Politics

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 – Leaders of more than 20 veterans’ service organizations today joined Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at a news conference to support the most comprehensive legislation for veterans in decades.

The bill (S. 1982) is backed by the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and many other organizations.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 31 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will hold a town meeting tomorrow on privacy rights and the National Security Agency’s increasing violations of our constitutional rights. Two of the nation’s preeminent authorities on civil liberties — Georgetown Law School Professor David Cole, and Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild — will join Sanders and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) at Montpelier City Hall to address government surveillance and corporate attacks on our privacy rights.

Who: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Peter Welch and two of the nation’s preeminent authorities on civil liberties: Georgetown Law School Professor David Cole, and Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to provide a stronger role for states in the process of decommissioning nuclear power plants like Vermont Yankee.

Entergy, the Louisiana utility that owns Vermont Yankee, plans to shut down the reactor by the end of this year but it could take decades to deal with nuclear waste at the Vernon, Vt., site and other matters related to decommissioning the plant.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement tonight after President Barack Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress:

“I welcome President Obama’s focus on reducing inequality and helping working families in America. The American economy is not sustainable when so few have so much and so many have so little. It’s a moral issue and it’s an economic issue.

“The American people, no matter what part of the country they are from or what political party they support, want us to put millions of people back to work. They want to deal with income and wealth inequality. They want us to raise the minimum wage.

in case you missed it (icymi), fyi:

Three lawmakers (via vtdigger; 1/27/2014):

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 23 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board urged President Barack Obama to shut down the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone data:

“This report underscores that the collection of records on virtually every phone call made in the United States is an unconstitutional violation of the privacy rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. The president’s recommendations last week did not go far enough to rein in the out-of-control National Security Agency‎. Congress must pass strong legislation to protect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people.”

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 22 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, told reporters today that the Senate is expected to soon take up legislation to restore pensions for military retirees as part of the most comprehensive veterans’ legislation to come before the Senate in decades.

The measure that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has called a top priority for the Senate also would address a host of other programs for veterans, including expanded health care and dental care and improved education benefits.

Sanders (I-Vt.) told a news conference that the measure would rescind a 1 percentage point cut in the annual adjustment for benefits for military retirees under age 62.  There has been a groundswell in Congress to undo that provision in the bipartisan budget deal that Congress approved late last year. 

Congressman Peter Welch,United States House of Representatives
Official Appearance Schedule, Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

10:00 a.m.
Business Visit: Sovernet
5 Rockingham Street, Bellows Falls

11:30 a.m.
Visit with Brattleboro Fire Department
103 Elliot Street, Brattleboro

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 17 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement after President Barack Obama announced new measures on the oversight of government surveillance programs.

“I appreciate the president’s willingness to examine this important issue but I think that his remarks did not go far enough. There is no question in my mind that the collection of data on every phone call made in the United States is unconstitutional and a violation of the Fourth Amendment and that the government has engaged in massive violations of civil liberties and privacy rights.

WASHINGTON, DC (January 17th) – Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) made the following remarks after the President’s speech on intelligence surveillance reforms:

“While I appreciate the President’s effort to strike a better balance between the twin imperatives of protecting Americans from harm and ensuring their civil liberties, the steps he announced today fall short of reining in the NSA,” said Welch. “Under his plan, the unconstitutional bulk collection of Americans’ emails and phone records will continue. Congress should pass the Leahy-Sensenbrenner legislation so that the American people do not have to worry about the government monitoring their activities. And it should pass my legislation to shine a light on the taxpayer-financed budgets of America’s intelligence agencies.”

[Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Friday responded to President Obama’s announcement that he will work with Congress to improve oversight of government surveillance programs. Leahy is the lead Democratic coauthor of the bipartisan USA FREEDOM Act, and earlier this week presided over a hearing featuring all five members of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies to discuss their recent recommendations to overhaul the government’s surveillance authorities.]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 – A group of senators today asked network television executives why there has been “shockingly little discussion” about global warming on Sunday morning broadcast network news and interview programs.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) cited a new Media Matters for America  which found that only 27 minutes of air time was devoted to discussions about climate change during all of last year on Meet the Press, This Week, Face the Nation and Fox News Sunday – combined.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 – The National Security Agency director, responding to an inquiry by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), did not rule out collecting intelligence on members of Congress.

