Press releases
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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309 rows where party = "Independent", state = "VT" and year = 2013 sorted by date descending
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| url | title | date ▲ | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=BF4B0DC3-703B-4AFC-A39F-FECB328F6DCC | News September 16 | 2013-09-16 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 16 Monday, September 16, 2013 Senator Sanders Summers Out of Running for the Fed Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers withdrew on Sunday from consideration to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke amid fierce opposition from within the Democratic Party over Summers’ role in deregulating Wall Street. “I applaud Larry Summers for withdrawing his name from consideration,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said late Sunday. ''The truth is that it was unlikely he would have been confirmed by the Senate,'' Sanders added in The New York Times, The Washington Postand Reuters and online in The Wall Street Journal. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK Sanders: Stand Up to Wall Street “What the American people want now is a Fed chairman prepared to stand up to the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, not a Wall Street insider whose deregulation efforts helped pave the way for a horrendous financial crisis and the worst economic downturn in the country since the Great Depression,” Sen. Sanders said in reports by the Los Angeles Times and McClatchy. LINK, LINK Summers Faced Growing Opposition Along with independent Sen. Sanders, Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a member of the Banking Committee, last week became the third Democrat to declare opposition to Summers’ nomination, Bloomberg reported. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another committee member, reportedly told the administration that she had "serious concerns" about the prospect of a Summers nomination. In August, Warren worked with Sanders on a letter that raised a series of questions for whoever is nominated to chair the Fed, John Nichols blogged for The Nation. LINK House Plans Cuts for Seniors, Children Sen. Sanders said the Senate must call the bluff of the House Republicans demanding deeper cuts on programs designed to help working families,ABC 22 and Fox 44 reported. Under a proposal set for a House vote this week, “more Americans will lose their jobs ... more children will be thrown off of Head Start... more Amer… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=56264542-0F55-4145-939C-9F0AAF520FB6 | Sanders Says Senate Must Not Give in on House-Planned Cuts for Seniors, Children | 2013-09-15 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders Says Senate Must Not Give in on House-Planned Cuts for Seniors, Children Sunday, September 15, 2013 BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 15 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that the Senate must call the bluff of House Republicans demanding deeper cuts in Head Start, Meals on Wheels and other programs for working families. A proposal set for a House vote this week includes the deeper spending cuts in a continuing resolution to keep the government from shutting down after the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The proposal would lock in across-the-board cuts known as sequestration but carve out an exception for the Pentagon, which would get a $20-billion boost. A member of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders said it would be a “tragic mistake” and a “terrible precedent” if the Senate were to go along with the House and further slash programs for children, the elderly, working families and the most vulnerable people in this country. If the Senate accepts the House Republican plan, Sanders said in a letter to Senate colleagues, “more Americans will lose their jobs; more children will be thrown off of Head Start; more Americans will be unable to afford to send their kids to child care; more teachers will be thrown out on the street; more senior citizens will go hungry; and more working families will be unable to heat their homes this winter. In the richest country on the face of the earth that would be morally repugnant and bad economic policy.” The proposal by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would result in a $1 billion, 12 percent, cut in Head Start compared to 2002 spending levels. A $2.3 billion cut in education programs for disadvantaged children would represent a 14 percent cut since 2010. Home heating assistance for the elderly and families with children would be slashed by more than $1.8 billion compared to 2010, a 35 percent cut. Another $1.4 billion would be lopped off a program that provides affordable housing for working families with children, a 60 percent … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=5F5570A9-100B-42D2-8805-895D9697B425 | Sanders Statement on the Federal Reserve | 2013-09-15 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders Statement on the Federal Reserve Sunday, September 15, 2013 BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 15 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today issued the following statement after Lawrence Summers withdrew from consideration to succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman: “I applaud Larry Summers for withdrawing his name from consideration. The truth is that it was unlikely he would have been confirmed by the Senate. What the American people want now is a Fed chairman prepared to stand up to the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, not a Wall Street insider whose deregulation efforts helped pave the way for a horrendous financial crisis and the worst economic downturn in the country since the Great Depression. The Fed now must help develop policies which create millions of decent-paying jobs and rebuild the middle class.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=88EE712F-4C6E-4664-AED7-006E0214FDCD | News September 15 | 2013-09-15 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 15 Sunday, September 15, 2013 Senator Sanders Syria WCAX-TV examined whether President Obama could undertake military action against Syria without the approval of Congress. In Vermont, according to the report broadcast on Sunday, Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch have said more debate is needed, and they're waiting to see the outcome of a potential diplomatic solution in the United Nations. Sen. Bernie Sanders said he's also waiting for that but does not want to involve the United States in a bloody and complicated civil war. LINK, VIDEO Burlington James Fallows, writing about American cities for The Atlantic, is visiting Burlington, Vt., a town of 40,000+ people where now-U.S. Sen. Sanders got his start as mayor, where power on the city council is split between Democrats and Progressive party members, and a town that is the home of the University of Vermont but that does not include a single McDonald's outlet. LINK World U.S., Russia Agree on Syrian Chemical Weapons The United States and Russia agreed Saturday on a plan to bring Syrian chemical weapons under international control, a rare diplomatic victory in a brutal civil war that appears to head off a punitive U.S. military strike on Syria in the near future. In announcing the deal, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, said the agreement would be backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution that could allow for sanctions or other consequences if Syria fails to comply,The Washington Post reported from Geneva. LINK National The Fed The chances that Larry H. Summers, said to be President Barack Obama’s favored candidate to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, would win confirmation are falling sharply as Democrats come out against the possible nomination of the former Treasury Secretary. Jon Tester would vote against Summers in committee if the president nominated him, his office said on Friday. Earlier, another Banking Democrat, Sen. Sherrod Brown… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=D6AAD261-CAB5-4085-B6FA-C44B67729CF6 | Don?t Cave on Cuts | 2013-09-15 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Don't Cave on Cuts Sunday, September 15, 2013 The Senate must call the bluff of House Republicans who are demanding deeper cuts in Head Start, Meals on Wheels and other programs for working families, Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Sunday. A proposal set for a House vote this week includes the deeper spending cuts in a continuing resolution to keep the government from shutting down after the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The proposal would lock in across-the-board cuts known as sequestration but carve out an exception for the Pentagon, which would get a $20-billion boost. A member of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders said it would be a “tragic mistake” and a “terrible precedent” if the Senate were to go along with the House and further slash programs for children, the elderly, working families and the most vulnerable people in this country. If the Senate accepts the House Republican plan, Sanders said in a letter to Senate colleagues, “more Americans will lose their jobs; more children will be thrown off of Head Start; more Americans will be unable to afford to send their kids to child care; more teachers will be thrown out on the street; more senior citizens will go hungry; and more working families will be unable to heat their homes this winter. In the richest country on the face of the earth, that would be morally repugnant and bad economic policy.” The proposal by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would result in a $1 billion, 12 percent, cut in Head Start compared to 2002 spending levels. A $2.3 billion cut in education programs for disadvantaged children would represent a 14 percent cut since 2010. Home heating assistance for the elderly and families with children would be slashed by more than $1.8 billion compared to 2010, a 35 percent cut. Another $1.4 billion would be lopped off a program that provides affordable housing for working families with children, a 60 percent cut compared to three years ago. In addition to the direct impac… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=E5D5F40B-6819-4024-BE61-AD279C967F49 | Summers Pulls Out | 2013-09-15 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Summers Pulls Out Sunday, September 15, 2013 Former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers on Sunday withdrew as a candidate for Federal Reserve chairman to replace Ben Bernanke when his term runs out in January. The former Obama adviser faced mounting opposition in the Senate from, among others, Sen. Bernie Sanders. “I applaud Larry Summers for withdrawing his name from consideration. The truth is that it was unlikely he would have been confirmed by the Senate,” Sanders said in a statement on Sunday. “What the American people want now is a Fed chairman prepared to stand up to the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, not a Wall Street insider whose deregulation efforts helped pave the way for a horrendous financial crisis and the worst economic downturn in the country since the Great Depression. The Fed now must help develop policies which create millions of decent-paying jobs and rebuild the middle class.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=D1FD3DE8-B74C-4E7C-A70F-A76831D724CF | News September 14 | 2013-09-14 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 14 Saturday, September 14, 2013 Senator Sanders The Fed President Barack Obama would face opposition from within his own party if he were to nominate Lawrence Summers to head the Federal Reserve. There is so much “Democratic antipathy to Mr. Summers that Mr. Obama will have to sweat on a bloc of Republican votes in the Senate to get him across the line,” according to Financial Times. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Jeff Merkley have indicated they will vote against Summers and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren penned an op-ed entitled "Four questions for Fed chair candidates," including whether the nominee would "work to break up 'too-big-to-fail' financial institutions." LINK Obama and the Left President Obama's push to use military force against the Syrian regime highlighted his many differences with liberals who believe the president has fallen short of his progressive mandate, according to Politico. Several progressives, including Sens. Sanders and Brown, did not back a military authorization bill and others, such as Rep. Alan Grayson, opposed it outright. LINK Immigration Reform Sen. Sanders introduced three amendments to the Senate-passed immigration reform package aiming to ensure fair wages and working conditions for workers, Heather Gautney wrote in an op-ed for Truthout. LINK Koch Brothers Charles and David Koch funneled $250 million to right-wing causes last year through a secretive organization called Freedom Partners which supports the United States Chamber of Commerce, Think Progress reported. The chamber consistently has supported the Export-Import Bank, which Sen. Sanders once called "corporate welfare at its worst." LINK Sanders on Syria Sen. Sanders expressed his serious reservations about President Obama's plan for military strikes in Syria in his "Bernie Buzz" e-newsletter, Seven Days reported. The latest edition said Sanders "shares" widespread public opposition to the strikes. LINK, LINK Missile Defense Camp Ethan Allen in Vermont h… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=46DED41B-D50A-48D4-9BEB-28EE700A00D1 | The Week in Review | 2013-09-13 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | The Week in Review Friday, September 13, 2013 With the backdrop of Saturday’s fifth anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ crash and the Wall Street-caused recession that followed, surveys showed that Americans continue to overwhelmingly dislike and distrust Wall Street and worry about our economy. That sentiment and frustration with Washington’s failure to deal with jobs and low wages fueled overwhelming public opposition to President Obamas’ push for military strikes against Syria. Obama on Tuesday put aside plans for military intervention to pursue a proposal for international monitors to take over Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal. Back from the Brink “With a loud and clear voice the overwhelming majority of the American people, across the political spectrum, are saying no to another war in the Middle East,” Sanders wrote in a column for The Huffington Post on Friday. Building on that momentum, the senator said Americans now must demand action on important domestic issues. "Now is the time to use that same energy and passion to save the middle class," he wrote. As the president had waged an intense campaign to sell Americans on the need to go to war, Sanders urged him to bring the same focus to the need to create jobs. “I raised this issue to the president the other day,” Sanders told Yahoo News. “It’s one thing to give a speech which most people know really is not going to translate into terribly strong action,” Sanders said. “Intensity is the key issue. Is he prepared to fight?” Read the Huffington Post column, Read the Yahoo article Wall Street -- Five Years Later As a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior by Wall Street, America five years ago was plunged into the worst recession since the Great Depression. It was on Sept. 14, 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the financial crisis began. Over Bernie’s opposition, Congress voted to bail out the largest financial institutions in the United States. In addition, the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 t… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=E5F0A035-C2E9-4EDF-BC7F-14053601717C | : News September 13 | 2013-09-13 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 13 Friday, September 13, 2013 Senator Sanders Dental Crisis Sen. Sanders chaired a Senate hearing on Thursday to call attention to the high cost of dental care and ways to improve access to oral health care for all Americans. The Senate panel learned that more than 47 million Americans live in places where adequate dental care is difficult to access and 130 million do not have dental insurance, reported WPTZ-TV and other NBC News affiliates, KWTC-TV in Oklahoma City, Okla., and other CBS News affiliates, CBS Radio, KNX-AM all-news radio in Los Angeles, The Associated Press, Washington Times, Congressional Quarterly and others. VIDEO,VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO, AUDIO, AUDIO, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK The American People Have Spoken "With a loud and clear voice the overwhelming majority of the American people, across the political spectrum, are saying no to another war in the Middle East," Sen. Sanders wrote for The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Green Mountain Daily. Building on that momentum, Sanders said Americans must demand action on important domestic issues. "Now is the time to use that same energy and passion to save the middle class," he wrote. LINK, LINK, LINK Where’s Obama on Jobs? President Obama just waged an unprecedented campaign to sell Americans on the need to go to war. Some in Congress want him to bring the same focus to jobs and other domestic priorities. “I raised this issue to the president the other day,” Sen. Sanders told Yahoo News. “It’s one thing to give a speech which most people know really is not going to translate into terribly strong action,” Sanders said. “Intensity is the key issue. Is he prepared to fight?” Sanders declined to describe Obama’s response, but a congressional aide who does not work for Sanders said the exchange was a bit combative, with the senator asking, in effect, “Why the hell aren’t we talking about jobs?” LINK Syria Americans, from both red states and blue states, are strongly opposed to a war… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=188868CF-F647-4C44-AF43-1D6E89C056FB | : News September 12 | 2013-09-12 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 12 Thursday, September 12, 2013 Senator Sanders Geneva Talks Mark Big Test for U.S., Russia Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Thursday to discuss a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria, “I am pleased to see that the president and his administration are now working with Russia, France, the UK, China and the United Nations to remove chemical weapons from Syria without involving the United States in the bloody and complicated Syrian civil war. This is a good step forward,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said in theTimes Argus and Rutland Herald. Sens. Sanders and Patrick Leahy both support diplomatic proposals to remove chemical weapons from Syria, WCAX-TV reported. VIDEO, LINK Obama Must Not Surrender to Class Warfare President Barack Obama now must turn his focus from Syria to championing progressive solutions to the nation's pressing domestic issues. “The president has got to say, ‘I stand with the working families of the United States, and if the billionaires hate me, so be it.’ He's got to draw the line in the sand... on the class warfare going on in America.” Sen. Sanders told MSNBC's Ed Schultz Wednesday that VIDEO Obama's Unpopular War President Barack Obama is paying a high political price for his support of unpopular military strikes in Syria, according to an Al Jazeera America report. Sen. Sanders "assailed" the president and Congress for not focusing on important domestic issues. “What about our kids?” he asked. “What kind of future are they going to have in a country where the middle class continues to disappear?” LINK 9/11 Remembered The 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were commemorated Wednesday in New York City, Washington, D.C., and western Pennsylvania. “Those events transformed this country,” Sen. Sanders said on Wednesday in a conversation with radio host Ed Schultz. AUDIO Jobs The unemployment rate in August of 7.3 percent only measures people who have … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=1ADF369E-5453-4EA5-AE44-E9AE50177A75 | Dental Care Crisis | 2013-09-12 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Dental Care Crisis Thursday, September 12, 2013 A Senate panel heard today that millions of Americans do not have access to dentists because of skyrocketing costs and inadequate insurance coverage. “We can and must address the dental crisis in America now,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said at the outset of the hearing by the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, which he chairs. A new report prepared by the Government Accountability Office said Americans spent about $108 billion on dentists in 2011. Listen to a CBS News report on the hearing Read the GAO report | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=59E5D209-41A2-44E3-88BA-2B990650EBA2 | Statement on Missile Defense Basing | 2013-09-12 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Statement on Missile Defense Basing Thursday, September 12, 2013 WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today issued the following statement on the Department of Defense announcement that Vermont is under consideration as the location for an anti-ballistic missile launch site: “My first impression is that this is a very bad idea and, for a wide variety of reasons, I do not believe that it will ever happen.