What Bernard Sanders said, and what was done

“Mr. President, I would like to recognize the accomplishments and service of Becky Pringle as she concludes her final term as the president of the Nation's largest labor union, the National Education Association, NEA.”

“Mr. President, I rise today to recognize and thank Jim Macrae for his extraordinary career of public service and for his contributions to expanding access to primary care for all Americans.”

“Mr. President, a couple of years ago, as you may recall, there was a movie--a film--that came out called ``Don't Look Up,'' starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio.”

“Mr. President, in the United States today, 42 million Americans are drowning in $1.7 trillion in student debt--42 million Americans, $1.7 trillion in student debt. Further, a recordbreaking 9 million Americans are now in default on their student loans.”

“Mr. President, I want to say a few words about what I consider to be one of the most important issues not only facing our country but facing the world, and that is the advent of artificial intelligence, which most experts agree will almost certainly be the most transformational technology in the history of humanity.”

“Mr. President, the American campaign finance system is not only broken, it is corrupt. It allows billionaires to undermine our democracy and buy elections through their super PACs, and the American people want that to change.”

“Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act and all budget resolution disciplines that apply, I move to waive all points of order for purposes of the pending measure.”

“Madam President, artificial intelligence will almost certainly be the most transformational technology in the history of the world. It will profoundly impact the lives of every man, woman, and child in our country and, in fact, throughout the world.”

“Mr. President, the American people pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. As a result, one out of four Americans cannot afford the prescriptions that their doctors write, and thousands die every year as a result, and many become sicker than they should.”

“Mr. President, let me begin by thanking Senator Kelly not only for his remarks and his work as a U.S. Senator but for his service to our country in the military, and I very much appreciate his support for these resolutions.”

“Mr. President, let me thank Senator Van Hollen, Senator Merkley, Senator Markey, Senator Kaine, and, before that, Senator Kelly for their remarks. The American people increasingly are sick and tired of spending billions of dollars in support of illegal, horrific military actions on the part of the Netanyahu government.”

“Mr. President, pursuant to section 36(b)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations from further consideration of S.J. Res. 32.”

“Mr. President, we are at the beginning of the most profound technological revolution in world history, a revolution which will bring unimaginable changes to every aspect of our society.”

“Mr. President, at a time when our country faces unprecedented crises, the U.S. Senate has spent an entire week debating a problem that essentially does not exist. The goal of the SAVE Act, which is on the floor right now, is to make certain that noncitizens do not vote in American elections.”

“Mr. President, since 2010, I have sponsored a State of the Union essay contest for Vermont high school students. This contest gives students in my State the opportunity to articulate what issues they would prioritize if they were President of the United States.”

“Terri Vest of Twinfield Union School & Vermont Virtual Learning Collaborative, participant for 16 years Robert Walls-Thumma of North Country Union High School, participant for 2 years Caroline Zeilenga of Randolph Technical and Career Center, participant for 2 years I am very proud to enter the State of the Union Essay Contest judges into the Congressional Record to recognize their contributions.”

“Mr. President, I ask to have printed in the Record some of the finalists' essays written by Vermont High School students as part of the 16th annual State of the Union Essay contest conducted by my office.”

“Matthew Mallory, Essex High School, Junior For many Americans the ability to get to work, pick up medicine, or buy groceries is largely taken for granted. However, a large subset of the population lacks access to even these seemingly quotidian abilities.”

“Mr. President, as many Americans are beginning to understand, artificial intelligence and robotics is in the process of transforming the world. The truth is that we are at the beginning of the most profound technological revolution in world history, a revolution which will bring unimaginable changes to our society.”

“Mr. President, as part of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, President Trump and Republicans threw 15 million Americans off of Medicaid through massive cuts to that program. At the same time, they did something even more dangerous.”

“Mr. President, let's be honest. Let us face up to reality and let us acknowledge that most Americans understand that our great Nation, once the envy of the entire world, is now in the midst of a deep decline.”

