Bernie Buzz

There is no better place to be in the summer than in Vermont. I was delighted to get around the state for July 4th and say hello to folks, and in the coming months I look forward to doing more of that.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield may be the world’s most famous and iconic ice cream makers. For decades now the company they started in Vermont has been making high quality ice cream with all kinds of exotic tastes. Flavors like Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, Chunky Monkey, and Super Fudge Chunk are now household names known all over the world.

Over the last several decades, we have seen a major increase in the number of Federally Qualified Community Health Centers in our state and the number of Vermonters who use them. In fact, Vermont leads the nation in per capita utilization of Community Health Centers with more than 170,000 Vermonters, almost one-third of our population, now visiting one of the 66 locations across the state.

I’m writing to you today following the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to abortion.

Despite the importance of Social Security to so many Americans, there are many in Congress who want to cut Social Security benefits or raise the age of eligibility. I will vigorously oppose those efforts. That’s why, as Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, I held a committee hearing to discuss how we can work together to expand – not cut – Social Security. You can watch my opening remarks at the hearing below.

When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, like all of my friends, I obsessively followed the Brooklyn Dodgers. We knew the names of all the players, their batting averages, who they were playing, etc. As mayor of Burlington I was pleased, in 1984, to help bring minor league baseball back into the city. The team, the Vermont Reds, an AA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, turned out to be very successful. It won a number of league championships, had very strong fan support and produced some great major league players including Ken Griffey, Jr. and Barry Larkin.