American Federation of Teachers Q & A with Sen.

Sanders 2015
1. **BS: I voted against No Child Left Behind in 2001, and continue to oppose the bills
reliance on high-stakes standardized testing to direct draconian interventions. In my
view, No Child Left Behind ignores several important factors in a students academic
performance, specifically the impact of poverty, access to adequate health care, mental
health, nutrition, and a wide variety of supports that children in poverty should have
access to. By placing so much emphasis on standardized testing, No Child Left Behind
ignores many of the skills and qualities that are vitally important in our 21st century
economy, like problem solving, critical thinking, and teamwork, in favor of test
preparation that provides no benefit to students after they leave school.
In my home state of Vermont, almost every school is identified as failing under
the requirements of No Child Left Behind, despite the fact that we have one of
the highest graduation rates in the country, and students from Vermont
continually score among the highest in the country on annual NAEP
assessments.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, I
have worked to reform No Child Left Behind. My top priorities during the most recent
iteration of the bill have been:
Reducing the high-stakes nature of standardized tests by basing accountability on
multiple measures of a schools effectiveness.
Including a pilot program that allows states to implement innovative systems of
assessment that do not rely on standardized tests. Instead, new innovative
assessments will empower educators by providing actionable information during the
school year that can inform instructional practice.
Maintaining federal support for afterschool programs provided through the 21st
Century Community Learning Centers Program.
The inclusion of wrap-around support services like health, mental health, nutrition
and family supports.
I believe guaranteeing resource equity is a core tenet of the federal governments role in
education policy, and if elected, I will work reduce the resource disparities that currently
exist between schools in wealthy and low-income areas.

In addition, I strongly support increased emphasis on a well-rounded curriculum. No

Child Left Behinds narrow focus on math and literacy has deprived children, especially
low-income children, from critical opportunities in the arts, music, physical education,
civics and STEM fields.
I also believe that not enough emphasis has been placed on effective professional
development for educators and school leaders. Districts and schools must provide more
time and support for educators to pursue highly effective professional development. We
should be encouraging innovation in professional development, and ensuring that
teachers will be able to incorporate professional development into their classroom
practice. Finally, we must provide the resources necessary to provide effective
professional development for all teachers, and have consistently supported efforts to
increase Title II funding.
2. Q. Do you support any of the current reauthorization proposals under consideration in
the 114th
Congress?
***BS: I believe the Alexander-Murray compromise on No Child Left Behind
reauthorization represents a step in the right direction, and voted for the bill in
Committee. While this legislation could go much further to provide adequate resources
to our lowest-income students, I believe it is an important step forward. I strongly oppose
the Student Success Act because it would gut the core provisions of federal law that
direct education funding toward the low-income students who need it most.
3. Q. What role do you think the federal government can play in providing access to
early childhood education? What specific policy proposals would your administration
pursue?
***BS: Every child in the United States should have access to high quality early
childhood education programs, and that the federal government has a critical role to
play. If elected, I would pursue a federal program to guarantee access for every child,
and ensure early-childhood educators receive compensation that is commensurate with
elementary school teachers.

4. Q. What are your views on private school vouchers, tuition tax credits, and charter
school accountability and transparency?
***BS: I am strongly opposed to any voucher system that would re-direct public
education dollars to private schools, including through the use of tax credits. In addition,
I believe charter schools should be held to the same standards of transparency as public
schools, and that these standards should also apply to the non-profit and for-profit
entities that organize charter schools.
5. Q. Escalating tuition and fees are leading to a growing number of students leaving
college with overwhelming debt from student loans. This burden of rising costs and rising
debt makes access to higher education increasingly difficult for many students and their
families. What is the role of the federal government in ensuring that higher education is
affordable and accessible?
***BS: Skyrocketing college tuition has left college out of reach for hundreds of
thousands of students, and left millions more deeply in debt. In an increasingly global
economy, I believe it is unfair and bad economic policy to force our young people to
compete with workers from other countries who can pursue a higher education at little or
no cost. This is why I introduced the College for All Act which would create a federalstate partnership to eliminate undergraduate tuition at public colleges and universities. In
addition, this legislation would slash student loan interest rates, and allow borrowers to
refinance their loans. If elected, I would continue my work to eliminate tuition at public
colleges and to alleviate the burden of student debt.
6. Q. There has been a nationwide pattern of disinvestment in public higher education
such that per-student funding dropped 26.1 percent between 1990 and 2010. What
would your administration do to remedy this?
***BS: State disinvestment has unquestionably been a prime driver of skyrocketing
tuition costs. I strongly support the creation of a federal-state partnership that will
incentivize states to re-invest in their public higher education systems.
7. Q. Career and technical education programs help ensure that postsecondary
credentials and skills are accessible to alla necessity in todays economy. In your

