Politics

[Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Friday responded to President Obama’s announcement that he will work with Congress to improve oversight of government surveillance programs. Leahy is the lead Democratic coauthor of the bipartisan USA FREEDOM Act, and earlier this week presided over a hearing featuring all five members of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies to discuss their recent recommendations to overhaul the government’s surveillance authorities.]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 – A group of senators today asked network television executives why there has been “shockingly little discussion” about global warming on Sunday morning broadcast network news and interview programs.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) cited a new Media Matters for America  which found that only 27 minutes of air time was devoted to discussions about climate change during all of last year on Meet the Press, This Week, Face the Nation and Fox News Sunday – combined.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 – The National Security Agency director, responding to an inquiry by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), did not rule out collecting intelligence on members of Congress.

“In recent months, the American people have learned that a record of virtually every telephone call made in the United States is placed in an NSA database, that as many as 35 foreign leaders – including some of our strongest allies – have had their cell phones monitored, and that the NSA has intercepted Americans’ emails and monitored their Internet traffic,” Sanders said.

*Updated* (view *Update* added to third paragraph)

Last Monday (December 30, 2013)  Governor Peter Shumlin announced his newly established initiative to address matters of poverty within Vermont, which he dubbed “Pathways Out of Poverty” and includes a Council that will meet three times a year (membership list, here).

News coverage can be found, here (via WCAX – Channel 3 TV – News; includes video; 12/30/2013); here (via VPR News; 12/30/2013); here (via vtdigger; 12/31/2013); and, here (via Times Argus; 12/31/2013).

In addition, read the set of anti-poverty advocacy and service provider coalition priority recommendations submitted to Governor Shumlin (dated: September 23, 2013; via Vermont Public Radio), here. *Update*: View a digital copy of the official Executive Order for the formation of the POoP Council (via Google Drive; no sign in required), here.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 3 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today asked the National Security Agency director whether the agency has monitored the phone calls, emails and Internet traffic of members of Congress and other elected officials.

“Has the NSA spied, or is the NSA currently spying, on members of Congress or other American elected officials?” Sanders asked in a letter to Gen. Keith Alexander, the NSA director. “ ‘Spying’ would include gathering metadata on calls made from official or personal phones, content from websites visited or emails sent, or collecting any other data from a third party not made available to the general public in the regular course of business?”

BURLINGTON, Vt., Dec. 31 – With minimum wages set to go up on New Year’s Day in Vermont and 12 other states, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today renewed his call for an increase in the federal minimum wage.

“States and communities are not waiting for Congress to raise the minimum wage. They are doing the right thing because the simple truth is that working people cannot survive on the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, or $8 an hour or $9 an hour. If people work 40 hours a week, they deserve not to live in dire poverty,” Sanders said.

BURLINGTON, Vt., – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that Congress must restore unemployment benefits that expire Saturday for 1.3 million Americans, including some 600 Vermonters, who have been out of work for longer than 26 weeks.

Unless Congress acts, jobless benefits will lapse during the first half of 2014 for an additional 1.9 million people, including another 2,300 Vermonters.

“It is not only immoral to cut off help for workers struggling to find jobs, it is also bad economics,” Sanders said. “At a time when long-term unemployment is near a record level, cutting benefits will hurt the rest of the economy and cause even more jobs to disappear.”

“To Defeat Oligarchy, I Would Run for President” (Bernie Sanders)

Latest interview with senator from Vermont shows that his reluctance to run would be outweighed by the scale of unaddressed crises and ignored issues

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 – The Senate set a vote for late tonight on a Department of Defense bill that would authorize $625 billion for the military. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he will vote “no” and issued the following statement:

“At a time when the United States has a $17.2 trillion national debt and when we spend almost as much on defense as the rest of the world combined, the time is long overdue for us to take a hard look at the waste, cost overruns and financial mismanagement that have plagued the huge Defense Department for years.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 – Vermont today won a $37 million federal grant for a statewide, pre-kindergarten program at public schools.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate education committee, worked closely with federal officials and Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration to secure the grant for early childhood education.

