Press Releases

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told a Capitol Hill news conference today that the government shutdown is hurting veterans. Some 7,000 Department of Veterans Affairs workers who had begun to shrink a backlog in disability benefits claims have been laid off. The call center has been shut down for veterans wanting to take

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today attended oral arguments before the Supreme Court in a case that justices could use to throw out some legal limits on contributions by individual donors to political campaigns. “Freedom of speech, in my view, does not mean the freedom to buy the United States government,” Sanders told a rally outside the

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 – Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today urged Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to treat National Guard and Reserve members and civilian employees the same as other military personnel who may be paid even during a partial government shutdown.  After the shutdown began on Tuesday, Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed legislation to

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) cosponsored a bill to compensate federal workers furloughed because most of the United States government is shut down. “Federal workers in Vermont and around the country should not have to pay the price for the House Republicans’ refusal to keep the government open,” Sanders said. “These dedicated workers have families to feed

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 – Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tonight introduced legislation to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs may continue to make disability compensation and pension payments to veterans in the event of an extended government shutdown. “We must not let our veterans be counted among the House Republicans’ hostages,” Sanders said. Many services provided by

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 – The Senate today rejected a House maneuver to delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act and let employers deny health care for women as a condition for keeping the government open in a new fiscal year that begins on Tuesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) joined the 54–46 majority that sent the budget resolution back to the