Politics

WASHINGTON, July 24 – The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs today approved a package of bills to improve benefits and health care services for veterans and their families.

Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the package includes a measure to bring the Department of Veterans Affairs in line with a Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. Other legislation approved by the Committee would improve the delivery of care and benefits for veterans who experienced sexual assault in the military. Another bill would make the VA provide detailed reports to Congress on its effort to eliminate a staggering claims backlog.

WASHINGTON, July 23 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said a White House report today masks a big boost in college loan interest rates that would be in store for students and parents under a White House-backed bill now before the Senate.

“The White House is being disingenuous and is trying to sweep under the rug big increases in interest rates for students and parents in the near future,” Sanders said. “Because college costs are out of control and interest rates are rising, students are leaving college deep in debt or in some cases choosing not to continue their education because they cannot afford it,” Sanders added.

Rep. Welch announces bipartisan coalition aimed at breaking Congressional gridlock

Washington, DC. (July 18th, 2013) At an outdoor rally on Capitol Hill this morning, Rep. Peter Welch joined  in announcing a new bipartisan, bicameral coalition aimed at breaking Congressional gridlock. Welch is a co-founder of the coalition, known as “The Problem Solvers,” and serves as one of eight co-chairs. 

The Problem Solvers coalition, which is affiliated with No Labels, is comprised of 37 Republicans, 43 Democrats, and 1 Independent. At the rally, the group unveiled its legislative agenda, which includes a Welch-authored energy efficiency initiative.

Burlington, VT. (July 12th, 2013)- This morning, on the steps of the Chittenden County Courthouse, Rep. Peter Welch unveiled legislation that would require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to inform Americans and protect their privacy as the agency issues operating licenses for unmanned aerial vehicles flying over the United States. The FAA estimates that 30,000 drones will be operating in the U.S. over the next 20 years.

Welch will introduce the legislation in the House of Representatives next week when he returns to Washington. He was joined at the press conference by ACLU of Vermont Executive Director Allen Gilbert.

WASHINGTON, July 10 – Skeptical of a bid to overhaul the tax code by corporate-friendly congressional tax writers, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today laid out his own specific proposals to raise revenue by closing loopholes that let multi-national corporations and oil companies avoid hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, this summer launched a nationwide tour to hear what corporations want in a revamped tax code. Sanders said the tax code should be reformed to address the needs of the middle class and working families, reduce deficits and make profitable corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.

WASHINGTON, July 9 – Responding to more than 700 emails from college students and graduates in Vermont and around the nation, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called today for restoring student the loan interest rate to the level that was charged before the rate doubled on July 1 to 6.8 percent.

“We have a major crisis in our country today in terms of the high cost of college and the incredible debt burden that college students and their families are facing,” Sanders said in a Senate floor speech. “Our job is to improve that situation, to lessen the burden on students and their families – not to make it worse.”

Sanders read from some of the emails he received about how student loans have affected people’s careers and families.

WASHINGTON, June 26 – Citing a major crisis in college costs, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today urged quick action by Congress to keep student loan interest rates from doubling on Monday.

“If we do not act immediately, the subsidized Stafford loan program will see a doubling of interest rates from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent,” Sanders said in a Senate floor speech. “That would be a disaster for millions of students and their families in our country. We must not allow that to happen.”

At the very least, Sanders said, the current Stafford loan program interest rate of 3.4 percent must be extended. In the long term, the Higher Education Act should guarantee that students will be able to attend college and not be burdened with crippling loans.

The Supreme Court has ruled DOMA is unconstitutional. The Federal defensive marriage act which was writting to prevent recognition by the federal government of same-sex marriages is no longer a valid law.   The supreme court has also sent back prop 8 to california, which means the last ruling stands.  Two landmark rulings delivered today.

A good day to living in the US! Good job, Supreme Court Justices.

The Supreme Court Wednesday struck down as unconstitutional the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married in the states where they reside. The court said it violated equal protection to provide benefits to heterosexual couples while denying them to gay couples in the 12 states plus the District of Columbia where same-sex couples may marry. The law passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton recognized marriage as only between one man and one woman.

WASHINGTON, June 25 –Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate environment and energy committees, issued the following statement on President Obama’s proposals today on global warming:

“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. I applaud the president for saying he will take steps to limit heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants and boost renewable energy production. These steps will help not only the environment but the economy too by creating many, many jobs. But let’s be clear: much more must be done.