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=C823023E-19E7-4DED-97AD-36D1F5E4F15B | Dental Crisis in America | 2013-09-12 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Dental Crisis in America Thursday, September 12, 2013 WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 – A Senate panel heard today that millions of Americans do not have access to dentists because of skyrocketing costs, inadequate insurance and government policies that don’t pay to prevent problems that left untreated get worse and cost more for taxpayer-funded emergency care. “We can and must address the dental crisis in America now,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said at the outset of the hearing by the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging. Spending for dental care is rapidly climbing, according to a new report prepared by the Government Accountability Office for the subcommittee which Sanders chairs. Americans spent about $108 billion on dentists in 2011. But the soaring costs coupled with inadequate insurance coverage put dental care beyond the budgets of many working families. More than four out of 10 American adults skipped trips to the dentist because they lacked insurance and could not afford out-of-pocket payments, according to the GAO, the nonpartisan research arm of Congress. Sanders plans to introduce legislation to expand comprehensive dental coverage to millions of Americans through Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and the Department of Veterans Affairs. His measure also would increase access to dental services at community health centers and boost support for mobile clinics and dental clinics in schools. Taxpayers would save money by boosting resources for preventive care, Sanders said. “When people cannot get to a dentist when they need one, they often end up in emergency rooms. It just doesn’t make sense for us to spend so much money on those who wind up in hospitals but refuse to help people get the care they need before it’s too late,” Sanders said. Witnesses at today’s hearing included Cathi Stallings, a social worker from Falls Church, Va. “I am here as someone who knows firsthand that dental care is a luxury that many millions of us in America cannot affor… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=1FF542A5-9FE5-4559-9470-FC0BB7A6D731 | 9/11 Remembered | 2013-09-11 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | 9/11 Remembered Wednesday, September 11, 2013 The 12th anniversary of terrorist attacks were commemorated Wednesday in New York City, where two hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, and at the sites where two other hijacked planes crashed at the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and at a field in western Pennsylvania. “Those events transformed this country,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday in a conversation with radio host Ed Schultz. Listen to the interview » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=83E4853A-D319-4656-A0BC-0B33165968E5 | A single-payer system makes economic sense | 2013-09-11 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | A single-payer system makes economic sense By: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Wednesday, September 11, 2013 Americans spend about twice as much per capita on healthcare as almost any other developed nation, but our outcomes are not as good as others that spend much less. We can do better. We must do better. Today, some 50 million Americans lack health insurance. Many others delay going to the doctor because of high deductibles and unaffordable copayments. While the number of uninsured Americans will go down with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, widely known as ObamaCare, tens of millions of Americans will remain uninsured. The goal of an effective healthcare system is to do everything possible to enable people to live long and healthy lives. Sadly, the American system fails to do that and falls behind many other countries. While we devote 18 percent of our gross domestic product to healthcare, we rank 33rd in life expectancy and 34th in infant mortality, and trail in many other health outcomes. A Harvard University study indicated that, incredibly, some 45,000 Americans die needlessly each year because they do not get to a doctor in time. I start my approach to healthcare from a very basic premise: healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Unfortunately, uniquely among major nations, that statement is not true for the United States, where access to healthcare depends on how much money you have and what your employer is willing to provide. It is simply unconscionable that the most advanced nation in the world has so many people who lack health insurance. It makes no sense that millions more are one diagnosis or car accident away from financial disaster. And, despite the trillions of dollars we spend on healthcare, the disparity in the quality of care between the rich and everyone else grows wider. Our system doesn’t make economic sense, and it certainly doesn’t make moral sense. In a civilized, democratic society, every man, woman and child must… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=AEC6A218-78E1-4096-A7A2-FE9292A10834 | These Disgraced Wall Street Kingpins Are Living Quite Nicely 5 Years After Crisis | 2013-09-11 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | These Disgraced Wall Street Kingpins Are Living Quite Nicely 5 Years After Crisis By: Alison Fitzgerald Wednesday, September 11, 2013 Five years after the near-collapse of the nation’s financial system, the economy continues a slow recovery marred by high unemployment, hesitant consumers and sluggish business investment. Many of the top Wall Street bankers who were largely responsible for the disaster — and whose companies either collapsed or accepted billions in government bailouts — are also unemployed. But since they walked away from the disaster with millions, they’re juggling their ample free time between mansions and golf, skiing and tennis. Meantime, the major banks that survived the crisis, largely because they were saved with taxpayer money after being deemed “too big to fail,” are now bigger and more powerful than ever. The Center for Public Integrity looked at what happened to five former Wall Street kingpins to see what they are up to these days. None are in jail, nor are any criminal charges expected to be filed. Certainly none are hurting for money. Take Richard Fuld. Five years after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the 158-year-old company he ran, collapsed under the weight of bad investments and sent a tidal wave of panic through the global financial system, Fuld is living comfortably. He has a mansion in Greenwich, Conn., a 40-plus-acre ranch in Sun Valley, Idaho, as well as a five-bedroom home in Jupiter Island, Fla. He no longer has a place in Manhattan, since he sold his Park Avenue apartment in 2009 for $25.87 million. The other four bankers the Center caught up with — Jimmy Cayne (Bear Stearns), Stanley O’Neal (Merrill Lynch), Chuck Prince (Citigroup) and Ken Lewis (Bank of America) are also living in quiet luxury. Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=B9A32FDA-1DD9-4367-8B86-8A0EEC728FB4 | Moyers & Company: How Furloughs Hurt the Most Vulnerable Soldiers | 2013-09-11 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | How Furloughs Hurt the Most Vulnerable Soldiers By: Greg Kaufmann Wednesday, September 11, 2013 Matthew Hoh, a former Marine Corps company commander in Anbar Province who later redeployed to Afghanistan with the State Department and resigned his post in protest over U.S. policy, believes that nothing has laid bare the priorities of our nation so clearly as the sequester. “The most vulnerable are getting hurt, while the privileged, the well-to-do are being protected,” says Hoh, now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. “We’re choosing to prioritize profits of corporations, or revitalize weapons systems that don’t matter any more, as opposed to making sure soldiers get the care they need when they come home.” Hoh points to the fact that Department of Defense civilian health care workers were forced to reduce their hours by 20 percent until recently. While Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel reduced the furlough days required for the remainder of the fiscal year ending September 30, he also said that he “cannot be sure what will happen” under sequestration for Fiscal Year 2014 which begins October 1. The Pentagon will be required to cut 40 percent more than the $37 billion that was mandated this year. To Hoh, the reduction in furlough days comes much too late and the damage has already been done. “We’ve got a suicide epidemic with record numbers of suicides among military personnel every year,” says Hoh. “Guys coming home with PTSD and depression, and then the clinicians working with them were only available four days a week instead of five.” Indeed, Stars and Stripes recently reported that Walter Reed National Medical Center had reduced beds in the in-patient mental health section from 28 to 22; an internal memo encouraged “dispositions/discharges as soon as possible” and the western Army medical region alone had delayed 10,000 routine patient appointments in the first month of furloughs due to staffing shortages. Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=F325325F-3EA3-4A1C-94BE-F909F9DE98DD | : News September 11 | 2013-09-11 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 11 Wednesday, September 11, 2013 Senator Sanders Obama Delays Syria Strike President Obama, facing opposition in Congress and around the country to a strike in Syria, said Tuesday that he would hold off on military action for now and pursue a Russian proposal for international monitors to take over and destroy Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons. “I believe that the American people share the president’s concerns about chemical weapons in Syria and the brutal Assad dictatorship. But, in overwhelming numbers, Vermonters are telling me they want those issues addressed diplomatically by the UN and the international community — not by unilateral military action on the part of the U.S.,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said in the Burlington Free Press. LINK Sanders: Focus on Middle Class Sen. Sanders said Vermonters and the American people want Obama and Congress to focus on more pressing matters hitting closer to home such as the middle class and high unemployment, Fox 44 and ABC 22 reported. “The American people are saying very loudly and clearly that this country faces enormous crises, economically, global warming, health care, education income and wealth inequality and they want us to start addressing those needs,” Sanders said on Vermont Public Radio. “There is a reason why the vast majority of Americans disapprove of the work that Congress is doing. Vermonters and the American people want President Obama and Congress to focus on the major crises facing the collapsing middle class — high unemployment, low wages, growing wealth and income inequality, the high cost of college, global warming and many other issues,” Sanders said in the Free Press. LINK, VIDEO, LINK Obama Failed to Win Senate Support for Syria Strikes Only about one in 10 members of Congress are currently supporting strikes in Syria, CBS News estimated. The network tally said Sen. Sanders was one of six senators leaning against supporting military intervention, reflecting overwhelming public opposition. “… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=40C3B21A-CD97-4BAA-8E32-9526B94E5C9D | ?A Good Step Forward? | 2013-09-10 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | ‘A Good Step Forward’ Tuesday, September 10, 2013 President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked Congress to postpone consideration of his request for military strikes against Syria because of “encouraging signs” and “constructive talks” with Russia’s leaders about a proposal that international monitors take over Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons. “This is a good step forward,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said after Obama’s nationally televised address from the White House East Room. Sanders has voiced concerns that another war in the Middle East would push aside important issues at home. “There is a reason why the vast majority of Americans disapprove of the work that Congress is doing. Vermonters and the American people want President Obama and Congress to focus on the major crises facing the collapsing middle class – high unemployment, low wages, growing wealth and income inequality, the high cost of college, global warming and many other issues,” Sanders said. “I believe that the American people share the president’s concerns about chemical weapons in Syria and the brutal Assad dictatorship. But, in overwhelming numbers, Vermonters are telling me they want those issues addressed diplomatically by the UN and the international community – not by unilateral military action on the part of the U.S.,” the senator added. “I am pleased to see that the president and his administration are now working with Russia, France, the UK, China and the United Nations to remove chemical weapons from Syria – without involving the United States in the bloody and complicated Syrian civil war. This is a good step forward.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=674BF530-F357-4AAA-87D3-02E07E6F70C0 | Associated Press: Richest 1 percent earn biggest share since '20s | 2013-09-10 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Richest 1 percent earn biggest share since '20s By: Paul Wiseman Tuesday, September 10, 2013 WASHINGTON — The gulf between the richest 1 percent and the rest of America is the widest it's been since the Roaring '20s. The very wealthiest Americans earned more than 19 percent of the country's household income last year — their biggest share since 1928, the year before the stock market crash. And the top 10 percent captured a record 48.2 percent of total earnings last year. U.S. income inequality has been growing for almost three decades. And it grew again last year, according to an analysis of Internal Revenue Service figures dating to 1913 by economists at the University of California, Berkeley, the Paris School of Economics and Oxford University. One of them, Berkeley's Emmanuel Saez, said the incomes of the richest Americans surged last year in part because they cashed in stock holdings to avoid higher capital gains taxes that took effect in January. In 2012, the incomes of the top 1 percent rose nearly 20 percent compared with a 1 percent increase for the remaining 99 percent. The richest Americans were hit hard by the financial crisis. Their incomes fell more than 36 percent in the Great Recession of 2007-09 as stock prices plummeted. Incomes for the bottom 99 percent fell just 11.6 percent, according to the analysis. Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=67BB7B2F-7FBB-40A1-B627-5E3364A975B5 | : News September 10 | 2013-09-10 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 10 Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Senator Sanders Military Strikes against Syria on Hold President Obama on Monday tentatively embraced a Russian diplomatic proposal to avert a United States military strike on Syria by having international monitors take control of the Syrian government’s chemical weapons. “My sense is that it is really good news,” Sen. Bernie Sanders told PBS’ Tavis Smiley on Monday. “Russia is jumping in in a constructive way … If they can force Syria for the first time … to acknowledge that they have chemical weapons … and to allow the international community to secure those chemical weapons, then that would be a huge step forward.” VIDEO Sanders Hopes for Peaceful Resolution Sen. Sanders voiced a cautious optimism late Monday that the United States might yet find a peaceful resolution to its standoff with Syria. “Most Americans would support an effort that could remove chemical weapons from Syria without American military involvement in another Middle East war," he said, according toSeven Days. "I urge the president and Russia to work vigorously to achieve that goal." LINK Senate Vote Delayed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday that he would not force an initial vote this week on a resolution authorizing military force against Syria. Sen. Sanders welcomed the delay to pursue a diplomatic solution. “As somebody who is not enthusiastic about getting into a war for all kinds of reasons, I think it would been seen by the entire global community as a wonderful victory if you can get chemical weapons out of Syria without the United States getting involved in a bloody war,” Sanders said on PBS. VIDEO Senate Opposition to Military Action Increasing The decision to put off a Senate vote came as opposition to a U.S. strike on Syria was growing even among Obama’s allies and former Senate colleagues. On Monday, six senators — five Republicans and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp — came out against the Syria resolution. Sen. Sanders told Politico… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=ABC23C3E-0380-49CD-BA9C-88F25A71D206 | Sanders Reacts to President?s Speech on Syria | 2013-09-10 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders Reacts to President’s Speech on Syria Tuesday, September 10, 2013 WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement tonight after President Barack Obama delivered a national address on Syria’s chemical weapons: “There is a reason why the vast majority of Americans disapprove of the work that Congress is doing. Vermonters and the American people want President Obama and Congress to focus on the major crises facing the collapsing middle class – high unemployment, low wages, growing wealth and income inequality, the high cost of college, global warming and many other issues. “I believe that the American people share the president’s concerns about chemical weapons in Syria and the brutal Assad dictatorship. But, in overwhelming numbers, Vermonters are telling me they want those issues addressed diplomatically by the UN and the international community – not by unilateral military action on the part of the U.S. “I am pleased to see that the president and his administration are now working with Russia, France, the UK, China and the United Nations to remove chemical weapons from Syria – without involving the United States in the bloody and complicated Syrian civil war. This is a good step forward.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=EAD78EB1-A792-499B-908C-8112087578C7 | The Washington Post: From ?Inequality for All,? a challenge for America | 2013-09-10 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | From ‘Inequality for All,’ a challenge for America By: Katrina vanden Heuvel Tuesday, September 10, 2013 “Chilling.” That’s how one reviewer describes the experience of watching Harvey Weinstein’s latest film. Only the movie in question isn’t “Erased,” Weinstein’s pulse-pounding thriller about an ex-CIA agent on the run. Nor is it “Only God Forgives,” in which Ryan Gosling finds himself caught up in a gritty underground world of Thai drug smuggling, prostitution, rape, and murder. The movie is, in fact, a documentary, but one more disturbing than international criminal conspiracies and more devastating than any “Sharknado.” It’s about income inequality. As Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich intones in the film, “Of all developed nations, the United States has the most unequal distribution of income, and we’re surging towards even greater inequality.” “Inequality for All,” directed by Jacob Kornbluth and set to be released nationwide on Sept. 27, comes at a critical moment for America. Sept. 15 marks the five-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers — fueled by a toxic combination of deregulation, subprime lending and credit-default swaps — that precipitated the 2008 global economic crisis and laid bare the rot at the heart of our economic system. It was largely this orgy of greed that led the first Occupy Wall Street protesters to Zuccotti Park on Sept. 17, two years ago next week. In the half-decade since Wall Street’s self-induced crash, the country has hovered between outrage (that the perpetrators walked off scot-free and bonus-laden) and apathy (that anything will ever break the iron bond between Congress and the financial industry). Until now, hopefully. Following the diminutive Reich on his “statistics-driven and impassioned” crusade, “Inequality for All” throws into sharp relief the numbers and stories we hear. Combining footage from Reich’s electrifying Berkeley lectures with interviews, news clips and rich graphics, the film weaves… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=173C742E-C8FF-4D7C-87B4-BE6E36B20CE4 | : News September 9 | 2013-09-09 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 9 Monday, September 9, 2013 Senator Sanders International Response Needed on Syria Sen. Bernie Sanders said the United States should work with the world community in responding to Syria’s use of chemical weapons. After more than a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan “how about coming home and addressing the crisis facing the American people?” Sanders said on MSNBC. “If we want to deal with a crisis, let’s deal with unemployment, let’s deal with health care, let’s deal with education. We have enough on our own hands,” the senator added. LINK, VIDEO Americans Oppose Intervention in Syria Sen. Sanders said that more than nine out of 10 calls and emails to his office over the past week opposed U.S. action in Syria. The senator also said he's worried that the "surgical strike" against Syria could prompt a push for greater U.S. involvement to bring about a regime change, WPTZ-TV reported. Sanders said the public wants Congress to address issues affecting working families, WCAX-TV reported. VIDEO, VIDEO White House Turns up Heat Proponents of striking Syria are banking on getting lawmakers away from anti-war town halls and into classified briefings. Sen. Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, said Democrats he's spoken with feel the tug of party loyalty and not wanting to undercut Obama so publicly. But he told National Journal that such loyalty doesn't typically outweigh overwhelming public opposition. LINK Right-Left Coalition “What the president has to be careful of is what I call the Ted Cruz Bernie Sanders coalition …The anti-war Democrats and Tea Party Republicans voting against this because of their deep held beliefs,” Heidi Pryzybla of Bloomberg News said on Sunday’s broadcast of Capital Gains. VIDEO World Kerry, Assad Trade Warnings Secretary of State John F. Kerry issued a strong challenge in London on Monday to Syrian President Bashar Assad to turn over his chemical weapon stockpile to avoid a US-led attack, The Boston Globe reported. Assad, in … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=1EC88B56-D4D7-4CD2-B6B9-74696CFF1C9D | Bloomberg Businessweek: Not Looking for Work: Labor-Force Participation Hits 35-Year Low | 2013-09-09 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Not Looking for Work: Labor-Force Participation Hits 35-Year Low By: Peter Coy Monday, September 9, 2013 A job seeker speaks to a résumé professional at a National Career Fairs job fair in Arlington, Va., on Jan. 30 The unemployment rate fell in August but for the worst of reasons: Many Americans stopped looking for work so they weren’t counted among the unemployed. What’s harder to tell is why they stopped looking. The political right chalks it up to laziness and government coddling, while the political left says people are giving up looking because a dysfunctional economy isn’t producing enough jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the August unemployment rate was 7.3 percent, down a tick from 7.4 percent in July. The worrisome part is why the rate fell. The size of the workforce declined by about 300,000 and the participation rate fell to 63.2 percent from 63.4 percent—the lowest since August 1978. The participation rate is the number of people either working or actively searching for work as a share of the working-age population. It rose steadily over the years as more women entered the workforce before falling sharply in the 2007-09 recession, and it hasn’t recovered since. Also disappointing was the payroll report. While the 169,000 added to employers’ payrolls in August wasn’t far below the 180,000 median prediction of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, there was a downward revision of 74,000 jobs to the previous two months’ reports. The government said June payrolls grew by only 172,000, rather than 188,000; July’s grew by only 102,000, instead of 162,000. In other words, while employment did grow in August, it was from a substantially lower starting point than previously believed. Some quick reactions from observers: Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=5ED4F671-853E-4B1C-8610-F375552007AA | ?A Potentially Positive Development? | 2013-09-09 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | ‘A Potentially Positive Development’ Monday, September 9, 2013 President Obama on Monday called a proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control “a potentially positive development.” The president’s guarded remarks came as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid postponed Senate consideration of a resolution supporting military strikes by the United States against Syria. Sen. Bernie Sanders welcomed the developments. “At a time when the vast majority of the American people and many members of Congress are extremely skeptical about the wisdom of U.S. military intervention in Syria’s bloody and complicated civil war, I appreciate that the majority leader delayed a vote and that President Obama is prepared to work with Russia to have Syria turn over control of its chemical weapons to international monitors. Most Americans would support an effort that could remove chemical weapons from Syria without American military involvement in another Middle East war. I urge the president and Russia to work vigorously to achieve that goal.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=8EBF3858-946C-4BA1-843A-6515E1AFF700 | As Congress Debates Syria, U.S. Labor Force Hits 35-Year Low | 2013-09-09 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | As Congress Debates Syria, U.S. Labor Force Hits 35-Year Low Monday, September 9, 2013 A key concern of Sen. Bernie Sanders about President Obama’s request for the United States to launch military strikes against Syria is that it would divert Congress and the president from dealing with jobs and other important but overlooked issues here at home. “If we get sucked into a civil war in Syria, it will be harder to deal with 14 percent unemployment or 20 percent youth unemployment or 40 percent black youth unemployment, and the many, many other problems that this country faces,” Sanders said on Monday on MSNBC. There was, for example, startling but barely-noticed news in the unemployment report for August, when the share of the population in the workforce hit a 35-year law. The size of the workforce declined by about 300,000 and the participation rate fell to 63.2 percent from 63.4 percent—the lowest since August 1978, according to an analysis by Peter Coy for Bloomberg Businessweek. The participation rate is the number of people either working or actively searching for work as a share of the working-age population. Watch the MSNBC interview » Read the Bloomberg Businessweek article » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=FAD8DBE5-A3C6-476C-A024-DCAED939A0C5 | Sanders Statement on Syria | 2013-09-09 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders Statement on Syria Monday, September 9, 2013 WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement tonight after President Barack Obama said a proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control could be a potential breakthrough and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) postponed action on a resolution in support of U.S. military strikes against Syria: “At a time when the vast majority of the American people and many members of Congress are extremely skeptical about the wisdom of U.S. military intervention in Syria’s bloody and complicated civil war, I appreciate that the majority leader delayed a vote and that President Obama is prepared to work with Russia to have Syria turn over control of its chemical weapons to international monitors. “Most Americans would support an effort that could remove chemical weapons from Syria without American military involvement in another Middle East war. I urge the president and Russia to work vigorously to achieve that goal.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=65B0B24B-7F12-4F39-8ED6-721048881EF0 | News September 8 | 2013-09-08 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 8 Sunday, September 8, 2013 Senator Sanders Americans Oppose U.S. Force in Syria Sen. Bernie Sanders reports there is 10-1 opposition to authorizing the use of force in Syria in an online survey of constituents. Calls to his offices are even more overwhelming, according to an editorial on Sunday in the The(Madison, Wis.) Capital Times. LINK Vermont Delegation Split on Syria Sen. Patrick Leahy, the country's most senior senator, appears set to support U.S. intervention. Sen. Sanders has voiced reservations while Rep. Peter Welch remains on the fence, WCAX-TV reported on Saturday. LINK, VIDEO Health Care “A new and affordable way for many Vermonters to purchase insurance is the key provision of the Affordable Care Act. I was proud to be involved in the passage of this law when I worked as the health policy adviser for Sen. Sanders,” David Reynolds, deputy director of health reform in the Vermont Agency of Administration, wrote for the Rutland Herald and Times Argus. LINK World Kerry Meets Arab Leaders on Syria Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting Arab League leaders in Paris as part of a European tour to gather support for intervention in Syria. Kerry said the number of nations prepared to take military action was now in "double digits", but the list has not been made public. France strongly supports intervention in response to the use of chemical weapons in Damascus last month, but it wants to wait for a report by UN weapons experts before taking action, BBC reported. LINK National Uphill Battle for Syria Votes After a frenetic week of wall-to-wall intelligence briefings, dozens of phone calls and hours of hearings with senior members of President Obama’s war council, more and more lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, are lining up to vote against the president. Officials are guardedly optimistic about the Senate, but the blows keep coming. On Saturday, Senator Mark Pryor, Democrat of Arkansas, perhaps the most endangered incumbent up for re-election, … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=F9AD32BF-D729-46A2-ACA4-7E3493665988 | The Crisis at Home | 2013-09-08 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | The Crisis at Home Sunday, September 8, 2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday denounced the use of chemical weapons by Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, but he said Congress must focus on high unemployment and other problems at home while the United States works with the international community on the Middle East. “The calls that are coming into my office are overwhelmingly against getting involved in a bloody and complicated civil war in Syria,” Sanders told Alex Witt on Sunday on MSNBC. “The American people are profoundly disgusted with the fact that the United States Congress continues to ignore the enormously serious problems facing the middle class of this country; real unemployment close to 14 percent, youth unemployment even higher than that., poverty at an almost all-time high. What the American people are saying is that we were in war in Afghanistan, we were in a war in Iraq, we've lost thousands of soldiers and spent trillions of dollars. How about coming home and addressing the crisis facing the American people? “Everybody understands that Assad is a horrendous dictator and the use of chemical weapons is beyond words. It's totally disgusting. What we need is the world community to come together to address that issue and other issues in the Middle East. But the American people are saying two wars are enough. Let's come home and address our serious problems.” Watch Alex Witt interview Sanders on MSNBC » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20130913010351/http://www.sanders.senate.gov:80/newsroom/news/?id=c4d5e9a2-c0aa-4026-abf3-c86cf680f868 | Sen. Sanders Airs Concerns on Syria | 2013-09-08 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | web.archive.org | legacy | BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 8 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) this afternoon reiterated his concerns about U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war. In an interview on MSNBC, Sanders made three points. First, he said that more than 9 out of 10 calls and emails to his office in the past week were against unilateral U.S. action against Syria. “The calls that are coming into my office are overwhelmingly against getting involved in a bloody and complicated civil war in Syria,” Sanders told anchor Alex Witt. Second, at a time when the U.S. faces major domestic crises in terms of high unemployment, low wages, massive income and wealth inequality and the planetary threat of global warming, he feared very much that U.S. involvement in Syria would make it even harder for the U.S. government to address the enormous problems facing the American middle class. “The American people are profoundly disgusted with the fact that the United States Congress continues to ignore the enormously serious problems facing the middle class of this country,” Sanders said. Third, the senator worried that the “surgical strike” against Syria advocated by President Barack Obama could turn into a much deeper engagement and a push for “regime change.” He noted that a resolution passed last week by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee contained language that could become a basis for broader U.S. involvement. If that occurred, the U.S. involvement could take years, cost billions of dollars and possibly involve U.S. troops. To watch the interview, click here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=C1A96894-6D85-4145-91BA-D29037D889C1 | : News September 7 | 2013-09-07 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 7 Saturday, September 7, 2013 Senator Sanders Americans Oppose Syria Attack Americans have deluged their congressmen with phone calls, emails and online-survey responses to make their opposition known to the possibility of the U.S. striking Syria. "We're just detecting very little support for this proposal," Sen. Bernie Sanders told The Wall Street Journal. The senator's office had received 1,856 calls, faxes and emails for the week from constituents as of early Friday afternoon and 1,740 were opposed and 116 in favor. Of 488 phone calls to Sanders, there were only10 in support, The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe said on “Washington Week” onPBS. Chris Matthews on MSNBC said Sanders is hearing almost unanimously from people saying do not get involved. LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO Public Says No to War The White House's chances of winning congressional support for military action in Syria look increasingly worse as members of Congress hear from constituents overwhelmingly opposed to military intervention, according to a Washington Post report that said Sen. Sanders told a local television station his phones were "bopping off the hook" with calls from those opposed to military strikes. Thousands headed to Sen. Sanders' website and opposed military action in Syria by a margin of 10 to 1, Vermont Public Television andThe Thom Hartmann Program reported. “Bernie Sanders said most of the calls coming into his office were against this effort. I can tell you, 99 percent of the calls coming into my office are against it,” Rep. Elijah Cummings said on MSNBC.LINK, LINK, LINK, AUDIO, VIDEO ‘War is the Enemy of the Poor’ The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was right, Sen. Sanders told Tavis Smiley in a public radio interview. “If we get involved in a prolonged effort in Syria, who do you think is going to be paying for that? … It will undoubtedly mean more cuts for programs that low-income and working families need. It will mean more kids being thrown off Head Start to pay for the war… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=8AE8748B-2F8F-42FC-8EBD-AA438EDF9A3A | : News September 6 | 2013-09-06 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 6 Friday, September 6, 2013 Senator Sanders Sanders Fears Broader U.S. War in Syria Sen. Bernie Sanders voiced concern on Thursday that some on Congress want to use President Barack Obama’s call for “surgical strikes” to punish Syria for using chemical weapons as a pretext for a broader war aimed at regime change, according to WCAX-TV and The Thom Hartmann Program. A divided Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a resolution with language authorizing a broader war, Sanders said on Al Jazeera America. “If the effort does not go well, sometime in the future it could … mean American troops on the ground,” Sanders said Thursday on MSNBC. AUDIO, VIDEO, VIDEO War Protesters in Vermont About 45 demonstrators on Thursday marched to the offices of Sens. Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch, WCAX-TV, NECN-TV, The Associated Press and the Burlington Free Press reported. Vermont Public Radio, Fox 44 and ABC 22 said Sanders met with protesters. “We have a dysfunctional Congress today that is basically unable to address issues. What do you think will happen if we get involved in another war?” Sanders is leaning against voting for military action, according to Seven Days. VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO, LINK, LINK, LINK,, LINK, LINK Independents Oppose War Independent voters are the most determined foes of President Obama’s proposal to launch missile strikes in response to reports that the Syrian government employed chemical weapons in that country’s brutal civil war. So what does the Senate’s independent member say? Sanders shares the skepticism and he’s asking questions that are more likely to be heard on Main Street than in Washington, John Nichols blogged for The Nation. LINK Rail Upgrades Vermont will receive an $8.9 million federal grant to upgrade railroad service on the western side of the state. "The fact of the matter is that improving our rail system moves us in a very substantial way forward in getting trucks off the road, cutting back on con… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=16A8ED65-64A0-4DF1-9C2C-81E2D2483635 | The Guardian: Walmart workers protest over minimum wage in 15 US cities | 2013-09-05 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Walmart workers protest over minimum wage in 15 US cities By: Karen McVeigh Thursday, September 5, 2013 Walmart workers and their supporters are planning to launch protests in stores in 15 cities across the US on Thursday, as part of a small but vociferous movement to raise wages and improve conditions for some of the nation's lowest paid workers. The action follows strikes last week by fast food workers demanding a higher minimum wage and a civil disobedience action in Washington DCin August, where a coalition of Walmart workers and unions called for a minimum annual wage of $25,000 and the reinstatement of 20 employees they claim were illegally fired by the company after strikes in early June. OurWalmart, a union-backed members group, says it has filed more than 100 unfair labour practice charges against Walmart with the National Labor Relations Board, including 20 illegal terminations and 80 disciplinary actions. The board said it was looking into "several cases". Walmart have denied any wrongdoing. Thursday's actions will include a march in Los Angeles and a rally outside the Four Seasons hotel in San Francisco, where Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO and Walmart board member has a penthouse apartment. InNew York, a petition will be delivered to the headquarters of Williams Capital Group, whose chairman, Christopher Williams, is a Walmart board member. Other actions are expected in Washington DC, where a bill was recently passed by the city council to pay workers for large retailers $12.50 an hour. Workers will also protest in Chicago, Boston, Sacramento, Miami and Dallas, according to organisers. Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=94325FE1-066F-4058-9198-CE1FA8836B2F | Not Another Quagmire | 2013-09-05 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Not Another Quagmire Thursday, September 5, 2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday questioned provisions in the latest version of a Senate resolution authorizing military action against Syria that could lay the foundation for broad-scale U.S. military involvement in overthrowing the regime of Bashar Assad. “I don’t sense that the American people have much appetite to get involved in what could be a real quagmire,” the senator told Thom Hartmann. Sanders spoke of the horrors of chemical warfare and the ruthless nature of the Assad regime, but questioned language added to a Senate resolution to give President Obama authority to “change the momentum on the battlefield in Syria.” Sanders said that push by Sen. John McCain and others for regime change is one of his "serious reservations" about authorizing military action against Syria. “If that policy prevails, there is no question that it could cost tens of billions of dollars and the possible future involvement of American troops,” Sanders said. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| 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 | legacy | News September 5 Thursday, September 5, 2013 Senator Sanders Senate Weighs Military Strikes Against Syria Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday on MSNBC that he is “keeping an open mind” but has “very deep concerns” about President Obama's proposal to punish Syria with military strikes for using chemical weapons on its own citizens. “We’ve cut back on education, we’ve cut back on nutrition programs, we’ve 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,” Sanders told Ed Schultz. VIDEO, AUDIO Leaning 'No' Vermont'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 reported. “I worry very much that with this rush into war, the very serious problems facing Vermonters and people all over this country … will be pushed aside,” Sanders told The Vermont Press Bureau. “So there will be less discussion about creating jobs, less discussion about making college affordable, less discussion about protecting … Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.” In Seven Days and Politico, Sanders also was said to be leaning against intervention. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK International Loner Sen. Sanders said on WPTZ-TV that he's concerned that the United States would be going into a war almost unilaterally without the support of the United Nations or NATO. “If we are concerned about international stability... this sets a very dangerous precedent that other countries could use in the future.” ABC 22 said Sanders tweeted his views on the Syrian conflict. “We have billions to spend on a war but no money to take care of the very pressing needs of the American people.” On WCAX-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. VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO Se… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=540648BC-2A1B-4B2A-8970-6F877293ABF0 | As Debate Reopens, Food Stamp Recipients Continue to Squeeze | 2013-09-04 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | As Debate Reopens, Food Stamp Recipients Continue to Squeeze By: Sheryl Gay Stolberg Wednesday, September 4, 2013 DYERSBURG, Tenn. — As a self-described “true Southern man” — and reluctant recipient of food stamps — Dustin Rigsby, a struggling mechanic, hunts deer, dove and squirrel to help feed his family. He shops for grocery bargains, cooks budget-stretching stews and limits himself to one meal a day. Tarnisha Adams, who left her job skinning hogs at a slaughterhouse when she became ill with cancer, gets $352 a month in food stamps for herself and three college-age boys. She buys discount meat and canned vegetables, cheaper than fresh. Like Mr. Rigsby, she eats once a day — “if I eat,” she said. When Congress officially returns to Washington next week, the diets of families like the Rigsbys and Adamses will be caught up in a debate over deficit reduction. Republicans, alarmed by a rise in food-stamp enrollment during the economic downturn, are pushing to scale down the program. No matter what Congress decides, benefits will be cut in November, when a provision in the 2009 stimulus bill expires. Yet as lawmakers cast the fight in terms of spending, nonpartisan budget analysts and hunger relief advocates warn of a spike in “food insecurity” among Americans who, as Mr. Rigsby said recently, “look like we are fine,” but live on the edge of poverty, skipping meals and rationing food. Surrounded by corn and soybean farms — including one owned by the local Republican congressman, Representative Stephen Fincher — Dyersburg, about 75 miles north of Memphis, provides an eye-opening view into Washington’s food stamp debate. Mr. Fincher, who was elected in 2010 on a Tea Party wave and collected nearly $3.5 million in farm subsidies from the government from 1999 to 2012, recently voted for a farm bill that eliminated food stamps. “The role of citizens, of Christianity, of humanity, is to take care of each other, not for Washington to steal from those in the count… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=A4D2F0CC-DD85-4DF7-A49A-418D1FB9A5DA | : News September 4 | 2013-09-04 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 4 Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Senator Sanders Syria The Senate Foreign Relations Committee could vote today on authorizing the use of force in Syria after the panel's top members drafted a resolution late Tuesday that permits President Obama to order a "limited and tailored" military mission against Syria. Republican and Democratic leaders in the House on Tuesday backed an attack on Syria. The Senate was “all over the map” according to Politico, which said Sen. Bernie Sanders was seen as a potential ‘no’ vote. Sanders said on WAMC-FM that he wants to know why “it is