Wyden, Brown and Warren Urge Labor Department to Help State Unemployment Insurance Programs Transition Away from Private Facial Recognition Contractors
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., with committee members Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., today urged the Labor Department to take steps toward ensuring state unemployment insurance programs are able to securely verify their applicants’ identities without relying on private contractors like ID.me that employ facial recognition. […]
Wyden Statement at Finance Committee Hearing on Protecting Youth Mental Health: Identifying and Addressing Barriers to Care
During this morning’s hearing on the youth mental health epidemic, the committee has an opportunity to build on last week’s excellent discussion with Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy. Last Tuesday, Dr. Murthy told us that mental health problems often show up first when people are young, but the average delay between the onset of mental health […]
Finance Committee to Convene Hearing on Tax Filing Season, IRS Customer Service Challenges
WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Thursday, February 17, will convene a hearing on the tax filing season and IRS challenges to providing customer service. The witnesses at next Thursday’s hearing will be: Erin M. Collins, National Taxpayer Advocate, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC Jessica Lucas-Judy, Director, Strategic Issues, United States […]
Wyden Announces Support for Robert Califf to Lead FDA
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued a statement of support for Dr. Robert Califf, nominated to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “Too many families and taxpayers are paying sky-high prices for drugs that still haven’t been shown to have any clinical benefit, even as companies […]
Wyden Statement at Finance Committee Hearing on HHS Nominees
This morning the Finance Committee meets to discuss three nominations for important roles in the Biden administration. First up, January Contreras is President Biden’s nominee to serve as Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Children and Families. This role is all about overseeing programs that deal with caring for some of the most vulnerable […]
Finance Committee to Convene Next Hearing to Discuss Youth Mental Health Care
WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., will convene a hearing on Tuesday, February 15th to continue discussing challenges facing young people and families related to youth mental health care. The hearing, titled “Protecting Youth Mental Health: Part II – Identifying and Addressing Barriers to Care,” will be held virtually. Earlier today, the […]
Wyden Statement at Finance Committee Hearing on Youth Mental Health Care
On behalf of Senator Crapo and myself, it’s our hope that this morning’s hearing on the state of mental health for our youth serves as a wake up call. Millions of young Americans are struggling under a mental health epidemic. Struggling in school. Struggling with addiction or isolation. Struggling to make it from one day […]
Finance Committee Announces Next Steps on Mental Health Effort
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) today outlined the committee’s next steps as it continues to work to address the shortfalls in America’s mental health care system. “With today’s hearing, the Finance Committee is ramping up our legislative efforts as a group. Several of our members have graciously agreed to partner […]
IRS Plans to Transition Away from ID.me Facial Recognition
Washington, D.C. — Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released the following statement after the Treasury Department informed his office it is in the process of transitioning away from using the private facial recognition service ID.me to verify IRS.gov accounts: “The Treasury Department has made the smart decision to direct the IRS to […]
Wyden Calls on IRS To End Use of Facial Recognition For Online Accounts
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called on the Internal Revenue Service to end the use of facial recognition software for users to access their tax information on IRS.gov, he wrote in a letter to Commissioner Charles Rettig today. “The IRS does not use facial recognition for tax filing or to […]