Press Releases

WASHINGTON, March 16 – Citing the nuclear emergency in Japan, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today pressed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman to re-evaluate whether to issue a new permit for Vermont Yankee. One day before the massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, the commission approved a 20-year license extension for the Vernon, Vt., reactor that is identical to the crippled

WASHINGTON, March 15 – As Japanese technicians fought to stop tsunami-damaged nuclear reactors from melting down, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called today for a congressional investigation of nuclear safety in the United States. Sanders asked for a full investigation “to determine what we can learn from the disaster in Japan and the implications for the United States’ nuclear reactors.” The

WASHINGTON, March 15 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced legislation that would safeguard Social Security, the most successful and reliable federal program in our nation’s history. “For 75 years, through good times and bad, Social Security has paid out every nickel owed to every eligible American.  That’s an extraordinary record, all done at a very modest administrative cost,” Sanders

Nearly 10 Million Students, 13,000 in Vermont, Would Lose Aid  BURLINGTON, Vt., March 14 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) expressed strong opposition today to a House-passed budget that would reduce the average Pell grant by 17 percent.  Instead of balancing the budget on the backs of students and middle-class families, Sanders called for reducing the debt in a responsible way.

Sanders Calls for Shared Sacrifice   BURLINGTON, Vt., March 14 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today detailed how Vermonters would be hurt by budget cuts recommended by congressional Republicans. “The rich are getting richer. The middle class and poor are getting poorer.  Meanwhile, we have a $1.5 trillion dollar deficit and a $14 trillion dollar national debt.  What is

WASHINGTON, March 10 – Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) issued the following joint statement following the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s announcement today regarding Entergy’s Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, Vt. “It should surprise no one that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted to extend Vermont Yankee’s license for another 20 years.  The