“I would rather have our country stand side-by-side with European democracies rather than with countries like China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and others who maintain the death penalty."

"In my view, the time is long overdue for us to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana. In my view, states should have the right to regulate marijuana the same way that state and local laws now govern the sale of alcohol and tobacco."

"I represent a state which is a very rural state -- and my state has virtually no gun control at all -- but despite that, I voted to ban certain types of semi-automatic weapons. I voted for an instant background check. And I voted to close the loophole that currently exists for gun shows."

"I am strongly supportive of sanctions on Russia and North Korea."

"We have got to make it very clear that we are going to protect Social Security, we’re going to make it solvent for our kids & grandchildren – and, by the way, we are not going to tolerate ANYBODY who is thinking of cutting Social Security or raising the retirement age."

"I strongly support imposing stiff penalties on countries like China, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam to prevent them from illegally dumping steel and aluminum into the U.S. and throughout the world. American steel and aluminum workers need our help, and they need it now, but not at the expense of farmers, workers, small businesses and consumers in Vermont and throughout this country. Given Vermont’s proximity to Canada and our strong trade relations with Canada, these policies will be especially harmful to Vermont and other northern border states. It simply makes no sense to start a trade war with Canada, the European Union and others who are engaged in fair trade, are not cheating and where workers are paid a living wage with good benefits."

"The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. We need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage — $15 an hour over the next few years. No one in this country who works 40 hours a week should live in poverty."

"The End Polluter Welfare Act would end subsidies to the huge fossil fuel companies that have long benefited from decades of generous tax breaks, subsidized leases and loan programs. According to the Congressional Research Service, for every $80 of taxpayer money has been invested in fossil fuels over the past 15 years, just $1 has been invested in renewable energy. It’s time to turn that equation around."

"Residential and commercial buildings account for more than 40 percent of all energy use in the United States. Senator Sanders’ Residential Energy Savings Act would fund energy efficiency financing programs that help homeowners and residents invest in energy efficiency retrofits.

"This bill would build on the Energy Efficiency Block Grant Program that Senator Sanders authored, which provided $3.2 billion through the 2009 economic stimulus bill to states and cities to help homeowners, small businesses and municipalities implement innovative weatherization and energy efficiency projects.

"Senator Sanders has also championed "on-bill financing," whereby utilities loan customers money to improve energy efficiency or install renewable energy sources like solar panels and geothermal pumps, and then the customers repay the loans in monthly installments on their utility bills."

Linking to an article about how a Republican health care bill removes essential health benefits, Sanders wrote on Facebook, "Paul Ryan said that Republicans made 'improvements' to their so-called health care bill. Well, if you’re in the top 2 percent or you are the CEO of a big pharmaceutical company, yes the Republicans did make major improvements for you. Under these 'improvements' the top 2 percent will receive an additional $31 billion in tax breaks on top of the $275 billion already included in the Republican bill. Big pharmaceutical companies will now be getting $3 billion more — $33 billion in total. And instead of getting a $145 billion tax break, big insurance companies will be getting a $161 billion tax break — $16 billion more. Meanwhile, tens of millions of Americans will still lose their health insurance and premiums for low-income seniors will still skyrocket. They will still be left in the cold. The Republican bill is not a health care bill at all. It is a massive tax break for the rich and powerful and it must be defeated."

After the Senate voted down a bill to ban abortion at 20 weeks, Sen. Sanders posted on Facebook: "Instead of addressing the serious issues facing this country, Republicans have decided to wage war on every possible front against access to safe, affordable health care. Enough is enough. We cannot go back to the days when women in America did not have the right to control their own bodies. Access to safe and legal abortion is a constitutional right."

"In my view, the time is long overdue for us to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana. In my view, states should have the right to regulate marijuana the same way that state and local laws now govern the sale of alcohol and tobacco."