in the best interests of the United States to intervene in Syria's bloody and complicated civil war.” Radio host Thom Hartmann said Sanders may block military intervention. Time called Sanders “part of the antiwar left.” In a Rutland Herald letter to the editor, Judy and Michael Olinick pleaded for the Vermont congressional delegation to “please do all you can to dissuade Obama and John Kerry from this criminal folly.” LINK, LINK,LINK, LINK, VIDEO ‘Something Rare in America’ Sen. Sanders, who will headline this weekend’s Fighting Bob Fest in Madison, Wis., is proud to talk about his proposals “to reform the tax code in a way that protects the middle class, working families, and the most vulnerable while making sure that the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations pay their fair share.” Other senators may want to operate in secret, but Sanders is proud to discuss his plans. That’s what makes Sanders something rare in America: a senator who has good ideas — and the courage to advance them, publicly and without apology,” John Nichols wrote in The Capital Times.LINK Congress on Twitter According to New York Magazine, 97 percent of members of Congress now have an official presence on Twitter. A chart showed that Sen. Sanders leads members of the Senate Democratic caucus with more than 170,000 followers. LINK World Syrian Refugees Ongoing civil war fighting in Syria has forced more th… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=E73B4199-CA42-4B16-975D-04F14489CAF0 | Sanders Statement on Syria | 2013-09-04 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders Statement on Syria Wednesday, September 4, 2013 WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement today on President Barack Obama’s request for Congress to authorize military strikes against Syria: “I intend to keep an open mind with regard to the president’s proposal on Syria but at this point I have serious reservations. These reservations are shared by many Vermonters who are calling my office – the overwhelming majority in opposition to our involvement in the Syrian civil war. I think we all understand that Assad is a ruthless dictator and that his use of chemical weapons is abhorrent and a violation of international law. Many Vermonters, however, worry that our involvement in a third Middle East war in 12 years may make a very bad situation even worse. “Here are several concerns that I have. “First, the truth is that a largely dysfunctional Congress has difficulty today focusing on the very serious issues facing our country: the disappearing middle class, high unemployment, low wages, the high cost of college, the decline of our manufacturing sector and the planetary crisis of global warming. I fear very much that U.S. involvement in another war in the Middle East, and the cost of that war, will make it even harder for Congress to protect working families. “Second, as someone who voted against the war in Iraq, I worry that while the president talks about ‘surgical strikes’ and a limited engagement by our military, there is no doubt that many members of Congress support ‘regime change’ in Syria and much deeper involvement. If that policy prevails, there is no question that it could cost tens of billions of dollars and the possible future involvement of American troops. “Third, I am concerned that the United States would be going into a war almost unilaterally without the support of the United Nations or NATO. If we are concerned about international stability, this sets a very dangerous precedent that other countries could use in the fut… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=EFA542DE-3059-4BD6-A05F-F74D0E1771A3 | Who Pays for Military Strikes Against Syria? | 2013-09-04 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Who Pays for Military Strikes Against Syria? Wednesday, September 4, 2013 While saying “there is no debate about the horrors of chemical warfare,” Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday said a drumbeat for military strikes against Syria “speaks to the degree to which Congress is way out of touch” with the priorities of the American people. He cited jobs and global warming among priorities that are important to Americans but lost in the debate on Syria. He also asked how a U.S. military intervention would be paid for. “We’ve cut back on education, we’ve cut back on nutrition programs, we’ve 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,” Sanders said. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9F515BC1-AAD9-444B-AD61-32C5DB5568E1 | Senate Debates Syria | 2013-09-03 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Senate Debates Syria Tuesday, September 3, 2013 The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held the first public hearing Tuesday on President Obama’s request for Congress to authorize a military strike against Syria in response to last month's chemical attack outside Damascus. “The use of chemical weapons by the Assad dictatorship is inhumane and a violation of international law,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders. “However, at this point in time, I need to hear more from the president as to why he believes it is in the best interests of the United States to intervene in Syria's bloody and complicated civil war. I look forward to the Senate debate that will be taking place in the very near future.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=CECCCC02-FDA2-433D-81F6-3003FAC186A8 | News September 3 | 2013-09-03 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 3 Tuesday, September 3, 2013 Senator Sanders Syria President Obama and his supporters on Capitol Hill will have to overcome broad skepticism about the merits of military strikes against Syria. It is possible they will lose some liberal senators, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, USA Today reported online. Sanders said Saturday that that he wants to hear from Obama why it is in “the best interests of the United States to intervene in Syria's bloody and complicated civil war.” Vermont's congressional delegation is taking a wait-and-see stance, according to online reports by vtdigger.org and Seven Days. LINK, LINK, LINK World Israel Tests Missile in Mediterranean Tensions over Syria ratcheted up a notch on Tuesday after Russia's Defense Ministry said it detected traces of ballistic "objects" — now claimed by Israel — launched from an area in the central Mediterranean and moving in an easterly direction. After some initial confusion over who was responsible, the Israeli military said it was behind the launch, saying it was carrying out a joint missile test with the United States, USA Today reported from Jerusalem. LINK U.S. Wary of Pakistan Top-secret budget documents reveal an intense focus on Pakistan. A 178-page summary of the U.S. intelligence community’s “black budget” shows that the United States has ramped up its surveillance of Pakistan’s nuclear arms, cites previously undisclosed concerns about biological and chemical sites there, and details efforts to assess the loyalties of counterterrorism sources recruited by the CIA, The Washington Post reported. LINK National Obama Presses Congress on Syria The Obama administration launched a campaign to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Syria. Officials said they are willing to rewrite the proposed resolution to clarify that any operation would be limited and not include ground troops. Secretary of State John Kerry told House Democrats that the Uni… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=C2AC80C1-2443-4FC8-BA7D-0F1D83AD5484 | : News September 2 | 2013-09-02 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 2 Monday, September 2, 2013 Senator Sanders Sanders: Why Intervene in Syria’s Civil War? Sen. Bernie Sanders condemned the use of chemical weapons by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “The use of chemical weapons by the Assad dictatorship is inhumane and a violation of international law. However, at this point in time, I need to hear more from the president as to why he believes it is in the best interests of the United States to intervene in Syria’s bloody and complicated civil war,” Sanders said in Monday’s Bennington Banner, Rutland Herald, Times Argus and Keene Sentinel and on WCAX-TV LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO Sanders Opposed Iraq War Resolution As Congress embarks on a debate over whether to launch a strike against Syria, it's worth looking at the most recent vote for the authorization of force against Iraq in 2002. When President George W. Bush asked Congress to go to war against Iraq in the fall of 2002, the resolution was introduced by leaders of both parties in each chamber: The measure passed the House 296 to 133 and the Senate 77 to 23. The one independent in the House at the time, Sanders, voted no, according to The Washington Post online. LINK Fighting Bob Fest Sen. Sanders will keynote Fighting Bob Fest No. 12 on Saturday in Madison, Wis. This will be his fourth appearance and he has a huge following in Wisconsin. I can think of no one in public life who has contributed more to the fight for social and economic justice, Ed Garvey wrote in The Capital Times. LINK National Lawmakers Doubt Obama’s Syria Plan Will Pass Members of Congress from across the political spectrum reacted with deep skepticism Sunday to President Obama's bid for approval of strikes against Syria, with lawmakers raising doubts about whether a vote would succeed. Few of the approximately 100 members of Congress who returned to Washington for a classified intelligence briefing Sunday said they would support the administration's request to authorize the use of for… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=190BE0CB-1E34-49FF-9FBF-21DD7A906043 | News September 1 | 2013-09-01 | 2013 | 2013-09 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News September 1 Sunday, September 1, 2013 Senator Sanders Obama Asks Congress to Back Strike on Syria In an about face, President Obama announced on Saturday at the White House that he would seek approval from Congress to attack Syria. That stopped the clock for at least a week on what had loomed as an imminent attack. Sen. Bernie Sanders called the apparent use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime “inhumane and a violation of international law,” but added, “I need to hear more from the president as to why he believes it is in the best interests of the United States to intervene in Syria’s bloody and complicated civil war,” the Burlington Free Press, Valley News, WCAX-TV and WPTZ-TV reported. LINK, LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO Senate Harry Reid said Saturday he’d try to bring the Senate back early for a vote, meaning it will say yes first and add to the drama in the House, according to The Daily Beast. Obama might lose a very small number of Senate Democrats and maybe independent Sanders, but he should get several Senate Republicans who aren’t up for reelection this year and in hiding from the tea party, the article asserted. LINK World Mandela Discharged from Hospital South Africa’s president says Nelson Mandela has been discharged from the hospital in the capital, Pretoria. President Jacob Zuma said in a statement Sunday that former President Mandela remains in critical condition and was sent to his Johannesburg home early Sunday, where he would continue to get intensive care. LINK National Media Consolidation In a deal that could heighten the competition in radio against Clear Channel Communications, long the industry’s dominant player, Cumulus Media has agreed to buy Dial Global, a syndicator of sports, talk and music programming to thousands of stations, for $260 million, The New York Times reported. LINK Behind the Times “Claremont has been touted as an up-and-coming city and yet failed to understand that it might have been important to commemorate the March on Washingt… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=15C45336-DAB3-4F7D-BB3D-B2557A867736 | : News August 31 | 2013-08-31 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 31 Saturday, August 31, 2013 Senator Sanders VA Faulted for Lax Oversight of Veterans’ Financial Advisers A bipartisan group of senior senators said Friday they are "deeply troubled" by the findings of a new Government Accountability Office report that criticizes the Department of Veterans Affairs for lax enforcement of its rules on accrediting private financial planners, attorneys, insurance agents and others who assist veterans in filing for VA benefits, The Washington Post online, Military Times, The Reno Dispatch and The Tampa Tribunereported. Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders and ranking member Sen. Richard Burr signed a letter sent to Secretary Eric Shinseki. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK Vermont Veterans Home Workers Thank Sanders “The nurses and caregivers at the Vermont Veterans’ Home would like to thank Sen. Sanders for his leadership fighting for a federal commitment to high quality health care for our nation’s veterans, Harry (Jamie) Percey wrote in a letter to the editor of the Bennington Banner. LINK College Costs In a letter to the editor of The Caledonian-Record, Sharon Baker differed with Sen. Sanders’ on student loan debt. LINK World U.N. Inspectors Leave Syria United Nations weapons inspectors left Syria for Lebanon on Saturday as the Obama administration made an aggressive and coordinated push to justify a military intervention on the grounds that American credibility was at stake, The New York Times reported. LINK Kerry Outlines Chemical Attack Evidence Secretary of State John Kerry outlined evidence Friday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used poison gas against its citizens, The New York Times reported. Kerry said more than 1,400 people were killed in the attack, 400 of whom were children. “The question is … what are we and the world going to do about it?” he said. LINK Consulting Congress The White House has provided a series of briefings for key lawmakers to combat complaints that Congress is not being c… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=2E6DCE9F-DBFE-41ED-BA57-DFBF823F92B8 | Sanders Statement on Syria | 2013-08-31 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders Statement on Syria Saturday, August 31, 2013 WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 – Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement today after President Barack Obama announced that he will ask Congress to authorize military strikes against Syria: “The use of chemical weapons by the Assad dictatorship is inhumane and a violation of international law. However, at this point in time, I need to hear more from the president as to why he believes it is in the best interests of the United States to intervene in Syria's bloody and complicated civil war. I look forward to the Senate debate that will be taking place in the very near future.” | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=57B95AFE-B2C3-4D6D-863B-FE05E107D026 | Sanders on Syria | 2013-08-31 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders on Syria Saturday, August 31, 2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday reacted to President Barack Obama’s call for Congress to support a military strike to punish Bashar Assad's regime for the use of chemical weapons. “The use of chemical weapons by the Assad dictatorship is inhumane and a violation of international law. However, at this point in time, I need to hear more from the president as to why he believes it is in the best interests of the United States to intervene in Syria's bloody and complicated civil war,” Sanders said. Navy ships were positioned in Mediterranean Sea and ready to launch cruise missiles when Obama decided to seek approval from Congress before taking military action. Congress returns on Sept. 9. “I look forward to the Senate debate that will be taking place in the very near future,” Sanders said. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=8AE03A54-3BD8-4078-A488-841D692727F2 | The Week in Review | 2013-08-30 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | The Week in Review Friday, August 30, 2013 In advance of Labor Day weekend, there were nationwide protests on Thursday by low-wage workers at fast-food restaurants in more than 50 cities. Jobs and economic justice were common themes at Wednesday’s observance of the 50thanniversary of the March on Washington. A report on Monday said U.S. workers' pay isn't even keeping up with inflation. What do you think about the minimum wage, striking fast-food workers and the role of organized labor in America? Fast-Food Strikes Many of the workers at fast-food chains are paid only the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has not changed since 2009. Sanders is a cosponsor of legislation to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, about what it would be if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation over the past 50 years. After one-day strikes were staged earlier this summer, Sanders praised the workers “who are standing up for justice, who are putting a spotlight on one of the major economic crises facing this country.” While fast-food chains pay what Sanders called “starvation wages,” he noted that the top executives for the same firms are paid millions of dollars a year. Watch Sanders' speech » Read more about the minimum wage » March on Washington “There has been some real progress in breaking down barriers of discrimination and segregation, including the election and re-election of an African-American president,” Sanders said of Wednesday’s 50th anniversary of the march. “On the other hand, in terms of unemployment, low wages and more wealth disparity, we are worse off than we were in 1963.” Watch Sanders’ reflect on the March on Washington Stagnant Wages Paychecks for U.S. workers are not keeping up with inflation, according to a report on Monday. The average hourly pay was $8.77 last month, down from $8.85 four years ago, according to inflation-adjusted data from the U.S. Department of Labor. That comparison is for what the Labor Department said was the average pay for … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=AE5B0C78-B415-4ABD-A146-F435AF50E62D | : News August 30 | 2013-08-30 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 30 Friday, August 30, 2013 Senator Sanders Irene Recovery The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide funding to replace much of a state office complex in Waterbury which was destroyed two years ago by Tropical Storm Irene. An agreement was reached with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will provide nearly $90 million of the $125 million dollar price tag for the new complex. The Vermont project benefited from provisions in legislation passed after Hurricane Sandy. Sen. Patrick Leahy said he and Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch worked the halls of Congress to make it happen, the Burlington Free Pressreported. LINK Vermont Yankee Entergy's plan to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant may pose new challenges for the local economy in Vernon, The Deerfield Valley News reported. Sen. Bernie Sanders praised Entergy’s decision as a step in that will allow Vermont to "focus on leading the nation toward safer and more economical sources of sustainable and renewable energy." LINK Vermont Yankee “We all need to … preserve … jobs and assure the safe storage of highly radioactive waste that will certainly remain at the site for decades to come … [Sen.] Sanders is a high-ranking member of the Senate energy committee … and can fight for the funds and directives that will force Entergy to decontaminate the Yankee site now to create jobs and ensure community health and safety,” Lissa Weinmann, a World Policy Institute senior fellow, wrote in the Brattleboro Reformer. LINK Fighting Bob Fest Progressives will gather in Madison, Wis., on Sept. 7 for the annual fest that will be crammed with many national and local speakers to discuss the issues facing both Wisconsin and the nation. Sens. Sanders and Tammy Baldwin are on the schedule. Sanders is in the middle of the fight to save Social Security and Medicare from those who want to privatize the two successful programs for the elderly, Dave Zweifel wrote for The Capital Times. LINK Intern Pay The vast… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=F0DDD414-D706-4B42-91FA-0D4A4BDC5765 | Health Care in America | 2013-08-30 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Health Care in America Friday, August 30, 2013 The United States spends more money on health care while getting less in return than all but two other nations in a new Bloomberg ranking of the most efficient countries for health care. Bloomberg ranked 48 countries on life expectancy and per capita health care costs. The U.S. ranked 46th. Only Serbia and Brazil were worse than the U.S. in the chart that highlights the tremendous gap between the soaring cost of medical treatment in the U.S. and its quality and effectiveness. Sen. Bernie Sanders favors a single-payer system that would cover everyone, cost less but get better results. He spoke out for such a Medicare-for-all health care system at a news conference last month on the anniversary of passage of Medicare. Check out the Bloomberg chart » Watch Sanders’ at the Medicare-for-all news conference » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=F7DA378F-58AD-4140-A370-67D1865D4EBD | VA Accreditation Program Open to Abuse, GAO Says | 2013-08-30 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | VA Accreditation Program Open to Abuse, GAO Says Friday, August 30, 2013 WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 – Leaders of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Special Committee on Aging said today that they are “deeply troubled” by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ lax oversight of private advisers to veterans applying for pensions and other benefits. The senators cited a new report by the Government Accountability Office that faulted the VA for loosely enforcing its own vague rules on accrediting private financial planners, attorneys, insurance agents and others. The nonpartisan congressional agency that audits federal programs also criticized the VA for leaving itself vulnerable to abuses and for keeping veterans in the dark about their rights. The GAO report was cited in a letter to Secretary Eric Shinseki from Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the chairman and ranking member of the veterans’ committee. