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Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Vermont Delegation Sends Letter Urging Biden Administration to Immediately Work with Canada to Safely Open the Northern Border
Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, and Representative Peter Welch sent a letter to the Biden administration late Monday urging him to work with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to allow additional travel between the United States and Canada. With increased vaccination rates in both the United States and Canada, and updated CDC guidance for fully vaccinated Americans, the delegation urged the Biden administration to work with Canada to add additional essential traveler classes and to continu… Continue Reading
06.05.21
Statement On The Situation In Tigray, Ethiopia
I vividly recall the shocking images back in 1984 of a million emaciated Ethiopian men, women and children, many of them from Tigray, who had fled the country in the midst of a massive famine caused by prolonged drought, widespread food shortages, and discriminatory government policies. Eventually the rains returned and the refugees went home, but the country has been plagued by periods of conflict and food insecurity ever since. Today, the people of Tigray are being subjected to human rights… Continue Reading
06.04.21
As VP Travels To Mexico And Central America, Leading Senate Democrats Boost Diplomatic Efforts To Address Causes Of Irregular Migration, Foster Stability In Central America
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today led a group of 18 of his Senate colleagues in voicing their support for Vice President Kamala Harris' leadership of the Biden administration's diplomatic efforts to address and mitigate the underlying factors driving Central American migration to the United States. Sent in advance of Vice President Harris' upcoming visit to Mexico and Guatemala, the senators' letter reiterates their call for the develop… Continue Reading
05.27.21
Statement On The Introduction Of The Biden Budget And The End Of The Budget Control Act
The Budget Control Act of 2011 expires this year, and that is a good thing. This law led to a decade of underfunding our domestic priorities, from which it will take years to recover. Right now, in communities across the country, our infrastructure is crumbling, millions of Americans cannot access federal programs for which they qualify, and we are falling behind in investing in science, research, and development on the global economic stage. All of this because the Budget Control Act set ar… Continue Reading
05.27.21
Statement On Senate Passage Of The United States Innovation And Competition Act Of 2021
Today, in a bipartisan vote, the Senate advanced important legislation to increase our nation's competitiveness with China. The United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) of 2021 is significant legislation, and an example of what process and debate can yield in the United States Senate. This legislative package is the end result of the bipartisan work of from multiple Senate Committees and reflects the urgency of addressing the challenges faced by domestic manufacturers and American r… Continue Reading
05.27.21
Statement On Passage Of CHIPS Funding As Part Of The U.S. Innovation And Competition Act
Mr. President, as the Senate prepares to vote on the US Innovation and Competition Act, I wanted to take moment to highlight the support this bill provides to the US Semiconductor Industry. I want to commend the leadership that Senators Warner, Cornyn and Schumer have shown in highlighting the need for our country to ensure that we maintain leading edge manufacture capabilities in the United States. I strongly support the over $50 billion provided in this bill for the Department of Commerce to… Continue Reading
05.27.21
Memorial Day Message Of Senator Patrick Leahy
For all of us, Memorial Day is the 'kick off' of summer. Especially after the struggles we all have faced during the last year, this is a particularly welcome and highly anticipated day to gather with family and friends, have cookouts, shake off a long winter and Mud Season, and get on with our summer activities. The root of the word memorial is memory. My hope is that we all will also pause to remember that the true spirit of this day is to remember that we are able to come together, as fam… Continue Reading
05.25.21
Leahy And Pascrell Renew Senate And House Push For Crime Gun Tracing Modernization Act To Bring ATF Into The 21st Century
(TUESDAY, May 25, 2021) -- Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Representative Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ-09) Tuesday reintroduced the Crime Gun Tracing Modernization Act of 2021, their bill to modernize the capabilities of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to trace crime guns. After a firearm associated with a crime is discovered somewhere in the United States, federal, state or local law enforcement officials contact ATF, which then must recreate the chain of custody o… Continue Reading
05.25.21
Leahy, With Schumer And Others, Leads Bicameral Push For Farm Business Viability Support
(TUESDAY, May 25, 2021) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the most senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, joined by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and others in the Senate, and Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.) in the House, are leading a bicameral group of lawmakers in urging Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to invest in business technical assistance for small and midsized farm and food b… Continue Reading
05.20.21
Statement On The Inhofe/Shelby Amendment To S. 1260
This amendment would mandate dollar-for-dollar parity between defense and non-defense programs, unless we had sixty votes to overcome a point of order. It is not limited to discretionary spending on the FY 2022 appropriations bills, it applies to ALL federal spending. Providing a dollar to the Defense department for every dollar of non-defense spending is simply arbitrary, and would lead to absurd results. Under this amendment, if we pass an infrastructure bill through reconciliation provi… Continue Reading