view, what is the role of the federal government in supporting high-quality CTE
programs?

***BS: Career and Technical Education programs are vital pathways to middle-class,
family-supporting jobs. I believe it is in our national and economic interest to ensure
quality CTE programs are available to every American, and effectively aligned with the
needs of the 21st century workforce. Accordingly, I strongly support fully-funding the
Perkins CTE program. In addition, if elected, I would work to revolutionize our nations
approach to workforce development and technical education to build effective, attainable
pathways for young people to pursue middle class careers.
8. Q. What is the federal governments role in requiring appropriate transparency and
accountability of for-profit institutions?
***BS: In my view, for-profit colleges and career programs have perpetrated a massive
fraud at the expense of American taxpayers, and hundreds of thousands of students
who are now saddled with worthless degrees and massive amounts of student debt. As
the gatekeeper to financial aid programs, the federal government must be far more
vigilant, and do a much more effective job in protecting students and taxpayers from lowquality and fraudulent programs. I support efforts to implement gainful employment
regulations, and regulations requiring that no institution receives more than 85% of its
revenue from federal sources. In addition, I support efforts to increase transparency in
the sector, so students and policymakers have a clearer understanding of institutions
activities and quality.
9. Q. What are your views of the Affordable Care Act? What changes would you make, if
any, to the ACA, including the excise tax on high-cost plans and the provisions on
shared responsibility for employers?
BS: I start my approach to healthcare from a very basic point: healthcare should be a
right and not a privilege. Our healthcare system is broken, and the Affordable Care Act
was an important first step. It has done a lot of good things that have improved the
health and economic security of millions of Americans, including closing the prescription
drug donut hole for seniors, allowing young adults to stay on their parents health

insurance plans, and preventing insurance companies from discriminating based on preexisting conditions. But the ACA was not perfect, and there are some improvements we
can make. Although millions more Americans have insurance now, the ACA will still
leave some 30 million Americans without health coverage. Families will still face plans
that have high deductibles and copays, or do not cover the medications or doctors they
need.
Beyond those larger improvements, any specific changes to the ACA must be done
thoughtfully and with a few key principles in mindnamely, the impact any changes will
have on the rest of the healthcare system. Changes to the employer shared
responsibility provision should not be done in a way that leads to higher premiums for
employees or reduced revenues for the government. As for the excise tax on high-cost
health plans, it is important to preserve the savings Congress intended from that
provision, but I want to be certain that workers who have traded lower wages for better
benefits over the years are not penalized.
10. Q. Do you support initiatives designed to move health insurance coverage away from
an employer-based model? If so, what would you propose as an alternative to the
current system for covering working adults?
BS: As I said above, the Affordable Care Act was a good first step towards fixing our
broken healthcare systembut it also heavily relies on continuing the employer-based
model of health coverage. There is no reason employers should be in the insurance
business, unless they actually happen to run an insurance company! I believe the best
strategy is to move to universal coverage under a Medicare-for-all single payer system.
Your health coverage and your level of benefits should not depend on your employer.
11. Q. Many licensed healthcare professionals, particularly RNs, are leaving hospital
service because of difficult working conditions, including excessive and unsafe
workloads, understaffing and mandatory overtime. What would you do to address these
problems and to improve recruitment and retention of nurses and other healthcare
professionals?
BS: I believe that health care is a right, not a privilege and every American should have
access to the health care services they need, regardless of their income. I also believe
improved access to primary care will keep people healthier and reduce reliance on

