{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/120414", "News December 4", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News December 4\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, December 4, 2014\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSenator Sanders\r\nAmerican Economic Agenda\u00a0Sen. Bernie Sanders argued in a Senate speech this week for a bold economic agenda that emphasizes job creation and raising wages,\u00a0The Nation\u2019s John Nichols reported. Sanders is \"doing the Democratic Party, with which he caucuses, a service by issuing some specific proposals, many of which Democrats of all stripes can rally around,\u201d\u00a0John Cassidy of\u00a0The New Yorker\u00a0wrote. LINK,\u00a0LINK\r\nEconomic Agenda\u00a0Sen. Sanders will discuss his agenda Thursday on the Burt Cohen Show\u00a0on\u00a0WCSA-FM\u00a0in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Foster\u2019s Daily Democrat and the Portsmouth Herald reported.\u00a0 LINK, LINK\r\nDrug Prices A new drug holds the potential to cure hepatitis C in tens of thousands of veterans but Department of Veterans Affairs officials told a Senate panel Wednesday that VA\u2019s requested $1.3 billion to buy the drug is only enough to treat about 30,000 of the 114,000 vets who might need it. Sen. Sanders, the veterans committee chairman, criticized Gilead, the drugmaker, for reaping large profits while veterans face possible rationing due to the expense, Stars and Stripes. The drugmaker refused to testify, WFFF-TV and WVNY-TV reported. LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO\r\nMinimum Wage Workers Low-wage federal contract workers in the nation's capital will walk off their jobs today to demand presidential action to win a $15 an hour living wage and a union. Several members of Congress, including Sen. Sanders, will join workers at the strike at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, according to The Associated Press.\r\nEnergy The quest by Montpelier, Vermont, to shift its energy use toward renewable sources has earned it national recognition by the White House as a Climate Action Champion alongside Boston, Seattle and San Francisco. Sen. Sanders said, \u201cVermont is a national leader in transforming our energy system from fossil fuels to clean, sustainable, renewable energy. It is fitting that our state capital has earned this prestigious recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy,\u201d the Times Argus reported. LINK\r\nBudget Sen. Sanders is likely to become the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee next year, after Patty Murray, the current chairwoman, assumes her party\u2019s top spot on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, according to Congressional Quarterly. LINK\r\nC-SPAN\u00a0Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was on\u00a0C-SPAN\u00a0244 days \u2014 more than any other member of Congress \u2014 during the 113th Congress,\u00a0according to an analysis cited by the\u00a0Washington Examiner. Sen. Sanders was No. 16 on the list at 81 days.\u00a0LINK,\u00a0LINK\u00a0 \u00a0\r\nWorld\r\nNorth Korean Hackers Target Sony\u00a0Investigators believe North Korea launched a recent cyber attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment in apparent retaliation for a comedy film that includes a plot to assassinate Kim Jong-un,\u00a0The Washington Post\u00a0reported.\u00a0The incident marks the first known time North Korea has directed a disruptive cyber attack against a U.S. company \u2014 or any target outside South Korea, said an individual familiar with the case.\u00a0LINK\r\nNational\r\nUnsteady Incomes Keep Millions Behind on Bills A survey by the Federal Reserve found more than 30 percent of Americans reported spikes and dips in their incomes because of irregular work schedules, joblessness or seasonal work, according to a New York Times report. LINK\r\nNo Indictment for Police Chokehold\u00a0A New York City grand jury has decided not to charge a police officer who killed an unarmed black man with a chokehold while trying to arrest him for illegally selling cigarettes,\u00a0Reuters\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nDeal to Avoid Shutdown\u00a0House Republicans said Wednesday they were closing in on a deal to avoid a government shutdown,\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0reported. The prospective deal would\u00a0fully fund all of the government entities through next fiscal year except the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for carrying out immigration policy. The department would only be funded through the first couple of months next year.\u00a0LINK\r\nTax Breaks Extension\u00a0The House moved Wednesday to extend a massive package of expired tax breaks through the end of the year, adding about $42 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade,\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nHealth Spending Spending on health care in the United States grew in 2013 at the lowest rate since the federal government began tracking it in 1960,\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nStates Sue Obama on Immigration\u00a0Texas is leading a 17-state coalition that sued the Obama administration on Wednesday over its executive order to ease the threat of deportation for some 4.7 million undocumented immigrants,\u00a0Reuters\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nVermont\r\nAG May Probe Drug Prices Attorney General Bill Sorrell wants to know why the price of many generic drugs has increased dramatically in a very short period of time. Last week, representatives of three generic drug companies refused to come before a U.S. Senate subcommittee to discuss this issue. Sorrell says attorneys general have other legal remedies to get the information they need, Vermont Public Radio reported. LINK\r\nHealth Care\u00a0Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday he plans to have his new health care financing plan unveiled by the end of this month, the\u00a0Burlington Free Press\u00a0said.\u00a0LINK\r\nInmates\u00a0Criminal justice reform advocates and family members of inmates urged Vermont on Wednesday to stop sending inmates out-of-state to for-profit prisons,\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0reported. An over-reliance on out-of-state private prisons cuts ties between prisoners and families, which are critical to keeping inmates from reoffending, according to a new report.\u00a0LINK\r\nMcKibben's New Role at 350.org\u00a0Ten years after co-founding 350.org and leading the climate-action group to global prominence, organizer and author Bill McKibben will step down as board chairman, the\u00a0Burlington Free Press\u00a0reported. McKibben promised to remain active in the organization but said he was \"ready for a bit more order\" in his life.\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://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/120414"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7408459205180407, "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"}