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a veterans’ committee member and former chairman, and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), the Senate Special Committee on Aging chairman, also signed the letter. “We are deeply troubled by the findings indicating weaknesses in the accreditation program, which may prevent VA from ensuring that veterans are served by knowledgeable, qualified, and trustworthy representatives,” the senators wrote. The senators said the accreditation procedures should be strengthened to protect veterans from unscrupulous advisers among the 20,000 approved by the department. They also echoed a GAO recommendation and urged the department to do a better job letting veterans know how to report abuses. Problems with the accreditation program are compounded by a lack of staff and inadequate technology, the senators added. The latest GAO report builds on an investigation last year that found weak oversight and unclear rules made the VA ripe for abuse. That report found that some firms overcharge veterans for services or sell financial products that end up limiti… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9A19E4A7-FC91-48FB-A151-EE04A50AA48D | : News August 29 | 2013-08-29 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 29 Thursday, August 29, 2013 Senator Sanders Decommissioning Vermont Yankee A fight is brewing over the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant's lengthy decommissioning process. Entergy CEO Leo Denault said that if the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission agrees, the plant will be mothballed for up to 60 years while its radioactive components cool down before removal. Sen. Bernie Sanders was among those calling for the decommissioning process to commence as soon as possible, The Associated Press reported. In Seven Days, Sanders said the nuclear power plant’s closure will “allow Vermont to focus on … economical sources of sustainable and renewable energy.” LINK Employee Ownership Sen. Sanders is one of the federal government's strongest proponents for employee ownership, according to a PBS “NewsHour” online report. LINK Youth Jobs A youth jobs provision by Sen. Sanders in a Senate-passed immigration bill counters a provision that would bring about 100,000 foreign college students to the United States every year to fill low-wage jobs, a spokesman told FoxNews.com. “We have got to do everything we can to make sure that young Americans have the jobs they need to pay for a college education and to move up the economic ladder,” Sanders said. LINK Health Care “In about a month, small businesses in Vermont and Vermonters who purchase their own health insurance will begin to enroll in insurance plans offered on Vermont Health Connect. This new and affordable way for many Vermonters to purchase insurance is the key provision of the Affordable Care Act. I was proud to be involved in the passage of this law when I worked as the health policy advisor for Senator Bernie Sanders,” David Reynolds wrote in The Caledonian-Record. LINK Money and Politics Many Vermont politicos believe wealthy conservative Bruce Lisman is plotting a challenge to Gov. Peter Shumlin in 2014, Paul Heintz wrote for Seven Days. Money does not always buy electoral success, Heintz noted, citing another wealth… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=BA0630BB-46FC-4050-9A59-04C021829313 | Fast-Food Workers Protest | 2013-08-29 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Fast-Food Workers Protest Thursday, August 29, 2013 There were nationwide protests on Thursday in more than 50 cities by low-paid workers at fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s. Many of the protesters are paid only the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. That amounts to about $15,000 a year for full-time employees, but many of the restaurant workers hold only part-time jobs. Sen. Bernie Sanders is a cosponsor of legislation to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, about what it would be if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation over the past 50 years. The minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009. After one-day strikes were staged earlier this summer, Sanders praised the workers “who are standing up for justice, who are putting a spotlight on one of the major economic crises facing this country.” While fast-food chains pay what Sanders called “starvation wages,” he noted that the top executives for the same firms are paid millions of dollars a year. Watch Sanders' speech » Read more about the minimum wage » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=3FDB6B27-7920-438A-9822-55A734C1320E | : News August 28 | 2013-08-28 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 28 Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Senator Sanders Vermont Yankee to Close Entergy Corp. announced Tuesday that it will close Vermont's only nuclear power plant next year. “The closure will allow Vermont to focus on leading the nation toward safer and more economical sources of sustainable and renewable energy,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said in the Brattleboro Reformer and Bennington Banner, on WPTZ-TV and in The Christian Science Monitor. “I am delighted that Entergy will shut down the … plant which has had so many problems in recent years,” Sanders said in the National Journal and Burlington Free Press. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO Reactor Shutdown A member of the Senate energy and environment committees, Sen. Sanders said Entergy “must go through a decommissioning process as soon as possible.” He and Sen. Patrick Leahy said they would push the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to require the job to be done promptly, The Associated Press, Rutland Herald, The Washington Post, The Commons Online and VermontBiz.com reported. The congressional delegation in 2011 wrote to the NRC expressing concerns about a slow shutdown process that gives a utility up to 60 years to complete remediation of a site, the Brattleboro Reformer reported.LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK March on Washington As a 22-year-old college student, Sen. Sanders rode a bus to D.C. to see the "I Have a Dream" speech, MSNBC reported on Tuesday. The network made a message from the senator with a link to a video of his reflections on the 50th anniversary its “Tweet of the Day.” Sanders participation in the march half a century ago was noted in reports by Jamie Dupree on WDBO-AM in Orlando, Fla., and WHIO-AM in Dayton, Ohio.VIDEO, AUDIO, AUDIO Tropical Storm Irene With today marking the second anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene, “Vermont’s congressional delegation continues to brag to their Washington colleagues about how everyone pulled together for their community and for their state,” the Brattleboro Reformer … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=91B02352-DED8-4C58-B405-8334E67978E9 | I Have a Dream | 2013-08-28 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | I Have a Dream Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Fifty years ago today a 22-year-old college student named Bernie Sanders arrived in Washington D.C. to hear Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of King's famous speech, let us not forget that today much of King's vision has still not been fulfilled. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=42AC162C-E7AE-41B7-BC2C-79271FEFAE6C | Vermont Yankee Shutdown is ?Good News,? Sanders Says | 2013-08-27 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Vermont Yankee Shutdown is ‘Good News,’ Sanders Says Tuesday, August 27, 2013 WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today welcomed Entergy Corp.’s decision to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. “I am delighted that Entergy will shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant which has had so many problems in recent years. There is a strong desire on the part of the people of the state of Vermont to close the plant that was scheduled to operate for only 40 years,” Sanders said. “The closure will allow Vermont to focus on leading the nation toward safer and more economical sources of sustainable and renewable energy like solar, wind, geothermal and biomass,” added Sanders, a member of the Senate energy and environment committees. While welcoming news of the shutdown, Sanders said the jobs of Vermont Yankee employees must be preserved while the plant is safely decommissioned. “Entergy must go through a decommissioning process as soon as possible, a process which will require many workers,” Sanders said. “Clearly there are no people who know the Vermont Yankee plant better than those who are currently employed and they should be given top priority for those new jobs.” The company has indicated it favors a decommissioning method that could result in decades of delay. As a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sanders said he will work aggressively to make sure the decommissioning process starts as soon as possible. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=5E9DC185-8E95-4825-BF58-2E7E448ED189 | News August 27 | 2013-08-27 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 27 Tuesday, August 27, 2013 Senator Sanders Municipal Bonds The Bennington Banner published Vermont State Treasurer Beth Pearce’s letter saying that Sen. Sanders and others in the congressional delegation agree with her that the federal government should not tax municipal bonds. LINK Vermont Yankee A letter to the editor in the Brattleboro Reformer and Burlington Free Press responded to Sen. Sanders’ statement that Vermont Yankee should be closed for economic reasons. LINK, LINK World Obama Considering Military Strike President Obama is weighing a military strike against Syria that would be of limited scope and duration, designed to serve as punishment for Syria’s use of chemical weapons and as a deterrent, while keeping the United States out of deeper involvement in that country’s civil war, senior administration officials told The Washington Post. LINK Kerry: Syrian Chemical Attack 'Undeniable' Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the United States would hold the Syrian government accountable for its “undeniable” use of chemical weapons on civilians, an act he called a "moral obscenity," The New York Times reported. LINK Congress and Syria With an increasing drumbeat for military action against Syria, the White House is seeking to build congressional support, The Hill reported. Speaker John Boehner’s office was contacted by the Obama administration Monday for a discussion on Syria. LINK Obama Taps Allies on Syria A diplomatic push ahead of a possible U.S.-led military strike on Syria intensified Tuesday as the White House prepared to release intelligence evidence alleging the use of chemical weapons by Bashar Assad's military. President Obama held discussions with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and French President Francois Hollande on Monday – the latest in a series of phone calls to allies as the United States lays the groundwork for potential military action, NBC News reported. LINK NSA Spied on UN The United States hacked into an i… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=6A82127D-F7F1-4BC9-A179-7F8BCA4D3ACA | Vermont Yankee to Close | 2013-08-27 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Vermont Yankee to Close Tuesday, August 27, 2013 The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant will shut down by the end of next year, according to an announcement on Tuesday by Entergy Corp., the Louisiana company that has battled the state to keep operating the problem-plagued, aging reactor. “I am delighted that Entergy will shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant which has had so many problems in recent years. There is a strong desire on the part of the people of the state of Vermont to close the plant that was scheduled to operate for only 40 years,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said. “The closure will allow Vermont to focus on leading the nation toward safer and more economical sources of sustainable and renewable energy like solar, wind, geothermal and biomass,” added Sanders, a member of the Senate energy and environment committees. While welcoming news of the shutdown, Sanders said the jobs of Vermont Yankee employees must be preserved while the plant is safely decommissioned. “Entergy must go through a decommissioning process as soon as possible, a process which will require many workers,” Sanders said. “Clearly there are no people who know the Vermont Yankee plant better than those who are currently employed and they should be given top priority for those new jobs.” The company has indicated it favors a decommissioning method that could result in decades of delay. As a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sanders said he will work aggressively to make sure the decommissioning process starts as soon as possible. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://web.archive.org/web/20130827191817/http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=16c890d0-6830-47b7-9d95-7d1f4b1ca08f | Vermont Yankee Nuke Plant to Close by End of 2014 | 2013-08-27 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | web.archive.org | legacy | By Dave Gram August 27, 2013 Vermont's only nuclear power plant will shut down by the end of next year, ending a nasty legal battle over the future of the 4-decade-old plant, Entergy Corp. announced Tuesday. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station is expected to cease power production after its current fuel cycle and will begin being decommissioned in the fourth quarter of 2014, the company said. The station will remain under the oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission throughout the decommissioning process. The New Orleans-based company has been battling with the state since 2010, when the Vermont Senate voted against a measure that would have authorized a state board to grant Vermont Yankee a permit to operate for an additional 20 years. Lawmakers were concerned about the plant's safety, age and misstatements by plant management about components at the reactor. "This was an agonizing decision and an extremely tough call for us," Leo Denault, Entergy's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Vermont Yankee has an immensely talented, dedicated and loyal workforce, and a solid base of support among many in the community. We recognize that closing the plant on this schedule was not the outcome they had hoped for, but we have reluctantly concluded that it is the appropriate action for us to take under the circumstances." Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=0A0719F9-E927-4CBA-8EBE-3817274F4137 | News August 26 | 2013-08-26 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 26 Monday, August 26, 2013 Senator Sanders March on Washington Sen. Bernie Sanders was a 22-year-old college student when he stood at the Lincoln Memorial and listened to Dr. Martin Luther King deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech. Washington has begun celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's landmark address, WNYT-TV in Albany, N.Y., reported on Monday. VIDEO A Marine Remembered The parents of Kyle Gilbert, killed in Iraq a decade ago, wrote a letter to the editor of the Brattleboro Reformer to thank participants in a memorial service. “A particular thanks to Sam Haskins from Sen. Bernie Sanders office for reading a heartwarming letter, not forgetting Kyle’s sacrifice,” they wrote. LINK Thunder Road In the 35-lap Tiger Sportsman feature, Brendan Moodie of Wolcott raced on the outside of Chris Roberts in his Bernie Sanders/Nathan Brown No. 94 for 14 laps before contact brought out a caution flag. After the race was restarted, Moodie quickly got the upper hand and won, the Times Argus reported. World U.S. Mulls Action in Syria Moving a step closer to possible American military action in Syria, a senior Obama administration official said Sunday that there was “very little doubt” that President Bashar al-Assad’s military forces had used chemical weapons against civilians last week and that a Syrian promise to allow United Nations inspectors access to the site was “too late to be credible,” The New York Times reported. LINK Food Safety Protesters in the Philippines destroyed a field of genetically modified plants called Golden Rice, which is being developed by a nonprofit group to provide a new source of vitamin A. The vital nutrient could prevent blindness in up to a half-million children each year and strengthen the immune system to prevent two million deaths. The destruction of the field trial earlier this month spurred several thousand scientists to sign a petition venting frustration with groups they see as playing on misplaced fears of genetic engi… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=67330205-4852-4CA1-914F-CFBEF87FFC13 | Stagnant Wages Are Crimping Economic Growth | 2013-08-26 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Stagnant Wages Are Crimping Economic Growth By: Neil Shah Monday, August 26, 2013 Americans are spending enough to keep the economy rolling, but don't expect them to splurge unless their paychecks start to grow. Four years into the economic recovery, U.S. workers' pay still isn't even keeping up with inflation. The average hourly pay for a nongovernment, non-supervisory worker, adjusted for price increases, declined to $8.77 last month from $8.85 at the end of the recession in June 2009, Labor Department data show. Stagnant wages erode the spending power of consumers. That means it is harder for them to make purchases ranging from refrigerators to restaurant meals that account for most of the nation's economic growth. Economists blame three factors: Economic growth remains sluggish, advancing at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of less than 2% for three straight quarters—below the prerecession average of 3.5%. That effectively has put a lid on inflation, which has been near or below the 2% level the Federal Reserve considers healthy for the economy. With demand for labor low, prices not rising fast and 11.5 million unemployed searching for work, employers aren't under pressure to raise wages to retain or attract workers. Businesses are changing how they manage payrolls. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in a recent paper said that, in the past, companies cut wages when the economy struggled and raised them amid expansions. But in the past three recessions since 1986—and especially the 2007-2009 downturn—companies minimized wage cuts and instead let workers go to keep remaining workers happy. As a result, to compensate for the wage cuts that never were made, businesses now may be capping wage growth. "As the economy recovers, pent-up wage cuts will probably continue to slow wage growth long after the unemployment rate has returned to more normal levels," the researchers said. Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=FAA27D8F-A634-4E69-ACFD-83818BEEC32A | Shrinking Paychecks | 2013-08-26 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Shrinking Paychecks Monday, August 26, 2013 Paychecks for U.S. workers are not keeping up with inflation. The average hourly pay was $8.77 last month. That level of pay for workers who aren’t on a government payroll and aren’t supervisors is down from $8.85 four years ago, according to inflation-adjusted data from the U.S. Department of Labor. With Labor Day approaching, Sen. Bernie Sanders has co-sponsored legislation to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Sanders also has spoken out in support of fast-food workers who have staged one-day walkouts throughout the country to bring attention to what he called the “starvation wages” and “economic injustice.” Watch the Senate floor speech » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=2DB914B7-4885-492A-8881-4392CA9F7B07 | : News August 25 | 2013-08-25 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 25 Sunday, August 25, 2013 Senator Sanders March on Washington Sen. Bernie Sanders was among the more than 200,000 people who gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington 50 years ago to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech. Since then, Sanders said, there has been some real progress in breaking down barriers of discrimination and segregation, including the election and re-election of an African-American president. But Sanders said the country is worse off than it was in 1963 in unemployment, low wages and more wealth disparity, according to an Associated Press report in the Times Argus, Rutland Herald and Brattleboro Reformer. In the Valley News, Sanders said the anniversary is a time to reflect on progress that has occurred but also to realize that the country has a long way to go. LINK, LINK, LINK ‘I Have a Dream’ Sen. Sanders credits King with shaping the values he holds to this day, he told WPTZ-TV. He spoke about his experience at the march. “It was just a huge crowd of every kind of people – African- Americans, whites. There was a real sense of joy and optimism because the success had already occurred before King’s speech just by huge numbers who showed up. It was very positive day.” Fox 44 and ABC 22 aired video of Sanders at the Lincoln Memorial. “We have come a long, long way in a lot of areas in fulfilling some of the visions that this great man had. But on the other hand let us not forget for one second that a lot of his dreams still have not been fulfilled.” VIDEO, VIDEO Moran Plant Plans Redevelopment plans for the 1950s-era Moran power plant on the Burlington waterfront range from a showcase for the arts to an expansion of the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center. “The most successful ones advance the idea that the heart of this thing is the community,” said Peter Owens, the city’s director of Community and Economic Development. Owens worked in the 1980s with then Mayor Sanders on waterfront rede… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=1A608139-5E05-4B6A-ADAF-73BAE2D026A9 | News August 21 | 2013-08-21 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 21 Wednesday, August 21, 2013 Senator Sanders VA Backlog The Department of Veterans Affairs is chipping away steadily at a disability claims backlog. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Bernie Sanders said the latest figures show progress but "we must remain aggressive and we intend to closely monitor the situation to ensure that the progress continues," The Washington Post reported. Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said the decrease is "a welcomed statistic," but he questioned whether the progress will continue, according to the article also published by the Valley News. LINK, LINK Wall Street "The center of establishment and big-money power is Wall Street," Sen. Sanders said on The Ed Show Tuesday. With assets equal to two-thirds of the nation's gross domestic product, Wall Street entities enjoy enormous political power in Washington. Sanders has proposed legislation to break up “too-big-to-fail” banks. AUDIO March on Washington A young Bernie Sanders attended the March on Washington that featured Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream" speech. The future senator said King was just as interested in economic justice and wanted to end the Vietnam war, stands that turned much of the political establishment against King. “Sanders relates to that and credits King with shaping the values that have defined his own career,” WPTZ-TV reported. LINK, VIDEO Egypt The White House disputed news reports citing Sen. Patrick Leahy’s claim that the U.S. has secretly suspend most forms of military aid to Egypt. Leahy argued for an aid cutoff after a military coup toppled the democratically-elected president. Sen. Sanders also criticized the coup by Egypt’s military but voiced concern that an aid cutoff could cost the U.S. leverage in its attempt to restore democracy, WCAX-TV reported. LINK, VIDEO USPS Regular mail delivery could be cut to five days a week - or less - and door-to-door delivery would be phased out under provision… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=302B12D2-1E22-4AE9-AD94-97B232F70F1E | Sanders Pushes for Wall Street Reforms | 2013-08-20 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders Pushes for Wall Street Reforms Tuesday, August 20, 2013 As the United States nears the fifth anniversary of the financial crisis next month, Sen. Sanders addressed the need for regulators to implement Wall Street reforms. In an interview on the Ed Schultz radio program, Sen. Sanders said “If we are ever going to be successful in rebuilding a collapsing middle class, and dealing with poverty, and creating the jobs that we desperately need in this country, you have to deal with Wall St. You just can’t push it aside.” Sanders also told the radio audience that Wall Street banks “write two-thirds of the credit cards in America, half of the mortgages in America, 95 percent of the derivatives in America, and they play a huge role in the oil futures market and their speculation there drives up oil prices that the average driver sees at the gas pump.” Listen to the radio interview » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=30CCA60B-3DF2-46DC-A03C-1914BE95EB00 | Veterans home will continue to receive state, federal payments | 2013-08-20 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Veterans home will continue to receive state, federal payments Tuesday, August 20, 2013 BENNINGTON — The Vermont Veterans Home has passed an inspection by agents of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is no longer in danger of losing its certification to receive Medicare and Medicaid funding, according to the home’s administrator, Melissa Jackson. The home, which is the only state-run nursing home for veterans in Vermont, was at risk of losing Medicare and Medicaid funding after a series of inspections which identified deficiencies that needed to be corrected. The home was notified about the deficiencies in March and, while they were corrected in follow-up inspections, new deficiencies were noted. The centers, also known as CMS, notified officials at the home that they would not be able to receive Medicare or Medicaid funding after Aug. 26. However, the home was given another inspection before the deadline. Jackson said two inspectors from the Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living’s division of licensing and protection and an official with CMS arrived at the home on Monday morning. Officials at the home were expecting an inspection before Aug. 26 but didn’t know when it would take place. Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=776C8374-4F2B-4E80-B2E8-338A2C6E660A | Vt. Bernie Buzz: Saving the U.S. Postal Service | 2013-08-20 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Saving the U.S. Postal Service Tuesday, August 20, 2013 The U.S. Postal Service is one of the most important institutions in America. It is enormously important to our economy, providing a vital service to tens of millions of Americans and businesses. It also provides hundreds of thousands of decent-paying jobs. Unfortunately, for political reasons, the USPS has been under a major attack for many years – primarily by those who don’t like government and who would like as much privatization as possible. “There are those in Congress and in the Postal Service leadership who would like to slow mail delivery significantly, end door-to-door service, shut down thousands of rural post offices, end Saturday mail and, in the process, eliminate tens of thousands of jobs,” Bernie said. One of the arguments for these massive cuts is that the Postal Service is losing substantial sums of money. The reality, however, is that is far from true. Since 2007, nearly 80 percent of the financial losses at the Postal Service is the result of an unprecedented and onerous financial burden, pushed by the Bush Administration in 2006, which forces the Postal Service to pay 75 years of future retiree health benefits in a 10-year period. This burden costs the Postal Service about $5.5 billion a year. The most recent quarterly financial report from the Postal Service shows that without that burden the Postal Service would have earned a $660 million profit in the third quarter of this year and a $330 million profit since last October. Bernie believes that there needs to be significant changes in the way the Postal Service operates to help it thrive in the digital age. But the answer is not simply to cut, cut, cut. He has proposed legislation, which has 29 Senate co-sponsors, that would give the Postal Service the tools it needs to be financially viable while providing quality and timely service to allow the Postal Service to continue to play a vital role in our economy. Many Vermonters agree … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=7778EE0C-8778-49E4-8E2A-A168E541E739 | News August 20 | 2013-08-20 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 20 Tuesday, August 20, 2013 Senator Sanders Veterans Health Care Sen. Bernie Sanders urged veterans to take advantage of cutting-edge health care available from the Department of Veterans Affairs. "My message today is that for the men and women in the state of Vermont who have put their lives on the line to defend this country, we have some excellent facilities available for you," Sanders said at a news conference. He was joined by officials from the White River Junction VA hospital, WCAX-TV, WPTZ-TV, ABC 22, Fox 44, The Associated Press, Burlington Free Press, Rutland Herald, Times Argus, The Caledonian-Record, Brattleboro Reformer and Bennington Banner reported. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO Veterans Health Care Sen. Sanders cited the use of telemedicine and the VA’s embrace of holistic and preventative approaches as well as a new women’s clinic at White River VA, Vermont Public Radio reported. The White River Junction medical center serves about 25,000 vets from Vermont and the four contiguous counties in New Hampshire, but the VA system in Vermont has the capacity to serve more eligible veterans across the state and parts of New Hampshire, WAMC-FM reported. LINK, LINK, Vermont Veterans Home Sen. Sanders on Monday welcomed good news from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that the Bennington facility passed a recent inspection. The state-run home had faced with an Aug. 26 deadline for the loss of federal funding after failing earlier CMS inspections, AP, the Burlington Free Press, Valley News and WPTZ-TV reported. The Rutland Herald and Times Argus said Sanders brought together Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration with federal officials to preserve funding. The home’s president told the Bennington Banner that he shares Sanders’ goal to make the home the best in the nation. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO Egypt Sen. Sanders urged the United States to use military aid to Egypt as leverage to move the country toward democracy and… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=C27F175E-622D-4FAD-B769-90944CE5E790 | The Guardian: How low can you get: the minimum wage scam | 2013-08-20 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | How low can you get: the minimum wage scam By: Heidi Moore Tuesday, August 20, 2013 You'd think the exceptionally low minimum-wage – $7.25 an hour – would be the shame of a country like the United States that prides itself on its economic leadership. Half of minimum-wage jobs are held by adults over 25 years old, and asking adults to live on $7.25, or $14,500 a year, doesn't leave them with enough to rent an apartment, commute to work, raise a child and participate in society in any meaningful way. Many US states have higher minimum-wage requirements than the government, with Washington State leading the pack at $9.19 an hour. That's a start, but many large, international companies will only pay the minimum the federal government requires. As a result, the federal minimum wage keeps an entire class of people trapped in economic servitude, focusing their attention on survival rather than growth, barring their ability to save enough or pay for education that would allow them to rise to the middle class. Income inequality is as bad as it has ever been – and the reason is simple. Low-wage workers can't even care for their own health without giving up some other necessity. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, it took a minimum-wage worker 130 hours to earn a year's worth of health benefits in 1979. That is only three-and-a-half weeks of full-time, minimum -age work. By 2011, the same health coverage cost 749 hours, or 19 weeks of full-time, minimum-wage work. Working nearly half the year to afford only healthcare, and nothing else, is a ridiculous demand to make of low-wage workers. Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=A1E58B5D-A58F-4D7F-8841-9FA2761B9078 | : News August 19 | 2013-08-19 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 19 Monday, August 19, 2013 Senator Sanders Veterans Health Care Sen. Bernie Sanders will be discussing veterans' health care needs at a news conference in Burlington today. Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, will be joined by the director and co-acting chief of staff of the VA Medical Center in White River Junction. Sanders' office says the VA now serves about 8,600 veterans at clinics in Colchester, Brattleboro, Rutland, Bennington and Newport, The Associated Press and WPTZ-TV reported. LINK, VIDEO Student Loans “The massive earnings the government gets on student-loan programs amount to a crude backdoor tax increase disguised by cynical legislators (who hesitate to ask constituents with more powerful lobbies to help cut the deficit) as an investment in America's youth,” according to Rolling Stone. “It's basically a $185 billion tax hike on middle-income and low-income citizens and their families,” said Warren Gunnels, senior policy adviser for Sen. Sanders, one of the few legislators critical of the recent congressional student-loan compromise. LINK ‘I Have a Dream’ Reflecting Sunday on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, Sen. Sanders said there have been “mixed results” in the decades since the historic march led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. A 22-year-old college student in 1963, Sanders rode a bus to Washington, D.C, to participate in the march. There has been significant progress in the past half century “breaking down the barriers of discrimination and segregation,” Sanders said on MSNBC, but “in terms of economic justice, I would say that in many ways we are worse off.” VIDEO Stafford and the Environment Bruce S. Post, who was U.S. Sen. Robert Stafford’s state director, questioned in a Rutland Herald column why Stafford was left off a list of key environmentalists compiled by the executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council. LINK World Egypt A day af… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=C34D9AEC-10F1-4804-AA28-9426D5193956 | Sanders Welcomes Good News for Vermont Veterans? Home | 2013-08-19 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders Welcomes Good News for Vermont Veterans’ Home Monday, August 19, 2013 BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 19 – U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today welcomed a finding by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that the state-run Vermont Veterans Home passed an inspection and is no longer in danger of losing Medicare and Medicaid funding. “I am very pleased that CMS found the Vermont Veterans’ Home ‘in compliance’ and that federal funding will not be withdrawn from that facility,” Sanders said. “As chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I am pleased at the progress we are seeing at the veterans’ home. I am committed to making sure the men and women who have served our country in uniform receive the benefits they have earned and deserve. The veterans of our state and region are entitled to the best quality nursing care possible, and that is what the veterans’ home must provide,” Sanders said. Sanders on Aug. 8 hosted a meeting in Montpelier with senior officials in Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration and representatives from the home, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and CMS to look at ways to prevent an interruption in the home’s funding. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=D0D8B69B-BADC-4BDC-B0C5-9C76E336962E | 'A Moral Responsibility' | 2013-08-19 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | 'A Moral Responsibility' Monday, August 19, 2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said we have "a moral responsibility" to provide quality care for our veterans. During a news conference this morning with the director of Vermont’s White River Junction VA Medical Center, Sanders highlighted the state-of-the art health care that is available for veterans in Vermont and throughout the country. “The fact of the matter is that we can never really repay people who put their lives on the line for this country,” he said. Read more in the Burlington Free Press » Online resources for veterans » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=2D7EC943-19CD-4AB3-AB94-21D4D9D82267 | News August 17 | 2013-08-17 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 17 Saturday, August 17, 2013 Senator Sanders Domestic Spying The National Security Agency has overstepped its legal authority and violated the privacy of thousands of Americans, according to an audit cited in published reports. "We have to defend the American people from the very real threat of terrorism," Sen. Bernie Sanders told radio host Thom Hartmann on Friday, "but there are ways to do that without undermining basic privacy and constitutional rights." AUDIO Postal Service A plan to allow the Postal Service to ship beer and wine could generate $50 million in revenue for the agency, according to FOX 44. Sen. Sanders supports the idea, but said the Postal Service’s larger fiscal issues are more deeply rooted in a burdensome congressional mandate that requires the agency to overpay a fund for future retiree benefits. VIDEO Student Loans The Senate passed legislation that will provide relief on student loan interest rates “but it is far from perfect,” Sen. Carl Levin wrote in an op-ed published by the Hillsdale (Mich.) Daily News. “The student debt problem … requires a carefully … long-term solution … But this legislation is not it. That is why I supported an amendment … by Sens. Jack Reed and Elizabeth Warren and another by Sen. … Sanders that would have mitigated some of the long-term damage of this legislation.” ‘I’ll Take Bernie’ “I will take independent Sen. Bernie Sanders any day,” a caller told C-SPAN during a Saturday morning call-in program that asked. “Who best represents your political party?” Maggie from Texas added that she prefers Sanders because “he is a man of principle. He stands up for the little people. He does not represent the 1 percent in this country. He represents the other 99%.” VIDEO World 'Day of Rage' Supporters of former president Morsi in Egypt promised a 'Day of Rage' on Friday as thousands took to the streets to protest a military crackdown, USA Today reported. At least another 60 people were killed Friday. The Muslim Broth… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=53BD6338-69C4-4CCD-AA47-743021761DE1 | The Week in Review | 2013-08-16 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | The Week in Review Friday, August 16, 2013 The National Security Agency has overstepped its legal authority, according to an audit cited in published reports on Friday. “We have got to do everything we can to combat terrorism and protect the American people,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said on The Thom Hartmann Program, but he renewed his call for legislation to limit surveillance to cases when intelligence and law enforcement authorities have specific reasons to be suspicious of someone. Around the world, it was a week of bloodshed in Egypt as government security forces cracked down on demonstrations loyal to the elected leader deposed by the military. In this country, Sanders applauded students who gathered petitions from people all over Vermont supporting legislation to require labels on food made from genetically engineered ingredients. He pressed the case for modernizing the Postal Service instead of cutting services. And in a Monday op-ed written with Sen. Elizabeth Warren for The Huffington Post, Sanders and weighed into the debate over the Federal Reserve’s role in restoring full employment. NSA Domestic Spying The Washington Post broke the story on National Security Agency infractions based on top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The violations, many of them accidental, mostly involved unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States. Both are restricted by law and executive order. Sanders has introduced the Restore Our Privacy Act to put strict limits on sweeping powers used by the NSA and Federal Bureau of Investigation to secretly track telephone calls by millions of innocent Americans who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. "We must give our intelligence and law enforcement agencies all of the tools that they need to combat terrorism but we must do so in a way that protects our freedom and respects the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches," Sanders said. Sign a petition supporting Sander… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=54724ED3-4811-4FA5-8511-CB143F0A9C48 | News August 16 | 2013-08-16 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 16 Friday, August 16, 2013 Senator Sanders GMO Labeling Vermont Public Interest Research Group on Thursday held a Statehouse rally to unveil some 30,000 signatures in support of labeling foods that contain genetically modified organisms. Sen. Bernie Sanders told the crowd it’s a matter of consumers having the right to know what’s in their food, WPTZ-TV, FOX44, ABC 22, Vermont Public Radio and vtdigger.org reported. Sanders tried unsuccessfully to push through a farm bill amendment that would have allowed states to approve such laws, the Brattleboro Reformer reported. VIDEO, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK USPS The Postal Service would have posted a profit for last quarter without the "unnecessary burden" imposed during the Bush administration that it must sock away more than $5 billion a year in a fund that already has enough set aside to pay for future retirees’ health care, Sen. Sanders told Ed Schultz on Thursday. AUDIO The Fed “One reason passions run so strong about the next Fed chair is that this is more than a choice between Larry Summers and Janet Yellen. It's also a debate between the "Wall Street Wing of the Democratic Party" -- represented by Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner and Gene Sperling -- and the "Main Street Wing" of the party -- represented by Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkley, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren,” Bill Press wrote in a syndicated column in the Anchorage Daily News. LINK World Egypt Braces for More Bloodshed Egypt is bracing for more violence after the Muslim Brotherhood called for nationwide marches after Friday prayers and a "day of rage" to denounce this week's unprecedented bloodshed in the security forces' assault on the supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president that left more than 600 dead. The government authorized the use of deadly force against protesters targeting police and state institutions, CBS News reported. Egyptian State TV reported Friday that army troops had been deployed to guard "vital insta… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=74496C45-733E-4D06-95FF-B4D11D8673C1 | The Washington Post: NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds | 2013-08-16 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents. Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and executive order. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. e-mails and telephone calls. The documents, provided earlier this summer to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, include a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance. In one of the documents, agency personnel are instructed to remove details and substitute more generic language in reports to the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In one instance, the NSA decided that it need not report the unintended surveillance of Americans. A notable example in 2008 was the interception of a “large number” of calls placed from Washington when a programming error confused the U.S. area code 202 for 20, the international dialing code for Egypt, according to a “quality assurance” review that was not distributed to the NSA’s oversight staff. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=06982CAA-41FD-4EBD-AC85-4A2ECAC3B783 | Food Labels | 2013-08-15 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Food Labels Thursday, August 15, 2013 Dozens of Vermont Public Interest Research Group organizers on Thursday celebrated the group’s largest-ever summer outreach campaign. VPIRG canvassers went door-to-door in cities and towns and villages throughout Vermont and collected about 30,000 signatures in support of legislation to require labels on food that contain genetically modified organisms. