Statesman Journal mini-questionnaire for Nov.

2, 2010, General Election

Thank you for responding to this questionnaire, which is for use by Statesman Journal
Editorial Board members in evaluating U.S. House and Senate candidates for potential
endorsements. Your answers also will be shared with reporters, may be published in the
print newspaper and may be posted on StatesmanJournal.com.

Deadline: Please return the questionnaire by 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 4. Earlier is even
better. E-mail it to our Editorial Board address: dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com.

Length: Feel free to limit each answer to 75 words or fewer, but that’s not a requirement.

Questions: Contact Editorial Page Editor Dick Hughes, 503-399-6727,

dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com, or Editorial Assistant Nancy Harrington, 503-589-
6944, nharring@StatesmanJournal.com.

Congress

Name: Ron Wyden

Position: U.S. Senator

Party affiliation: Democratic

Age: 61

Number of years you have lived in the state: 38

Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of

grown children): Nancy Bass Wyden, Ava Rose Wyden &William Peter Wyden (twins
age 2), Adam Wyden, Lilly Wyden

Current employer/job: U.S. Senator

Employment, military and volunteer history:

Instructor on Gerontology, University of Oregon; Former Director, Oregon Legal

Services for the Elderly; Co-founder, Oregon Gray Panthers

Civic/religious/other local involvement:

American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter Board of Advisors; Oregon Business Plan
Leadership Committee Chair; Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics Advisory Board

Please list all public offices to which you’ve been elected, and when:
U.S. Congress, 1980-1996

Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when:

Other political and government experience:

How the public can reach your campaign:

Mail address: P.O. Box 3498, Portland, OR 97208

E-mail address: wyden@wyden.net

Web site URL: http://www.standtallforamerica.com

Phone: (503) 230-7115

Fax: (503) 230-1128

How much will your general election campaign cost? (Please be specific about your
campaign budget, not “as much as we can raise.”)

Between $ 4 – 6 million

Who are your top campaign contributors/lenders? (Please list at least the current top five
and their total dollar amounts.)

Joseph II, Joseph III, Jomae and Janine Gonyea, $18,400

Arlene, Harold, Jordan Schnitzer $14,400
Bill & Trish Smith, $9,600
Judith & Stephen Gambee, $9,400
Sid & Karen DeBoers, $9,400

Who are your key political advisers? (Please identify at least your top three.)
Josh Kardon, Lisa Grove, Jim Margolis

Key endorsements you’ve received:

Bipartisan endorsements from political and community leaders in every Oregon county.

1. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, been disciplined by a professional licensing
board/organization or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so, please give the
details.

No

2. Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your taxes or other major
accounts, or been sued personally or professionally? If so, please give the details.
No

3. If you are an incumbent, explain why voters should re-elect you. If you are a
challenger, explain why voters should elect you:

I got my start in politics a little differently than most, creating a free legal clinic to help
seniors get the respect and rights they deserve. That is the same approach I’ve taken to
the U.S. Senate, working to make sure every person receives the respect and dignity they
deserve. Washington today has lost sight of that mission. Instead of focusing on what
really matters, like getting our economy on track and putting people to work, far too
many in Washington are only focused on what matters to Wall Street, the defense
industry, big oil, and a host of other special interests.

I believe there is a different way. We must build on what we have in common, instead of
cynically exploiting our differences. It is vital that we recognize that we have a duty as
Americans to attempt to find common ground to resolve our country’s most pressing
challenges. That’s the approach I take to the Senate and why I ask for your support to
move forward with the changes we need for the good of the country.

4. What are the key differences between you and your opponent(s)?

To change Washington, we can’t get there by adding even more people to the U.S. Senate
who will vote against Oregon’s values. The differences between my opponent and me are
clear. I voted twice against the 700 billion Wall Street bailouts – he supported them. I led
a bipartisan effort to fight against the billions in taxpayer-funded bonuses for Wall Street
– Mr. Huffman wrote an editorial in the Oregonian defending those bonuses. Mr.
Huffman is campaigning on the platform to gamble Social Security retirement funds in
the stock market. I oppose the privatization of Social Security. And while I was bringing
timber companies and conservationists together to achieve the first forest compromise in
30 years that will restore millions of acres of Oregon’s forests and put people back to
work, Mr. Huffman was opposing it. Obstructionism like this won’t help Oregon. It’s
just more of the same. I have never forgotten in the Senate what I learned as an advocate
for seniors. Stand up for people and always fight for what’s right.

