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Statement of Sen. Sanders - Finland Town Meeting -- 04/01/2008

I want to thank Ambassador Pekka Lintu for visiting with us in Vermont today. So far, we’ve kept him very busy. In the morning he met with a large number of students and faculty at UVM where he focused on education. In the afternoon he had lunch with some leaders from the business community, and we just came from a dinner with some other community leaders. And here we are tonight.

Why did I ask the Ambassador from Finland to come to Vermont to talk a little bit about his country? The answer is pretty simple. We as a state and nation should do our very best to learn as much as possible about the best kind of economic and social models that exist throughout the world and, where these models make sense, we should see how we can adopt them to this state and this country. This is especially true today when the United States faces so many difficult problems.

It is no secret to anyone in Vermont that the American economy today is in pretty serious trouble: that the middle class is shrinking, poverty is increasing and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider. It is also true that despite all the rhetoric about “family values,â€