Working families of
Immokalee, Florida, have been fighting exploitation by the agricultural industry. "I will always fight. As long as I can see my children happy and well, I will continue fighting to provide them with the best. My children are the motor that drives my life,” Udelia says.
In 2008,
Bernie traveled to
Immokalee and met with migrant workers who were being ruthlessly exploited. He told the story to
Congress in the hopes of improving their condition, and succeeded. But how many more Immokalees are there? How many fields or factories are there? We have to ask ourselves ‘who benefits from this exploitation?' And to understand that it is not only the Immokalee workers who suffer but every worker in
America because that pushes us in a race to the bottom.
We appreciate the use of footage from the award winning documentary “
Food Chains”, directed by
Sanjay Rawal.
---------
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★ About Bernie:
Bernie Sanders is a
Democratic candidate for
President of the United States. He is serving his second term in the
U.S. Senate after winning re-election in
2012 with 71 percent of the vote. Sanders previously served as mayor of
Vermont’s largest city for eight years before defeating an incumbent
Republican to be the sole congressperson for the state in the
U.S. House of Representatives. He lives in
Burlington, Vermont with his wife
Jane and has four children and seven grandchildren.
Bernard “Bernie” Sanders was born in
Brooklyn, New York, to immigrant parents and grew up in a small, rent-controlled apartment. His father came to the
United States from
Poland at the age of 17 without much money or a formal education. While attending the
University of Chicago, a 20-year-old Sanders led students in a multi-week sit-in to oppose segregation in off-campus housing owned by the university as a
Congress of Racial Equality (
CORE) officer. In August of
1963, Sanders took an overnight bus as an organizer for the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to hear
Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “
I Have a Dream” speech firsthand at the
March on Washington for
Jobs and
Freedom.
After graduation, Bernie moved to
Vermont where he worked as a carpenter and documentary filmmaker. In
1981, he was elected as mayor of
Burlington as an
Independent by a mere 10 votes, shocking the city’s political establishment by defeating a six-term, local machine mayor. In
1983, Bernie was re-elected by a 21
point margin with a record amount of voter turnout. Under his administration, the city made major strides in affordable housing, progressive taxation, environmental protection, child care, women’s rights, youth programs and the arts. In
1990, Sanders was elected to the
House of Representatives as the first Independent in 40 years and joined the
Democratic caucus. He was re-elected for eight terms, during which he voted against the deregulation of
Wall Street, the
Patriot Act, and the invasion of
Iraq.
In
2006, Sanders defeated the richest man in Vermont to win a seat in the U.S. Senate as an Independent. Known as a “practical and successful legislator,” Sanders served as chairman of the
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs where he authored and passed the most significant veteran health care reform bill in recent history. While in the
Senate, Sanders has fought tirelessly for working class
Americans against the influence of big money in politics. In
2010, he gave an eight-and-a-half hour filibuster-like speech on the Senate floor in opposition to extending Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy. In
2015, the Democratic leadership tapped Bernie to serve as the caucus’ ranking member of the
Senate Budget Committee.
Known for his consistency on the issues,
Senator Sanders has supported the working class, women, communities of color, and the
LGBT community throughout his career. He is an advocate for the environment, unions, and immigrants. He voted against
Keystone XL, opposes the
Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, wants to expand the
Voting Rights Act, and pass the
Equal Rights Amendment.
To learn more about Bernie on the issues, click here: https://berniesanders.com/issues/
- published: 05 Mar 2016
- views: 1026