Political Quotes

Ron Wyden

The Public Record

Ron Wyden is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oregon, a position he has held since 1996. A member of the Democratic Party, Wyden has been a prominent advocate for civil liberties, healthcare reform, and technology policy. Throughout his tenure, he has focused on issues such as privacy rights, government surveillance, and access to healthcare, often emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability in government actions.

Quotes by year · 199520267,894 total · peak 2017 (805)
1995: 19 quotes1996: 38 quotes1997: 37 quotes1998: 34 quotes1999: 48 quotes2000: 10 quotes2001: 68 quotes2002: 90 quotes2003: 124 quotes2004: 88 quotes2005: 17 quotes2006: 1 quote2007: 3 quotes2008: 19 quotes2009: 328 quotes2010: 388 quotes2011: 406 quotes2012: 286 quotes2013: 515 quotes2014: 384 quotes2015: 687 quotes2016: 499 quotes2017: 805 quotes2018: 662 quotes2019: 96 quotes2020: 96 quotes2021: 653 quotes2022: 184 quotes2023: 684 quotes2024: 185 quotes2025: 191 quotes2026: 249 quotes

Most widely reported

by number of sources
  1. I cannot support an outrageous $1.15 trillion in military spending while Donald Trump engages in an idiotic war with Iran.13 sources2026commondreams.org
  2. Mr. President and colleagues, here is how flawed this plan is. The danger Senate Republicans are causing for rural hospitals is so great, Republicans have had to create a rural hospital relief fund so they can look like they are fixing the problem they are causing. It is a bandaid on an amputation. It provides just a tiny fraction of the nearly $1 trillion in cuts the bill makes to Medicaid. It would be much more logical to simply not cut $1 trillion from Medicaid in the first place. This amendment doubles down on that flawed plan that is going to set rural hospitals adrift. I urge opposition to the amendment. I yield the floor.10 sources2025govinfo.gov
  3. I rise today to introduce the Offshore Reinsurance Tax Fairness Act. This bill closes a tax loophole that is being used by some U.S.-based hedge funds that set up insurance companies in places like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands where they aren't taxed and where their earnings are sheltered from U.S. taxes. Offshore businesses that reinsure risks and that invest in U.S. hedge funds create the potential for tax avoidance of hundreds of millions of dollars. Under these arrangements, a hedge fund or hedge fund investors make a capital investment in an offshore reinsurance company. The offshore reinsurance company then reinvests that capital, as well as premiums it receives, in the hedge fund. The owners of the reinsurer take the position that they are not taxed on corporate earnings until either those earnings are distributed, or the investors sell the corporation's stock at a gain reflecting those earnings. However, the hedge fund ``reinsurers'' are taking advantage of an exception to the passive foreign investment company--or PFIC--rules of U.S. tax law. The PFIC rules are designed to prevent U.S. taxpayers from delaying U.S. tax on investment income by holding investments through offshore corporations. However, the PFIC rules provide an exception for income derived from the active conduct of an insurance business.…8 sources2015govinfo.gov
  4. today I am introducing legislation to require the Director of National Intelligence to provide the Congress and the public an assessment of who carried out, participated in, ordered, or was otherwise complicit in, or responsible for, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. This question is of enormous importance to the Congress and the American people. Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist. He wrote for the Washington Post, and he resided in the United States. He visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, only because he was seeking documents to get married. But he never came out. The Saudis killed him, and they covered it up. Naturally, the American people want to know what happened and who ordered this assassination. In an interview on November 18, Donald Trump was asked whether the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman, lied to him when he denied knowing about Khashoggi's murder. But Trump's response was simply ``Will anybody really know?'' Those kinds of judgments are what we have an Intelligence Community for. So I called for CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to come forward and provide a public assessment of who was responsible for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and Donald Trump only doubled down. Last Tuesday, he put out a sickening statement in which he made it clear that he did not care who may have ordered the murder.…7 sources2018govinfo.gov
  5. I rise today to introduce legislation to further protect American's privacy, while providing clear guidance for Federal law enforcement for information collection using the newest technologies. I am sure my colleagues recall recent reports, from just a few weeks ago, detailing the FBI's use of secret planes to spy on people in dozens of cities without a warrant. These reports troubled both my colleagues and me, and left unclear exactly when the government thinks it is okay to surveil people from the air. As I have stressed many times before, the American public deserves to know the laws that the government relies on to surveil people, and the limits of those laws. And that's what this bill sets out to do. Now, drafting legislation in an area where technology is advancing rapidly and so many policy issues intersect, is a very difficult task. But I am confident that the Protecting Individuals From Mass Aerial Surveillance Act of 2015 reflects feedback from several stakeholders, experts and civil liberties groups, and provides the government the tools it needs to keep us safe without sacrificing our civil liberties. This bill would generally prohibit federal aerial surveillance without a warrant, but with several exceptions. It would allow the government to aerially surveil to protect people from disasters, terrorist attacks, entry of illegal substances at national borders, and other emergency situations.…6 sources2015govinfo.gov
  6. today, I am introducing the Incentives to Educate American Children, the ``I Teach'' Act, which would provide a $1,000 refundable tax credit to elementary and secondary school teachers who teach in schools located in rural or impoverished areas. It would also provide a $1,000 credit to teachers who achieve National Board certification, and provide National Board certified teachers serving in rural or impoverished schools a $2,000 credit. It was previously introduced in the 113th Congress by Senator Rockefeller. U.S. classrooms are increasingly filled with less experienced teachers, as older teachers retire and the retention rate among young teachers continues to decline. According to the most recent data, 1.7 million teachers, representing 45 percent of the workforce, had less than 10 years of experience. Policy makers need to take steps to ensure that students have the most qualified and best trained teachers possible. Nearly a third of public schools in the United States are in rural areas. And rural schools often face challenges that others don't, like smaller tax bases and higher recruitment costs, which means they often have less money for classroom materials and salaries. Department of Education data show that rural school districts have the lowest base salaries for starting teachers, a trend that continues even as teachers move to the top of the local salary range. Rural schools face these challenges across the country.…3 sources2015govinfo.gov
Aug 21, 2026

