{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9A19E4A7-FC91-48FB-A151-EE04A50AA48D", ": News August 29", "2013-08-29", "2013", "2013-08", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News August 29\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tThursday, August 29, 2013\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSenator Sanders\r\nDecommissioning Vermont Yankee\u00a0A fight is brewing over the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant's lengthy decommissioning process. Entergy CEO Leo Denault said that if the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission agrees, the plant will be mothballed for up to 60 years while its radioactive components cool down before removal. Sen. Bernie Sanders was among those calling for the decommissioning process to commence as soon as possible,\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0reported. In\u00a0Seven Days, Sanders said the nuclear power plant\u2019s closure will \u201callow Vermont to focus on \u2026 economical sources of sustainable and renewable energy.\u201d\u00a0LINK\r\nEmployee Ownership\u00a0Sen. Sanders is one of the federal government's strongest proponents for employee ownership, according to a\u00a0PBS \u201cNewsHour\u201d online report.\u00a0\u00a0LINK\r\nYouth Jobs\u00a0A youth jobs provision by Sen. Sanders in a Senate-passed immigration bill counters a provision that would bring about 100,000 foreign college students to the United States every year to fill low-wage jobs, a spokesman told\u00a0FoxNews.com. \u201cWe have got to do everything we can to make sure that young Americans have the jobs they need to pay for a college education and to move up the economic ladder,\u201d Sanders said.\u00a0LINK\r\nHealth Care\u00a0\u201cIn about a month, small businesses in Vermont and Vermonters who purchase their own health insurance will begin to enroll in insurance plans offered on Vermont Health Connect. This new and affordable way for many Vermonters to purchase insurance is the key provision of the Affordable Care Act. I was proud to be involved in the passage of this law when I worked as the health policy advisor for Senator Bernie Sanders,\u201d David Reynolds wrote in\u00a0The Caledonian-Record.\u00a0LINK\r\nMoney and Politics\u00a0Many Vermont politicos believe wealthy conservative Bruce Lisman is plotting a challenge to Gov. Peter Shumlin in 2014, Paul Heintz wrote for\u00a0Seven\u00a0Days. Money does not always buy electoral success, Heintz noted, citing another wealthy self-funder who lost in a landslide to Sen. Sanders in 2006.\u00a0LINK\r\nWorld\r\nU.S. Case for Action on Syria\u00a0To bolster its case for a military strike on Syria to an American public deeply skeptical about being drawn into another conflict, the Obama administration will make public, most likely on Thursday, information that officials say will show proof of a large-scale chemical attack by Syrian forces. The White House faces steep hurdles as it prepares to make the most important public intelligence presentation since 2003 when Secretary of State Colin L. Powell made a dramatic and detailed case for war to the United Nations Security Council using intelligence \u2014 later discredited \u2014 about Iraq\u2019s weapons programs,\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nCongress, White House to Confer on Syria\u00a0Senior White House and national security officials will conduct a conference call today with congressional leaders,\u00a0The Associated Pressreported.\u00a0LINK\r\nRussia: Not So Fast\u00a0Russian officials Wednesday accused Western nations of jumping the gun ahead of a possible strike on Syrian military installments,\u00a0The Washington Post\u00a0reported. A British resolution in the United Nations Security Council condemned the Syrian government for using chemical weapons. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov called the resolution premature.\u00a0LINK\r\nArab League on Syria\u00a0Leaders of the Arab world on Tuesday blamed the Syrian government for an apparent chemical weapons attack, but declined to back any retaliatory strike,\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nSyria and Iran Respond\u00a0Syria and Iran responded to escalating war rhetoric Wednesday as the United Kingdom spearheaded an international effort to mobilize nations for a military intervention,\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0reported. Iranian Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi said publicly, \"Any attack on Syria would burn down Israel.