5. What specific steps would you advocate to improve Oregon’s economy and create
jobs?

We must reform the preposterous tax code by ending incentives to outsource jobs
overseas, improve our global competitiveness, and provide tax relief to small businesses
and the middle class. Mr. Huffman’s former employer, the Heritage Foundation,
calculated that my bipartisan tax reform plan would create 2 million jobs a year.

Additionally, we need to continue pushing to make Oregon a leader in the growing clean
energy economy. Using incentives and job training programs, Oregon is creating jobs
with our rich supplies of wind, wave, solar, geothermal and biomass energy. According
to a recent Pew Trust study, Oregon now leads the nation in green jobs per capita. We
must now capitalize on our head start.

Oregon also needs to keep up the work to plug into the innovation economy. I secured the
investments in fiber optic infrastructure that brought Google to The Dalles. I served as
the champion of nanotech and micro-technology research in Oregon in order to make us a
leader in this growing industry. That work is now translating into private-sector startups
like Home Dialysis Plus, which just announced an infusion of $50 million in private
capital to create jobs. We should continue these efforts to make Oregon a hub for
research and production in these growing economic sectors like nanotechnology,
biosciences and e-commerce.

6. What specific steps would you advocate to balance the federal budget?

We cannot simply pass this debt on to future generations. That is why I’ve fought a
sometimes lonely battle against wasteful spending, like the $700 billion Wall Street
Bailouts and no-bid contracts for Iraqi reconstruction. I voted for the Bipartisan Task
Force for Responsible Fiscal Action and I am currently working to make sure that waste
in the defense budget is included in those efforts to reduce the deficit because no area of
spending should be exempt from consideration. Instead of getting enmeshed into tired,
old partisan debates about whether to extend tax cuts to the most fortunate few in our
society, I am working towards comprehensive tax reform that will provide tax relief to
the middle class and small businesses, create jobs and reduce the deficit.

7. What policies would you advocate that the U.S. follow in the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq?

Our troops should not remain in Afghanistan or Iraq indefinitely. We must eliminate safe
havens for terrorists and stable nations are an important ingredient in the effort. But I am
deeply concerned about us becoming ensnared in an open-ended commitment of forces
and resources when we should be looking to bring our troops home and prioritize the
rebuilding of America.

I support the drawdown of troops in Iraq and requiring President Obama to adopt a
similar flexible timetable for the withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan and the
transition to a counter-terrorism strategy for the region. I support the authority of the
President to determine the benchmarks or conditions for withdrawal, but as we have seen
in Iraq, a clear timetable will encourage local officials to stand up and take responsibility
for their future security and well being.

We also need increased oversight of the use of our tax dollars in Afghanistan through the
creation of a special inspector general to crackdown on waste, fraud and abuse by private
contractors.

8. What changes would you advocate in federal tax policy, such as the Bush-era tax cuts
and other tax policies?
Any effort to extend the Bush-era tax cuts should only be done temporarily in order to
create space for Congress to consider and pass comprehensive tax reform immediately.
Simply talking about the rates really limits what Congress can do. For example, my
bipartisan proposal with Judd Gregg (R-NH) demonstrates, by simplifying the tax code
and cutting a lot of the breaks for special interests, we can afford to provide real tax relief
for middle class families well beyond what a simple extension of the Bush-era tax cuts
will achieve. Moreover, reforming the tax code also makes it possible to lower the
corporate rate and offer tax incentives for small businesses, steps that the conservative
Heritage Foundation -- Jim Huffman's former employer -- predicts could create as many
as two million jobs a year

9. What specific steps, if any, would you advocate to improve government openness and
transparency?

I have been a strong advocate for transparency and accountability in our government. I
voted to eliminate anonymous earmarks and require the publication of all earmarks, and
did so voluntarily for a decade before. I am co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation that will
abolish “secret” holds in the Senate. There are times where a Senator has a legitimate
reason to hold up a bill, but he or she should be willing to state that reason in public.
Anonymous holds allow a single individual to stop the entire process and not even give a
reason for doing so.

10. What changes, if any, would you advocate in the structure, scope or role of the federal
government?

I want to shrink the reach of the federal government into our individual freedoms, like the
freedom to marry, the freedom to choose, and the freedom to fight and die for one’s
country. To address this ever increasing influence of money in politics, I believe it is
time to reconsider Senator Fritz Hollings’ proposal that we amend the U.S. Constitution
to allow stronger limits on the size of campaign contributions.

