Greg Walden
Ranking Member of theHouse Energy and Commerce Committee
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2021
Preceded by	Frank Pallone
Succeeded by	Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Chair of theHouse Energy and Commerce Committee
In office January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Fred Upton
Succeeded by	Frank Pallone
Chair of theNational Republican Congressional Committee
In office January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2017
Leader	John Boehner Paul Ryan
Preceded by	Pete Sessions
Succeeded by	Steve Stivers
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOregon's2nd district
In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2021
Preceded by	Bob Smith
Succeeded by	Cliff Bentz
Member of theOregon Senate from the28th district
In office January 1995 – January 1997
Preceded by	Wes Cooley
Succeeded by	Ted Ferrioli
Member of theOregon House of Representatives from the56th district
In office January 1989 – January 1995
Preceded by	Wayne Fawbush
Succeeded by	Bob Montgomery
Personal details
Born	Gregory Paul Walden (1957-01-10)January 10, 1957 (age 68) The Dalles, Oregon, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mylene Walden ​ (m. 1982)​
Children	1
Education	University of Oregon (BS)
Greg Walden's voice Walden opens aHouse Energy and Commerce Committee hearing onFacebook Recorded April 11, 2018

Gregory Paul Walden (born January 10, 1957) is an American politician who served as theU.S. representative forOregon's 2nd congressional district from 1999 to 2021. He is aRepublican. Walden is the son of three-term Oregon State RepresentativePaul E. Walden.^[1] In October 2019, Walden announced that he would not run for reelection in2020.^[2]

Walden was born inThe Dalles, Oregon, the son of Elizabeth (née McEwen) andPaul Ernest Walden.^[3] He earned aBachelor of Science degree at theUniversity of Oregon in 1981.^[4] Before being elected to Congress, Walden owned and ran radio stations.

Walden served as press secretary and chief of staff to CongressmanDenny Smith from 1981 to 1987. He was elected to theOregon House of Representatives in 1988 and served in the House until 1995, when he was appointed to theOregon State Senate to fill a vacancy that opened up whenWes Cooley was elected to the U. S. House. Walden rose to the position of assistant majority leader in the Senate and was considering a bid for Oregon Governor in 1994. But upon discovering that the son he and his wife were expecting had a heart defect, Walden decided to not run for governor or seek reelection to the state senate. Their son died soon after birth.^[5]

Walden was tapped as campaign manager for Cooley's reelection bid, but after Cooley was caught in several lies about his military service, Walden was one of many Republicans who called on Cooley to drop out of the race. Walden went as far as to announce he was running for the 2nd District seat as an independent. But he served as the Oregon chairman ofBob Dole's presidential campaign, and touted his "strong Republican credentials", implying that he would serve as a Republican if elected. Walden's candidacy led to fears that the Democrats could take advantage of a split in the Republican vote and take a seat they hadn't held since 1981.^[6] This ended when Cooley's predecessor,Bob Smith, was called out of retirement.^[7]

Smith did not run for reelection in 1998. Walden easily won the Republican primary and the November general election. His district contains some liberal-leaning communities such asAshland and his hometown, Hood River, but most of it leans heavily Republican, and Walden has been reelected ten times without serious difficulty, never receiving less than 60% of the vote except in 2018, when he received 56%. In 2002, he defeatedDemocratPeter Buckley, who later became a member of the Oregon House of Representatives. In2006, Walden defeated Democratic nomineeCarol Voisin, and in2008 he won a sixth term with 70% of the vote over Democrat Noah Lemas andPacific Green Tristin Mock. After SenatorGordon Smith's defeat in the 2008 elections, Walden became the only Republican representing Oregon in Congress.

On October 28, 2019, Walden announced that he would not run for reelection. He disagreed with PresidentDonald Trump over Trump's attempts to finance hisborder wall project and backed sanctioning Russia despite Trump's resistance. He voted to end the 35-day government shutdown and spoke up about theglobal warming crisis, but supported Trump in theUkraine quid pro quo scandal.^[8]

House SpeakerJohn Boehner chose Walden to be chairman of the House Majority Transition Committee. He served as chairman of the House Republican leadership through most of 2010.^[9]

After the 2012 elections, Walden became chair of theNational Republican Congressional Committee. In July 2014, he announced he would seek a second term as chair, arguing he would help provide continuity in a changing leadership team after the defeat ofHouse Majority LeaderEric Cantor.^[10] He served a second term, the traditional limit for holders of the office, ending in 2016.