emergency rooms as a first site of care. These changes in our health care system will
improve the lives of patients but also of health care providers, including RNs working in
hospitals, who are often the ones who bear the brunt of our flawed system. Until these
types of changes can be made, we need to protect this critical workforce by ensuring
they have the equipment and resources they need to provide world class health care
without risking personal injury. I have long supported programs and policies, including
the National Health Service Corps, designed to encourage caring and dedicated
individuals to go into the health care field and serve in areas of greatest need.
12. Q. Merger and acquisition activity continues to consolidate the U.S. healthcare
system into the hands of a few corporations, many of which are for-profit. What would
you do to ensure competition in the healthcare industry is fair and protects the American
consumer?
BS: Consolidation and concentration of power is occurring throughout every sector of
our economy and it must stop. We must not allow a few companies and a few families to
control every industry in this country. This is a problem in the health care industry where
only a select number companies control the system and focus more on their
shareholders profits than the health of their customers. For example, prescription
medications in this country are not only made by a limited number of companies but are
distributed by only a few companies with the ability to set prices however they want and
can limit the supply however they choose. America desperately needs a reinvigorated
anti-trust system aimed at dismantling the growing concentration in many sectors of our
economy.
13. Q. What would you do to ensure that communities have access to public health
services?
**BS: Access to public health services has been a substantial focus of my time in
Congress. As Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Senate I worked
tirelessly to make sure that every eligible veteran in this country had access to highquality, timely care through the VA. And as Chairman of the Health Education Labor and
Pensions subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging I led the efforts to reauthorize the
Older Americans Act, which helps guarantee access to critical health programs for
seniors throughout the country and fought hard to extend funding for three key public
service programs: Federally Qualified Health Centers, Teaching Health Center Graduate

Medical Education, and the National Health Service Corps. I am a huge supporter of
community health centers as I believe they help all Americans, regardless of income,
access the preventive care that keeps them healthy and well. I would like to expand
these centers, making sure even more Americans can benefit. I have also fought hard to
include dental care in more public health programs so more Americans arent forced to
ignore dangerous, even life-threatening oral health problems because they dont have
coverage.
14. Q. What are your priorities for revitalizing the economy, strengthening the middle
class, creating jobs and ensuring fair taxation? How would your plan help restore funding
for education, healthcare, transportation, public safety and many other services provided
to our citizens?
BS:. Creating Millions of jobs. If we are truly serious about reversing the decline of the
middle class and putting millions of people back to work, we need a major federal jobs
program. The most effective way to do that is to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.
Thats why Ive introduced legislation which would invest $1 trillion over 5 years to
modernize our countrys physical infrastructure. My bill would create and maintain at
least 13 million good-paying jobs, while making our country more productive, efficient
and safe.
**Raising Wages and Benefits. The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a
starvation wage. The minimum wage must become a living wage which means raising
it to $15 an hour over the next few years. My goal is to ensure that no full-time worker
lives in poverty. We must also bring about pay equity. Its unconscionable for women to
earn 78 cents on the dollar compared to men who perform the same work. Overtime
protections must be strengthened for millions of workers. It is absurd that supervisors
earning $25,000 a year and who may in fact supervise no one are currently forced
to work 50 or 60 hours a week with no overtime pay. We also need paid sick leave and
vacation time for all.
Progressive Taxation. In order to reverse the massive transfer of wealth and income
from the middle class to the very rich weve seen in recent years, we need real tax
reform which makes wealthy individuals and profitable corporations begin to pay their
fair share of taxes. It is fiscally irresponsible for the U.S. Treasury to lose about $100
billion a year because corporations and the rich stash their profits in the Cayman