Sanders said, “Psychologists tell us that, in terms of human development, the most important years are birth through four years of age. Yet, in terms of early childhood education, our nation does a very inadequate job in making quality pre-kindergarten education available to working families. This major federal grant will significantly improve early childhood education in our state and better prepare our kids for school and the challenges and opportunities of life. I am very appreciative that the Department of Education provided Vermont with this major grant.”

Rutland, VT. (December 18th, 2013)- Rep. Peter Welch issued the following statement after it was reported that Rutland’s Gift of Life Marathon blood drive collected 2,337 pints of blood, beating the national record for a single community in one day.

“In the end, it wasn’t even close. Yesterday, Rutland showed Vermont and the nation that it has heart — big time heart. And it demonstrated what a community can accomplish when its residents work together on a shared goal,” said Welch.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after a federal judge declared that the bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records by the National Security Agency is likely to violate the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches and probably is not effective in fighting terrorism:

“I applaud the D.C. District Court’s ruling today on the NSA surveillance program. In my view, the NSA is out of control and operating in an unconstitutional manner. Today’s ruling is an important first step toward reining in this agency but we must go further. I will be working as hard as I can to pass the strongest legislation possible to end the abuses by the NSA and other intelligence agencies.”

Contact: Michael Briggs (202) 224-5141

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 – The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs today advanced legislation to expand access to health care and dental care at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The panel also approved a package of other bills, including measures to help veterans find jobs and shield veterans from benefit disruptions in the event of another government shutdown.

“I am proud that we are making good progress in improving and expanding health care and other benefits for the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our country,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the committee chairman.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today welcomed news that the U.S. Postal Service reported an operating profit of $600 million for the 2013 fiscal year.

“During the last 12 months, the Postal Service made a profit of $600 million picking up and delivering mail and packages to every household and business in America. The amazing thing is that they did this without receiving one dime from the taxpayers of this country. This is great news for the American people and I commend the workers at the Postal Service for making this happen,” Sanders said.

Washington, D.C. (November 14th, 2013)— At a Congressional oversight hearing today, Rep. Peter Welch questioned agency officials in charge of border crossings about the NEXUS program that allows for expedited processing for Vermonters and Canadian visitors. Vermonters have contacted Rep. Welch to tell him that it can still take up to 30-45 minutes to get across the border even after they have paid out-of-pocket and gone through the trouble to get a NEXUS card. Rep. Welch emphasized that long wait times at the Canadian border do real economic harm to our state’s economy. :

BURLINGTON, Vt., – Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, issued the following statement in advance of Monday’s observance of Veterans Day:

“As we honor our nation’s veterans, we must realize the important debt we owe them, a debt we can never truly repay. We must not forget that the true cost of war goes far beyond dollars and cents. Since World War II, more than 500,000 Americans have lost their lives in war. Millions more have received disability ratings by the VA. As a nation, we have a moral obligation to provide for the wounded and ensure that all veterans receive every benefit they have earned and deserve.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) welcomed today’s 64-32 Senate vote in favor of a bill to prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

“I am very pleased that the Senate has taken this important step toward making America the democratic and inclusive society it should be,” Sanders said. “Today’s vote was a long-overdue victory in the struggle to end workplace discrimination against gay and transgender Americans.”

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today announced that the federal government designated three new community health centers in Vermont to increase from eight to 11 the number of health centers that will provide primary care for some 163,000 patients throughout the state.

“This is a huge step forward for health care in Vermont in providing high-quality, affordable primary care, dental care, low-cost prescription drugs and mental health counseling to people throughout Vermont,” said Sanders, chairman of a Senate subcommittee that oversees primary health care.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement tonight after the Senate voted 61-30 to advance a bill that would prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans:

“I am very pleased that the Senate took a step closer to protecting gays from workplace discrimination. Vermont has prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation since 1992. It’s been illegal to discriminate against transgender Vermonters since 2007.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 – A Senate committee today advanced legislation by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to reauthorize the Older Americans Act, which supports Meals on Wheels and other services for the country’s rapidly-growing population of seniors.

The 5-year reauthorization sent to the Senate floor by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was cosponsored by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman, and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the ranking member. Sanders chairs the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging.

First passed by Congress in 1965, the Older Americans Act provides essential services for seniors like nutrition programs, job training, caregiver support, transportation, preventive health services and protection from abuse and financial exploitation.