“Mr. Madel said: When U.S. citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear, and U.S. citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship, that is wrong. Driving while Hispanic is not a crime, neither is driving while Asian.”

“Mr. President, let me be very clear: In the midst of a broken and dysfunctional healthcare system, we must do everything that we can to find new cures and treatments for pediatric cancer, and I strongly support that effort, period.”

“The Senator from Oklahoma says that I am talking about politics. Well, if talking about politics means that millions of children have the right to see a doctor, I guess I am talking about politics.”

“Mr. President, on behalf of his Big Tech billionaire backers, some of whom are the wealthiest people on the planet, President Trump wants to deny States the right to regulate artificial intelligence through an Executive order.”

“Elon Musk recently said: AI and robots will replace all jobs. Working will be optional. Mr. Musk is investing hundreds of billions of dollars into AI and robotics.”

“Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from Wisconsin for offering this important and very simple and straightforward amendment. Nothing can be simpler. Are you prepared, I say to my Republican friends, to sit back and allow over 20 million Americans to see a doubling of their healthcare premiums?”

“Mr. President, I wanted to touch on a few topics relating to the shutdown, which is now in its 39th day and doing very serious harm to Federal workers here in Washington and Vermont and all over this country, and it is a shutdown that should be ended as soon as possible.”

“Mr. President, I think there is a lot of confusion amongst the American people as to what is going on right now here in Washington, DC, and I want to just say a few words to address some of that.”

“Let me thank Senator Merkley for today pointing a finger at one of the great crises our country--one of the greatest crises our country has faced, I think, since the Civil War; and that is that, every day, we have a President who is moving this country into an authoritarian form of society.”

“How many times have the Senator from Oregon and I heard that our Republican friends believe in small government, in federalism, in the right of the local government.”

“Madam President, amendment No. 3853 is very simple. It would cut 10 percent from this Defense bill, excluding military personnel and the Defense Health Program, and it would use those funds to provide direct dental care to all veterans eligible for healthcare from the VA.”

“Madam President, we are now approaching day seven of the government shutdown. The Republicans control the House. They control the Senate. They control the White House. They run the government, and they have the responsibility to keep the government open.”

“Let me make the very radical suggestion that Elon Musk, who is now worth some $500 billion, does not need another tax break. Today, we have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had in the history of America.”

“Our job is to improve a broken healthcare system and guarantee healthcare to all. Our job is not to throw 15 million people off healthcare and double premiums for more than 20 million, to shutter nursing homes, community health centers, and rural hospitals.”

“Mr. President, as many Americans know, the current budget is going to expire at the end of September, and if an agreement is not reached, the government will shut down, which is, frankly, not anything that anyone wants.”

“Mr. President, pursuant to 22 United States Code 2776 and in accordance with the provisions of Section 601(b)(3) of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations of further consideration of S.J.”

“Mr. President, let me begin by stating what the debate we are going to have this evening is about and what it is not about. It is not about whether anyone in this Senate disagrees that Hamas is a terrorist organization which began this war with a brutal terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 innocent Israelis and took 250 hostages.”

“Israeli settlers brutally beat a young American to death earlier this month. Just this month, an American citizen was beaten to death, the seventh American killed in the West Bank since 2022.”

“Mr. President, let me conclude by saying this: Senator Risch was right. Hamas is a terrorist organization that began this war. They are war criminals. But Hamas is not responsible for the starvation of children today.”

“Mr. President, President Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill, now on the floor of the Senate, is the most dangerous piece of legislation in the modern history of our country.”

“Mr. President, everyone knows that our country faces enormous crises. We have a healthcare system that is broken and is wildly expensive. We have a housing crisis in which millions of people are spending far more than they can afford to put a roof over their heads.”

“Mr. President, the so-called reconciliation bill or Mr. Trump's Big Beautiful Bill that the Republican leadership is now attempting to rush through the Senate is a rather extraordinary piece of legislation.”

“Mr. President, let me just summarize and quote a small number of the responses that we got. If this legislation were to be signed into law, it would drive up the number of uninsured Americans in every single State in this country.”