11. What changes, if any, would you advocate in health-care legislation, oversight and
funding?

I have said consistently that the reform bill passed this year cannot be the end of our
efforts to fix health care. One area of the law I am particularly focused on reforming is in
giving states more flexibility to chart their own course in health reform. I was able to
include in the package a state innovation waiver to allow Oregon and other states to
pursue their own approach to reform as long as it ensures for the same level of quality
and coverage as the federal law requires. I am already working to move up the timetable
on the state flexibility provision so states can act immediately to pick the approach that
best meets their needs.

12. What changes, if any, would you advocate in federal timber policy as it affects
Oregon?
Current federal timber policy is failing Oregon’s communities and forests. The stalemate
over federal forest lands is creating real fire danger risks and costing us good jobs. I’ve
brought together environmentalists and timber companies to broker a balanced plan for
our eastside forests that will reduce fire danger over millions of acres, preserve our
natural treasures and put people back to work. It is time for the Obama administration to
throw their support by the bill so we can help struggling communities east of the
Cascades. It is my intention to use that model of partnership to kick-start discussions on
the Westside forests. The recent administration decision to take another year to review
management of Westside forests represents unacceptable delay.

13. How should Congress respond to illegal immigration?

It is time to address immigration in a common sense, balanced way that closes the
borders for once and for all and finally enforces the laws currently on the books. This
can only happen if congressional leaders step forward who are willing to work across
party lines and put their nation ahead of party. I have a history of doing just that, and am
committed to finding a bipartisan solution once again.

14. What social issues, if any, would you advocate that Congress tackle?

It is currently legal for employers to fire someone for being gay or lesbian in thirty states
in our nation. I think it is time for Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination
Act to provide the same workplace protection for sexual orientation that we already
provide for race, gender and religion. And I am glad to see that my opponent agrees with
my position on this issue.

15. What are the lessons of President Obama’s first two years in office?

I think there have been some setbacks, but he’s also shown a lot of potential for being
able to turn around this country and take on the tough challenges we face. He inherited a
slumping economy and two foreign wars and despite that, he’s succeeded in enacting
some important reforms and has done a lot to improve our standing in the world.

16. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How?

A. Tax reform – I have confidence that my bipartisan proposal can help push us towards
the first comprehensive tax reform effort since the 1980s. By cleaning out special interest
tax breaks and simplifying the code, we can cut taxes on middle-class families and small
businesses and end the tax incentives for shipping jobs overseas.

B. Forest policy – Forest policy for Oregon’s national forests has been stuck in neutral
for decades. It has hurt rural economies and greatly increased the risk wildfires pose to
communities and ecosystems. I will continue to push forward in adopting the Eastside
Forest plan to bring a balanced approach to those forests and I also want to use that plan
as a partnership model to bring folks together west of the Cascades.
 C. Oregon Health Reform – The waiver I successfully added in the national health care
legislation will allow Oregon to develop its own model of reform that will best meet our
needs. But currently that waiver will not be allowed to take effect until 2017 – three years
after the federal plan is fully implemented. I will fight until the job is done to move up
that waiver timeline so Oregon can move directly to implementing our own approach to
health care reform.

17. What do you see as other important issues?

I continue to work on a host of issues in the Senate that are important to Oregon. I am
deeply concerned about the future of education and I believe the federal government must
be a constructive partner in improving K-12 and higher education. I remain on guard
about protecting our civil liberties from intrusion by the government. And I continue to
be focused on taking care of our men and women in uniform and their families. I have
proposed a “soft landing” package that would let National Guard and Reserves members
remain on active duty pay up to 90 days after returning from a deployment so that they
can use that time to reintegrate into civilian life, receive medical treatment or find a job.
This is a critical step we can take to support our returning heroes and I won’t stop until
the job is done.

18. Would you support a federal shield law for journalists?

Yes. The press serves a critical role in our nation by holding government and the rich and
powerful accountable to the people. Reporters deserve the same rights to protect their
sources at the federal level that we already grant them here in the state of Oregon. That is
why I’ve voted in support of a federal shield law in the past and will do so again.

19. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you
want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign?

No.

20. As a candidate, your positions on statewide ballot measures are relevant to voters,
even though you’re running for federal office. Please indicate whether you support or
oppose each of the measures.

Measure 70: Veterans’ loans Yes No

Measure 71: Annual legislative sessions Yes No

Measure 72: State bonding authority Yes No

Measure 73: Sentencing Yes No

Measure 74: Medical marijuana Yes No

Measure 75: Multnomah County casino Yes No

Measure 76: Lottery funding for parks, habitat Yes No

Thank you for completing this questionnaire and returning it by 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 4 by
e-mail to Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com