Special Budget Panel Focuses on Jobs

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said a special congressional committee that met today for the first time should promote jobs and the economy without cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other benefits for working families.  “At a time when less than 10 percent of the American people approve of the job that Congress is doing, it’s time

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Veterans’ Committee Hearing Focuses on Health Care

WASHINGTON, October 30 – The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs today held a hearing to examine health and benefits legislation, including a bill by Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to significantly expand access to health care. Sanders’ bill would expand access to the high-quality, cost-effective health care that the Department of Veterans Affairs now provides to approximately 6.5 million veterans each

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Senate Panel Advances Older Americans Act

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 – A Senate committee today advanced legislation by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to reauthorize the Older Americans Act, which supports Meals on Wheels and other services for the country’s rapidly-growing population of seniors. The 5-year reauthorization sent to the Senate floor by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was cosponsored by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the

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Sanders Supports Advance Funding for VA Programs

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today called for Department of Veterans Affairs programs to be funded one year in advance to improve planning and avoid service disruptions in any future government shutdowns. Sanders said Congress should ensure that disability compensation, pensions and education benefits are not disrupted. “As we saw earlier this month,

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Sanders Condemns Spying on U.S. Allies

BURLINGTON, Vt., Oct. 18 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today decried “outrageous” eavesdropping by the National Security Agency on some of the United States’ closest allies. Sanders is cosponsoring legislation that would significantly rein in the sweeping surveillance activities of the NSA and other intelligence agencies. In a letter to President Barack Obama, the senator also voiced concern that

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Sanders Appointed to Budget Conference Committee

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has been appointed to a Senate and House budget conference committee to create a long-term budget plan by Dec. 13 to avert another government shutdown. A member of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders said he looks forward to developing an alternative to the stopgap, sequestration-level budget that Congress approved late Wednesday as

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