Press Releases

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

Keynote Address by Senator Bernie Sanders Vermont/Sandia I want to start by saying thank you to everyone for being here today, in particular Assistant Secretary Pat Hoffman from the Department of Energy whose office has provided the funds not only for this conference, and for the smart grid investment in Vermont, but also other research activities that are taking place this year as part of

BURLINGTON, Vt., May 17 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivered the keynote address today at a conference on a cutting-edge Vermont initiative to improve energy efficiency, save consumers money and create good-paying jobs. Vermont was awarded $69 million in federal funds in 2009 to match an equal investment by the state’s utilities to develop a more efficient and more