Who?
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) — Senate Intelligence Committee
LISTEN: Laslo & Wyden
Ask a Pol asks:
What do you make of the White House doing this full court press saying that some of the concerns you’re raising hurt national security?
Key Wyden:
“My sense about this is that the people who want the status quo or some version of it are sitting there saying ‘these reformers can win this.’ That's what I think is going on,” Sen. Ron Wyden exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “And you know, in the past a lot of these debates were, ‘everybody should just be concerned about terrorism.’ Well, I'm plenty concerned about terrorism. I'm on the committee. It is a dangerous world. Right now, I think the fear is that we can win this. What was done in the House at the last minute has never been considered once in the Senate. There are no hearings, no white papers, there’s no anything — it’s just way, way too broad and flawed.”
Caught our ear:
“I'm telling everybody who's willing to listen why this is an extraordinary mistake was made in the House at the last minute,” Wyden says.
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ICYMI — Ask a Pol’s exclusive w/ Sen. Thom Tillis
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Ron Wyden
SCENE: Sen. Ron Wyden’s speaking with a gaggle of reporters in the basement of the US Capitol.
Ron Wyden: “I'm telling everybody who's willing to listen why this is an extraordinary mistake was made in the House at the last minute. It has never, guys, had any discussion here in the Senate — longest serving member of the Intelligence Committee — there is no [Senate Intel Chair Mark] Warner, [Senate Intel Co-chair Marco] Rubio white paper, kind of joint discussions and stuff like that. You just didn’t see it. That’s what I wanted to do today, I wanted to do, make sure that people knew that these flimsy arguments that are being made against what we're trying to do just don't hold water. They're not even close.”
Matt Laslo: “What do you make of the White House doing this full court press saying that some of the concerns you’re raising are national security concerns?”
RW: “My sense about this is that the people who want the status quo or some version of it are sitting there saying ‘these reformers can win this.’ That's what I think is going on. And you know, in the past a lot of these debates were, ‘everybody should just be concerned about terrorism.’ Well, I'm plenty concerned about terrorism. I'm on the committee. It is a dangerous world. Right now. I think the fear is that we can win this. What was done in the House at the last minute has never been considered once in the Senate. There are no hearings, no white papers, there’s no anything — it’s just way, way too broad and flawed.”
Reporter: “May I ask you a healthcare question?”
RW: “Yeah, let’s finish on this then and then I’ll be happy to do healthcare.”
ML: “Did you catch [Rep.] Warren Davidson's bill in the House? It's — you brought it up with WIRED magazine, the warrantless wire?”
RW: “Are you talking about the bill…”
Reporter 2: “The ‘Fourth Amendment Not for Sale’ thing.’”
Wyden aide: “The Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale.”
RW: “Yeah, I'm the lead author.”
ML: “Yeah. What’d you think about that sailing through the House?”
RW: “I thought it was good news. We're gonna move it.”
ML: “It feels like momentum kind of — we’re actually having a conversation about data privacy and all this — it feels like a sea change.”
RW: “I used to be having a conversation by myself, it feels good. Rand Paul and I formed the Ben Franklin Caucus — an informal group that makes sure that anybody who gives up their liberty to have security (inaudible).”
Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps.
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Sen. Ron Wyden says House conservatives made "extraordinary mistake" to extend FISA w/out reforms