Press Releases

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

BURLINGTON, December 27 – 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

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed Thursday that they will redraft controversial new food safety rules, and then seek additional public input, as requested last month by Vermont’s congressional delegation – Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch.   “We supported the Food Safety Modernization Act when it was adopted in 2011,

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

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 – Vermont today won a $37 million federal grant to develop 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

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 – The Senate tonight passed and sent to President Barack Obama a budget that averts another government shutdown, eases sharp spending cuts known as sequestration and spares Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from proposed cuts in benefits. In what he called a difficult decision, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted with the 64 – 36 majority to pass