Senator Wyden

Biographical Outline:

Ronald Lee Wyden was born in Wichita, Kansas on January 3, 1981. His parents were both Jewish and fled Nazi Germany and Wyden is still practiced Judaism. He grew up in Palo Alto, California and after graduating high school, he attended UCSB, then transferred to Stanford, then completed his doctorate degree from the University of Oregon School of Law. In 1980, Wyden ran for the US House of Reps and was elected, and has continued to be reelected seven times from this district, never dropping below 70% of the vote. In January 1996, Wyden defeated Oregon State Senate President Gordon Smith in a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Bob Packwood. He has and is currently still holding that Senate seat, and gets reelected every year.

Committees:

+Committee on the Budget
+Committee on Finance
     -Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
     -Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
     -Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
+Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
+Select Committee on Intelligence
+Special Committee on Aging
+Joint Committee on Taxation

Background/Discussion:

     Education

Senator Wyden authored the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act which provides all potential college students with reliable information on what they can expect to find in the workplace. It allows the students to choose their path of schooling and careers based on their financial abilities and the financial return they will receive later in life.

     Foreign Policy

Senator Wyden was one of the 23 Senators to vote against going to war with Iraq. He has since worked to bring the troops home and provide them with quality veteran services when they return. He also is an advocate for human rights around the world and his latest accomplishment was getting the US State Department to cease selling arms to the Kingdom of Bahrain until their human rights abuses end. 

Questions for the Senator:

1) Is there one issue or topic that you are most passionate about and why?

2) How has going to law school to get a J.D. helped you in the political world?

3) When elected to the U.S. Senate, you pledged to hold at least one public town meeting in each of Oregon's 36 counties each year. You have kept that promise since 1996. How has connecting to the people helped you get reelected each year?