U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders

LEGISLATION

• ECONOMY
• EDUCATION
• ENVIRONMENT
• IRAQ
• VETERANS
• CIVIL LIBERTIES
• HEALTH CARE
• PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
• MEDIA OWNERSHIP
• TRADE

ECONOMY - [Back to top]
If the middle class in America is going to succeed, Sanders believes we need fundamental changes in our economic policies. Instead of tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, Sanders believes we need to make certain that our country has the best public education system in the world and that every student, regardless of family income, can afford a college education. Instead of making it easier for corporations to move to China, throwing American workers out on the streets, Sanders believes we need to develop a trade policy that creates good paying jobs here and works for the middle class of this country. Instead of providing billions of dollars in corporate welfare, Sanders believes we need to put Americans to work rebuilding our decaying infrastructure and creating affordable housing. LEARN MORE

EDUCATION - [Back to top]
Senator Sanders views education as the backbone of both a democratic society and a twenty-first century workforce. He understands that education, on an individual level, offers great opportunity for personal growth. Senator Sanders is deeply committed to early education, including Head Start and Pre-K, to strong and student-centered K-12 schools, and to access to higher education for every American. In 2007, as a new Senator and as a member of the education committee, he successfully fought to make Head Start stronger; to increase Pell grants for low- and middle-income students going to college and reduce interest rates on college loans; and to institute a new loan forgiveness program for those who enter a wide range of public service careers. He vigorously fought against the narrow and punitive provisions in the legislation known as No Child Left Behind. LEARN MORE

ENVIRONMENT - [Back to top]
Senator Sanders has received high honors for his lifetime pro-environment record and he continues to work to ensure that we leave future generations a vibrant and healthy world. As the only a member of the Senate majority to sit on both the Environment and Public Works and the Energy and Natural Resources Committees, Senator Sanders is uniquely positioned to fight for progressive energy polices and increased environmental protection – issues of great importance to him and to all Vermonters. In fact, the first bill Senator Sanders introduced as a member of the U.S. Senate shines the spotlight on an issue that bridges both our energy and environmental policies: global warming. He fought hard to improve the energy bill signed into law late in 2007, continuing to take the lead in, among other things, promoting green jobs and support for local efficiency and emissions reduction strategies. LEARN MORE

IRAQ - [Back to top]
Senator Sanders has been and continues to be a congressional leader in opposing the war in Iraq. As a member of the House in 2003, he voted against the congressional resolution authorizing the war. As a U.S. Senator, he has sponsored numerous legislative efforts to safely withdraw American troops from Iraq as soon as possible with virtually all troops redeployed within a year. The senator has also expressed strong concerns that the Bush administration may expand the Iraq War against Iran. As a result, he introduced a resolution in the Senate which affirms the sole authority of Congress under the U.S. Constitution to declare war. Senator Sanders continues to speak out against the war and in support of our troops. LEARN MORE

VETERANS - [Back to top]
Senator Sanders has consistently worked to support and protect America’s service members and veterans. The very first legislation he introduced when he joined the U.S. House in 1991 would have reimbursed National Guard members and Reservists for income lost while deployed during the Persian Gulf War. Since then, Senator Sanders has helped lead the fight to help veterans suffering from Gulf War Illnesses get the compensation and treatment they need. In 2007, he secured $10 million in funding to expand research into finding treatments for the 175,000 veterans still suffering health effects from that war. He has advocated for increased health coverage for illnesses connected to Agent Orange exposure in the Vietnam War. He has also supported ending the unfair disabled veterans tax and has continued to push for increased funding for the Veterans Administration so that we can provide our veterans with the health care, pensions, and other services that they have earned and are entitled. Upon his election to the U.S. Senate, Senator Sanders requested, and received, appointment to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in order to allow him more opportunities to fight for veterans’ needs. Since joining the Committee he has worked to secure funding for outreach and readjustment programs to help service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families as they make the transition back to civilian life. LEARN MORE

