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During remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Tuesday called for President Joe Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to prevent companies that are engaged in illegal anti-union activities, like Amazon, from receiving lucrative contracts from the federal government on the taxpayers dime. Sanders urged President Biden to sign an Executive Order to implement this plan.
Sanders' remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below.
During remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Tuesday called for President Joe Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to prevent companies that are engaged in illegal anti-union activities, like Amazon, from receiving lucrative contracts from the federal government on the taxpayers dime. Sanders urged President Biden to sign an Executive Order to implement this plan.
Sanders' remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below.
M. President, the American people are increasingly disgusted with the level of corporate greed that we are seeing in this country.
As you know, while prices are rapidly increasing corporate profits are soaring - in the oil industry, in the food industry, in housing, and many other areas. Meanwhile, while the very rich get richer because of inflation many workers are seeing a decline in their real wages.
During this pandemic, unbelievably, while workers struggle, the billionaire class has seen a $2 trillion increase in their wealth - and the level of income and wealth inequality today is the highest it's been in over 100 years. Two people, Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos, now own more wealth than the bottom 42 percent - over 130 million Americans.
In the midst of all of this, working people have declared loudly and clearly that enough is enough. We must end this corporate greed.
Workers are now fighting back to improve their standard of living, to get the wages and benefits they need, and to get a seat at the negotiating table in a way that we have not seen in many years. They are organizing unions at a grassroots level and they are prepared to go out on strike when the greed of large corporations prevents them from receiving decent wages and decent benefits.
During the last couple of years I have personally been involved in a number of union organizing campaigns and strikes throughout the country - from the John Deere, Nabisco and Kellogg's strikes in the Midwest, to the Warrior Met strike in Alabama, to the Kroger's grocery store strike in Colorado. I have been enormously impressed by the courage and tenacity of these workers who are demanding nothing less than economic justice.
M. President, as you may know, an historic union victory was achieved nearly one month ago by Amazon workers in Staten Island.
Amazon, as you know, is one of the most profitable and one of the most powerful corporations in America. It is also one of the largest employers in America with close to a million employees.
We're talking about a company that made a record-breaking $36 billion profit last year - a 453% increase from where it was before the pandemic. In other words, Amazon is doing better today than it has ever done.
We're talking about a company that is owned by Jeff Bezos, the second wealthiest person in America worth $170 billion.
Interestingly, given our regressive and unfair tax system, we're talking about a company that paid nothing in federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018 and paid a lower tax rate than a nurse or a firefighter last year after making billions in profits.
We're also talking about Mr. Bezos, who, in a given year, despite his extraordinary wealth, also pays nothing in federal income taxes. That's what you can do when you make campaign contributions and have an army of accountants and lawyers working for you.
M. President, during the pandemic, Mr. Bezos, like other billionaires, became much richer. In fact, since March of 2020 Mr. Bezos became $65 billion richer. M. President, do you know why people in this country are angry? During the pandemic, tens of thousands of essential workers had no choice but to go to work. And they died. That's what happens when you live paycheck to paycheck. And during that same period, Mr. Bezos became $65 billion richer.
Mr. Bezos has enough money to own a $500 million, 417-foot mega-yacht.
He has enough money to afford a $175 million estate in Beverly Hills that includes a 13,600 square-foot mansion.
He has enough money to afford a $78 million, 14-acre estate in Maui.
He has enough money to own a $23 million mansion in Washington, DC with 25 bathrooms.
He has enough money to buy a rocket ship to blast William Shatner to the edge of outer space.
And yet, even though Mr. Bezos can afford all of those mansions and all of those yachts and all of those rocket ships, Mr. Bezos refuses to pay his workers decent wages, decent benefits or provide decent working conditions. This is what excessive greed is all about. And the American people want action.
From the very beginning of the union organizing effort until today, Mr. Bezos and Amazon have done everything possible, legal and illegal, to defeat the union.
In fact, Amazon cannot even come to grips with the reality that the workers in Staten Island won their union election fair and square. In order to stall the process out, their lawyers have appealed that election result to the NLRB. Their strategy is obviously to use their incredible wealth to stall, stall and stall.
In every way possible, they are refusing to negotiate a fair first contract with the Amazon Labor Union.
In fact, Amazon has been engaged in a massive attempt to undermine the union organizing drive - in direct violation of labor laws and regulations.
Let's be clear: Amazon has already been penalized more than $75 million for breaking federal discrimination and labor laws.