05.20.21
Klobuchar, Moran, Leahy Introduce Legislation To Lift Cuba Trade Embargo
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reintroduced major bipartisan legislation to lift the Cuba trade embargo. The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act would eliminate the legal barriers to Americans doing business in Cuba and pave the way for new economic opportunities by boosting U.S. exports and allowing Cubans greater access to American goods. The legislation repeals key provisions of previous laws that block Americans from doing business in Cuba, but doe… Continue Reading
05.19.21
Statement On The Shelby, Inhofe Amendment
Providing a dollar to the Defense department for every dollar of non-defense spending is simply arbitrary, and would lead to absurd results. Under this amendment, if we pass an infrastructure bill through reconciliation providing a $2 trillion dollars to fix our roads and bridges and build out broadband, we would then have to provide $2 trillion dollars for defense, nearly tripling that budget. I welcome a debate about the appropriate levels for defense and non-defense spending in Fiscal Year… Continue Reading
05.19.21
Shaheen, Ernst Lead Bipartisan Letter to President in Support of Afghan SIV Program
() - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) - a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) - led a bipartisan letter with U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) and a group of Senators to express widespread support in the Senate for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for Afghans, and to urge continued support from the administration to uphold the integrity of the program. The SIV program is the only path to ensuring the safety of Afghan allies that aided U.S. service members and di… Continue Reading
05.17.21
Statement On The Constitutional Crisis In El Salvador
Mr. LEAHY. I want to call attention to recent events in El Salvador which have caused international concern, including in the United States Congress. I was a Senator in the 1980s, when social injustices and authoritarian regimes in El Salvador led to a brutal civil war that lasted 12 years. I traveled there during that period when the United States was supporting the Salvador armed forces, despite their history of corruption and collusion with death squads that carried out political assassina… Continue Reading
05.14.21
Statement On The House-Introduced Emergency Security Supplemental Appropriations Bill
There can be no question that the needs in the wake of the tragic events of January 6th are great. The insurrectionists left in their wake broken doors and broken windows, our Capitol Police force is overburdened and under resourced, and members and staff have suffered significant emotional trauma. It also exposed vulnerabilities in our security that must be addressed. On top of that the pandemic has caused the House and the Senate and their supporting agencies to incur unexpected costs to k… Continue Reading
05.14.21
U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Awards $5.2 Million To Vermont Firm To Build And Install Infrastructure Testing System At New Hampshire Lab
(FRIDAY, May 14, 2021) -- U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) announced Friday that Applied Research Associates (ARA) of Randolph, Vt., has received an award totaling $5,237,915 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), through the System of Systems Consortium. This initial award gets work underway on a total contract worth more than $9 million to develop and install a transportation loading system inside the Arm… Continue Reading
05.12.21
Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy Holds Hearing On Domestic Violent Extremism In America
(Wednesday, May 12, 2021) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Wednesday held a hearing of the full Committee to examine the increasing prevalence of domestic violent extremism in the United States. Viewed by many experts as the most persistent and lethal threat facing our country, attacks and plots by domestic violent extremists are on the rise. In 2020 alone, white nationalists and like-minded extremists conducted 66 percent of terrorist plots an… Continue Reading
05.12.21
Statement On Domestic Violent Extremism In America
The January 6th images of insurrectionists flying confederate flags as they stormed the U.S. Capitol are stark reminders that domestic violent extremism in America is hardly a new threat. Our nation's history has been marred by the violent, deadly acts of extremists pushing a range of hateful white supremacist ideologies. From the Ku Klux Klan to Timothy McVeigh, we have witnessed - and suffered through - extremists killing innocent people in the name of their morally bankrupt causes. The violen… Continue Reading
05.11.21
Marcelle Leahy Begins Chemotherapy Treatment For Chronic Leukemia
(TUESDAY, May 11, 2021) -- Marcelle Leahy, a Registered Nurse and the wife of Senator Patrick Leahy, today (Tuesday) will start treatment for the next few weeks for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), a chronic form of adult leukemia. Mrs. Leahy was diagnosed with the cancer in 2019. Her treatment will be as an outpatient. Mrs. Leahy, a melanoma cancer survivor, has been an advocate for cancer prevention programs. Given the challenges the pandemic has presented for regular checkups and ongoi… Continue Reading
05.10.21
Leahy Joins Durbin In Introducing America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act To Protect National Parks & Monuments
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the America's Red Rock Wilderness Act today to protect 8.4 million acres of land in Utah that is rich in archaeological resources and home to numerous rare plant and animal species. These landscapes are also the access point for many national parks and offer unparalleled research, educational, and recreational opportunities for scientists, educators, outdoor enthusiasts, and American families. "With the America's Red Rock Wilderness Act, w… Continue Reading