Islands, Bermuda and other tax havens. I have introduced legislation which would end
this legalized tax fraud.
**College for All. The United States must join Germany and many other countries in
understanding that investing in our young peoples education is investing in the future of
our nation. I have introduced legislation to make tuition in public colleges and
universities free, as well as substantially lower interest rates on student loans.
Tax on Wall Street Speculation. At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, at a
time when trillions of dollars in wealth have left the pockets of the middle class and have
gone to the top one-tenth of one percent, at a time when the wealthiest people in this
country have made huge amounts of money from risky derivative transactions and the
soaring value of the stock market, I would impose a speculation fee on Wall Street
investment houses and hedge funds.
Medicare for All. The United States remains the only major country on earth that does
not guarantee health care for all as a right. Despite the modest gains of the Affordable
Care Act, 35million Americans continue to lack health insurance and many more are
under-insured. Yet, we continue paying far more per capita for health care than any
other nation. The United States must move toward a Medicare-for-All single-payer
system.
15. Q. The United States has a $3.2 trillion infrastructure deficit according to the
American Society of Civil Engineersand thats just for repairs. What are the
mechanisms (e.g., public, private, infrastructure bank) through which we can fund the
rebuilding of this country, including the necessary renovation and modernization of our
public schools, hospitals and public buildings?
**BS:. For years, we have significantly underfunded the maintenance and improvement
of the physical infrastructure on which our economy depends. That has to change, and
that is why I have introduced the Rebuild America Act, which would invest $1 trillion over
five years to modernize our infrastructure. I introduced a similar, but scaled down $476
billion measure as a floor amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution. Both efforts
would be paid for by closing tax loopholes that allow profitable American corporations to
stash their profits in tax haven countries like the Cayman Islands.
The Rebuild America would go a long way toward closing the national infrastructure

deficit identified by the American Society of Civil Engineers. In fact, I worked closely with
ASCE in drafting the Rebuild America, and I am proud they endorsed the bill and
participated in its rollout.
The Rebuild America Act would invest in roads, bridges and transit; intercity passenger
and freight rail; airports; seaports and inland waterways; drinking water and waste water
plants; dams and levees; electric transmission and distribution; and broadband.
Importantly, at a time when the real unemployment is more than 11%, the Rebuild
America Act would create 13 million jobs that cant be outsources or off-shored.
In terms of 21 century infrastructure technology, the Rebuild America Act would make a
$25 billion investment in broadband technology over five years. There is no question this
investment is needed: the U.S. ranks 16th in the world in terms of broadband access
(OECD) and 12th in the world for broadband speed (Akamai). It simply isnt acceptable
that businesses, schools and families in Bucharest, Romania have access to much
faster internet than most of the United States.
16. Q. What would your administration do to build and strengthen retirement security for
all working men and women, including protecting employees pensions? What is your
plan for sustaining and strengthening Social Security and Medicare?
**BS: Expand Social Security. Today, we have a retirement crisis in this country. Only
one in five American workers have a defined benefit pension plan that guarantees
income in retirement. Over half of the American people have less than $10,000 in
savings and have no idea how they will ever be able to retire in dignity. More than onethird of senior citizens depend on Social Security for virtually all of their income. And,
twenty percent of the elderly are trying to live on an average income of just $7,600 a
year.
Given this reality, our job is not to cut Social Security, our job is to expand Social
Security.
In the Senate, I have proposed legislation to increase Social Security benefits by an
average of $65 a month; expand cost-of-living-adjustments so that seniors can afford the
increased prices of prescription drugs and other healthcare expenses; and lift millions of