\"\u00a0LINK\r\nNational\r\nTNationwide Strike Today by Low-Wage Workers\u00a0Fast-food workers across the United States are expected to stage their largest strike to date on Thursday in an almost year-long campaign to raise wages in the service sector. Employees of McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and others have pledged to walk off their jobs in 50 cities from Boston to Alameda, Calif., organizers say. They are expected to be joined by retail employees at stores owned by Macy's, Sears and Dollar Tree in some cities,\u00a0Reuters\u00a0reported.\r\nDebt-Limit Battle\u00a0House Speaker John A. Boehner is promising a \u201cwhale of a fight\u201d this fall. But a fight over what? That is the $16.7 trillion question as Congress barrels toward another showdown over the federal debt limit.\u00a0House Republicans are trying to figure out how to finesse the deadlines looming after lawmakers return to Washington on Sept. 9. Unless Congress acts, the federal government will shut down on Oct. 1 and, according to the Obama administration, the nation will run out of cash to pay its bills in mid-October, according to\u00a0The Washington Post.\u00a0LINK\r\nKing's Unrealized Economic Dream\u00a0Paying tribute to King's speech, President Barack Obama called on America to come together to address \"the great unfinished business\" of the original March on Washington \u2013 economic justice,\u00a0CBS News\u00a0reported. \"The men and women who gathered 50 years ago were not there in search of some abstract idea,\" Mr. Obama said from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where King stood 50 years before him. \"They were there seeking jobs as well as justice. Not just the absence of oppression, but the presence of economic opportunity. For what does it profit a man, Dr. King would ask, to sit at an integrated lunch counter if he can't afford the meal?\"\u00a0LINK\r\nThe Fed\u00a0A broad coalition of opponents to Larry Summers' potential nomination for the Federal Reserve Chairmanship are gearing up for an aggressive campaign against his would-be Senate confirmation,\u00a0The Huffington Post\u00a0reported. Economists, women's groups, high-level donors and online advocates, such as MoveOn.org, CREDO and Democracy for America are joining forces to oppose Summers' nomination for the post.\u00a0LINK\r\nCorporate Welfare\u00a0More than one-third of the nation's highest paid chief executives were subsidized by American taxpayers according to a new report cited by\u00a0The Huffington Post. \"Financial bailouts offer just one example of how a significant number of America's CEO pay leaders owe much of their good fortune to America's taxpayers,\" the report said. \"Government contracts offer another.\"\u00a0LINK\r\nFederal Workers and Obamacare\u00a0Sen. Dean Heller asked the Office of Management and Budget to require all congressional staff to get health care through the new exchanges. The request comes one day after Sens. Michael B. Enzi and David Vitter announced legislation to require senior executive branch officials and all congressional staff to get their health care through the Obamacare exchanges,\u00a0Roll Call\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nFort Hood Killer Sentenced to Death\u00a0Nidal Malik Hasan, a Army psychiatrist who killed 13 and wounded 32 in a 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, was sentenced to death Wednesday,\u00a0The Washington Post\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nVermont\r\nIrene Recovery\u00a0The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to be in Waterbury to discuss plans to rebuild the Vermont state office complex made unusable by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene.\r\nFEMA Administrator Craig Fugate will be joined by Gov. Peter Shumlin and Sen. Patrick Leahy to announce the funding plans to repair the complex,\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nChina Trade Trip\u00a0Vermont\u2019s Jay Peak Resort is financing a nine-day trip to China by Gov. Peter Shumlin, Agency of Commerce & Community Development Secretary Lawrence Miller and Becky Fu, the state\u2019s international trade and foreign investment specialist,\u00a0The Caledonian-Record\u00a0reported. Jay Peak co-owner Bill Stenger and project manager Alex MacLean will join the trade delegation. The resort is taking advantage of an investor program that offers green cards to eligible foreigners who invest $500,000 to $1 million in a qualified American business.\u00a0LINK\r\nVeterans\u2019 Memorial\u00a0Construction began Wednesday on South Burlington\u2019s veterans\u2019 memorial, the\u00a0Burlington Free Press\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nTeachers\u2019 Pay Increase\u00a0Burlington School District teachers can expect annual raises averaging 4 percent under a new contract signed Wednesday, the\u00a0Free Press\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9A19E4A7-FC91-48FB-A151-EE04A50AA48D"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8920845575630665, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}