{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=BB77912D-A26B-4764-8805-DB886E39C355", ": News September 5", "2013-09-05", "2013", "2013-09", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News September 5\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, September 5, 2013\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSenator Sanders\r\nSenate Weighs Military Strikes Against Syria\u00a0Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday on\u00a0MSNBC\u00a0that he is \u201ckeeping an open mind\u201d but has \u201cvery deep concerns\u201d about President Obama's proposal to punish Syria with military strikes for using chemical weapons on its own citizens. \u201cWe\u2019ve cut back on education, we\u2019ve cut back on nutrition programs, we\u2019ve thrown kids off Head Start. We have billions to spend on a war but no money to take care of the very pressing needs of the American people. That bothers me a lot,\u201d Sanders told Ed Schultz.\u00a0VIDEO,\u00a0AUDIO\r\nLeaning 'No'\u00a0\u00a0Vermont's delegation remained undecided, but Sanders is concerned that even limited military action might lead to a larger U.S. involvement in Syria's bloody civil war,Vermont Public Radio\u00a0reported. \u201cI worry very much that with this rush into war, the very serious problems facing Vermonters and people all over this country \u2026 will be pushed aside,\u201d Sanders told\u00a0The Vermont Press Bureau. \u201cSo there will be less discussion about creating jobs, less discussion about making college affordable, less discussion about protecting \u2026 Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.\u201d In\u00a0Seven Days\u00a0and\u00a0Politico, Sanders also was said to be leaning against intervention.\u00a0LINK,\u00a0LINK,\u00a0LINK,\u00a0LINK\r\nInternational Loner\u00a0Sen. Sanders said on\u00a0WPTZ-TV\u00a0that he's concerned that the United States would be going into a war almost unilaterally without the support of the United Nations or NATO. \u201cIf we are concerned about international stability... this sets a very dangerous precedent that other countries could use in the future.\u201d\u00a0ABC 22\u00a0said Sanders tweeted his views on the Syrian conflict. \u201cWe have billions to spend on a war but no money to take care of the very pressing needs of the American people.\u201d On\u00a0WCAX-TV, political scientist Eric Davis said Sen. Patrick Leahy is the most likely to vote for letting Obama attack Syria while Sanders has expressed the greatest reservations.\u00a0VIDEO,\u00a0VIDEO,\u00a0VIDEO\r\nSenate Panel Votes for War\u00a0A sharply divided Senate committee voted 10 to 7 on Wednesday to give President Obama authority to use force against Syria. To secure the support of Sen. John McCain, who is viewed as crucial to the authorization\u2019s final passage, the committee toughened some of the language to declare it U.S. policy to \u201cchange the momentum on the battlefield in Syria.\u201d In a statement released after the committee vote, Sen. Sanders listed that appetite for regime change as one of his \"serious reservations\" about action in Syria. \u201cIf that policy prevails, there is no question that it could cost tens of billions of dollars and the possible future involvement of American troops,\u201d Sanders said in\u00a0Talking Points Memo.\u00a0LINK\u00a0\u00a0\r\nEditorial Backs Rebels\u00a0Vermont\u2019s congressional delegation \u201cmay well be standing against the opinion of a majority of Vermonters if they support Obama\u2019s resolution. But not doing so may be to initiate a policy of fatal passivity,\u201d according to a\u00a0Rutland Herald\u00a0editorial that came down on the side of a strategy \u201cdesigned to dovetail with the needs of the secular, anti-radical rebels who are locked in competition with al-Qaida-allied Islamists.\u201d\u00a0LINK\r\nCaregivers for Veterans\u00a0The Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday it supports expanding a caregivers benefit for seriously wounded veterans if Congress come up with the billions needed to pay for the expansion,\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0reported. Sen. Sanders sponsored a bill to enroll an additional 70,000 caregivers in the program by 2016. Under the legislation, any veteran with a \"serious-service connected disability\" would qualify for caregiver assistance.\u00a0LINK\r\nWorld\r\nU.S. Dismisses U.N. Inspections in Syria\u00a0The Obama administration has asserted that the findings by United Nations experts of alleged chemical attacks no longer matter, citing its own evidence that the Syrian government was behind the attack last month in the Damascus suburbs. Few lawmakers have pressed the administration to wait for the inspectors to release their results. Weapons experts say the on-the-ground analysis could confirm key forensic details about the attack, possibly bolster the case against the Syrian government and help rally international support for action, according to\u00a0The Washington Post.\u00a0LINK\r\nObama Asserts Right to Strike Without Congress\u00a0President Barack Obama told reporters in Sweden he retains the right to order military strikes against Syria even if Congress does not authorize them,\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0reported. \"I don't believe that I was required to take this to Congress. But I did not take this to Congress because I think it's an empty exercise,\" he said.\u00a0LINK\r\nSpies Missed Chemical Strike\u00a0United States intelligence officials failed to detect the Syrian regime's plans for a massive chemical weapons attack in the days ahead of the strike,\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0reported. Although intelligence agencies had damning intercepts on-file, those communications had not been \"processed\" ahead of the attacks, which killed a reported 1,429 Syrians.