Press Releases

WASHINGTON, November 18 – Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today announced that the Village of Barton will receive $2.8 million for water system improvements funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The $2.08 million grant along with a $723,000 loan awarded to Barton was among 31 water projects announced by the

Senator Bernie
Sanders introduced legislation that would break up financial institutions that
are too big to fail. “If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to
exist,” Sanders said. “We should break them up so they are no longer in a
position to bring down the entire economy. We should end the concentration of
ownership that has resulted in just four huge financial institutions holding
half the mortgages in America, controlling two-thirds of the credit cards, and
amassing 40 percent of all deposits.” Sanders’ legislation would give
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner 90 days to compile a list of commercial
banks, investment banks, hedge funds and insurance companies that he deems too
big to fail. The affected financial institutions would include “any entity that
has grown so large that its failure would have a catastrophic effect on the
stability of either the financial system or the United States economy without
substantial Government assistance.” Within one year after the legislation
became law, the Treasury Department would be required to break up those banks,
insurance companies and other financial institutions.

WASHINGTON, November 4 – The Senate voted late this afternoon for a 14-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits. The extension would help about 1,800 Vermonters whose benefits were to have run out by the end of this year.  “Winter is coming and in Vermont and around the country we simply cannot leave families in the lurch without any source of

The Vermont congressional delegation
announced Tuesday morning that Vermont Transco, LLC, will receive
$68,928,650 in federal support to launch Vermont’s Smart Grid
technology.  The funds are part of $3.4 billion in Smart Grid grants
across the nation that President Obama announced today – the largest
awards made in a single day from this year’s American Reinvestment and
Recovery Act.  “This is an opportunity for Vermont once again to lead the nation in
energy efficiency and in developing a greener economy.  These
investments help move our state and our nation toward energy
independence and will create many good-paying jobs,” said Sanders,
chairman of the Senate Green Jobs and the New Economy Subcommittee. 
“Smart Grid technologies improve reliability and service quality while
allowing consumers more control over energy use.”