Wyden Firsts: Defending Cherished Civil Rights and Liberties

Ron was the first to win Senate floor fights that changed policy on end of life care. As a result people, not the government, are empowered to make end of life care decisions. Ron conducted two successful filibusters including protecting Oregon’s Death with Dignity law. These filibusters also blocked then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist who sought to establish a precedent for the government taking control of these difficult family decisions. Ron successfully championed the principle of citizen self determination.

Ron was the first to propose nationwide vote-by-mail legislation in 2002, years ahead of his time. Now with the urgency of making sure that elections are safe during a pandemic or other emergencies, Ron’s ideas are picking up bipartisan support. The voting machine lobby has battled Ron’s ideas for years, but he continues to oppose the powerful lobby and vote tech companies that operate with a dangerous, open connection to the internet. Ron has made it clear, as the nation’s first United States Senator elected entirely by mail, that he will keep pushing for vote-by-mail until the rest of the country has the chance to vote the Oregon Way.