Issues I Will Be Working On 

Dear Fellow Vermonter,

It’s no secret that our country is facing enormous challenges. While Congress is on recess until after the election, once we are back — and no matter who wins — I want you to know that I intend to continue focusing on some of the most important issues facing our country, including:

1. Healthcare — Our healthcare system is broken, dysfunctional and wildly expensive. It is unacceptable that we pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for healthcare and prescription drugs. Meanwhile, despite spending almost twice as much per capita, we remain the only major country on Earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right. That is why I will continue the fight for Medicare for All to guarantee healthcare for every man, woman and child in this country. 
   
   
2. Workers — Too many families in Vermont and around the country are trying to survive on starvation wages. The value of the current federal minimum wage is the lowest it has been since 1968 and has declined by over 30% since it last increased. A job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it. That is why I will work to raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage of $20 an hour.
   
   
3. Unions — Throughout the country, too many corporations and employers are illegally denying workers their right to join unions and negotiate for decent wages, benefits and working conditions. That is not right and has got to change. We need to make it easier, not harder, for workers to exercise their constitutional right to form unions and stand together to bargain for fairer wages, better benefits and safer workplaces.
   
   
4. Campaign finance — The very richest people in our country cannot be allowed to undermine American democracy by spending unlimited amounts of money in campaigns through their super PACs. Democracy means one person, one vote, not billionaires buying elections. We must overturn the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, end super PACs and move toward public funding of elections.
   
   
5. Income and wealth inequality  —  At a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, we can no longer tolerate a corrupt tax code that enables billionaires to pay a lower effective tax rate than the average worker. Right now the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. Just one man — Mr. Elon Musk — owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. The billionaire class must begin paying its fair share of taxes so that we have the funds available to protect the needs of working families, children, the elderly and the disabled.
   
   
6. Artificial intelligence — Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most transformative technology in the history of humanity. It is also a technology that is extremely dangerous if not developed responsibly. Right now, we are seeing Big Tech oligarchs racing forward to build artificial intelligence in a way that humans do not fully understand and cannot control. I have introduced legislation calling for a national moratorium on data centers, as well as a bill that pauses advanced AI development and bans on the creation of a super intelligence that will be smarter than humans. AI must be used to benefit all humanity, not just to make a handful of multibillionaires even richer. 
   
   
7. Foreign policy — Trump's illegal and unconstitutional war with Iran is resulting in unnecessary death and destruction and is costing Americans hundreds of billions of dollars. We are also continuing to provide funds to the extremist and racist Netanyahu government which, in my view, has committed genocide in Gaza. That must not continue. We need to put an end to these endless wars and U.S. support for the horrific policy of the Israeli government.
   
   
8. Climate change — The last eleven years have been the hottest eleven years on record. The last three years have been the hottest three years on record. All around the world, including right here in Vermont, we are seeing extreme flooding, drought, heat waves, wildfires and other extreme weather. Solving this crisis means forcefully taking on the greed of the fossil fuel industry and creating millions of good paying jobs by transforming our energy system into energy efficiency and sustainable sources of power.

There is no question that these are difficult and dangerous times for the United States and the world. The problems we face are complicated and severe. But, if we work together and maintain our faith in democracy, they can be solved.

Let’s do it.

Sincerely,