influential law to come along in three decades."
The statute provides stable funding for rural schools and roads
historically dependent on funds derived from the harvest of timber
on federal lands.
Standing
Up for Oregon
On
behalf of Oregonians, Ron Wyden has taken on tough fights without
regard for the power of the opponent. For example, standing alone,
Senator Wyden has kept the leadership of the United States Senate
from overturning Oregon's twice-passed ballot measure legalizing
physician-assisted suicide.
He shares the passion
of Oregonians for protecting our environmental treasures, and as
a young Congressman his proposal
blocked James Watt's plan to roll back Clean Air Act protections.
In the Senate, Wyden protected
Oregon's Bull Run Watershed, greatly expanded wilderness protection
in the bipartisan Steens Mountain
legislation, and led the fight to stop
logging in Eagle Creek.
A
longtime consumer advocate, Wyden is taking on oil companies that
have pushed Oregon gas prices among the highest in our nation. He
uncovered evidence of several anti-competitive
oil industry practices, and the Federal Trade Commission relied
on the Senator's inquiry to open its own investigation. For his
leadership, Wyden was awarded the Philip Hart Public Service Award
in 1999 by the Consumer Federation of America.
Accessibility
As
a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Ron Wyden pledged to make accessibility
to his constituents the top priority. After his election, he
opened the first U.S.
Senate offices in Oregon history outside the populous Willamette
Valley. Every year, he holds open
community meetings in each of Oregon's 36 counties. He frequently
holds "sidewalk office hours" in shopping malls and other
public venues for Oregonians who want to express their opinions
one-to-one.
Personal
History
Ron
Wyden holds the Senate seat once held by his mentor, the late Wayne
Morse. In the Senate, he serves on
the following Committees: Finance, Select Intelligence, Budget,
the Special Committee on Aging and Energy
and Natural Resources. In addition, Senator Wyden serves
on the Forest and Public Land Management and Science, Technology
and Space subcommittees.
Before
his election to the Senate in 1996, he served 15 years in the U.S.
House of Representatives. The Senator attended the University of
California at Santa Barbara on a basketball scholarship before receiving
his B.A. with distinction from Stanford University. He received
a J.D. degree from the University of Oregon School of Law and taught
gerontology at several Oregon universities. Senator Wyden's home
is in Portland; he is married to Nancy Bass, whom he wed in September
2005. He has two children: Adam, 21, and Lilly, 16.
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