{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=C2B2E49C-725F-4116-AFC3-0C9AA687FC0C", "News August 12", "2013-08-12", "2013", "2013-08", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News August 12\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\tMonday, August 12, 2013\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSenator Sanders The Fed As President Obama weighs a replacement\u00a0 for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke after his term runs out on Jan. 31, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren said the next central banker must address whether the Fed\u2019s top priority is meeting its full-employment mandate, whether to break up \u201ctoo-big-to-fail\u201d banks, whether the deregulation of Wall Street contributed to the recession and say what should be done with $2 trillion that financial institutions have parked at the Fed. Writing in The Huffington Post, Sanders and Warren proposed using those resources to help small- and medium-sized businesses create jobs.\u00a0 LINK\r\nWorld Embassies Open American diplomatic outposts reopened throughout the Middle East on Sunday, easing the sense of imminent danger that has preoccupied the Obama administration since it learned of a possible terrorist attack from communications between two high-ranking officials of Al Qaeda two weeks ago. But the one embassy that remained closed \u2014 in Sana, the capital of Yemen \u2014 underscored the challenges President Obama faces in trying to wind down the nation\u2019s decade-long campaign against Al Qaeda and its affiliates, The New York Times reported. LINK\r\nNational Sentencing Reform to Cut Prison Population Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is set to announce Monday that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences. He is also expected to introduce a policy to reduce sentences for elderly, nonviolent inmates and find alternatives to prison for nonviolent criminals. Justice Department lawyers have worked for months on the proposals, which Holder wants to make the cornerstone of the rest of his tenure, according to The Washington Post. LINK\r\nVermont\r\nDisaster Aid Emergency management officials will hold public meetings this month for Vermont communities that are eligible for federal reimbursement to cover damage from this summer\u2019s rain and flooding. Communities in Caledonia, Chittenden, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington and Windsor counties can submit reimbursement requests to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover 75 percent of the costs of damage to roads and infrastructure from rain and flooding from June 25 to July 11, The Associated Press reported. LINK \r\nTeam Rubicon This past weekend, 23 members of Team Rubicon responded to locations in East Wallingford, Mount Holly and Shrewsbury to clear away wreckage that still remained nearly two years after Tropical Strom Irene. Formed in 2010 to respond to the earthquake in Haiti, the ranks of Team Rubicon \u2014 which includes veterans from the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard \u2014 have grown from six members to more than 10,000, all with the mission to provide disaster relief and perform community service, the Rutland Herald reported. LINK\r\nDeath Law Vermont\u2019s largest hospital likely won\u2019t come up with a policy to implement the state\u2019s new aid-in-dying law until around the end of the year. Dr. Stephen Leffler of Fletcher Allen said the hospital will soon hold the third in a series of meetings to ask medical staff members to offer their views on how best to implement the law, AP reported. LINK\r\nBattle Day Vermont on Friday will celebrate the anniversary of a Revolutionary War battle called the Battle of Bennington with a state holiday to commemorate 1777 battle, in which Gen. John Stark and colonial troops fought British troops to protect military supplies stored in Bennington. But the battle took place in New York, AP reported. LINK", 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=C2B2E49C-725F-4116-AFC3-0C9AA687FC0C"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9644150268286467, "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"}