Amazon is currently being sued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to reinstate a worker who was illegally fired for organizing a union.
To date, there are currently 59 unfair labor cases against Amazon pending at the NLRB.
Several current and former employees have alleged that Amazon has engaged in illegal harassment and discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation.
Amazon misclassifies delivery drivers as independent contractors rather than employees to evade tax, wage, and benefit responsibilities.
Amazon's inadequate workplace safety policies also pose grave risks to workers. If you can believe it, according to a New York Times investigation, Amazon has a 150% percent turnover rate. Workers come into the warehouses, they are worked as hard as humanly possible, and they leave. And a whole set of new workers come in to replace them.
Further, in some locations, their workplace injury rates are more than 2.5 times the industry average.
Last December, six Amazon workers died after they were required to continue working during unsafe weather conditions in a warehouse that did not have appropriate safety facilities or policies.
It is abundantly clear that time and time again Amazon has engaged in illegal anti-union activity.
Amazon may be a large and profitable corporation, it may be owned by one of the wealthiest people in America, but it cannot be allowed to continue to violate the law and the rights of its employees. If working people are asked to obey the law they do it or they are punished by the law. That same principle must be upheld for a large and powerful corporation like Amazon.
And that is why, this morning, I sent a letter to President Biden urging him to sign an executive order to prohibit companies like Amazon that have violated labor laws from receiving federal contracts paid for by the taxpayers of America.
Let me quote from this letter:
"Dear President Biden:
Last September, I was delighted to hear you state that you 'intend to be the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history.'
At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, where too many workers are falling behind, your sentiment is exactly right. We need to build the trade union movement in America and allow more workers to engage in collective bargaining.
One of the most effective ways for you [President Biden] to begin accomplishing this important goal would be to ensure that no corporation that is engaged in illegal anti-union activities receives a contract paid for by the taxpayers of the United States.
As you will recall, during the presidential campaign you [President Biden] promised to 'institute a multi-year federal debarment for all employers who illegally oppose unions' and to 'ensure federal contracts only go to employers who sign neutrality agreements committing not to run anti-union campaigns.'
That campaign promise was exactly right. Today, I am asking you [President Biden] to fulfill that promise ... As you may know, Amazon, one of the largest and most profitable corporations in America, is the poster child as to why this anti-union busting Executive Order is needed now more than ever."
M. President: I ask unanimous consent to include the full text of my letter into the record.
President Biden, more than any other president in modern American history, has talked over and over again about being pro-union - and I appreciate the President's rhetoric and know him to be sincere on this issue.
Just this afternoon, in an article in Politico, in response to my letter, "A White House official said that the president 'has stated consistently and firmly that every worker in every state must have a free and fair choice to join a union and the right to bargain collectively with their employer.' The official, who declined to be named, added that Biden believes 'there should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, and no anti-union propaganda from employers while workers are making that vitally important choice about a union.'"
But that is exactly what is happening at Amazon. There is intimidation. There is coercion. There are threats and anti-union propaganda. In fact, all of that is precisely what Amazon is doing.
In my view, the time for talk is over. The time for action is now.
Taxpayer dollars should not go to companies like Amazon and multi-billionaires like Jeff Bezos who repeatedly break the law.
No government - not the federal government, not the state government and not the city government - should be handing out corporate welfare to union busters and labor law violators.
So today I say to President Biden: You promised to prevent union busters like Amazon from receiving lucrative contracts from the federal government. Please keep that promise.
"Israel is committing crimes against humanity and waging regional war (while dragging international states to it) all in order to maintain its control of resources in the region," said one West Bank journalist.
This is a developing story. Please check back for possible updates...
Further elevating fears of a full-scale regional war in the Middle East, Hezbollah on Saturday confirmed the death of Hassan Nasrallah, who led the political and paramilitary group, after Israel's massive overnight assault on Lebanon.
Hezbollah
did not say how Nasrallah was killed but said in a statement that "the leadership of Hezbollah vows to the highest, most sacred, and dearest martyr in our journey filled with sacrifices and martyrs to continue its struggle against the enemy, supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast, honorable people."
The confirmation from the Iran-backed group came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that it had killed Nasrallah—and multiple other members of Hezbollah leadership.
As of Saturday morning, at least 1,030 people in Lebanon are confirmed dead, and 6,352 people have been injured, though Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad highlighted that "there are still martyrs under the rubble, missing persons, and scattered remains."
Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon this week after trading fire with Hezbollah for nearly a year over the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and left many more displaced and starving. This week's death toll in Lebanon was over 700 even before the "
apocalyptic" bombing campaign that began Friday, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in New York City to address the United Nations General Assembly.
After
leveling several residential buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, targeting Hezbollah's headquarters in Dahiyeh, Israel continued "conducting strikes on strategic terrorist targets" around the Lebanese capital, the IDF said, including "weapons production facilities, buildings used to store advanced weapons, and key command centers."
In response to the IDF's description of the Friday attack as a "precise strike," Adil Haque, a professor at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey, said, "Reminder that the location of military objectives in civilian areas, even when illegal, does not relieve the opposing party of its obligations under international humanitarian law."
Fellow Rutgers professor and human rights attorney Noura Erakat
stressed that "Israel transforms residential areas into targets by saying 'terrorist' once [because] of work of racism and colonialism. These are attacks on civilians [without] regard to distinction [between] civilian and militants."
Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian American journalist and policy analyst based in the occupied West Bank,
said on social media that "in a single night Israeli military carpet-bombed Lebanon, carpet-bombed Gaza, invaded Jenin and Tulkarem in the West Bank."
"Israel is committing crimes against humanity and waging regional war (while dragging international states to it) all in order to maintain its control of resources in the region, while annexing Palestinian lands unabated," Barghouti added. "Israel's violence is in order to defend its ethnoreligous supremacy."
According toReuters:
Residents have fled Dahiyeh, seeking shelter in downtown Beirut and other parts of the city.
"Yesterday's strikes were unbelievable. We had fled before and then went back to our homes, but then the bombing got more and more intense, so we came here, waiting for Netanyahu to stop the bombing," said Dalal Daher, speaking near Beirut's Martyrs Square, where some of the displaced were camping out.
The Associated Pressreported that "on Saturday morning, the Israeli military carried out more than 140 airstrikes in southern Beirut and eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley," while "Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles across northern and central Israel and deep into the Israel-occupied West Bank, damaging some buildings in the northern town of Safed."
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
said in a series of social media posts on Saturday that "all the Resistance forces in the region stand with and support Hezbollah."
"The Resistance forces will determine the fate of this region with the honorable Hezbollah leading the way," he continued. "The Lebanese haven't forgotten there was a time when the soldiers of the occupying regime were advancing toward Beirut, and Hezbollah stopped them and made Lebanon proud. Today too, by the grace and power of God, Lebanon will make the transgressing, malicious enemy regret its actions."
"It is an obligation for all Muslims to stand with the people of Lebanon and the honorable Hezbollah, offering their resources and assistance as Hezbollah confronts the usurping, cruel, malicious Zionist regime," he added.
Greek economist and politician Yanis Varoufakispointed out that the intense bombing by Israel—which receives billions of dollars in military support from the United States—came shortly after U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron "tabled a joint U.S.-French comprehensive cease-fire initiative to end the carnage" in Gaza and Lebanon.
"Today Israel killed Nasrallah," he said. "Can there be a greater humiliation for Biden-Macron? Can't they see they are a laughingstock?"
Just hours before Israel toppled residential buildings in Lebanon on Friday, Human Rights Watch director of crisis advocacy Akshaya Kumar wrote that her group "is calling on Israel's key allies, including the United States, to suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel, given the real risk that they will be used to commit grave abuses."
"Instead, the U.S. has done the opposite, and continues to approve weapons transfers and military aid without conditions," she noted. "World leaders gathered in New York held an emergency meeting on Lebanon, but words alone will not be enough to shift the Israeli government's plans. Leaders need to act."
Early Saturday afternoon, Biden released a statement on Israel killing Nasrallah. In it, Biden "praises not just his killing but how it was done—calling Israel's strike on an area full of civilians 'a measure of justice,'" saidHuffPost's Akbar Shahid Ahmed. "Striking."
Biden also said that "the United States fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups. Just yesterday, I directed my secretary of defense to further enhance the defense posture of U.S. military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war."
"Ultimately, our aim is to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means," Biden claimed—though, as Ahmed emphasized, his call to reduce hostilities came "without changes to U.S. policy that's battered both."
"This is a deliberate targeting of a Black Muslim student at an institution where those two identities are increasingly unwelcome," said the Ph.D. candidate, Momodou Taal.