seniors out of poverty by expanding the minimum Social Security benefits that seniors
receive in retirement.
This legislation would be paid for by eliminating the cap on taxable income subject to the
Social Security payroll tax. Right now, a Wall Street CEO making $20 million a year pays
the same amount of money into the Social Security system as someone making
$118,500. That is unfair. My legislation would change that.
If we scrapped the cap, and applied the Social Security payroll tax on all income above
$250,000, not only would we be able to expand benefits, we would also ensure that
Social Security can pay every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 50
years.
**Stop Pension Cuts. I would reverse the provision included in last years appropriations
bill that allows the pensions of millions of workers and retirees in multi-employer pension
plans to be slashed.
**Expand Unions. The most important thing we can do to both preserve and expand
defined benefit pension plans is to make it easier for workers to join unions. One of the
most significant reasons for the decline in defined benefit pension plans is that the rights
of workers to join together and bargain for better wages, benefits, and working
conditions have been severely undermined.
Today, corporate executives are routinely negotiating obscenely high compensation
packages for themselves, but then they deny their own employees the ability to bargain
for a better life. That is wrong. We have got to turn this around.
Thats why I support allowing workers to join unions when a majority sign valid
authorization cards stating that they want a union as their bargaining representative.
Today, about 68 percent of union workers have a guaranteed pension through a defined
benefit plan; while less than 14 percent of nonunion workers do. Expanding union
membership in this country would be the best way to protect and expand defined benefit
pensions.

17. Q. What are your views on the privatization and contracting out of public services,
including school services and state and local government services?
***BS: I am strongly opposed to the outsourcing and privatization of public services. The
reality is that many private contractors provide jobs with low pay and no benefits with
little or no training. It is not a surprise that initially these private contractors out-bid their
government competitors because the federal government provides better pay, health
care, pension benefits and quality training to their employees. But, in the long-term, in
most instances, privatization leads to poor service, high turnover, and an overall
increase in taxpayer dollars.
For example, on the state government level, the State of New Jersey thought they were
going to save taxpayer dollars by privatizing their vehicle inspection program. What
happened? According to a 2002 report, this program turned into a mammoth
boondoggle that ended up costing taxpayers $247 million more than it would have cost
if it were run by the state.
***As President, I would do everything I could to reverse the privatization of public
services and support the creation of more good-paying public sector jobs.
18. Q. Current federal laws and policies encourage and promote collective bargaining
through the National Labor Relations Act. What are your views on collective bargaining
for the private and public sectors? What is your view regarding agency fee and so-called
right-to-work laws?
**BS: I am strongly supportive of collective bargaining for private and public sector
workers. I am strongly opposed to agency fee and right-to-work laws.
I will fight to make sure that workers are allowed to join unions when a majority sign valid
authorization cards stating that they want a union as their bargaining representative.
This is not a radical idea. Card check recognition was the law of the land from 19411966.
Today, we have more wealth and income inequality in our country than at any time since
1928. There are lots of reasons for this.

The failure to raise the minimum wage is an obvious example. Unfettered free trade that
forces American workers to compete against desperate workers in China, Mexico, and
Vietnam is another.
**But perhaps one of the most significant reasons for the decline in the middle class is
that the rights of workers to join together and bargain collectively for better wages,
benefits, and working conditions have been severely undermined. That will change
under my Administration.
19. Q. As president, what would you do to: (a) prevent employers from intimidating and
harassing workers who support union representation, (b) ensure that workers are free to
organize and bargain in the workplace, and (c) protect the rights of American workers?
**BS: I would strongly penalize employers that illegally fire or discriminate against
workers for their union activity during an organizing or first contract drive.
Perhaps most importantly, we have got to make it easier for workers who win union
elections to negotiate a first contract.
We also need to address the overtime scandal in this country in which millions of
Americans are working 50 or 60 hours a week but fail to get time-and-a-half for their
efforts. Four decades ago, more than 65 percent of the workforce qualified for time-anda-half pay for every hour worked over 40 hours a week. Today, that figure is down to just
11 percent. The threshold for overtime pay is now so low that it fails to cover middle
class employees. Only workers who earn $23,660 a year currently qualify for overtime,
which is below the poverty line for a family of four.
I would make sure that all workers who make up to $1,090 a week are allowed to receive
time-and-a-half pay for working overtime. This would increase the take-home pay of
millions of workers who are now making less than $57,000 a year.
Further, we need pay equity in this country so that women do not make 78 cents on the
dollar compared to what a man makes for doing the same work. I am a proud cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act that would close the pay gap by empowering
women to negotiate for equal pay, eliminate loopholes courts have created in the law,
and create strong incentives for employers to obey the laws.
21. Q. The federal government has direct responsibility for setting labor standards.
There has been a growing call for changes to those standards, including paid sick days,

