Congress Returns

Congress returns this week to take up a long to-do list that includes financing nearly every federal agency, and dealing with major questions on surveillance, the farm bill, Pentagon spending and energy policy. The energy bill would increase fuel economy standards for the first time in more than a decade. A critical Senate comittee vote on global warming is set for later in the week. Meanwhile, as the season’s first major storm blanketed Vermont with several inches of snow and temperatures were

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Sanders Fights for Vermont Workers

The Department of Labor is investigating whether a company that employs workers who process citizenship applications in Vermont and California violated federal regulations by cutting their pay when a new contract with Stanley Associates begins Monday. Two hundred employees in Vermont, half the workforce, will have their earnings slashed, Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a letter last week to Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao. He asked for the investigation into whether the Virginia-based contractor is v

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Global Warming Is Reversible

“The truth rarely uttered in Washington is that with strong governmental leadership the crisis of global warming is not only solvable; it can be done while improving the standard of living of the people of this country and others around the world. And it can be done with the knowledge and technology that we have today,” Senator Bernie Sanders wrote in a column published by The Nation.com.

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No Child Left Behind?

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 required states to improve public schools for all students in exchange for increased federal aid. Has the bargain been honored? Has it worked? With the law authorizing the program about to expire, should it be extended or should it be scrapped? If it is broken, can it be fixed? Those questions framed a town meeting on Tuesday hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders. He brought together a group of Vermont educators at Burlington High School to discuss No Child Left Beh

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Home Heating Costs Soar

As rising fuel prices stretch household budgets beyond the breaking point, Senator Bernie Sanders announced that he will introduce legislation when Congress reconvenes next week to provide $1 billion in emergency home heating assistance. Sanders called for the $1 billion boost in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. President Bush, meanwhile, wants Congress to cut $379 million from the program that provides critical help to 5.8 million senior citizens on fixed-incomes and low-income fa

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