Press Releases

WASHINGTON, June 13 – The President’s prompt declaration today of a major disaster associated with severe storms in May will help speed Vermont communities’ recovery, said Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Peter Welch.  On Thursday, President Obama signed a disaster declaration for the State of Vermont, requested just days ago by Governor Peter Shumlin, and ordered federal

WASHINGTON, June 12 – Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) welcomed assurances today that the Department of Veterans Affairs has made “significant progress” and is “at a tipping point” in reducing a massive backlog of claims for disability benefits. The assurances came from Thomas Murphy, the VA’s director of compensation services during testimony before Sanders’ committee. Murphy

WASHINGTON, June 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today called for changes in a law that the National Security Agency used to obtain hundreds of millions of U.S. phone records and tap into Internet companies to gather searches, emails, audio, video and photographs. The massive surveillance programs divulged by The Guardian and The Washington Post relied on the so-called USA

DETROIT, June 9 – With new unemployment numbers for May showing that the jobless rate for young people remains extremely high, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced today that he will introduce legislation this week to help young people find work.  Sanders will speak tomorrow in Detroit where youth unemployment rates are extremely high. Sanders and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.)

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

WASHINGTON, June 5 – With the Pentagon embroiled in criticism over its handling of sexual assault cases, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders said today that he will remain steadfast in his commitment to ensure that veterans who suffered military sexual trauma during service are provided the care and compensation to which they are entitled.  The House yesterday passed