Intelligence & National Security
Since becoming a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in 2001, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has taken his oversight role extremely seriously. Believing that even secret programs are most effective when government is held accountable, he has worked to increase transparency and combat overclassification within the National Security Community. His oversight forestalled efforts to undermine the independence of the CIA Inspector General and his hold on the Fiscal Year 2011 Intelligence Authorization bill led to the removal of a provision that would have damaged protections for national security whistleblowers. He was instrumental in establishing the Public Interest Declassification Board to evaluate classification policy and decisions. He also forced the declassification of the CIA Inspector General’s 9/11 Report and helped pass legislation declassifying the total size of the of the national intelligence budget, making it possible for the public to better understand the nation’s overall investment in intelligence programs.
Wyden’s work has long focused on ensuring that national security programs fight terrorism ferociously while still upholding American values. He won the largest expansion of U.S. citizens’ privacy rights in 30 years when he successfully passed legislation in 2008 requiring the government to get a warrant before targeting Americans outside the U.S. for surveillance, and his amendment to the 2010 Intelligence Authorization bill increased criminal penalties for the unauthorized disclosure of a covert intelligence agent’s identity.
Wyden called for congressional investigation of torture allegations involving the CIA years before the scope of the Bush Administration’s coercive interrogation program was brought to light, and he led the successful effort to terminate the Bush Administration’s proposed “Total Information Awareness” program after he revealed plans to encourage gambling on future terrorist attacks. In 2008, Wyden exposed the Bush Administration’s secret interpretations of the Geneva Conventions in correspondence that ran on the front page of the New York Times, and his efforts to force the declassification of secret legal interpretations of the Patriot Act and the Executive Branch’s authority to kill Americans have brought the term “secret law” into common use.
Latest
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Wyden Floor Statement on the Removal of Controversial Leaks Provisions from Intelligence Authorization Bill
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) delivered the following floor speech after controversial leaks provisions that would have inhibited free speech and denied due process for intelligence officials suspected of leaking classified information were removed from the Intelligenc...…Read More
Posted on 12/21/12 -
What to Know About Wyden Hold on Intelligence Authorization Bill
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Posted on 12/18/12 -
FISA Correspondence Update
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Posted on 12/10/12 | -
Wyden Statement on Release of Public Interest Declassification Board Report
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued the following statement after the release of the Public Interest Declassification Board’s report on classification procedures used by the US government: “The balance between th...…Read More
Posted on 12/07/12 -
Wyden Profiled in Roll Call for Firm Stand on Civil Liberties
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Posted on 12/03/12 | -
Wyden Places Hold on Intelligence Authorization Bill
Citing concerns over anti-leak provisions that would inhibit free speech and damage the news media’s ability to report on national security issues, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) publicly placed a hold on the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, preve...…Read More
Posted on 11/14/12 -
Wyden Amendments to Cyber Bill Clarify Rules for GPS Tracking; Seek Privacy Protection in the Cloud
As the technological capabilities of cloud storage and location tracking continue to grow, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has filed amendments to the Cybersecurity Act being debated in the Senate to provide clear rules for how and when the government can access location tracking...…Read More
Posted on 07/31/12