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who introduced legislation in Washington to make it clear that states have the right to require GMO food labels, spoke to the young volunteers outside the Statehouse in Montpelier. “The truth of matter is that labeling of GMOs is not radical concept. It's done throughout Europe and dozens and dozens of countries throughout world, so if people tell you it can't be done – it's too complicated – they're not telling you the truth,” the senator said. Leah Marsters, one of VPIRG’s canvas directors, talked about the importance of taking the campaign to people throughout Vermont. “It’s hard to overstate the importance of direct, face-to-face conversations with people, especially in an age of non-stop social media,” she said. “You learn a lot about what matters to people if you take the time to talk with them, and collectively we’ve talked with about 50,000 Vermonters over the past 14 weeks. One thing we’ve learned for sure is that Vermonters believe they have a right to know about GMOs.” Read more » Watch a report on WPTZ-TV » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=51521964-76E5-4BD4-8142-B11BD89B203F | : News August 15 | 2013-08-15 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 15 Thursday, August 15, 2013 Senator Sanders Social Security Wednesday marked the 78th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Since its inception, Social Security has changed society and drastically reduced senior poverty. Sen. Bernie Sanders has been "reliably the staunchest defender of Social Security in Congress," according to The Huffington Post. LINK Priority Mail Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced Wednesday plans to revamp the United States Postal Service's priority mail in order to boost revenues, The Hill reported. A recent financial report said the agency had lost $3.9 billion so far this year. Sen. Sanders argued that the service would have posted a profit for the past three months without a requirement to deposit $5.5 billion a year into a retiree fund that already has more than enough to pay future health benefits. LINK Prison Transfers on Hold Federal officials temporarily suspended a plan to turn the Danbury women's prison into a facility for men, The Associated Press reported. The move came after 11 senators from the Northeast, including Sen. Sanders, wrote the Bureau of Prisons to say that the transfers would leave the region with no federal prison beds for women. The senators said the move would unnecessarily disrupt the lives of inmates and their family members. LINK Homelessness With federal budget cuts, more than 2000 low-income Vermonters may be forced from their homes by the end of the year, according to Seven Days. Sen. Sanders' policy adviser David Weinstein called the sequestration cuts to Section 8 housing "a real crisis that's not been visible." LINK Domestic Surveillance In the wake of Edward Snowden's National Security Agency leaks, lawmakers have proposed several bills aimed at curbing domestic surveillance programs, Truth-Out reported. One bill from Sen. Sanders would require the government to provide a special court "specific and articulable facts" supporting eac… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=193CECD3-80ED-4E8C-BDE2-DCD4976A4D9A | News August 14 | 2013-08-14 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 14 Wednesday, August 14, 2013 Senator Sanders The Fed “The next Fed chair will have enormous power and influence over our entire financial system and the direction of the economy … The president's nominee … must be committed to improving the lives of working Americans who are still struggling through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” Sens. Sanders and Warren wrote in a column posted on OpEdNews. On the Seeking Alpha website, a financial services advisor responded to questions for the Fed nominee that were posed by Sanders and Warren. LINK, LINK The Fed “This is really a battle inside the Democratic Party,” Bill Press said on Current TV of a debate over who should replace Ben Bernanke as the head of the central bank. “It's the Wall Street wing of the party versus the consumer wing of the party, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders on that side and then over here you have Chuck Schumer.” Bob Cusack, managing editor of The Hill, agreed. “I think that's a very accurate read and the problem for the White House is the left is not going to be happy and Bernie Sanders is not going to go mute if [Lawrence] Summers is appointed.” AUDIO F-35s Opponents of a plan to base the Air Force's F-35 fighter planes at the Burlington International Airport spoke during a public comments period at this week's Burlington City Council meeting. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, as well as Gov. Peter Shumlin, Sens. Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch, have said the plane is important to the state’s economy, according to an Associated Press report in the Rutland Herald. LINK, LINK World Egyptian Forces Storm Pro-Morsi Sit-Ins Security forces moved on Wednesday to clear two camps in Cairo occupied by supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, deploying armored vehicles, bulldozers, tear gas, snipers and helicopters in a sustained and bloody operation that seemed to surprise some protesters with its resolve and to deepen an already profound gulf in Egy… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=95DD4692-0E66-4418-8517-5C22AED905B5 | ?A Remarkable Success Story? | 2013-08-14 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | ‘A Remarkable Success Story’ Wednesday, August 14, 2013 President Franklin Roosevelt signed Social Security into law on August 14, 1935. “Since its inception 78 years ago, through good economic times and bad, Social Security has paid out every penny owed to every eligible beneficiary. This is a remarkable success story," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, the head of the Senate’s Defending Social Security Caucus. Unfortunately, senior White House aides this summer reportedly have held secret meetings with Senate Republicans to revive President Obama’s proposal to cut future benefits for retirees, disabled veterans and others. That, Sanders said, would be “a huge mistake.” The senator thinks the deficit must be lowered. He has proposed ways to reduce red ink. He also has noted that this year is on track to have the smallest deficit in five years thanks to rising revenue and spending cuts. But at a time when corporations are enjoying record profits and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider, Sanders has said that there are better ways to reduce the deficit than cutting programs for the elderly, veterans and the sick. President Obama in his budget proposal for the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 called for lowering cost-of-living adjustments for millions of retirees, widows, orphans, disabled veterans and others by shifting to a so-called “chained” Consumer Price Index. Under the proposal, a person 65 years old today would earn $658 a year less in Social Security benefits once they turn 75. Benefits would be cut by more than $1,100 a year once they turn 85. In addition to taking money out of the pockets of some 50 million retirees, a chained C.P.I also would cut benefits for more than 3 million disabled veterans and their families. A veteran who began receiving VA disability benefits at age 30 would have benefits reduced by $1,425 at age 45 and by $3,231 at age 65, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The chained C.P.I. also would result in across-t… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=387FA003-200A-4E2B-8621-01C3E14A441B | News August 13 | 2013-08-13 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 13 Tuesday, August 13, 2013 Senator Sanders USPS Sen. Bernie Sanders argued Monday that the Postal Service would have posted a profit for the past three months without the requirement to deposit $5.5 billion a year into the retiree fund, The Hill, Fox 44 and ABC 22 reported. "The Postal Service has experienced financial problems and changes need to be made to bring it into the 21st century, but I am convinced that proposals to slow down mail delivery and provide less service are the wrong way to go," Sanders said. Counting the contribution to the already-flush retirement fund, the Postal Service reported a net loss of $740 million in the quarter which ended June 30. LINK, AUDIO, AUDIO The Fed Sens. Sanders and Elizabeth Warren want potential candidates for the Federal Reserve Board to address whether the Fed's top priority is meeting its full-employment mandate, American Banker reported. The two senators are “making the right demands and asking the right questions,” John Nichols wrote for The Nation. The senators are considered two of the most aggressive critics of Wall Street’s influence in the federal government, according to The Washington Examiner. It called their column “an implicit rebuke to [Lawrence] Summers, who many liberals believe helped generate the financial crisis by pushing for deregulatory measures as Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary in the late 1990s and early 2000s.” LINK, LINK, LINK The Fed “The next Fed chair will have an opportunity to get our economy back on track and to help rebuild America’s middle class. But that will require the right temperament and a willingness to take on Wall Street CEOs when necessary. It is critical that the next Fed chair make a genuine, long-term commitment to supporting those who don’t have armies of lobbyists and lawyers to advance their interests in Washington – working and middle-class families,” Sens. Sanders and Warren wrote in their column posted on TruthDig, Daily Kos, MichaelMoore.com, Reader Suppo… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=D3120CA3-64C2-4987-B1BA-078C1C60D1C8 | ?No One Should be Living Like This? | 2013-08-13 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | ‘No One Should be Living Like This’ Tuesday, August 13, 2013 Seven students and a teacher from Mt. Mansfield Union High School in Jericho, Vt., leave Saturday for a trip to one of the poorest counties in the United States. Their goal is to help the Oglala Lakota Sioux on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Working with a non-profit organization, the Vermont students will spend several days learning about the history and people of the South Dakota Black Hills. Senior Ana Wright said she wanted to make the trip because these families “are living in terrible conditions.” “We should definitely help them because no one should be living like this,” she said. Sen. Bernie Sanders praised the students for their willingness to confront such challenges. Read a Vt. Bernie Buzz article » Read a New York Times article about how budget cuts have affected the reservation » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=18D75946-1193-4B7A-B1B7-DBB3D7C21311 | Congress Must Not Hobble Postal Service Rebound | 2013-08-12 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Congress Must Not Hobble Postal Service Rebound Monday, August 12, 2013 BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 12 – With revenue rebounding, the U.S. Postal Service would have posted a profit for the past three months without an unprecedented requirement that it sink $5.5 billion a year into future retiree health care, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today. The latest quarterly report on Postal Service finances showed a $740 million loss, but all of that red ink would have been eliminated and a $660 million profit would have been posted had the Postal Service not been forced to sink money into a system that already has set aside enough to meet the health care needs of retirees for decades to come. “The good news is that the Postal Service made a profit except for the unfair, onerous burden that no other company or agency is required to pay,” said Sanders. “The Postal Service has experienced financial problems and changes need to be made to bring it into the 21st century, but I am convinced that proposals to slow down mail delivery and provide less service are the wrong way to go,” Sanders added. Sanders was referring to legislation that would hamstring the Postal Service by clearing the way to end Saturday mail service, significantly slow down delivery, close more processing plants and eliminate door-to-door deliveries. Sanders on Feb. 13 introduced legislation, which now has 28 cosponsors, to modernize the Postal Service, save Saturday mail and repeal the crippling law responsible for at least 80 percent of the mail system’s funding woes. Similar legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) now has 166 cosponsors. The legislation by Sanders and DeFazio also would let the Postal Service look for innovative ways to attract more customers by taking advantage of email and Internet services, for example. A commission made up of successful business innovators, small business and labor leaders would make additional recommendations on ways the Postal Service could generate… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=872391E5-B902-4FC9-8C35-3F83A8A339CB | Four Questions for Fed Chair Candidates | 2013-08-12 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Four Questions for Fed Chair Candidates Monday, August 12, 2013 As President Obama weighs a replacement for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren said the next central banker must address whether the Fed’s top priority is meeting its full-employment mandate, whether to break up “too-big-to-fail” banks, whether the deregulation of Wall Street contributed to the recession and whether $2 trillion that financial institutions have parked at the Fed should be used to help small- and medium-size businesses create jobs. Read the column for The Huffington Post » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| 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 | legacy | News August 12 Monday, August 12, 2013 Senator Sanders The Fed As President Obama weighs a replacement 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’s top priority is meeting its full-employment mandate, whether to break up “too-big-to-fail” 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. LINK World 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 — in Sana, the capital of Yemen — underscored the challenges President Obama faces in trying to wind down the nation’s decade-long campaign against Al Qaeda and its affiliates, The New York Times reported. LINK National 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 Vermont Disaster Aid Emergency management officials will hold public meetings this month for Vermont communities that are eligible … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=DBB084B8-C4CD-4041-A4A4-966E09CBA918 | Huffington Post: Four Questions for Fed Chair Candidates | 2013-08-12 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Four Questions for Fed Chair Candidates By: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) & Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Monday, August 12, 2013 The decisions made by the next chair of the Federal Reserve will have a powerful impact on the economic well-being of every person in America. While the largest financial institutions and corporations in this country have been bailed out and are now back to making enormous profits and rewarding their executives with outsized compensation packages, recovery hasn't gone so well for the rest of America. Middle class families have continued to lose ground economically, the number of Americans living in poverty is near an all-time high, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider. The next Fed chair will have enormous power and influence over our entire financial system and the direction of the economy. The Fed is responsible not only for our country's monetary policy, but it is also a key regulator of financial institutions. In our view, the president's nominee for Fed chair must be committed to improving the lives of working Americans who are still struggling through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. To that end, we think any Fed chair nominee should be able to answer the following four questions: Question 1: Do you believe that the Fed's top priority should be to fulfill its full employment mandate? The U.S. continues to face a major crisis in unemployment. When Wall Street was on the verge of collapse, the Fed acted aggressively and with a fierce sense of urgency to save the financial system. Will you act with the same sense of urgency to combat the unemployment crisis in America today, and will you make clear what specific actions you will take? What rate do you think is acceptable and should be the Fed's target? Question 2: If you were to be confirmed as chair of the Fed, would you work to break up "too-big-to-fail" financial institutions so that they could no longer pose a ca… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=01F819B9-54C8-40BA-B8A9-FEFD45D459FC | News August 11 | 2013-08-11 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 11 Sunday, August 11, 2013 Senator Sanders Obama on VA Claims Backlog President Obama, addressing the annual convention of the Disabled American Veterans on Saturday, said his administration is making progress on reducing a backlog of disability claims that shrank by nearly one-fifth since peaking at more than 600,000 just a few months ago. CNN reported that the backlog built up as new waves of claims were coming in. The VA completed more than 1 million claims each of the last three years, according to Sen. Bernard Sanders, the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. LINK Local Legends Sen. Sanders, Vermont’s first woman governor, Madeleine Kunin, Phish members and Ben & Jerry of ice cream fame are among an eclectic crowd of people featured in a new book, “Legendary Locals of Burlington” by Robert Resnik, himself something of a local legend, according to a Burlington Free Press book review. LINK Senate Independents Sen. Angus King, who rode Maine's penchant for "independent" politicians to a Senate victory last fall, has amassed a solidly Democratic record during his first seven months in Congress. King and Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, voted the same way 89.8 percent of the time. King was on the same page as John Cornyn, the Republican whip, 35 percent of the time. The Senate's other independent, Sanders, voted with Durbin 92.4 percent of the time and with Cornyn on just 25 percent of votes, the Portland Press Herald reported. LINK World Drug Kingpin Released in Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto will have to handle furious fallout after Caro Quintero, one of Mexico's major drug cartel leaders, was freed Friday after serving 28 years for the kidnapping, torture and murder of a U.S. narcotics agent, Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, in 1985, the Los Angeles Times reported. LINK National Obstacles Limited Congressional Oversight of NSA Surveillance Some members of the intelligence and judiciary committees say briefings on a massive telephone surveillance… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=346024CA-DA00-4264-973D-0C963B7615A6 | News August 10 | 2013-08-10 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 10 Saturday, August 10, 2013 Senator Sanders Vermont Veterans Home Sen. Bernard Sanders brought officials together with employees of the Vermont Veterans Home in the office of Gov. Peter Shumlin to keep the home from losing state and federal funding after federal inspectors found deficiencies at the home. David Weinstein, a senior policy adviser for Sanders, said the senator and Jeb Spaulding, the secretary of the Agency of Administration, led the meeting to look for ways to keep the home running without losing its primary source of funding, the Rutland Herald reported. LINK World Diplomatic Missions Reopen Eighteen of the 19 U.S. embassies and consulates that were closed in the Middle East and Africa because of a terrorist threat will reopen Sunday, the State Department said. The U.S. Embassy in Yemen will remain closed. The consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, which was closed Thursday because of what officials say was a separate credible threat, also was not scheduled to reopen, The Associated Press reported. National President Justifies Surveillance President Barack Obama on Friday released a detailed legal justification for domestic spying and called for more openness and scrutiny of the N.S.A.’s programs to reassure a skeptical public that its privacy is not being violated, The New York Times reported. LINK Email Service Closes Lavabit, an email service reportedly used by Edward J. Snowden, the leaker who had worked as a National Security Agency contractor, announced the suspension of its service Thursday. In a blog post, the company’s owner suggested that he had received a secret search order and shut the service to avoid being “complicit in crimes against the American people,” The New York Times reported. LINK The Fed President Obama said Friday that he’s still considering a range of candidates to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve and that whoever gets the job will need to focus in the near term on reducing unemployment. Obama said during a White … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=1A70BD5D-8EA9-42B4-BC1A-9DC182563A8C | The Week in Review | 2013-08-09 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | The Week in Review Friday, August 9, 2013 President Obama on Friday signed legislation that the White House disingenuously ballyhooed as providing big savings for students. The law sets rates right away that are greater than they were for the past two years. What’s worse is that the cost of borrowing for college is projected to nearly double within five years. Sen. Bernie Sanders voted against the bill. Last year was among the 10 warmest on record, according to a report issued Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report also said there were record greenhouse gas emissions in 2012. Sanders on Wednesday praised Postal Service unions for putting up a fight against proposals in Congress that would cut service and cut jobs. Sanders also took on a growing movement among congressional Republicans to abolish the minimum wage. The Voting Rights Act, signed 48 years ago last Tuesday, is now in jeopardy because of a June Supreme Court ruling that already being used by states to make it harder for minorities to vote. Global Warming The Arctic warmed at about twice the rate of lower altitudes and lost record amounts of sea ice last year, according to the NOAA report that examined the impact of our changing climate. “The findings are striking,” Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA’s acting administrator, told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday. To Sanders, the report is the latest evidence that bold action is needed. “Our planet as a whole is becoming a warmer place. Global warming is the most serious environmental crisis facing the world today. It demands bold action to preserve