Ron Wyden

Ronald Wyden, who is Jewish, was born in 1949 and is currently serving as the senior United States Senator from Oregon. Senator Wyden was reelected in 2022 and his seat will be up for election in 2028.

Wyden was elected in the U.S. Senate in a special election in 1996. He was elected to a full term in 1998 and was reelected in 2004, 2010, and 2016. Prior to joining the Senate, Wyden represented the Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 until 1996. Senator Wyden is the dean of Oregon’s congressional delegation.

Senator Wyden is currently the Ranking Member on the Finance Committee and the Leading Senate Democrat on the Joint Committee on Taxation. He serves also on the Budget Committee; the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and the Select Committee on Intelligence.

Below is Senator Wyden’s voting record and positions on issues important to the Jewish community.

Senator Wyden supported the Iran nuclear deal. He opposed UN Security Council Resolution 2334 that claimed that Israel’s settlements have no legal validity and supported the move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. He supported the Taylor Force Act, which states that no American governmental funds shall be given to a Palestinian entity that financially rewards terrorists or their families. Senator Wyden opposes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and cosponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act and the Combating BDS Act, two bills that aim to fight discriminatory boycotts of Israel.

In 2018, Senator Wyden cosponsored the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act, a legislation that supported full funding of security assistance to Israel as outlined in the 2016 U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding. In 2019, he voted for the Strengthening America’s Middle East Security Act which, among other things, strengthened Israel’s security and allowed a state or local government to adopt measures to divest its assets from entities that boycott Israel.