Thursday - May 2, 2024
U.S. Congressional Tipoffs Involving Vermont Newsletter for Sunday February 11, 2024 ( 11 items )  

HELP Committee to Hold Hearing on Outrageous Cost of Prescription Drugs, CEOs to Testify
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following news release: The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), will hold a hearing Thursday, February 8 at 10:00 a.m. ET titled, "Why Does the United States Pay, by Far, the Highest Prices in the World for Prescription Drugs?" with the CEOs of Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck all test  more

HELP Majority Staff Releases Report Revealing Big Pharma Business Model
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued the following news release on Feb. 6, 2024: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) released today a new report detailing the rigged system that allows Big Pharma to charge Americans the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. The HELP Committee Majority Staff uncovered how three U.S.  more

Rep. Becca Balint to Vote 'NO' on Republican's Israel-Only Supplemental Funding
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 -- Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, issued the following statement on Feb. 6, 2024: * * * Rep. Becca Balint (VT-AL) issued the following statement on her opposition to HR 7217, the Israel-only supplemental funding bill. "Speaker Johnson's Israel-only supplemental does nothing to aid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, bring security to the region or protect Ukrainian sovereignty. I have long been a strong advocate for Israel's right to exist and to defend itself, within the bound  more

Sanders Statement on Voting 'NO' on Foreign Aid Supplemental Bill
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following statement on Feb. 7, 2024: * * * Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement on his opposition to the foreign aid supplemental bill under consideration in the Senate. I will be voting NO on the motion to proceed on the supplemental appropriations bill that the Senate will be voting on today. Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas's terrorism, but it does not have the right to go to   more

Sanders, "I Will Vote No on Any Bill Containing Offensive Military Aid to Netanyahu"
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following statement on Feb. 8, 2024: * * * Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement on his opposition to the latest $95 billion supplemental appropriations bill under consideration in the Senate: Earlier today, I voted NO on the motion to proceed to the latest supplemental appropriations bill. Let me be clear: So long as this bill contains $10 billion to enable Netanyahu's right-wing government to conti  more

Sen. Sanders Issues Commentary to Fox News: Big Pharma Will Have to Answer to American People
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following commentary to Fox News: * * * Big Pharma Will Have to Answer to American People One of my top priorities is to substantially reduce the price of prescription drugs in America It is no great secret that millions of Americans feel that Congress is more interested in protecting large corporations than looking out for ordinary people. That is never clearer than when we talk about our broken health care system, and the o  more

Welch Hosts Capitol Hill Briefing with Patients and Experts on Big Pharma's Efforts to Block Competition Through Patent Thickets
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) hosted a panel discussion with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), health care experts, and patient advocates, focused on Big Pharma's use of so-called patent 'thickets' to prevent generic and biosimilar drugs from entering the market, and the harmful impacts of patent thickets on everyday patients. The discussion focused on new bipartisan, bicameral legislation Sens. Welch and Klobuchar int  more

Welch Introduces Bill to Enhance Public Building Infrastructure, Increase Energy Efficiency
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chris Van Hollen (D-M.D.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in introducing the Improving State and Local Government Access to Performance Contracting Act, legislation that would help state energy offices create or improve Energy Saving Performance Contracting (ESPC) programs. This legislation will provide states with funding to leverage   more

Welch Priorities for Vermont Included in the Bipartisan FAA Reauthorization and Advanced Out of Commerce Committee
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Bill Includes Support for Rural Airports, Dedicated Air Traffic Controller Workforce Funds, Passenger Safety Protections, and Electric Aviation Innovation WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, helped advance the bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act. The Reauthorization bill includes severa  more

Welch Statement on National Security Supplemental
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Following the release of a national security supplemental agreement, which included provisions to address the Israel-Gaza conflict, the war in Ukraine, and our nation's border, the Senate took a procedural vote today to advance debate on the package. The Senate failed to advance the package and is considering an amended version of the supplemental deal. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) released the following statem  more

Welch, Colleagues Push to Increase Nursing Education and Workforce Support
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Angus King (I-Maine), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) in introducing the bicameral Future Advancement of Academic Nursing (FAAN) Act. This legislation would support a grant program to increase the number of faculty an  more