\u00a0LINK\r\nAssad Ally Defects\u00a0General Ali Habib, a former Syrian defense minister, defected from Syria on Wednesday with western help,\u00a0Reuters\u00a0reported. Habib had been under house arrest since he resigned in protest in 2011, and he is the most senior member of Assad's regime to defect.\u00a0LINK\r\nHalting Aid to Egypt Could Cost U.S.\u00a0Halting military aid to Egypt could cost the United States billions of dollars in fees with defense contractors, according to a\u00a0Reuters\u00a0report.\u00a0LINK\r\nDoubts on Japan's Fukushima Cleanup\u00a0Accidents, miscalculations and delays have plagued the Japanese government's plans to clean up the site of a destructive nuclear plant disaster in Fukushima,\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0reported. Authorities have vowed to one day allow evacuated residents to return to the area, but remaining contamination has led many experts to doubt these efforts.\u00a0LINK\r\nNational\r\nSenate to Return Briefly on Friday\u00a0In an effort to move the resolution authorizing the use of force against Syria to the floor as quickly as possible, the Senate is expected to return for a brief session on Friday. The short session would allow the filing of the use of force resolution, a senior Senate Democratic aide said. The move would allow the measure to be on the calendar by the time the Senate really returns on Sept. 9. Majority Leader Harry Reid could then move to proceed and file a motion to limit debate, setting up a first test vote on Sept. 11,\u00a0Roll Call\u00a0reported online.\u00a0LINK\r\nSyria Debate Is Crowding Other Issues on Calendar\u00a0The intensifying debate over military action in Syria is threatening to consume the limited amount of time that Congress had allocated this month for dealing with a budget clash and the rest of President Obama\u2019s domestic agenda. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to reconvene Congress on Monday after their annual summer break. With a budget and debt limit clash looming in October, the legislative window had already narrowed for any action on immigration, energy efficiency, a new Federal Reserve chairman and an examination of surveillance laws. Now, with Obama\u2019s surprise request Congressional authorization for a Syria strike, the political casualties are mounting quickly,\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nObama Faces Resistance from Progressives\u00a0A bloc of several dozen liberals who are among President Barack Obama's closest allies in Congress is now becoming an obstacle to congressional approval of his plan for airstrikes in Syria. On Wednesday the White House chief of staff, Denis R. McDonough, convened a conference call for members of the House Progressive Caucus. \u201cI think a lot of us believe there\u2019s a legitimate use of military action where a state has used chemical weapons,\u201d Rep. Peter Welch told\u00a0The New York Times. \u201cOn the other hand, there is a very compelling question about what the effect of that will be. Will it make the situation better or worse?\u201d \u00a0Welch said the question became even more complicated for Democrats because war \u201cruns against the grain\u201d of where they have stood for the last decade.\u00a0LINK\r\nClinton: Improve, Don't Repeal Obamacare\u00a0Former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday urged opponents of the Affordable Care Act to stop fighting for its repeal,\u00a0Politico\u00a0reported. Clinton said he thinks Congress should work to improve the law instead.\u00a0LINK\r\nVA Benefits Extended to Gay Couples\u00a0Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that the Obama administration would provide veterans' benefits to married same-sex couples in light of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the issue,\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0reported. Federal law on veterans' benefits defines marriage as between people of opposite sex, but Holder called the continued enforcement of the law \"no longer appropriate.\"\u00a0LINK\r\nThe Fed\u00a0President Obama still has his former economic adviser Larry Summers in mind for the Fed chair position, according to a\u00a0New York Times\u00a0report. Obama's one remaining concern about nominating Summers for the job is the potential for a heated Senate battle. Liberal democrats view Summers as instrumental in the effort to deregulate big banks during the Clinton administration.\u00a0LINK\r\nVermont\r\nJobs\u00a0A pharmaceutical company has expanded its plant in St. Albans, Vt. Mylan Technologies held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for an 85,000 square-foot addition that will add 160 new jobs to the 591 people the maker of transdermal patches already employs in Franklin County,\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0reported.\u00a0\u00a0\r\nHealth Exchange\u00a0Vermont's online health insurance marketplace, Vermont Health Connect, is on track for its upcoming launch, according to the\u00a0Burlington Free Press. Vermonters will have to start using the exchange to purchase healthcare starting October 1.\u00a0LINK\r\nF-35s\u00a0Opponents of the basing of F-35 jets at Burlington's airport claim the city has the authority to stop the Air Force from bringing the planes, the\u00a0Free Press\u00a0reported. \u201cBurlington owns the airport,\u201d F-35 opponent Chris Hurd said during a Tuesday news conference in downtown Burlington. \u201cBurlington is the landlord. Burlington can tell its tenant not to base the F-35 at the airport.\u201d\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=BB77912D-A26B-4764-8805-DB886E39C355"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0774698350578547, "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"}