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Power

From 2010 to 2011, Walden gave up his seat on the Committee on Energy and Commerce at Republican leadership's request so thatParker Griffith, who had recently switched parties, could take his spot.^[11]

Walden founded the Small Brewers Caucus and the Digital Television Caucus; as of 2007, he was a member of 39congressional caucuses.^[12]

Walden was also a member of the centristRepublican Main Street Partnership,^[14] the Congressional Cement Caucus and theCongressional Western Caucus.^[15]

The following is an incomplete list of legislation Walden has introduced into the House of Representatives.

• Central Oregon Jobs and Water Security Act (H.R. 2640; 113th Congress), a land-use and water bill related to theCrooked River inOregon and theBowman Dam.^[16] H.R. 2640 would modify features of the Crooked River Project in central Oregon, near Prineville, and prioritize how water from the project is allocated.^[17] PresidentBarack Obama signed the bill into law in December 2014.
• Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2013 (H.R. 3675; 113th Congress), a bill that would make a number of changes to procedures that theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) follows in its rule-making processes.^[18] The FCC would have to act in more transparently and accept public input on regulations.^[19] Walden said the bill was written in response, among other things, to a proposed FCC study on the newspaper editorial boards' decisions.^[19] Walden argued that "Americans deserve greater... transparency and accountability from their government," particularly because "an item as controversial as this study made it all the way through the FCC without so much as a commission vote."^[19] He called the study dangerous because it threatened the papers'free speech and freedom of the press rights.^[19]
• Hermiston Reversionary Interest Release Act (H.R. 3366; 113th Congress), a bill that would release the interest of the United States in some land being used forOregon State University's Agricultural Research and Extension Center inHermiston, Oregon.^[20] This would enable the center to relocate without its land being returned to the federal government.^[21] The Bureau of Land Management opposed the bill and it died in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
• STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014 (H.R. 4572; 113th Congress), a bill related to the regulation of satellite broadcasting.^[22]

Walden, whose district office includes theMalheur National Wildlife Refuge, said that although one militant was killed and another wounded in the armed occupation of the refuge, "We can all be grateful that today has ended peacefully, and that this situation is finally over. Now, life in Harney County can begin to return to normal and the community can begin the long process of healing." He complained about allegedly poor federal forest and land management policies during the occupation, and said he would like to see changes to those policies: "We need to foster a more cooperative spirit between the federal agencies and the people who call areas like Harney County home."^[23] On June 27, 2018, Walden pleaded for a pardon forDwight and Steven Hammond, who repeatedly committed arson and threatened federal refuge workers over an 18-year period, saying that the original trial's federal judge,Michael Robert Hogan, said that the mandatory sentence would "shock the conscious [sic]". On July 10, Trump pardoned both men, commuting their sentences to time served.^[24] Steven had been scheduled to be released on June 29, 2019, and Dwight on February 13, 2020.^[25]

Walden and his wife, Mylene, live inHood River with their son Anthony. They participate in local civic groups such as theRotary Club and theChamber of Commerce.^{[citation needed]}

Walden was a licensedamateur (ham) radio operator, W7EQI.^{[citation needed]}

On January 31, 2007, Walden sold Columbia Gorge Broadcasting, which runs five stations in the easternColumbia River Gorge, to Bicoastal Columbia River LLC in order to avoid any conflict of interest that might arise with his congressional duties.^[26]

Walden is anEpiscopalian.^[27] He is a board member forAmerican Edge, a lobbying organization for the technology industry.^[28] In 2022, it was reported inThe Wall Street Journal that Walden was hired byMindbloom, atelemedicine-basedketamine-assisted therapy company, for the purpose oflobbying on telehealth policies.^[29]

Wikiquote has quotations related toGreg Walden.

• Appearances onC-SPAN

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• Profile atVote Smart
• Greg Walden atThe Oregonian

• 1957 births
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