Sanders Comments on Economic Crisis

A statement from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent, Vt.) on the economic crisis:

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, let me begin by concurring with Senator Brown. He raised a very important issue, and that is: In the midst of a major economic crisis, when people today--especially senior citizens on fixed incomes--are wondering about how they are going to heat their homes, how they are going to purchase the food they need--I wonder about 3 years ago, had we listened to President Bush, if we had listened to John McCain, if we had listened to the Republican leadership and we had privatized Social Security--can one begin to imagine the anxiety that would be existing all over this country in terms of senior citizens wondering what kind of retirement they would have, what kind of funding would be there for their remaining years? So thank goodness we did not follow the advice of President Bush and John McCain and the Republican leadership; thank goodness we kept Social Security strong.

  Yesterday I came to the floor to discuss the interconnection of the two great crises that are currently facing our country. The first, of course, is the financial crisis--the collapse of major Wall Street firms--and secondly is the very serious problem of high and volatile energy prices, whether it is $3.70 for a gallon of gas to put in your car, or whether it is very high oil prices this coming winter to heat your home. Both of these problems clearly are having a major impact on middle-income families from one end of this country to the other.

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