Two members of Congress on Friday joined the growing chorus of voices criticizing Cornell University for the administration's treatment of Ph.D. student Momodou Taal, a U.K. citizen who could be deported as a result of his pro-Palestinian activism on the Ithaca, New York campus.
"It is appalling that Cornell University appears ready to deport an international student without regard for due process, simply because of their presence at a protest. It is wrong, and I urge the university to reverse course immediately," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a top congressional critic of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, said on social media early Friday.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.)—another opponent of genocide in Gaza who is set to leave the House of Representatives at the end of this term after losing his primary to a pro-Israel candidate—spoke out in support of Taal Friday evening.
"Momodou Taal participated in a peaceful student protest against weapons contractors' presence in a career fair—Cornell set into motion his deportation."
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the November election, "showed us how he felt about Black immigrants, and I urge Cornell to refrain from doing the same," Bowman said on social media.
"Momodou Taal participated in a peaceful student protest against weapons contractors' presence in a career fair—Cornell set into motion his deportation," he explained. "Cornell must reverse his suspension. Student protest and free expression are critical rights that universities need to uphold for students and faculty alike."
Joel M. Malina, Cornell's vice president for university relations, has told multiple media outlets this week that "universities can disallow enrollment and bar a student from campus, but do not have deportation powers."
In response, Taal's attorney, Eric Lee, has called that statement "a cynical sleight of hand," given that "the administration has made the decision to persecute Mr. Taal for free speech activity knowing full well that doing so will subject him to serious immigration consequences," which sets "a dangerous national precedent."
Taal, 30-year-old a Ph.D. candidate in Africana studies who was teaching a writing seminar at Cornell, is part of the Coalition for Mutual Liberation. He was among over 100 students who marched into the on-campus career fair last week due to participation from Boeing and L3Harris, defense contractors that students targeted for "supporting the ongoing war in Gaza."
In a video interview with Taal published on Friday, The Cornell Daily Sun's Gabriel Levin noted that the newspaper does not know of any other students suspended because of the career fair protest. Taal suggested that he is being targeted because of his identity as a Black Muslim man and he is seen as a leader of pro-Palestinian campus activism.
Early Monday, Taal received an email about a Cornell police complaint against him related to the career fair protest—which contains allegations that the graduate student denies—and his resulting suspension. He has been barred from campus.
Because Taal has attended the Ivy League school with an F-1 visa, the suspension means he could soon be deported. As The Nationreported on Wednesday:
The F-1 visa program allows foreign nationals to reside in the United States if they are enrolled in an academic educational program, a language-training program, or a vocational program. Those with F-1 visas can also work on campus and in limited off-campus training positions. According to the Department of Homeland Security, suspension from an academic program is a valid reason for the termination of a record, which changes the immigration status of someone holding a F-1 visa.
Cornell University did not respond to questions about its policies and procedures regarding the suspension of a student with an F-1 visa.
As of publication, the university still refers to disciplinary action against Taal as a "temporary suspension." But by suspending Taal, the university set in motion immigration procedures without having to provide the level of evidence that due process would require, if the charges against Taal were criminal, which they are not.
Taal said on social media Thursday that "the VP of student and campus life, Ryan Lombardi, rejected my appeal after one business day. This demonstrates once again that my ability to stay in this country is being hastily handled without due process in a continued attempt to silence me. I have until 5:00 pm tomorrow to appeal to the provost. If the provost rejects this appeal, then I believe my withdrawal will be processed and I will promptly have to leave the country."
"Once again, there has been no investigation, nor have I had a chance to even respond to the allegations against me," he continued. "I maintain that all my actions have been peaceful and in accordance with my First Amendment rights. This is a deliberate targeting of a Black Muslim student at an institution where those two identities are increasingly unwelcome. When it comes to Palestine the university will abandon all commitments to academic freedom and free speech to protect its corporate interests."
Taal's next appeal goes to Cornell's interim provost, John Siciliano—who, in a Monday email to students, "advocated for severe punishments against pro-Palestinian activists, including legal action," as the Sunnoted in a Thursday editorial.
Cornell is facing mounting pressure from students, professors, alumni, and campus groups as well as advocates and organizations in Ithaca and across the country to stop "unjustly" punishing Taal—who was also involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy at Cornell during the last academic year, as protests over Israel's assault on Gaza were held on campuses across the United States.
"What should make Taal's suspension troubling to every member of the Cornell community is not at all about whether one agrees with his beliefs—it's that the university hasn't shown Taal the due process that all students deserve," the Sun's editorial states. "Without an independent party weighing the evidence, this can't be called anything other than a kangaroo court in which the provost serves as judge, jury, and executioner."
