Editing Ron Wyden (section)

====Patriot Act====
Wyden joined the Senate Intelligence Committee in January 2001, and voted for the [[Patriot Act]] following 9/11.<ref>{{Citation |title=U.S. Senate : CSPAN2 : July 23, 2013 5:00pm-8:01pm EDT |date=2013-07-23 |url=http://archive.org/details/CSPAN2_20130723_210000_U.S._Senate |others=CSPAN2 |access-date=2022-11-05}}</ref> In 2006, he was one of 10 senators to vote against reauthorizing the Patriot Act.<ref>{{cite web|first=David|last=Stout|author-link=David Stout|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/politics/02cnd-patriot.html|title=Senate Approves Renewal of Antiterrorism Bill|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 2, 2006|access-date=September 27, 2020|archive-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016235057/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/politics/02cnd-patriot.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2011, with the expiration of the Patriot Act approaching and efforts to reauthorize it intensifying, Wyden and Merkley sharply criticized the rush to pass the bill. Wyden said on the Senate floor, "The Patriot Act was passed a decade ago during a period of understandable fear. Now is the time to revisit this, revisit it and ensure that a better job is done of striking that balance between fighting terror and protecting individual liberty." Wyden and Merkley expressed particular concern about a provision of current law allowing law enforcement authorities to collect "a vast array of business records, emails, phone numbers, [and] even DNA from anyone deemed 'relevant' to an investigation."<ref>{{cite web|first=Charles|last=Pope|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/post_30.html|title=Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley raise concerns about fast U.S. Senate passage of Patriot Act|work=[[The Oregonian]]|date=May 24, 2011|access-date=September 27, 2020|archive-date=September 19, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919054133/http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/post_30.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wyden offered an amendment to reform the "business-records provision" of the Patriot Act, which he views as being used in an abusive and secret way.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Spencer|last=Ackerman|author-link=Spencer Ackerman|url=https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/secret-patriot-act/|title=There's a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says|date=May 25, 2011|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|access-date=September 27, 2020|archive-date=March 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320073945/http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/secret-patriot-act/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In a Senate speech two days later, Wyden sharply criticized the use of Patriot Act, saying: "The fact is that anyone can read the plain text of the Patriot Act, and yet many members of Congress have no idea how the law is being secretly interpreted by the executive branch, because that interpretation is classified. It's almost as if there were two Patriot Acts, and many members of Congress have not read the one that matters. Our constituents, of course, are totally in the dark. Members of the public have no access to the secret legal interpretations, so they have no idea what their government believes the law actually means.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://community.statesmanjournal.com/blogs/editorialblog/2011/05/27/sunday-editorial-oregon-sen-ron-wyden-vs-usa-patriot-act/ | title = Sunday Editorial: (draft) Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden vs. USA Patriot Act | date = May 27, 2011 | work= [[Statesman Journal]] | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120707200808/http://community.statesmanjournal.com/blogs/editorialblog/2011/05/27/sunday-editorial-oregon-sen-ron-wyden-vs-usa-patriot-act/ | archive-date = July 7, 2012 | access-date = April 1, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Ron Wyden official portrait.jpg|thumb|right|Senator Ron Wyden]]
In an interview for the January 2013 documentary ''[[Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield]]'', Wyden was asked about legal reviews and the scope of potential assassinations (or "targeted killings") of American citizens by their government, and responded, "the American people would be extraordinarily surprised if they could see the difference between what they believe a law says and how it has actually been interpreted in secret", but that he "is not permitted" to disclose the difference publicly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2013/6/7/inside_the_us_dirty_war_in|title=Inside the U.S. Dirty War in Yemen with Jeremy Scahill, Nasser al-Awlaki, Sheikh Fareed|work=[[Democracy Now]]|date=June 7, 2013|access-date=September 27, 2020|archive-date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104061616/http://www.democracynow.org/2013/6/7/inside_the_us_dirty_war_in|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Per a 2013 ''Washington Post'' article, Wyden's concerns "stemmed from top-secret information he had learned as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee", a position he'd held for a dozen years by 2013, but he was "bound by secrecy rules."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fahrenthold |first=David A. |date=2013-07-28 |title=With NSA revelations, Sen. Ron Wyden's vague privacy warnings finally become clear |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-years-of-obscure-warnings-wyden-gets-sought-after-privacy-debate-in-wake-of-nsa-revelations/2013/07/28/267efd1a-f573-11e2-861b-70461cc1cd24_story.html |access-date=2022-11-05 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=July 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729185243/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-years-of-obscure-warnings-wyden-gets-sought-after-privacy-debate-in-wake-of-nsa-revelations/2013/07/28/267efd1a-f573-11e2-861b-70461cc1cd24_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Did Intel Dir. James Clapper Lie to Congress? It's Complicated |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/intel-dir-james-clapper-lie-congress-complicated/story?id=19390786 |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=ABC News |language=en |archive-date=November 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105024058/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/intel-dir-james-clapper-lie-congress-complicated/story?id=19390786 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On March 12, 2013, during a [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]] hearing, Wyden quoted NSA director [[Keith B. Alexander]]'s keynote speech at the 2012 [[DEF CON]]. Alexander had said that "Our job is foreign intelligence" and that "those who would want to weave the story that we have millions or hundreds of millions of dossiers on people, is absolutely false.... From my perspective, this is absolute nonsense." Wyden then asked [[James Clapper]], "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" He responded, "No, sir." Wyden asked, "It does not?" and Clapper said, "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps, collect, but not wittingly."<ref name="Greenbergdenied">Greenberg, Andy. "[https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/06/06/watch-top-u-s-intelligence-officials-repeatedly-deny-nsa-spying-on-americans-over-the-last-year-videos/ Watch Top U.S. Intelligence Officials Repeatedly Deny NSA Spying On Americans Over The Last Year (Videos)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825195315/https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/06/06/watch-top-u-s-intelligence-officials-repeatedly-deny-nsa-spying-on-americans-over-the-last-year-videos/ |date=August 25, 2017 }}." ''[[Forbes]]''. June 6, 2013. Retrieved on June 11, 2013. "Eight months later, Senator Ron Wyden quoted[...]"</ref>

When [[Edward Snowden]] was asked during a 2014 television interview what the decisive moment was or what caused him to whistle-blow, he replied: "Sort of the breaking point was seeing the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, directly lie under oath to Congress. ... Seeing that really meant for me there was no going back."<ref>{{cite web |title=Snowden Interview Transcript |url=http://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/netzwelt/snowden277_page-2.html |access-date=January 27, 2014 |publisher=[[Norddeutscher Rundfunk|NDR]] |archive-date=January 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128224438/http://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/netzwelt/snowden277_page-2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Following news of Snowden's leaks in early June 2013, Wyden noted on June 11 that Clapper's office had been provided with the question a day in advance of the hearing and was given the opportunity following Clapper's testimony to amend his response.<ref name="straightanswer">{{cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=2013-06-11 |title=Sen. Wyden: Clapper didn't give 'straight answer' on NSA programs |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/06/11/sen-wyden-clapper-didnt-give-straight-answer-on-nsa-programs |access-date=2015-11-20 |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701022306/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/06/11/sen-wyden-clapper-didnt-give-straight-answer-on-nsa-programs/ |url-status=live }}</ref>