Talk:Bernie Sanders/Senatorial Issues

Senatorial Issues

Campaign Finance Reform

For more than thirty years, Sen. Sanders has been a staunch advocate for effective campaign finance reform that reduces the influence of special interests and corporations. ...

Economy

The true greatness of a country is not measured by the sum of its millionaires and billionaires. Rather, a great nation is one in which justice, equality and dignity prevail for all.

Although corporate profits now exceed their pre-recession levels, those benefits have not have not been realized by the middle class and working families who are struggling with stagnant wages and job losses. Sen. Sanders believes we must put millions of Americans back to work by rebuilding our nation's crumbling infrastructure, transitioning to sustainable sources of energy, and bringing our data and telecommunications networks into the 21st century. ...

Financial Reform

In the fall of 2008, after almost a decade of rampant greed and excessive risk taking, the global financial industry collapsed. Bernie believes we should break up the giant financial institutions that pose a systemic risk to the financial system and the economy as a whole....

War and Peace

Sen. Sanders was a congressional leader in opposing the war in Iraq, and advocating for a responsible end to our military engagement in Afghanistan.

“The cost of war is great, and it is far more than the hundreds of billions of dollars we spend on planes, tanks, missiles and guns. The cost of war is more than 6,800 service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cost of war is caring for the spouses and children who have to rebuild their lives after the loss of their loved ones. It’s about hundreds of thousands of men and women coming home from war with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, many of them having difficulty keeping jobs in order to pay their bills. It’s about high divorce rates. It’s about the terrible tragedy of veterans committing suicide.”

Iraq

The war in Iraq took the lives of 4,487 American troops, killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens and cost U.S. taxpayers at least $1.7 trillion. We went into Iraq in 2003 based on false information, and the evidence is very clear that the war has been counterproductive in terms of fighting international terrorism. As someone who voted against military action in Iraq in the first place, the senator remains opposed to sending U.S. troops back into Iraq. ...

Afghanistan

After more than a decade of war, thousands of American service members killed, tens of thousands more wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, it is past time to bring home the American servicemen and women still serving in Afghanistan. While we may have entered this war with significant clarity of purpose and moral authority, we have lost sight about what our goals are in that nation. The Taliban is no longer in power, bin Laden is dead, and there is almost no presence of al Qaeda left in Afghanistan. After visiting Afghanistan, Sen. Sanders can attest that corruption is rampant, particularly in regards to elections, security and the banking system. ...

Israel and Gaza

Sen. Sanders is deeply troubled by the outbreak of violence in Gaza. It is extraordinarily depressing that year after year, decade after decade, the wars and killing continue without any apparent progress toward the creation of a permanent peace. While the summer of 2014 was a particularly contentious time in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Sen. Sanders’ hope is that the United States will, in the future, help play a leading role in creating a permanent two-state solution. To achieve that outcome the U.S. must work with the international community to support a settlement that respects the legitimate claims and grievances of both sides, lifts the blockade of Gaza, resolves the borders of the West Bank, and allows both the Israeli and Palestinian people to live in peace. ...

Energy & Environment

As a member of both the Environment and Public Works and the Energy and Natural Resources Committees, Sen. Sanders is uniquely positioned to fight for progressive energy policies and increased environmental protection – issues of great importance to him and to all Vermonters. Sen. Sanders is a leading voice on the need to address global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate Change

The need to address the planetary crisis of global climate change has become even more urgent. The military believes global warming could result in food and water scarcity, mass migrations of people, and wars fought over shrinking natural resources, all of which could destabilize global security. All across the planet, we are seeing record heat waves, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, extreme droughts and floods, and devastating wildfires....

Education

Sen. Sanders believes every child should have access to the best education possible regardless of their location, income, gender, religion or race.

In an increasingly competitive global economy, we must ensure every student has the opportunity to pursue quality, affordable higher education. However, families are struggling to keep up with rising tuition costs, which have nearly doubled over the last ten years. Sen. Sanders has worked to expand funding for Pell Grants and promote an innovative loan forgiveness program by which loans would be forgiven for college graduates who work in public service – including nurses, teachers, and law enforcement officers ...

Primary Healthcare

Effective primary health care is the foundation of a high functioning health care system. Study after study has shown that access to better primary care results in better health outcomes, reduced health disparities and reduced spending on avoidable emergency room visits and nursing home care. A strong primary care system not only makes Americans healthier, it saves our nation money, especially through prevention and by treating health situations when they arise – rather than waiting until those situations worsen and require more extensive and costly care. As Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, Sen. Sanders is committed to initiatives and programs that promote primary health care. Sen. Sanders secured $12.5 billion in the Affordable Care Act to increase the number of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) across the country and to deploy more doctors, dentists and other health care professionals in underserved areas through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). Expanding the number of places where people can access care and increasing the number of health care providers across the country significantly increases the number of patients who have access to affordable primary medical, dental, mental health care as well as low-cost prescription drugs. ...

Civil Liberties

Sen. Sanders strongly believes the constitutional rights and guarantees that make this country great need not be sacrificed in the name of security. Before being sworn in as a U.S. Senator 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. In the Senate, Sanders has continued to focus on these and other important civil liberty issues, including reining in the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program, restoring habeas corpus rights, controlling the use of wide-sweeping presidential signing statements and putting an end to torture. He has introduced S. 1168, the “Restore Our Privacy Act,” to amend the PATRIOT Act to curtail overly broad surveillance by the government. He also sent a letter to General Keith Alexander, then-head of the NSA, asking if the NSA spies on Congress.