"To make matters worse, Cornell may have violated labor law, too," the newspaper detailed. "Cornell breached an agreement it had signed just three months ago with Cornell Graduate Students United, which requires the university to bargain with the union when graduate students might be de-enrolled or suspended. Here, no bargaining took place. The university simply chose to impose its will unilaterally."
Although the consequences of Taal's on-campus activism may be severe, he made clear on social media Friday evening that he "will never regret going hard for Palestine."
While Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah reportedly survived the attack on the densely populated area of Lebanon's capitol, one observer warned that Israel may still "get the regional war it has sought."
Israel's dropping of massive bombs in Beirut on Friday sparked a fresh wave of global condemnation against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with critics accusing him of trying to drag the Middle East into an even bloodier conflict that could engulf the entire region.
The Israeli attack supposedly targeted Hassan Nasrallah, head of the political and paramilitary group Hezbollah. Multiple media outlets reported that the leader survived, though hundreds of others are feared dead in the "complete carnage" from the bombing that leveled several buildings. While the death toll from Friday is not yet clear, over 700 people have been killed in Israel's strikes in Lebanon since Monday.
As The New York Timesreported:
Lebanon's health minister, Firass Abiad, said that there had been a "complete decimation" of four to six residential buildings as a result of the Israeli strikes. He said that the number of casualties in hospitals was low so far because people were still trapped under the rubble. "They are residential buildings. They were filled with people," Mr. Abiad said. "Whoever is in those buildings is now under the rubble."
Social media and news sites quickly filled with photos and videos of massive plumes of smoke and smoldering rubble.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, said Friday that she was "deeply alarmed and profoundly worried about the potential civilian impact of tonight's massive strikes on Beirut's densely populated southern suburbs. The city is still shaking with fear and panic widespread. All must urgently cease fire."
However, the bombing is widely expected to worsen this week's escalation, which came after nearly a year of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) trading strikes with Hezbollah over the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 41,000 Palestinians.
"For Israel, it may not matter if Nasrallah was killed. Either way, it believes it'll get the regional war it has sought," Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said of the Friday attack.
Citing an unnamed Israeli official, NBC Newsreported that "Israel expects Hezbollah will attempt to mount a major retaliatory attack" in response to Friday's bombing of the group's command center.
As Reutersdetailed:
Israel has struck the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, four times over the last week, killing at least three senior Hezbollah military commanders.
But Friday's attack was far more powerful, with multiple blasts shaking windows across the city, recalling Israeli airstrikes during the war it fought with Hezbollah in 2006.
In a video posted on social media, IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari described the Friday attack as "a precise strike" on what "served as the epicenter of Hezbollah's terror," adding that the group's headquarters "was intentionally built under residential buildings."
During Netanyahu's United Nations General Assembly speech on Friday—which was met with a walkout from several diplomats and other officials—the prime minister said that Hezbollah has stored rockets "in schools, in hospitals, in apartment buildings, and in the private homes of the citizens of Lebanon. They endanger their own people. They put a missile in every kitchen, a rocket in every garage."
In response, Middle East expert Assal Rad said, "So he's claiming there's no civilian spaces in Lebanon and Israel has a right to destroy all of it."
Jason Hickel, who has positions at multiple European universities, also sounded the alarm over those lines from the Israeli leader's speech.
Netanyahu is "effectively arguing all homes are a military target," he said. "This is 100% genocidal and this maniac must be stopped."
Hours before the attack in suburban Beirut, the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) strongly condemned "Israel's brutal bombardment of Lebanon, another reckless escalation in the Middle East on behalf of the Benjamin Netanyahu regime that risks further destabilization in an already fragile region."
"The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon is the latest dark chapter in a series of disproportionate displays of force. Its ongoing genocide in Palestine over the last year has proven beyond any doubt that its willingness to commit horrific acts knows no bounds," DiEM25 said. "Rather than seeking a peaceful and just resolution, Israel's government has consistently chosen the path of militarism, often with international support from the European Union and the United States."
"The international community, including the E.U., has a critical role to play in promoting peace rather than enabling violence," the group added. "Peace and security in the Middle East will not come through bombs and military strength. It will come through diplomacy. We remain committed to working towards that aim and stand in solidarity with the Lebanese people, as well as all others suffering from this violent escalation."