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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2017)
Street Roots • March 3-9, 2017 - - - - - «w, . . w a n p a g e 4 said, “I wish I had that power.” And I just looked at that and I said, “He can’t possibly be saying that!” But he is, and that’s why you’re right about this really being a crucial time for people to be involved. I just had 3,500 people out at David Douglas High School. Ihcredible. What a showing of representative democracy! Emily Green: We want to know about your town halls in more rural areas of Oregon, like in Medford or La Grande. Are you seeing that Oregon Republicans are concerned about the Trump agenda? R.W.: Let’s put it this way: On this trip, first I was in Albany at the beginning of the year. I had 1,500 people in Linn County - a county Trump won overwhelmingly, and over the last eight days, I ’ve had 11 town hall meetings. We’ve had the most grassroots government as any part of the country here in the last week. And I was in Coos and Curry counties, and those are counties where Trump won by more than 20 percentage points. And while there were different concerns than I heard today, I heard a lot of the same points,* I’d tell you that. I heard about the Affordable Care Act, I heard about the Russians, I heard about press freedom, an independent judiciary, a lot of concern about protecting our air and water, so there’s a lot more in common this trip - this last eight days - a lot more in common than there were differences. Street Roots vendor Dennis Chavez (left) interviews Sen. Ron Wyden about the Patriot Act at the Street Roots office Feb. 25. E.G.: You’ve been a longtime champion of protecting Americans ’privacy. I think a lo to f- advocating changing current law. And his supporters would always try to weave in m atters relating to current law. The point is, in his article, he called for a major ~ people want to know: Should they be worried tra n sfo rm a tio n in th e p ro te c tio n s th e about their digital footprint - especially if they might be seen as an adversary to the Trump agenda? American people have. And as I’ve said repeatedly, I don’t take a push back and offer sm art alternatives. So if the Trump administration insists on saying, “Millions of people are voting fraudulently,” I’ve got a response: Let’s take Oregon’s vote by mail natio n al, w h ich w ould give à p a p e r trail for every ballot and would respond to things like fraud and ° Y br ° w n Persons Outside the United States Other Than United States Persons, ” which expires a t the end o f 2017 E .G .: I a ls o w a n te d to a s k y o u a b o u t n e t neutrality. The new F C C chairm an has sa id repeatedly it’s som ething he wants to go after. M y question is: Do you think there is a risk in hacking. backseat to anybody in the changes that he is proposing affecting the terms of protecting our way Americans get their news, particularly E.G.: L e t’s say the R.W.: As I just said to your partner " I'm * sniiitary veteran; security. I wrote section from small independent media? Trump administration did Dennis, when the DNC was hacked, Trump 1 spent fo u r years in the 102 of the Freedom Act want to do some sort of said, “I wish I had that power.” I don’t know R.W.: Very much so. And I’m a very Army as a Chinook hell- that says when there is witch hunt. Do they have strong*supporter of net neutrality. I anything that sums it up more clearly - now really a threat to the copter mechanic» Bat yea access to the kind of - introduced, actually, the first net neutrality his nominee to head the CIA (Mike country, the government know, I'm fast like , the digital information that bill in 2006. (The Internet Non- Pompeo) - and I led the opposition to the can get the information they would need, on country we have now Is Discrimination Act was not enacted.) And nominee - has proposed something that is and come back and settle innocent Americans, to be just for purposes of your readers and others, more sweeping than anything that’s been aot the coaatry I swore to up later with respect to able to find those people? I think telecom and the lingo in the discussed. You can see a very long op-ed defend. And I'm aahappy the warrant process. Are there any programs communications field can be a little daunting article in the Wall Street Journal where he about that. What can I do That’s not what we’re that you are particularly sometimes, but what net neutrality means is advertised it. He advocated for creating a talking about here. The concerned about? aboat I t f " after you pay your internet access fee, you centralized database, sweeping aside a question is whether or o h » chavez get to go where you want, when you want, number of the protections, and then he said R.W.: There is a not we’re going to have STREET ROOTS VEN D O R how you want, and everybody’s treated it ought to include lifestyle information, and section in the Foreign an enormous - beyond equally. That’s what net neutrality, in its I asked him about all these things, and (he Intelligence Surveillance anything that we’ve had essence, is all about. And of course these said), “Oh, I don’t do policy,” and I said, Act that will be coming in the past because as very powerful telecommunications interests “Wait a minute, the CIA director is in the up for renewal before long, and what the law you know Congress, with the Freedom Act, would like to change th at They would like to room when the president is talking about says is when there’s grounds to do so, you reined it in - are we going to have create almost an information aristocracy, intelligence matters.” can follow a foreign threat - an individual something that’s more encompassing than where you could pay more for fast lanes and overseas that’s a foreign threat - and we ever before with respect to collecting Editor’s note: In a Jan. 3, 2016, op-ed, content and the like. typically understand that there can be information on law-abiding Americans? Pompeo, who was then a member of the House But yes, depending on how you do i t you validity in that kind of approach. But what’s Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, E.G.: What about right now, if the Trump could really limit the ability of content happened is communications systems now wrote: administration, let’s say they wanted to go on are no longer stopping at national lines - it’s providers, the small news outlets you’re “Congress should pass a law re-establishing some sort of a witch hunt and started plucking really become globally integrated, and my talking about to be able to communicate, collection of all metadata, and combining it people out, who knows, maybe they have a and I think small newspapers, community concern has been, for a number of years, a with publicly available financial and lifestyle climate change agenda or undocumented radio, these kinds of news sources, are number of law-biding individuals get swept information into a comprehensive, searchable hugely important in our state. And I’ve immigrants... up in those searches, and their data is database. Legal and bureaucratic impediments reviewed without a warrant So I really hope indicated that I will fight with everything R.W.: We’ve seen a lot of scientists be to surveillance should be removed.” I’ve got to protect net neutrality. I led the to be able to plug what I call that “backdoor worried. I talked today about the fact that fight against PIPA (Protect IP Act) and E.G.: At his confirmation hearing, you had I’m cochair of the Whistleblower search loophole.” In the hands of someone SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), these bills requested he submit whatever limitations who was unscrupulous, that would be a very (Protection) Caucus, and Itold people, “If that, in the name of fighting piracy, would might be placed on such a sweeping program. serious threat you know of instances where there is have really damaged the internet Nobody Has he submitted any such list? improper conduct and you can’t get it Editor’s note: Wyden is referring to Section thought we could win. There were more addressed, I want to hear about i t ” My R.W.: No, He would say things like, “Well, 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance philosophy is, as I touched on today, when current law doesn’t allow this,” but the Act, titled “Procedures for Targeting Certain See WYDEN, page 7 you see something that’s wrong, speak out whole point is he wrote a very long article
