Press Releases

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday awarded Willie Nelson the 2011 Vermont Free Spirit Award. The senator made the presentation during a weekend concert by the country music legend at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction, Vt. The award was given to Nelson “in honor of your tireless support of our nation’s family farmers, and in honor of

BURLINGTON, Vt., May 27 –Vermont’s congressional delegation tonight sent a letter to President Barack Obama supporting Gov. Peter Shumlin’s request for federal disaster assistance in the wake of severe flooding across Vermont. The delegation letter sought help “in the wake of unprecedented rainfall, spring runoff and turbulent storms that included high winds and hail.” Vermont “is completely saturated to an

Calls Meeting with Federal Regulator ‘Very Disappointing’   WASHINGTON, May 26 – With the summer vacation season beginning this Memorial Day weekend as gas prices hover near $4 a gallon, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Thursday pressed the top federal commodities regulator to enforce a law that would stop speculators from artificially driving up oil prices. A member of the Senate energy committee, Sanders hosted

WASHINGTON, May 26 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today voted against a four-year extension of government surveillance powers. “I voted against extending the Patriot Act today for the same reason I voted against enacting it in 2001: it gives the government far too much power to spy on innocent United States citizens and provides for very little oversight or disclosure.  While we must aggressively pursue

WASHINGTON, May 24 -Sen. Bernie Sanders today asked the Federal Communications Commission to let Vermont regulate basic cable television rates which soared in the state last year by an average of almost 10 percent. Sanders asked the FCC to reconsider a determination that satellite providers, such as DirectTV Inc. and DISH Network, provide “effective competition” to cable. Recognizing that satellite

WASHNGTON, May 17 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate energy committee, issued the following statement today after the Senate blocked a bill to rescind $2 billion in annual taxpayer handouts  to the five biggest U.S. oil companies:   “I voted to end oil company subsidies because we have a $14 trillion national debt, because some of