Bernie Sanders

Candidate's Website, 2019

"Ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons. Assault weapons are designed and sold as tools of war. There is absolutely no reason why these firearms should be sold to civilians.

"Prohibit high-capacity ammunition magazines.

"Implement a buyback program to get assault weapons off the streets.

"Regulate assault weapons in the same way that we currently regulate fully automatic weapons - a system that essentially makes them unlawful to own."

2019

"Giving a block grant to a state with less money means massive cuts."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"The Trump administration's treatment of immigration exclusively as a criminal and national security matter is inhumane, impractical, and must end. As president, Bernie Sanders would make undocumented immigration a civil matter, and fundamentally reform the government agencies tasked with enforcing immigration law in a way that views immigration as a historically valued process that's woven into our country's fabric."

Project Vote Smart Survey, 2012

"Legal immigration is and should be our practice and our goal. But with 11.5 undocumented immigrants currently residing in the US, we must address that reality. I support the DREAM Act, which would confer citizenship on young people who grew up in the United States if they serve in the military or graduate from high school. "

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2017

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."

Other, 2015

"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."

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2018

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."

Candidate's Twitter Feed, 2015

"The attempt by Republicans to cut off support for Planned Parenthood is an attack on women's health."

Candidate's Website, 2015

"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."

2019

"The vast majority of Americans support Roe v. Wade. In the event the Supreme Court decides to deeply undermine its own legitimacy by overturning longstanding settled law, Bernie will use the full extent of his executive authority to protect a woman's right to abortion. Further, we will build the grass-roots movement necessary to win back full control of Congress, and we will codify Roe v. Wade into law and pass Medicare for All, which will guarantee reproductive care, including abortions, free at the point of service. It is clear that the vast majority of Americans support passing Medicare for All, and we will work with the millions of people across America to ensure this legislation is passed."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"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."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"Senator Sanders is one of the most vocal critics of continuing government subsidies and special tax breaks for the nuclear industry, and has called for an end to the Price-Anderson government liability insurance program for nuclear reactors."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"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."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"The American Clean Energy Investment Act of 2015 would expand and make permanent tax incentives to develop wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. This bill would strengthen energy efficiency incentives for homes and businesses, promote the development and use of alternative transportation fuels to help Americans move beyond oil, and make clean energy more accessible to non-profit organizations like churches and community groups by making the tax incentives refundable.

"The Low-Income Solar Act would help ensure that all Americans can benefit from the energy and cost savings of solar, by providing grants to low-income families to offset the upfront costs of residential solar arrays, and by improving access to community solar projects."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"When Bernie is in the White House, he will:

• "Pass the College for All Act to provide at least $48 billion per year to eliminate tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities, tribal colleges, community colleges, trade schools, and apprenticeship programs. Everyone deserves the right to a good higher education if they choose to pursue it, no matter their income."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, we need a progressive tax system in this country that is based on the ability to pay. It is unacceptable that major corporations have paid nothing in federal income taxes, and that corporate CEOs in this country often enjoy an effective tax rate that is lower than their secretaries. If we are serious about reforming the tax code and rebuilding the middle class, we have got to demand that the wealthiest Americans, large corporations, and Wall Street pay their fair share in taxes. When we are in the White House, we will:

• "Pass the For the 99.8 Percent Act to establish a progressive estate tax on multi-millionaire and billionaire inheritances.
• "Eliminate offshore tax scams through the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act.
• "Tax Wall Street speculators through the Inclusive Prosperity Act.
• "Scrap the income cap on Social Security payroll taxes through the Social Security Expansion Act so that millionaires and billionaires pay more into the system.
• "End special tax breaks on capital gains and dividends for the top 1%.
• "Substantially increase the top marginal tax rate on income above $10 million.
• "Close tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy and large corporations."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"My administration will begin a full review of tariffs against China, including advice from experts about which tariffs are working and what policies will substantially reduce our record-breaking trade deficit with China and bring back good-paying jobs in the U.S. that have been outsourced to China. Tariffs may be *part* of the answer, but the Trump administration lacks a serious strategy for reducing our trade deficit with China or bringing back U.S. jobs that have been outsourced to China," Sanders told The Post. "Instead of conducting trade policy by tweet, we need a complete overhaul of our trade policies to increase American jobs, raise wages and lift up living standards in this country and throughout the world."

"

Candidate's Website, 2019

"As part of the Green New Deal, we need millions of workers to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure-roads, bridges, drinking water systems, wastewater plants, rail, schools, affordable housing-and build our 100% sustainable energy system. This infrastructure is critical to a thriving, green economy."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"Eliminate the VA benefits backlog, fully fund and resource the VA, and reverse the disastrous privatization of services for veterans."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"We will legalize marijuana and vacate and expunge past marijuana convictions."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"Create a Medicare for All, single-payer, national health insurance program to provide everyone in America with comprehensive health care coverage, free at the point of service.

"No networks, no premiums, no deductibles, no copays, no surprise bills."

2019

"The question we face is whether we will guarantee health care as a human right. The only way to do that is to pass Bernie's Medicare for All plan. The current system is completely dysfunctional, and in the current profit-driven health care system, we are at the mercy of the private insurance and pharmaceutical companies, whose greed dictates the cost of health care. The U.S. federal government has failed to rein in health care costs, which many of our peer nations have successfully done.

