Bernie Buzz

Each year, the Vermont Congressional Delegation comes together at the end of December to nominate outstanding young Vermonters to be members of the United States Service Academies. We hold this annual reception at the Vermont State House and invite families and current students of the academies to join us.

Born and raised in Vermont, Carrie Justice moved to Hinesburg with her husband in the 1980s. After losing her job of 25 years to foreign competition, Carrie heard that the Hinesburg Community School was looking for someone to run their custodial and facility services. Her husband told her, “I think you’d be great.” And he was right.

This past weekend, my office held holiday gatherings in Vergennes, Burlington, Bennington, and Rutland. It was great to see over 500 Vermonters of all ages come together over cookies, hot chocolate, cider, and eggnog to listen to wonderful music and spend time with each other. In this rapidly changing world, there’s sometimes nothing better than bringing the community together to enjoy some old-fashioned fun.

Too often, we as a nation honor those who served and sacrificed for our country on Veterans Day and Memorial Day, but do little to remember them the rest of the year. Fortunately, here in Vermont, we have people like Ronald Tallman, who never give up on the cause to support our veterans all year long.

The time is long overdue for us to get our national priorities right. Many millions of Americans today are finding it hard to afford health care, prescription drugs, housing, child care, and other basic necessities of life. And, yet, we supposedly don’t have the resources to help them.

For decades, Congress and the FDA have allowed giant food and beverage corporations to make huge profits by enticing children and adults to consume ultra-processed foods and beverages loaded up with sugar, salt, and saturated fat. The result: the health of our kids and all Americans is being undermined.