“So I would say that I speak for the overwhelming majority of the American people who think that it is basically insane that we are talking about throwing 16 million people off of the healthcare they have and creating a situation where 50,000 Americans will die unnecessarily each year in order to give hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars to billionaires and the wealthiest people in this country.”

“Let me thank Senator Van Hollen for his leadership on this issue, as well as Senators Murphy, Kaine, Merkley, and Schatz, who are leading the effort to make sure that we pass these joint resolutions of disapproval.”

“In January, the U.S. State Department concluded that the RSF, supported by the UAE--the country that would get weapons, if we are not successful in opposing that--has committed ethnic cleansing.”

“Mr. President, I know that my Republican colleagues like to do what the President asks them to do. They agree with him on virtually everything, so today I am going to make life easy for my Republican colleagues.”

“The Wall Street Journal--no great friend of mine--their analysts said the order was ``more bark than bite.'' Since issuing the Executive order, President Trump has gone on FOX News, and while talking about differences in American prices and international prices, he said ``he ended it.'' Good news.”

“Mr. President, the American people, whether they are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents, understand that we have a corrupt campaign finance system which allows billionaires and their lobbyists to play an extraordinarily powerful role in electing candidates and defeating candidates and in crafting legislation.”

“Musk, who is now worth more than $400 billion--owns more wealth than the bottom 52 percent of American society. One person owns more wealth than the bottom 52 percent of American households.”

“No question, this Medicaid cut will result in rural hospitals being shut down in increasing numbers. Further, I hope my colleagues will listen to what Bruce Siegel, the president and CEO of America's Essential Hospitals, said in opposition to this bill: Hospitals, which already operate on thin margins, cannot absorb such losses without reducing services or closing their doors altogether.”

“Mr. President, I want to say a few words about an issue that people all over the world are thinking about, are appalled by but, for some strange reason, gets very little discussion here in the Nation's Capital or in the halls of Congress, and that is the horrific humanitarian disaster that is unfolding in Gaza.”

“Mr. President, if the Senator had heard my remarks, I talked about the need to release the hostages and I talked about who started the war, which is the terrorist organization called Hamas, led by war criminals.”

“Madam President, let me cut to the chase, and I will try to be brief here. We hear a lot of talk on the floor of the Senate about patriotism, about love of country, about how we all have to work together for the common good.”

“D.C. that are already having a detrimental impact on the services that veterans with spinal cord injuries and diseases like ALS and MS rely on.'' The Disabled American Veterans, or DAV, said: We are extremely concerned about the leaked proposal to arbitrarily eliminate 80,000 VA employees.”

“I am not aware that in the so-called mandate of President Trump--and, by the way, he got millions of votes less than Joe Biden got 4 years previously.”

“Madam President, let me say a few words about where we are as a nation, what this budget resolution does, and why I am strongly opposed to it.”

“Pursuant to section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations from further consideration of S.J. Res. 33 and S.J.”

“Mr. President, let me begin by telling the American people something that they already know, and that is, as a result of the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, we now have a corrupt campaign finance system that allows billionaires to buy elections and to influence major pieces of legislation.”

“Mr. President, in the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to travel in many parts of our country, and I have been able to talk to folks in Nebraska, in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona.”

“President who undermines our Constitution every day. Every day there is something else out there where he is undermining our Constitution and threatening the very foundations of American democracy.”

“Why have we let education sink to the level that it has? I think the bottom line of all of this is that the American people, I think, are catching on.”

“Mr. President, let me thank Senator Wyden for his outstanding work as the former chairman of the Finance Committee and now as the ranking member. I get around Vermont a bit.”

“We have a healthcare crisis--85 million uninsured or underinsured, people dying because they can't afford healthcare. We pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. We have reached a bipartisan conclusion to go forward in a modest way, but it would have some impact in approving healthcare in America, and my Republican colleague objects.”

“Mr. President, as people all over this country understand, we are a nation today that faces enormous crises. Sadly, the continuing resolution passed Tuesday in the U.S. House and which will come to this body very shortly not only does nothing to address these crises but, in fact, it makes a bad situation much worse.”