paid family leave and higher minimum wages. What changes, if any, would you
prioritize?
BS: I would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over a period of years and index it
to inflation. I would fight for paid sick leave, paid family leave, and paid sick days.
It is unacceptable that the out of 185 countries, the U.S. is one of only three that does
not grant paid maternity leave.
It is unacceptable that the U.S. is one out of only 13 countries in the entire world that
does not guarantee paid vacation.
That would change if I was elected President.
22. Q. More than 8 million public employees in 25 states currently have no OSHA
protection or entitlement to a safe and healthful workplace. Do you support universal
OSHA coverage for all public employees?
**BS: Of course, I support universal OSHA coverage for all public employees. Every
workers should have the right to a safe and healthy work environment. It is a disgrace
that millions of public sector employees do not have these fundamental rights in 25
states.
23. Q. What policies would your administration pursue to ensure that all people
regardless of who they are, where they live or where they come fromare able to climb
the ladder of opportunity and participate fully in our economy and democracy?
BS: We need to make a 4-year education at every public college and university in this
country free. If Germany, Sweden and Denmark can afford to do this, then so can we.
We need to make health care a basic right in our society, and we need to move beyond
the rhetoric about growth and prosperity and recommit to the principles of the Full
Employment Act of 1946.
If we are going to rely on an economy that requires people to work in order to survive,
then we must make certain that work is available to every American who needs a job. By
guaranteeing the right to employment, we can ensure a minimum level of economic
security to all.
This is an ambitious program that would lift millions of families out of poverty and provide
a pathway to greater economic security for all Americans. Free college, free health care

and a guaranteed right to employment. It will not heal all wounds or relieve all tensions,
but it would go beyond anything we have tried before, and it would send a clear signal
that the lives of all Americans matter.
24. Q. In your opinion, what are the elements of comprehensive immigration reform?
How would your administrations stance on immigration reform fight back against
inequality, promote economic justice and increase wages for all workers?
BS: Our immigration system is broken, and it is long past time to fit it. Comprehensive
immigration reform must begin with implementing a responsible path to citizenship for
the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. They should be
given the opportunity to come out of the shadows, have the full protection of the law
including workplace safety and wage and hours protections pay into Social Security
and Medicare, and contribute to the American economy.
Comprehensive immigration must hold unscrupulous employers accountable that exploit
immigrant workers. Immigration reform must not be structured such that an employer
has the effective power to have a persons legal status revoked. This has the potential to
lead to too many abuses.
At a time when the real unemployment rate exceeds 11%, it makes little sense to
increase temporary work visas in high skill fields like science, technology, engineering
and math. More often than not, these visas are used to lower wages and cover the fact
that we are doing too little to education and retrain workers both native born and
immigrant alike who already here.
**We must pass the DREAM Act. If young people who were brought to the U.S. as
children are willing serve in our armed forces, earn a U.S. high school diploma or attend
college, and if they do not have a criminal record, I believe they should be eligible for
permanent residency.
Instead of demonizing unaccompanied minors from Central America, we must make
sure these children are humanely cared for while in U.S. custody. And, we must address
the root causes of the crisis, including the fact that these children are fleeing economic
despair, criminal violence, and false rumors of amnesty spread by the very people who
profit by trafficking children.
**We must provide adequate federal support for schools and communities that have
large immigrant populations, by significantly increasing funding for Title III language
instruction for limited English proficient and immigrant students. And we must reward
and support communities that have agreed to resettle refugees, by significantly