A public option or other buy-in plans fail to address the underlying problem in the U.S. health care system: corporate greed and profiteering off of the sick. The other proposals do not address skyrocketing prescription drug prices. They fail to simplify the current confusing and dysfunctional administrative system that makes up 17 percent of health care expenditures. Under Bernie's Medicare for All plan, we slash administrative costs by relying on one payment and billing entity - the federal government - instead of hundreds.

Buy-in and other option plans still leave millions of Americans at the whim of their employers. 30% of employers change plans every year. On top of that, 66 million people separated from their job sometime last year, and by age 50, the average worker has held 12 different jobs. Medicare for All provides stability. After a four-year transition period, every man, woman, and child in the United States will have health care coverage from birth, with no changes or confusing 'open enrollment,' no networks, and no surprise bills.

Medicare for All completely eliminates premiums, deductibles and co-payments for services. Under Medicare for All, health care is free at the point of service for all people in the U.S. regardless of income."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"President Trump has stated tonight, and, over and over again in recent weeks, that building a wall on the Mexican border is a national emergency. In fact, he shut down the government and caused enormous pain for some 800,000 federal employees because of his insistence for his wall.

"No, Mr. Trump, building a wall is not an emergency.

"In terms of immigration in this country, what we need to do is not to waste billions of dollars on a wall, but to finally address the need for comprehensive immigration reform - including a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented people."

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2018

"Solving the opioid epidemic is not a simple thing. We must make sure people have access to treatment, so they can get help where and when they need it. We must invest in what people need for a successful long-term recovery, like counseling and peer support, employment, and housing. And it means taking a hard look at the issues in our society that are causing so many people to turn to drugs in the first place, so that we can prevent others from becoming addicted. This funding will be an important tool in this fight."

Other, 2015

"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."

Candidate's Website, 2016

"We must exhaust every diplomatic option we have to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, halt its aggressive military posturing with South Korea and adhere to the tenets of international human rights law. That is why I strongly support the bipartisan effort to strengthen sanctions on the rogue North Korean regime."

Candidate's Website, 2015

"[W]e must rein in the National Security Agency and end the bulk collection of phone records, internet history, and email data of virtually all Americans.Our intelligence and law enforcement agencies must have the tools they need to protect the American people, but there must be legal oversight and they must go about their work in a way that does not sacrifice our basic freedoms."

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2015

"Republicans hate Social Security because it has been an extraordinary success and has done exactly what it was designed to do. Since its implementation in 1935, Social Security has lowered the poverty rate amongst seniors from about 50% to less than 10%. And today it also covers 11 million Americans living with disabilities including 3 million children, making it the most successful social program in our country's history.

"However, the success of Social Security has only emboldened conservatives' attempts at privatizing and cutting. In fact, currently in Congress, members of both the House and Senate are attempting to divide the American people, telling them that unless we cut benefits today, they won't be there for future generations."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, the wealthiest Americans in this country must pay their fair share into the system. Today, a billionaire pays the same amount of money into Social Security as someone who makes $132,900 a year because the Social Security payroll tax is capped.

"Bernie's Social Security plan would lift this cap and apply the payroll tax on all income over $250,000 in order to accomplish four things.

• "First, we will make sure that Social Security will pay every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 52 years.
• "Second, we will expand benefits across-the-board including a $1,300 a year benefit increase for seniors with incomes of $16,000 a year or less.
• "Third, we will lift millions of seniors out of poverty by increasing the minimum benefits paid to low-income workers when they retire.
• "Fourth, we will increase cost-of-living adjustments to keep up with the rising cost of health care and prescription drugs by establishing a Consumer Price Index for the Elderly."

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2011

"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."

Candidate's Website, 2017

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

Candidate's Website, 2019

"Cancel all student loan debt for the some 45 million Americans who owe about $1.6 trillion and place a cap on student loan interest rates going forward at 1.88 percent."

Candidate's Website, 2019

"Senator Sanders believes that global warming is the greatest environmental threat facing the planet. That is why he introduced the Climate Protection and Justice Act, to tax carbon and methane emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas at the source of production, and to use the revenue to make historic investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy. The bill would also triple funding for advanced energy research and make huge investments in wind, solar, geothermal, plug-in electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies. The proposal would also provide rebates to consumers to offset any efforts by oil, coal, or gas companies to raise prices."

2015

"If we are serious about rebuilding the middle class and creating the millions of good paying jobs we desperately need, we must fundamentally rewrite our trade policies. NO to fast track, and NO to the TPP."

Candidate's Website, 2018

"President Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal was the latest in a series of reckless decisions that move our country closer to conflict. After 17 years in Afghanistan and 15 years in Iraq, the American people do not want to be engaged in never-ending wars in the Middle East. I am deeply concerned that that is exactly where President Trump is heading with Iran. Real American leadership, and real American power, is not shown by our ability to blow things up, but by our ability to bring parties together, to forge international consensus around shared problems. I look forward to having this important conversation Monday night about the future of America's role in the world."

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2017

"What President Trump did by withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord is an international disgrace. I want people all over the world to know that despite what Trump may say or do, the people of America will not stop fighting to transform our energy system from fossil fuel into sustainable energy and energy efficiency"