EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon Senator Ron Wyden visited our studios as congress is on its August recess.
Here are some of the questions we posed to Senator Wyden:
On Wildfires
Senator, you’ve said these are “not your grandfather’s fires.” Oregon is now experiencing the worst wildfire season on record, with more than two million acres burned, and the estimated cost of fighting these fires is already exceeding what the state budgeted for the entire 2025–2027 biennium — and the season isn’t over.
In 2024, Oregon had to call a special legislative session just to pay its wildfire bills.
Do you acknowledge that the way Oregon and the federal government fund and fight wildfires is no longer sustainable? What is the long-term solution — not just to pay for these fires after they happen, but to prevent them from becoming this catastrophic in the first place? And ultimately, who is responsible for this?
On the Iran war
As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, do you feel like congress has received, and is receiving accurate intelligence for a conflict you’ve said is another open-ended war in the Middle East?
Senator, U.S. oil reserves are now at their lowest level in more than four decades as the war with Iran continues to disrupt oil moving through the strait of Hormuz.
At the same time, families are already dealing with the cost of groceries, housing, utilities and transportation. How much more economic pain should Americans be prepared for if this war continues — and what can congress do to keep an international conflict from becoming another affordability crisis here at home?
On Jeffrey Epstein
What’s the latest on your investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, and is there information you have that hasn’t been released, that you feel the public should know?
On progressive & Democrat Socialist candidates
The midterm election is less than three months away and there seems to be a growing schism in the democratic party.
We’ve seen progressive and Democrat Socialist candidates unseat incumbents that are considered more moderate or centrist.
Do you support the campaigns of democratic socialists?
On the age of elected officials
The rise of progressivism on the left coincides with a push to go younger in congress.
The average age of a U.S. senator is 65. You’ve been in congress for 45 years. Do you think there’s an age problem in Washington?
KVAL – Wyden faces questions on wildfire funding, Iran war intelligence and party divides