increasing funding for the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement grant programs.
Comprehensive immigration reform will be very complex, and yes, it will have to address
border security. But my top priorities will be focusing on reducing income inequality by
increasing wages and legal protections for all workers.
25. Q. What are your views on campaign finance reform? Do you support a
constitutional amendment overturning the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision?
**BS: In my view, Citizens United is one of the worst decisions in Supreme Court history,
and I have introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn it. We need to fix our
broken campaign finance system by placing limits on contributions and expenditures,
requiring more stringent disclosure, and eventually instituting a system of public
financing. We cannot allow billionaires and millionaires to buy our elections.
26. Q. What would your administration do to ensure that voting in elections is free, fair
and available to all Americans? Do you oppose policies that restrict access to voting and
voter registration?
**BS: We must be doing everything we can to make it easier, not harder, for people to
vote. Instead, what is happening now is that Republican governors and Republican
legislators are going out of their way to put up barriers to voting. They are using
unfounded scare tactics and unproven cases of voter fraud to keep people from the
polls. Over two years ago, I asked the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office
(GAO) to look into voter fraud and the effects of voter ID laws. The GAO found that while
there were very few, if any, cases of voter fraud, the ID laws were working to suppress
legitimate voters. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court turned back the clock on equality when
it struck down part of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark civil rights law. But the Court
also challenged Congress to act, and even though this law was reauthorized
unanimously only nine years ago, we still have not managed to fix this incredibly
important law.
Last March, I, with many others, traveled to Selma to mark the 50th anniversary of the
historic march that lead to the Voting Rights Act. Those incredibly brave men and
women literally put their lives on the line and stood up for what they believed in, that all
Americans, regardless of color, should have the right to vote. We must honor their
legacy and continue their fight.
**I have introduced legislation to make Election Day a national holiday. Although this is

not a cure-all, it is a first step to show that participating in elections is an important part
of Americans society. At a time when less than 40 percent of eligible voters turned out to
the polls in November 2014, we must do everything we can to emphasize the
importance of participating in democracy.
Conclusion
27. Q. What do you think this nations priorities should be during the next decade? How
would your presidency advance those priorities?
BS: 1. Reversing Income and Wealth Inequality
The great moral, economic and political issue of our time is the growing level of income
and wealth inequality in our nation. It goes against everything this country is supposed to
stand for when the top one-tenth of 1 percent owns almost as much wealth as the
bottom 90 percent, and when 95 percent of all new income generated since the Wall
Street crash goes to the top 1 percent. Addressing income and wealth inequality would
be my top priority, and would include:
Ending corporate tax loopholes that allow profitable corporations and the wealthy to
stash their profits in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens.
Demanding that the wealthy and special interests begin paying their fair share of taxes.
It is a disgrace that the top 25 hedge managers last year not only made more than the
nations 158,000 kindergarten teachers combined, but also that they generally pay a
lower effective tax rate than most of those teachers.
Improving and investing in early childhood education as well as K-12, by hiring more
teachers and giving them the resources they need to succeed.
Addressing the crisis of college affordability by expanding Pell grants, allowing high
school juniors and seniors to take college-level classes and earn credit, letting college
graduates refinance their loans, capping student loan payments, and making community
colleges free.
Rejecting austerity policies that hurt the elderly, children, the poor and working families.
Strengthening Social Security and Medicare: When the average Social Security benefit
is $1,328 a month, and more than one-third of our senior citizens rely on Social Security
for virtually all of their income, our job is to expand benefits, not cut them
Raising the minimum wage to $15 to put more money into the pockets of workers in
underpaid jobs and strengthen the economy.
Creating 13 million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure (roads, bridges,