WASHINGTON — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Monday introduced legislation that would add important reforms and improve certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and FISA Amendments Act.  The FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act of 2013 will bolster existing privacy safeguards and require greater oversight, transparency, and accountability in connection with the government’s expansive domestic surveillance powers. 

Congressman Peter Welch, United States House of Representatives
Official Appearance Schedule, Monday, June 21st, 2013

7:30 a.m. Delivering remarks at the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce Breakfast, Brattleboro Retreat, Education Conference Center, 75 Linden St., Brattleboro

9:15 a.m. Tour of Brooks House – The Brooks House in downtown Brattleboro was heavily damaged by fire in mid-April of 2011 and Congressman Welch toured the site soon afterwards. Rep. Welch will be receiving an update on planned renovations and the role the federal New Market Tax Credit is playing in redevelopment of this historic building. Corner of High St. and Main, Brattleboro

WASHINGTON, June 19 – The Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging held a hearing today on how Older Americans Act programs like Meals on Wheels reduce hunger and poverty among seniors and save money on more expensive nursing home and hospital care.

“These programs not only work to ease isolation, hunger and suffering, they also save taxpayers substantial sums of money,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the subcommittee chairman. “The simple truth is that we can feed a senior for an entire year for the cost of one day in a hospital.”

Sanders is the chief sponsor of legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the 1965 landmark law that he called “one of the most effective programs ever devised” to address the needs of vulnerable seniors.

I got to watch a fair amount of CSPAN last week as I recovered from a flu. One of the more interesting moments came late in the week, after most of the work for the week was through and members could use their time to talk about anything they wanted.

Rep. Grayson, a lawyer and a former phone company president, decided to spend about a half an hour talking about PRISM, phone records, metadata, and government spying on US citizens. It’s a pretty good overview of the known programs, and he offers up some good points of further inquiry.

WASHINGTON, June 14 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation to put strict limits on sweeping powers used by the National Security Agency 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.

Lots of people seem to be upset with various aspects of American life, from education and healthcare to the economy and domestic surveillance.  Mostly we gripe about it and that’s it.  But there’s one simple thing we can all do that will actually help (more than doing nothing) and that is to write to your congressmen about it.  It may be true that no one is addressing your concerns, but you’ll have a better argument if you’ve at least told people about it.  More importantly, there are starting to be problems where it’s a bit like “speak now or forever hold your peace.” Or maybe, “now or never.” 

Many people suspected it, but now it is known for certain. The US government is spying on Americans, collecting vast amounts of electronic information to sort and store, and has been doing so for the last seven years.

have the stories, and more reports are said to be on the way. 

Edward Snowden was working at a high level for NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton and was able to see how the various spying systems scoop up emails, phone records, locations, durations, chats, and almost anything you do online. This information is combined with other available information to create profiles of each of us. Snowden has documentation to prove it, and shared it with Greenwald.

Washington, DC. (June 6th, 2013)- After recent reports that the government has been seizing millions of telephone records of US citizens from service providers, Rep. Welch made the following remarks:

“I cannot fathom a reason for the federal government to cast such a wide and indiscriminate net in the name of national security. This confirms the worst fears of those of us who oppose the Patriot Act.

WASHINGTON, June 6 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today criticized a secret domestic surveillance program that swept up millions of telephone records on calls by Americans who were not suspected of any wrongdoing.

A court order demanding the records be turned over was obtained under a controversial interpretation of a provision in the so-called Patriot Act, which Sanders voted against when it was first enacted in 2001 and when it was reauthorized in 2006 and 2011.

“As one of the few members of Congress who consistently voted against the Patriot Act, I expressed concern at the time of passage that it gave the government far too much power to spy on innocent United State citizens and provided for very little oversight or disclosure. Unfortunately, what I said turned out to be exactly true.

WASHINGTON, June 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today congratulated the Senate Judiciary Committee for drafting an immigration reform bill that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants in the United States and help their children become citizens.

He also supported provisions in the measure that would strengthen border enforcement, prevent unscrupulous employers from hiring illegal workers and give legal status to foreign workers needed to keep Vermont’s dairy farms and apple orchards in business.

Sanders, however, expressed strong concern that large American corporations in the midst of very high unemployment were using immigration reform to lower wages and benefits for American workers.