“Agent Orange, and other toxic substances next year. Pathetically, our Nation--the richest country on Earth--has the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on the planet, and that is often reflected in the crises facing many public schools today.”

“I go around the country, and, just a couple of weeks ago, I held a telephone townhall in Vermont. We are a small State. We only have about 650,000 people.”

“Mr. President, my office and I suspect all Senate offices are getting a whole lot of calls from senior citizens who are experiencing a great deal of fear and anxiety with all of the confusion and chaos that is currently going on here in Washington.”

“Look, I understand that this bill would bring forth serious debate and discussion, but I would appreciate if we could have a starting point. This bill is pretty simple.”

“Right. OK. Fair enough. That is fair enough. But what I would like to do--and I appreciate--you know, I think you and I can agree that we don't use the committee structure here in the Senate as effectively as we might.”

“OK. I would hope in one way or another--I would appreciate if we could start off with my bill. You could come in and tell me what you don't like about it, and we can go from there.”

“Mr. President, I thank the minority leader for his comments. I am here tonight with colleagues who have worked extremely hard to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine and to defend democracy in that country and, in fact, throughout the world.”

“Let me respond to my friend from Idaho. I think he said, to paraphrase him a bit, there is one man who can stop the war. You are right.”

“One brief remark because I strongly disagree on this issue with my friend. You think it takes Trump to end the war. You think that Putin alone can't end the war.”

“Mr. President, I speak with senior citizens all over Vermont and, in fact, in many parts of the country. Just last night, we held a telephone townhall in Vermont, and in our small State, 34,000 people were on the line.”

“Mr. President, I ask to have entered into the Record some of the finalists' essays written by Vermont High School students as part of the 15th Annual State of the Union Essay contest conducted by my office.”

“During recent years, the United States has experienced soaring prices of treatments, medication, and health insurance on levels not previously seen. Despite healthcare being undeniably necessary for our citizens, and therefore our country, to succeed and prosper, millions of Americans are unable to afford the treatment they need.”

“Mr. President, we live in difficult times, in times where people throughout our country are experiencing a great deal of anxiety for a number of reasons. And in the midst of all of that, it is important that we not forget what is taking place not only in Ukraine but back home here in the United States.”

“The question is, Now do you have the courage to continue telling the truth when the President of the United States is lying? This is an extraordinarily pivotal moment in American history, and all of us must have the courage to stand up for truth, to stand up for democracy, to oppose authoritarianism.”

“Mr. President, we are living in an extremely dangerous time. Future generations will look back at this moment--what we do right now--and remember whether we had the courage to defend our democracy against the growing threats of oligarchy and authoritarianism.”

“NPR--major news outlets in our country. In other words, we have a President of the United States who is using his incredible power and the power of his Agencies to go after media in this country that are saying and doing things he does not like.”

“So in these difficult days, when we find ourselves arrayed against the wealthiest people in the world, the most powerful people in the world, people who want to expand the power of the oligarchy, people who want to move us toward authoritarianism--I know.”

“Mr. President, today, we find ourselves in a pivotal moment in American history, and millions of Americans, by their actions or lack of action, will determine the future of our country for decades.”

“The great task remaining before us. --that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-- And this is how he concluded-- That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. ``Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth''--I fear very much that under President Trump we are not seeing a ``government of the people, by the people, for the people,'' but rather a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class.”

“At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, we have never had more income and wealth inequality than we have had right now. It is beyond stupidity to provide more tax breaks to the very richest people in our country and then to pay for those tax breaks by cutting back on Medicaid and other programs desperately needed by working families all across this country.”

“Madam President, as we go forward in this new session of Congress, I would hope very much that there will be a serious focus on the crises facing the working families of our country.”

“In Houston, TX, H-1B accountants--I did not know, to be honest with you, that we had a scarcity in accountants, but be that as it may, H-1B accountants are paid nearly $40,000 less than American accountants doing the exact same work.”