“In recent months, the American people have learned that a record of virtually every telephone call made in the United States is placed in an NSA database, that as many as 35 foreign leaders – including some of our strongest allies – have had their cell phones monitored, and that the NSA has intercepted Americans’ emails and monitored their Internet traffic,” Sanders said.

*Updated* (view *Update* added to third paragraph)

Last Monday (December 30, 2013)  Governor Peter Shumlin announced his newly established initiative to address matters of poverty within Vermont, which he dubbed “Pathways Out of Poverty” and includes a Council that will meet three times a year (membership list, here).

News coverage can be found, here (via WCAX – Channel 3 TV – News; includes video; 12/30/2013); here (via VPR News; 12/30/2013); here (via vtdigger; 12/31/2013); and, here (via Times Argus; 12/31/2013).

In addition, read the set of anti-poverty advocacy and service provider coalition priority recommendations submitted to Governor Shumlin (dated: September 23, 2013; via Vermont Public Radio), here. *Update*: View a digital copy of the official Executive Order for the formation of the POoP Council (via Google Drive; no sign in required), here.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 3 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today asked the National Security Agency director whether the agency has monitored the phone calls, emails and Internet traffic of members of Congress and other elected officials.

“Has the NSA spied, or is the NSA currently spying, on members of Congress or other American elected officials?” Sanders asked in a letter to Gen. Keith Alexander, the NSA director. “ ‘Spying’ would include gathering metadata on calls made from official or personal phones, content from websites visited or emails sent, or collecting any other data from a third party not made available to the general public in the regular course of business?”

BURLINGTON, Vt., Dec. 31 – With minimum wages set to go up on New Year’s Day in Vermont and 12 other states, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today renewed his call for an increase in the federal minimum wage.

“States and communities are not waiting for Congress to raise the minimum wage. They are doing the right thing because the simple truth is that working people cannot survive on the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, or $8 an hour or $9 an hour. If people work 40 hours a week, they deserve not to live in dire poverty,” Sanders said.

BURLINGTON, Vt., – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that Congress must restore unemployment benefits that expire Saturday for 1.3 million Americans, including some 600 Vermonters, who have been out of work for longer than 26 weeks.

Unless Congress acts, jobless benefits will lapse during the first half of 2014 for an additional 1.9 million people, including another 2,300 Vermonters.

“It is not only immoral to cut off help for workers struggling to find jobs, it is also bad economics,” Sanders said. “At a time when long-term unemployment is near a record level, cutting benefits will hurt the rest of the economy and cause even more jobs to disappear.”

“To Defeat Oligarchy, I Would Run for President” (Bernie Sanders)

Latest interview with senator from Vermont shows that his reluctance to run would be outweighed by the scale of unaddressed crises and ignored issues

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 – The Senate set a vote for late tonight on a Department of Defense bill that would authorize $625 billion for the military. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he will vote “no” and issued the following statement:

“At a time when the United States has a $17.2 trillion national debt and when we spend almost as much on defense as the rest of the world combined, the time is long overdue for us to take a hard look at the waste, cost overruns and financial mismanagement that have plagued the huge Defense Department for years.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 – Vermont today won a $37 million federal grant for a statewide, pre-kindergarten program at public schools.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate education committee, worked closely with federal officials and Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration to secure the grant for early childhood education.

Sanders said, “Psychologists tell us that, in terms of human development, the most important years are birth through four years of age. Yet, in terms of early childhood education, our nation does a very inadequate job in making quality pre-kindergarten education available to working families. This major federal grant will significantly improve early childhood education in our state and better prepare our kids for school and the challenges and opportunities of life. I am very appreciative that the Department of Education provided Vermont with this major grant.”