The Senate on Friday voted 68-31 to fund the Department of Homeland Security through September. House Republicans, however, pushed the department toward the brink of a midnight Friday shutdown.  In a victory on Thursday for millions of Americans who want to keep the Internet open and assessable to all, the Federal Communications Commission voted to regulate broadband providers as public utilities. Sen. Bernie Sanders applauded the FCC action. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama voted a bill that would have cleared the way for construction of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. Sanders said the veto sent an important message that the United States is determined to deal with climate change.

Net Neutrality The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday is expected to approve regulating Internet service like a public utility and prohibit companies from paying for faster Internet service. Sanders welcomed the proposal when it was first outlined by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “This is a victory for consumers and entrepreneurs,” Sanders said. Under pressure from the White House, Wheeler embraced the idea that Internet service providers should maintain a neutral gateway to the Internet. Read more

Tar Sands Pipeline President Obama on Tuesday vetoed a bill authorizing the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada’s tar sands region to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico. "This veto tells the world that our nation takes seriously the crisis of global warming,” Sanders said. Read more 

Trade Deal A proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries would lead to more U.S. job losses as corporations moved production to low-wage nations overseas, Sanders told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Monday. He expects the Senate to clear the way for passage of the agreement, but held out hope that the measure might not clear the House. Watch the interview 

Dental Crisis Legislation to dramatically improve access to dental care was introduced Wednesday in the Senate and House by Sanders and Rep. Elijah Cummings. The Comprehensive Dental Reform Act would expand dental coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and the Department of Veterans Affairs, filling the gap for the more than one in four Americans who lack dental insurance. Read more

Veterans A group bankrolled by the anti-government billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch wants to dismantle the Department of Veterans Affairs health care program. Mainstream veterans organizations distanced themselves from the proposal outlined on Thursday by the so-called Concerned Veterans for America. A former chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Sanders alluded to the proposal when he said “there are some very conservative organizations who don't believe in government. Some are funded by the Koch brothers – who don't believe in Social Security, who don't believe in Medicare, who don't believe in the VA. They want to dismember the VA.”