WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 -- Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, issued the following news release on Feb. 1, 2024: Last night, Rep. Becca Balint voted to advance an expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), disaster relief, and an enhanced Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), out of the House of Representatives with the bipartisan Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. "The enhancements to the Child Tax Credit will lift nearly half a million children out of poverty in the first year, deliverin  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following statement on Jan. 30, 2024: * * * Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released a statement about the decision by the United States and other nations to freeze funding for the United Nations' agency, UNRWA, that provides food, water, and essential services for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip - 1.1 million of whom are already at risk of starvation. "More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed in this war, seven  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following statement on Feb. 2, 2024: * * * Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement announcing his plan to introduce an amendment to the foreign aid supplemental package that would remove $10.1 billion in offensive weaponry funding for Netanyahu's right-wing government. The amendment preserves funding for defensive systems that will protect Israeli civilians against incoming missile and rocket attacks. S  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following commentary to The Guardian: * * * The United States must make clear to Netanyahu that we will not provide another dollar to support his inhumane, illegal war Many of us are watching with horror the severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. Unfortunately, too many of my colleagues in the House of Representatives and US Senate are choosing to ignore this reality and evade their congressional responsibilities.   more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following commentary to the USA Today: * * * 'As millions of Americans deal with the ramifications of long COVID, how sad it would be if we learned nothing from all that we have done wrong?' As all of us know, the COVID-19 pandemic was the worst public health crisis in more than a century. Since the first cases four years ago, well more than 100 million Americans have gotten the virus, more than 6.7 million Americans have been  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: SPRINGFIELD, VT - Today, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) convened a roundtable at the Turning Point Recovery Center of Springfield with recovery peers, leaders from the Vermont Department of Health and the Department of Corrections, health professionals, and the Springfield police for a productive discussion about community partnerships to address the overdose crisis in Vermont. The conversation focused on recovery   more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today introduced the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, legislation to crack down on companies that help landlords increase rents in already high-priced markets. These services allow landlords to collude to set prices via software and price-setting algorithms.  Reporting by ProPublica and other news outlets demonstr  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today released the following statement regarding the Biden Administration's Executive Order allowing for sanctions against extremists in the West Bank who promote violence, forced displacement, and the destruction of property.  The White House announced sanctions against four Israeli settlers purported to have committed acts of violence against Palestinians and Israeli peace activ  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today celebrated the White House's announcement that it has sent initial negotiation offers through Medicare for the first 10 prescription drugs, selected last August, that are subject to price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Pharmaceutical companies have until early March to accept the offers or propose counteroffers.  "The capacity for Medicare to negotiate   more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today joined ten of his Democratic colleagues, including U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram, urging them to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) questioned Big Tech CEOs about the companies' persistent failures to protect children online and the need for an independent watchdog to oversee Big Tech. Senator Welch co-leads with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) the Digital Platform Commission Act, a bill to establish an expert and independent federal agency to regulate the tech   more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Welch is Leading the Bipartisan, Bicameral Affordable Connectivity Plan Extension Act to Keep Nearly 23 Million Americans Connected  WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today released the following statement in reaction to FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel's formal notice to Congress that the FCC will be forced to freeze new enrollments for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP): "In today's digital   more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: SPRINGFIELD, VT - On Monday, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy, visited with business leaders at the Black River Innovation Campus (BRIC) in Springfield to learn about new programs and progress on the Park Street School renovation project. The project aims to revitalize Springfield's town center by developing infrastructure to support technological  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in introducing the Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act to prevent companies from using algorithms to set higher prices for consumers.    more