CIVIL LIBERTIES- [Back to top]
Prior to entering the U.S. Senate in 2007, Sanders was one of only 66 members in the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against the USA Patriot Act. He also introduced the first legislation in the House meant to undo some of the unconstitutional provisions in that bill. He earned him the American Library Association’s "Politician of the Year" Award for his efforts to protect personal library and book store records, and his introduction of the "Freedom to Read Protection Act." Senator Sanders believes that international terrorism is a very serious threat to the United States and the world at large, but he also believes strongly that we can and we must combat it without undermining the basic constitutional rights which make us a free country. In the Senate, he has continued to focus on these and other important civil liberty issues, including reining in the NSA’s warrantless wiretap program, restoring Habeas Corpus rights, controlling the use of wide-sweeping presidential signing statements, and putting an end to torture. LEARN MORE

HEALTH CARE - [Back to top]
Recognizing that millions of Americans lack access to adequate and affordable health care, Senator Sanders is a strong supporter of a single payer health insurance program. As a step on the road to achieving this, he has introduced legislation (S. 2031) that would allow 5 states to design universal coverage programs. Based on their success, he believes that this would result in a national single-payer program. In addition, Sanders has worked to significantly expand the community health center program and the National Health Service Corps. Health centers provide comprehensive primary care services to all in their community without regard to ability to pay. Currently, 86,000 Vermonters receive their care at a community health center, and Sanders has been impressed with how cost-effective they are. He seeks to assure sufficient federal funding so that there can be a health center in every county of Vermont. He was successful in securing the largest increases in funding in their history for community health centers and the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) in the reauthorization bill passed by the Senate health committee. The NHSC provides scholarships and loan repayment to those health professionals who agree to work in medical and dental under-served areas, a vital resource for overcoming the shortage of health personnel in urban and inner city regions. LEARN MORE

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS - [Back to top]
Senator Sanders was the first member of Congress to take his constituents across the Canadian border to buy their prescription drugs at a fraction of the price they were forced to pay in the United States. He is one of the national leaders opposing the pharmaceutical industry’s powerful lobby that spent more than $900 million during the past decade trying to influence Congress to keep drug prices high. While a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he authored major "re-importation" legislation which would have lowered the cost of medicine in this country by 30-50 percent and would have laid the groundwork for a strong prescription drug benefit under Medicare. Senator Sanders has introduced a legislation which would end the monopoly system that enables drug companies to charge excessive prices for the prescription drugs they develop. While the Bush Administration and their drug company allies continue to oppose any efforts to lower the cost of medicine in this country, Senator Sanders will continue his fight in the Senate for lower cost drugs and will support legislation that will allow re-importation and enable Medicare to negotiate lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. LEARN MORE

MEDIA OWNDERSHIP - [Back to top]
Senator Sanders has been leading the charge against the growing consolidation of media in America and the dangers posed to our democracy when a handful of corporations increasingly control what we see, hear and read. Senator Sanders is also opposed to FCC attempts to gut the ban that prohibits a local newspaper from owning TV and radio stations in the same market. Senator Sanders has held several town meetings on corporate control of the media which featured such media activists as Bob McChesney and John Nichols, and FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein. While serving in the U.S. House, Sanders introduced legislation to rescind the terrible FCC decision of June 2, 2003 which would have allowed for even greater media consolidation. LEARN MORE

TRADE - [Back to top]
Senator Sanders is a leading opponent of our current trade policies and opposed NAFTA, PNTR with China and other such agreements, which have been a disaster for American workers. The United States has lost 3 million manufacturing jobs over the last 5 years -- 17% of our entire manufacturing sector. Senator Sanders supports moving our trade policy in a totally new direction. He believes this policy should protect the needs of ordinary Americans, and not just the large multi-nationals that are shutting plants down in this country, moving to China, and hiring people there for pennies an hour. LEARN MORE