{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/122214", "News December 22", "2014-12-22", "2014", "2014-12", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "News December 22\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, December 22, 2014\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tSenator Sanders\r\nPostal Service Reform Passing legislation to reform the U.S. Postal Service remains a goal of Sen. Tom Carper as he steps down as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has led the charge to keep Saturday mail and protect rural facilities and postal jobs, said he worked with Carper and others in the last month to reach a consensus and \u201cwe came very close.\u201d Sanders told USA Today he was impressed with Carper\u2019s efforts \u201cto bridge the very wide gap between right-wing Republicans who want to dismember and eventually privatize the postal service and those of us trying to save and strengthen this vital institution and the jobs it provides.\u201d\r\nState of the Union Sen. Sanders wants to hear from Vermont high school students about what they feel are the major issues facing the country. A panel of Vermont teachers will judge the essays, The Associated Press reported. Since the contest was first held, more than 1,150 Vermont students have participated, according to the article published by the Burlington Free Press, Brattleboro Reformer, Rutland Herald and Times Argus. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK\r\nDate Lab Bernie Sanders is the \u201cfavorite politician\u201d of Teresa Spencer, an actress who went on a date to a DuPont Circle restaurant with Steve Bradley, who listed John Lewis as his favorite politician in The Washington Post Sunday magazine blind-date feature. LINK\r\nWorld\r\nObama Plans More Gitmo Transfers President Barack Obama aims to make 2015 a landmark year in his long-stalled effort to close the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, with plans to announce a flurry of detainee transfers in coming weeks, senior administration officials told The Wall Street Journal. LINK\r\nNational\r\nNew York Police Add Precautions Faced with the first targeted killings of New York City police officers in years, police leaders ratcheted up precautions for their vast patrol force on Sunday as officials described the predatory final movements of a gunman bent on killing officers, The New York Times reported. LINK\r\nVermont\r\nNew Catholic Bishop Auxiliary Bishop Christopher J. Coyne of Indianapolis has been named the new Bishop for the statewide Roman Catholic Diocese in Vermont. The 56 year-old Massachusetts native will oversee Vermont\u2019s largest religion \u2014 about 120,000 Catholics spread among about 120 churches. The formal announcement from Pope Francis at the Vatican in Rome is expected as early as today, the Burlington Free Press reported. LINK\r\nVA Center A veterans outreach center in Bennington is adding a wood-pellet-fueled heating system thanks to a $10,000 gift from 66-year-old Captain Alan W. Gibney, who died in August. Gibney also left the Vermont Veterans Home $100,000, which will go toward building a pavilion.", 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/122214"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0090749710798264, "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"}