{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/120514", "News December 5", "2014-12-05", "2014", "2014-12", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News December 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\tFriday, December 5, 2014\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSenator Sanders\r\nClimate Change Youth Summit The University of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are holding a youth summit on climate change. More than 150 high school students from around Vermont were expected to attend the event on Friday. They will work in small teams to come up with climate action plans for their high schools, The Associated Press and WPTZ-TV reported. LINK, VIDEO\r\nMinimum Wage Workers Fast-food workers and others in low-paying jobs on Thursday launched one-day strikes across the United States demanding a $15 an hour minimum wage and union rights. Organizers said workers at major chains like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Taco Bell walked off their jobs in more than 190 cities. Sen. Sanders spoke to protesters outside the Air and Space Museum in Washington, according to Yahoo News. LINK\r\nDrug Price Gouging\u00a0A Senate hearing this week chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders investigated the staggering cost of speciality drugs to treat the deadly hepatitis C virus \u2014 around $1,000 per pill for one drug, Sovaldi. Sen. Sanders is hoping to bring down the cost of the drug, which is commonly used by the Department of Veterans Affairs,\u00a0The Fiscal Times\u00a0reported. \u201cWe cannot leave VA providers in the position where they are forced to choose which veterans get treated... and which do not because of cost,\u201d Sanders said. LINK \u00a0\r\nSave the Postal Service\u00a0A group of senators is trying to prevent the Postal Service from closing down dozens of mail processing facilities to cut costs. In a series of Senate speeches on Thursday, Sen. Sanders joined Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who noted that there are \"a lot of people in Congress who would like to see the Postal Service go out of business,\u201d The Hill\u00a0reported LINK\u00a0\u00a0\r\nWall Street Nominee\u00a0William D. Cohan of\u00a0The New York Times criticized Sen. Elizabeth Warren for making \"political hay\" out of her opposition to Wall Street and a nominee for a Treasury Department post. Sens. Sanders and Dick also opposed the nominee, Mother Jones noted.\u00a0LINK, LINK\r\nSeniors Holiday Dinner Sen. Sanders\u00a0will host a free holiday dinner for seniors next Friday in Bennington, Vermont. Sanders\u00a0will hear seniors\u2019 concerns and provide Vermonters with an\u00a0update from Washington. The free turkey dinner will be catered by Bennington County Meals on Wheels and will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, the Bennington Banner reported. LINK\r\nWorld\r\nAl Qaeda Threatens American Hostage\u00a0Al Qaeda\u2019s branch in Yemen has threatened to kill an American hostage by the end of the week unless its demands are met,\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0reported.\u00a0Although the demands of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are unknown, they frequently insist on hefty ransoms in exchange for the release of both western and local hostages. The price for western hostages usually reaches several million dollars.\u00a0LINK\r\nCanada Approves Burger King Deal\u00a0The Canadian government has approved Burger King\u2019s purchase of\u00a0Tim Hortons on condition it maintains employment levels and list the company in Toronto,\u00a0Bloomberg\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nNational\r\nCleveland Police Cited for Abuse by Justice Department The Justice Department announced on Thursday that a nearly two-year civil rights investigation into the Cleveland Police Department had found a pattern of \u201cunreasonable and unnecessary use of force\u201d that resulted in dangerous and reckless behavior by officers, pointing out the kinds of problems that have angered black residents here and touched off demonstrations across the country in recent weeks, The New York Times reported. LINK\r\nMilitary Sexual-Assault Reports Rise Rapes and sexual assaults reported by military service members increased 8 percent in 2014, according to a report released Thursday by the Pentagon that immediately reinvigorated the national debate over the military\u2019s handling of sexual assault. Service members reported nearly 6,000 sexual assaults in 2014, up from about 5,500 in 2013 and 3,600 in 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK\r\nHouse Approves Defense Bill\u00a0The House on Thursday passed a $585 billion defense bill that will further expand U.S. efforts to combat Islamic militants in the Middle East,\u00a0NBC News\u00a0reported.\u00a0The legislation grants, which passed 300-119, President Barack Obama's request for funding to fight militants who have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria and authorizes training and equipping moderate Syrian rebels. It also continues to prohibit transferring prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States.\u00a0LINK\r\nLGBT Advocates Seek Civil RIghts Bill\u00a0As barriers to\u00a0same-sex marriage\u00a0fall across the country, gay rights advocates are planning their next battle on Capitol Hill: a push for sweeping legislation to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination, similar to the landmark\u00a0Civil Rights Act\u00a0that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed in 1964,\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0reported.\u00a0LINK\r\nHouse Condemns Obama Immigration Action\u00a0Emboldened House Republicans issued a stern but symbolic rebuke to President Barack Obama over immigration Thursday, passing a bill declaring his executive actions to curb deportations \"null and void and without legal effect,\"\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0said.\u00a0LINK\r\nVermont\r\nFairPoint Investigation\u00a0The Vermont Public Service Board is going to be investigating the service provided by the telecommunications company FairPoint Communications,\u00a0The Associated Press\u00a0reported. Earlier this week officials with the Department of Public Service filed a petition with the utility-regulating Public Service Board requesting the investigation.\u00a0LINK\r\nDairy Program Deadline Extended\u00a0The deadline for Vermont dairy farmers to enroll in a new price protection program has been extended to Dec. 19, according to\u00a0The Associated Press.\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/120514"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6743490230292082, "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"}