water systems, wastewater plants, rail, airports, and schools), by investing $1 trillion
over five years.
Supporting working women and families by expanding affordable childcare and
promoting pay equity.
Developing a new policy on trade, rather than continue with the free trade agreements
that have been unrelentingly bad for American workers and are a major reason why
60,000 American factories have closed and 4.7 million manufacturing jobs have
disappeared since 2001.
These are some, but certainly not all of the components of a comprehensive approach to
addressing income and wealth inequality.
2. Overturning Citizens United, campaign finance reform and reviving democracy
Another priority would be campaign finance reform. If we dont do this, we will have no
hope at implementing any of the items I just listed above.
In particular, we must reverse two disastrous Supreme Court decisions that have
opened the floodgates of almost unrestricted campaign spending: the 2010 Citizens
United decision and the more recent McCutcheon decision. These decisions hinge on
the absurd notion that giving large sums of money to a politician in exchange for
influence and access does not constitute corruption.
These decisions undermine the democratic foundations of our country and have shifted
political power to huge corporations and the wealthiest people in the United States.
According to recent reports, the billionaire Koch brothers plan to spend $889 million in
the 2016 elections, twice what their network spent in 2012, and nearly the amount spent
by Obama and Romney. When one family can raise and spend as much as a major
party candidate for president, the system is
broken. That is oligarchy, not democracy.
We must overturn these Supreme Court decisions, to make it clear that the ability to
make campaign contributions and expenditures just like the right to vote belongs
only to real people. We must also move toward publicly funded elections.
I recently had the honor of joining Rep. John Lewis and other civil rights leaders on the
50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday civil rights march in Selma. While that historic
march led to the Voting Rights Act which for decades protected voters from
discrimination the Supreme Court two years ago invalidated a key portion of the
landmark law. We must undo that misguided court decision. What happened on that
bridge that day was a huge step forward for democracy in America. But what is
happening right now not just in the South but all over this country are voter
suppression efforts by Republican governors and Republican legislatures to make it

harder for African-Americans, for low-income people and for senior citizens to vote.
Lastly, we must do everything possible to make it easier for people to participate in the
political process, including making Election Day a national holiday so that everyone has
the time and opportunity to vote. While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a
national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy.
In last Novembers election, turnout was only 37 percent, and turnout was even lower
among minorities and young people. Voters 18- to 29-years-old made up only 13 percent
of those who went to the polls, according to exit polls. The same survey found that only 8
percent of Tuesdays voters were Latinos, far less than the Latino share of the
population.
3. Dealing with Climate Change
Climate change is perhaps the single greatest threat facing our planet. We are already
seeing its effects, including more super storms, severe droughts, forest fires, flooding,
and rising sea
levels. Virtually the entire scientific community agrees that human activity is a significant
driver of global warming, and that if we dont drastically reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, it will get much worse by mid-century including crop failures, increasing
hunger and illness, and more extreme weather.
We need a bold vision to address climate change, and that begins with dramatically
reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. That is why in last Congress, I introduced the
Climate Protection Act, which would have taxed carbon and methane emissions from
coal, oil, and natural gas production, and used the revenue to make historic investments
in energy efficiency and sustainable energy. It would have also tripled funding for
advanced energy research,
and made huge investments in wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, plug-in electric
vehicles and other clean technologies.
There are many other steps we must take right now to curb greenhouse gas emissions,
including using existing authority under the Clean Air Act to significantly improve fuel
economy standards for cars and trucks, and reducing harmful pollution from power
plants and industrial facilities.
As we accelerate investments in energy efficiency and make the transition to clean
energy, I believe we can create millions of decent paying jobs. I was one of the authors
of the Green Jobs Act, which created a green jobs workforce training program through
the economic stimulus
bill. Moreover, the Climate Protection Act alone would weatherize one million homes
every year, reducing family energy bills and creating millions of good-paying jobs.

Replacing old power plants with new solar, wind and other sustainable energy facilities
will also create hundreds of thousands of green jobs.
Unless we take bold action to reverse climate change, our children and grandchildren
are going to look back on this period in history and ask: Where were they? Why didnt
they listen to the scientists when they had a chance? Why did they allow this planet to
become so damaged? We have a short window of opportunity. We must act now.
See more at: http://www.aft.org/election2016/candidate-questionnaire-berniesanders#sthash.lWfXopVO.dpuf