our planet for our children and grandchildren.” Sanders and Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Senate environment committee, have introduced legislation to tax carbon and methane gas emissions to reduce the use of fossil fuels that are causing climate change. Their measure also would encourage U.S. companies to move to cleaner forms of energy and increase efficiency of existing fossil f… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=6363D5E0-E362-4BEA-931F-83CB84DC543F | Student Loan Law Raises College Costs, Sanders Says | 2013-08-09 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Student Loan Law Raises College Costs, Sanders Says Friday, August 9, 2013 BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 9 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said legislation that President Barack Obama signed today will let college borrowing costs balloon. “This legislation is going to make an already bad situation of student indebtedness even worse,” said Sanders, a member of the Senate education committee. He said he will fight to make college more affordable when the committee rewrites the Higher Education Act next year. Under the bill that Obama signed, interest rates are projected to hit 7.25 percent for undergraduate loans in five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Also by 2018, graduate loans would go up to 8.8 percent and parents would be charged 9.8 percent on loans for their children to attend college, according to the analysis by the non-partisan agency that provides economic data for Congress. The legislation sets a 3.9 percent interest rate for undergraduates taking out subsidized and unsubsidized loans this year. Even that figure is greater than a 3.4 percent cap that was in place for the past two years. “At a time when the average student is graduating from a four-year college $27,000 in debt, when hundreds of thousands of capable young people no longer see college as an option because of high costs and when the U.S. is falling further and further behind our economic competitors in terms of the percentage of young people graduating from college, this legislation will make college even less affordable than it is today,” Sanders said. Sanders also cited a Congressional Budget Office report that the revenue raised from the steeper loan rates will mean “huge profits” for the federal government totaling some $184 billion over the next decade. “We have a middle class which is disappearing. The number of Americans living in poverty is near an all-time high. We have millions of families struggling to be able to send their kids to college. So what is the United States govern… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=99C6AB0F-204E-4961-9890-CBBF578F0ECD | Student Loan Rates Rising | 2013-08-09 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Student Loan Rates Rising Friday, August 9, 2013 President Barack Obama was set to sign legislation this afternoon that will let college borrowing costs balloon. “This legislation is going to make an already bad situation of student indebtedness even worse,” said Sanders, a member of the Senate education committee. He said he will fight to make college more affordable when the committee rewrites the Higher Education Act next year. Under the new law, interest rates are projected to hit 7.25 percent for undergraduate loans in five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Also by 2018, graduate loans would go up to 8.8 percent and parents would be charged 9.8 percent on loans for their children to attend college, according to the analysis by the non-partisan agency that provides economic data for Congress. The legislation sets a 3.9 percent interest rate for undergraduates taking out subsidized and unsubsidized loans this year. Even that figure is greater than a 3.4 percent cap that was in place for the past two years. “At a time when the average student is graduating from a four-year college $27,000 in debt, when hundreds of thousands of capable young people no longer see college as an option because of high costs and when the U.S. is falling further and further behind our economic competitors in terms of the percentage of young people graduating from college, this legislation will make college even less affordable than it is today,” Sanders said. Sanders also cited a Congressional Budget Office report that the revenue raised from the steeper loan rates will mean “huge profits” for the federal government totaling some $184 billion over the next decade. “We have a middle class which is disappearing. The number of Americans living in poverty is near an all-time high. We have millions of families struggling to be able to send their kids to college. So what is the United States government doing? We are helping to balance the budget by saying to middle-class, working … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=AB0F495B-7DA4-440E-A024-0384A4939AEB | News August 9 | 2013-08-09 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 9 Friday, August 9, 2013 Senator Sanders Military Sexual Assaults President Barack Obama hasn’t formally met with senators who’ve made the issue of sexual assault in the military a priority. He hasn’t endorsed any of their proposals and top aides have made no commitment to lawmakers and victims groups. In an op-ed in The Hill, former Clinton White House lawyer Lanny Davis asked why Obama was missing in action on a proposal supported by Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, Politico reported. “This purple moment when Paul and Sanders agree on something doesn’t happen very often,” Davis wrote. LINK, LINK USPS Sen. Tom Carper has proposed legislation that would allow the post office to eliminate Saturday service in a year and reduce the number of mail-processing centers in two years. The American Postal Workers Union has taken to the airwaves, with an ad urging Congress not to cut employees but to change the way the Postal Service funds retirees’ health care. The union supports a bill sponsored by Sen. Sanders that would end the post office's prefunding requirement, National Public Radio reported on “All Things Considered.” LINK Veterans Home An independent report on the Vermont Veterans Home in Bennington called the only state-run nursing home for veterans “fundamentally a good home,” but found “perceived weakness or incompetence” by administrators and cited distrust and a lack of communication with the staff. The home could lose federal Medicare and Medicaid payments on Aug. 26 unless it corrects deficiencies uncovered in a separate inspection by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding told state lawmakers that Sen. Sanders and a representative from CMS met Thursday morning in Montpelier, the Rutland Herald reported. LINK Jeff Bezos Political scientists studied Fortune 500 executives to map out where they donated and found that new Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos sits in the middle of the spectrum, accord… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=0DFD8E38-43DD-4B66-ACF4-195855D3FF17 | Vt. Bernie Buzz: Honoring a Vermont Hero | 2013-08-08 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Honoring a Vermont Hero Thursday, August 8, 2013 The Senate passed legislation, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, that would name the post office in Danville, Vt., after Thaddeus Stevens, the Vermont native who led the fight in Congress during the Civil War to abolish slavery. Sanders sponsored the bill honoring Stevens after last year’s Academy Award-winning movie “Lincoln” revived interest in his important role in history. In addition to leading the fight for passage of the 13th Amendment to end slavery, the progressive Republican who represented Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives also is credited with shepherding through Congress the 14th and 15th Amendments, which originally were intended to protect the rights of former slaves. “Thaddeus Stevens became a fighter not only for civil rights and the abolition of slavery, but for low-income and working families throughout his entire life,” Sanders said. “He relentlessly pursued equal rights and freedom for the disadvantaged as a member of the House of Representatives during a tumultuous period in our nation’s history.” “Renaming the post office in Danville after Thaddeus Stevens will help Vermonters and people throughout the country understand the important legislative battles won in the halls of Congress during the Civil War and Reconstruction-era. As Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Stevens was one of the most powerful members of Congress during that crucial period of American history,” Sanders said. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) cosponsored Sanders’ resolution in the Senate. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced identical legislation in the House of Representatives, where it is being considered by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The measure passed the Senate Aug. 1. Sanders in May hosted a free showing of the movie in St. Johnsbury. More than 300 people attended the town meeting, which included student presentations and a panel discussion featuring two Vermont historia… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=1C14BB88-5D19-4803-9D4E-7D72B583D754 | Fast-Food Fight | 2013-08-08 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Fast-Food Fight Thursday, August 8, 2013 One-day strikes by fast-food workers this summer have highlighted the need to raise the minimum wage, which has been $7.25 since 2007. A Thursday editorial in The New York Times called the protests “a just cause.” Sen. Bernie Sanders also has congratulated the workers for speaking out against “starvation wages.” He is a cosponsor of legislation to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, about what it would be if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation over the past 50 years. The effort to pass that legislation is running up against those in Congress who don’t just oppose raising the minimum wage. “This will shock you but this is the truth,” Sanders said. “They want to abolish the minimum wage.” During a recent Senate labor committee hearing, Sen. Lamar Alexander told Sanders he favors doing away with the minimum wage. He’s not alone. "I don’t think a minimum wage law works," Sen. Marco Rubio told CBS News earlier this year. Remarkably, 28 Republican senators went on record in 2007 and voted to abolish the minimum wage. Republican Party platforms in Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Oregon call for the minimum wage to be abolished. Watch Sanders on The Ed Show » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=7862BFFF-C9BD-4431-8FDB-514F508BD657 | News August 8 | 2013-08-08 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News August 8 Thursday, August 8, 2013 Senator Sanders USPS Sen. Bernie Sanders Wednesday came out in support of Postal Service unions that oppose legislation likely to end Saturday mail, significantly slow delivery, close processing plants and eliminate door-to-door deliveries. A bill by Sens. Tom Carper and Tom Coburn was called “‘a serious threat’ to the Postal Service in a joint letter signed by leaders of four labor organizations. Sanders questioned why the Carper-Coburn proposal retreats from most of the items agreed upon last year by 62 senators. “We also wonder what’s to gain from this backpedalling,” the Brattleboro Reformer said in an editorial. LINK Domestic Surveillance When the House recently considered an amendment that would have dismantled the NSA’s bulk phone records collection program, the White House swiftly condemned the measure. But only five years ago, Sen. Barack Obama was part of a group of legislators that supported substantial changes to NSA surveillance programs. The 2007 measure Obama surrported is also similar to current proposals introduced by Rep. John Conyers and Sen. Sanders, according to a Probublica report in The Atlantic and Salon online and in the Philadelphia Daily News. LINK, LINK Medicare for All Public Citizen sponsored a congressional briefing and press conference with last Wednesday Sen. Sanders and Reps. Conyers, Mark Takano and Keith Ellison to advocate single-payer health insurance for all Americans. President Obama should meet with progressives before negotiating on policy issues when Congress gets back from its August break, Pearl Korn wrote for The Huffington Post that. LINK VA Cybersecurity The Veterans Affairs Department has done little over the last two months to satisfy House lawmakers' concerns about the security of the data of more than 20 million veterans. The House committee's frustration with VA's answers boiled over at a July 12 briefing with House and Senate committee staff members. A spokesman for the Senate … | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=16098291-AC96-4178-AA94-1FCD736A49CD | Global Warming | 2013-08-07 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Global Warming Wednesday, August 7, 2013 Last year was among the 10 warmest on record, according to a report issued Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report also said there were record greenhouse gas emissions in 2012. The biggest changes in the climate last year were recorded in the Arctic and in Greenland. The Arctic warmed at about twice the rate of lower altitudes and lost record amounts of sea ice. “The findings are striking,” Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA’s acting administrator, told reporters on a conference call. To Sen. Bernie Sanders, the report is only the latest evidence that bold action is needed. “Our planet as a whole is becoming a warmer place. Global warming is the most serious environmental crisis facing the world today. It demands bold action to preserve our planet for our children and grandchildren.” Sanders and Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Senate environment committee, have introduced legislation to tax carbon and methane gas emissions to reduce the use of fossil fuels that are causing climate change. Their measure also would encourage U.S. companies to move to cleaner forms of energy and increase efficiency of existing fossil fuels. Rebates to consumers would reduce the impact of the tax on their energy bills. The revenue raised also would be used to help invest in clean energy technologies and solve our budget problems. “The point has to be made that we now have the technology in terms of energy efficiency, in terms the decreased price for solar panels, in terms of the need for wind. Geothermal is going all over the country, biomass. We now can do it,” Sanders said. “If there was a political will in the White House and in the Congress, we can transform the energy system. We can create millions of jobs. We could lead the world and be an exporter around the world of that type of technology.” Read the new NOAA report » Read a summary of the Sanders, Boxer bill » | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=46CECF46-95A4-4414-BDF3-79C33A9B3707 | Sanders, Postal Unions Oppose Bill to Weaken Mail Service, End Saturday Deliveries, Slash Jobs | 2013-08-07 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | Sanders, Postal Unions Oppose Bill to Weaken Mail Service, End Saturday Deliveries, Slash Jobs Wednesday, August 7, 2013 BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 7 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said today he agrees with Postal Service unions that oppose legislation likely to end Saturday mail service, significantly slow down delivery, close processing plants and eliminate door-to-door deliveries. A bill by Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was called “a serious threat” to the Postal Service in a joint letter signed by leaders of the American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association. The labor leaders said the Carper-Coburn legislation would dismantle mail processing and delivery networks, slash 80,000 jobs and retain elements of an onerous congressional mandate to pre-fund health benefits for future retirees. That mandate makes the Postal Service set aside $5.5 billion a year in a fund that already has more than enough to cover future benefits. Financing that mandate, which is unlike any in private business or other public-sector employers, accounts for about $4 out of every $5 in Postal Service debts. Sanders applauded the unions, and said he will continue to work with them. And he questioned why the Carper-Coburn proposal retreats from a measure that passed the Senate one year ago with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority. The Senate on April 25, 2012, voted 62-37 for a bill that had the support of 13 Republican senators. “It is hard for me to understand why the Senate should go backward and settle for a significantly weaker bill that, while not as strong as I would have liked, got an impressive 62 votes,” Sanders said. “That makes no sense.” Unlike last year’s Senate-passed bill, the Carper-Coburn proposal would allow the Postal Service, over a short period of time, to shut mail processing plants, end Saturday delivery and open the door to additional weekday mail ser… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=888FAE00-4132-4CD5-A861-58B47AACB08B | A Death Spiral | 2013-08-07 | 2013 | 2013-08 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | A Death Spiral Wednesday, August 7, 2013 Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday agreed with unions representing Postal Service workers opposed to legislation likely to end Saturday mail service, significantly slow down delivery, close processing plants and eliminate door-to-door deliveries. A bill by Sens. Tom Carper and Tom Coburn was called “a serious threat” to the Postal Service in a joint letter signed by leaders of the American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association. The labor leaders said the Carper-Coburn legislation would dismantle mail processing and delivery networks, slash 80,000 jobs and retain elements of an onerous congressional mandate to pre-fund health benefits for future retirees. That mandate makes the Postal Service set aside $5.5 billion a year in a fund that already has more than enough to cover future benefits. Financing that mandate, which is unlike any in private business or other public-sector employers, accounts for about $4 out of every $5 in Postal Service debts. Sanders applauded the unions, and said he will continue to work with them. And he questioned why the Carper-Coburn proposal retreats from a measure that passed the Senate one year ago with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority. The Senate on April 25, 2012, voted 62-37 for a bill that had the support of 13 Republican senators. “It is hard for me to understand why the Senate should go backward and settle for a significantly weaker bill that, while not as strong as I would have liked, got an impressive 62 votes,” Sanders said. “That makes no sense.” Unlike last year’s Senate-passed bill, the Carper-Coburn proposal would allow the Postal Service, over a short period of time, to shut mail processing plants, end Saturday delivery and open the door to additional weekday mail service cutbacks. “While we all understand that the Postal Service is experiencing financial problems and that cha… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=0387B3DF-E65F-40F9-9309-A420B0DF01E2 | News July 26 | 2013-07-26 | 2013 | 2013-07 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | News July 26 Friday, July 26, 2013 Senator Sanders NSA Surveillance The House on Wednesday narrowly defeated an effort to stop the federal government from systematically gathering telecommunications metadata, but Congress is considering other ways to reform a National Security Agency surveillance program, according to ProPublica. Sen. Sanders has introduced legislation to raise the standard for what records are considered "relevant" to national security investigations. LINK College Costs Interest rates on federal student loans would rise under legislation passed by the Senate. Sen. Sanders was one of 18 senators to oppose the bill, according to MSNBC. "We ask more of parents and young people to go to college than any other major country on earth," Sanders told Ed Schultz on Thursday. In the Burlington Free Press online, Sanders said “the idea of passing legislation that in a few years is going to make an already bad situation of student indebtedness even worse is absolutely absurd.” LINK, LINK, AUDIO Loan Scams “In a bizarre turn of events this week, the Senate approved a bill with the potential of turning student loans into the kind of teaser loans that devastated the housing market a few years ago, with interest rates that would balloon to high levels in later years. Sens. Sanders and Patrick Leahy were having none of it. “What I don’t understand is when you have a Democratic president, a Democratically-controlled U.S. Senate, why we are producing a bill which is basically a Republican bill,” Sanders said in an editorial published by the Times Argus and Rutland Herald. LINK Global Warming New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, this week claimed "millions will die" if the nation fails to address global warming aggressively enough, The Daily Caller reported. Holt advocates a carbon tax like one Sens. Sanders and Barbara Boxer have introduced. LINK Solar Power Energy Co-op of Vermont is expanding a solar water heating program to Addison County. The p… | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | ||
| https://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=0F46E0FB-6AF6-40AB-8A91-9BE14907C3EE | Vermont Public Radio: 93 Mile Rail Trail Underway | 2013-07-26 | 2013 | 2013-07 | Independent | House | VT | Bernard Sanders | S000033 | sanders.senate.gov | legacy | 93 Mile Rail Trail Underway By: Charlotte Albright Friday, July 26, 2013 Work is finally about to start on a four-season recreation trail proposed to span northern Vermont. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail has been on the drawing board for over a decade, and on Friday there was a ground-breaking ceremony in St. Johnsbury. From 1877 to 1994, trains rumbled through this corridor between St. Johnsbury and Swanton. Now the railbed is covered with weeds. But in a few years, organizers, including the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, or VAST, hope it will be a gravel thoroughfare for all kinds of travelers- on foot, bikes, snowmobiles, skis, horses—even dogsleds. At the groundbreaking, Senator Bernie Sanders recalled the many financial and regulatory obstacles that have slowed progress. But he sees a bright future for the scenic multi-use trail. Continue reading here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |
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