Keeping guns out of the hands of domestic violence abusers is commonsense.

padilla.senate.gov
Aug 19, 2026

HHS must suspend all Medicaid data transfers to ICE and DHS pending a comprehensive review of HHS’s controls and the court’s continuing oversight.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 19, 2026

Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the personal health information of the tens of millions of people who rely on Medicaid is protected and that HHS and CMS comply with federal court orders.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 19, 2026

Each person whose information was inappropriately disclosed is entitled to know what happened to it, and Congress is entitled to know how a federal agency came to violate the same court order three times in six months.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 19, 2026

Bees and butterflies will all benefit from this fresh federal investment in pollinator health that’s a key to fighting drought and supporting landscapes native to Oregon.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 19, 2026

Our state’s world-renowned wood products industry only gets stronger with federal investments like these that sharpen its cutting edge, keep generating jobs and lessen the dangers from wildfires.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 18, 2026

extremely dangerous to give Trump massive new tariff powers, particularly after we've seen the disastrous impacts of his corrupt, chaotic, and inflationary tariff spree,"

reason.com
Aug 18, 2026

Without USAID, CDC’s global health infrastructure remains the most effective tool the U.S. has to monitor and prevent global health emergencies.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 14, 2026

We urge the State Department to ensure timely processing of F, M, and J student and exchange visitor nonimmigrant visas, consistent with the approach taken by administrations of both parties in the past, and to implement other measures to…

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 12, 2026

These destructive health care choices by Trump and congressional Republicans have added up to hospitals, particularly in rural areas, ending maternity care; primary care doctors shuttering their practices; and 3 million Americans now…

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 11, 2026

My goal throughout all these hearings is to advance a fresh plan to reimagine the American health care system that makes good on the promise that health care is a basic human right.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 11, 2026

The Republicans’ health care scheme in their so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” is importing the worst practices of for-profit health insurance programs into Medicare and Medicaid.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 11, 2026

The last thing you should have to worry about if your house burns down in a wildfire or washes away in a flood is being hit with a massive tax bill.

padilla.senate.gov
Aug 8, 2026

This bill gives him so much discretion that Trump can ultimately decide what countries to tariff, or what countries to exempt. And he can modify tariffs at his will.

theguardian.com
Aug 8, 2026

If Congress passes this bill, members will be condoning the tariff chaos of the last year and a half – and inviting more.

theguardian.com
Aug 8, 2026

Common sense prevailed today and that’s great news for Oregonians who shouldn’t have to worry about getting slammed with a huge tax hit on top of losing their home to wildfire.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 8, 2026

At a time when communities are facing health care workforce shortages, it has never been more important to invest in the next generation of health professionals. This legislation would provide families in Oregon and nationwide with the…

heinrich.senate.gov
Aug 7, 2026

And my message will be I’ll never stop battling to pass this bill that will ease their concerns about getting walloped with a tax bill when they may already be dealing with the loss of their homes.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 7, 2026

Oregon’s Coast Guard works tirelessly every day to keep our coastal communities and fishermen safe, and they deserve the same tools as the rest of our military branches to operate efficiently.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 7, 2026

Safe drinking water is not a partisan issue. Families across the country expect that when they turn on the tap, their water is safe to drink.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 7, 2026

I’m heading home this weekend to meet with Oregonians fearing in real time for their lives and livelihoods because of wildfires threatening communities and spreading smoke statewide.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 7, 2026

When you lose your home in a wildfire, the last thing you should be worried about is being hit by a massive tax bill.

wyden.senate.gov
Aug 7, 2026

This common-sense legislation cuts red tape, saves taxpayer dollars, and builds stronger partnerships between Coast Guard installations and Oregon’s communities up and down the coast that support them.

wyden.senate.gov

Politicians like Ron Wyden