Street Roots • March 3-9, 2017
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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