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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
STATEMENT OF SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT.), CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING ON “COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS TO BREAKING THE CYCLE OF HEROIN AND OPIOID ADDICTION” RUTLAND, VERMONT
This hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee will come to order. Today, we will examine the issue of heroin and opioid addiction, and how communities such as Rutland can successfully come together to solve this complex problem. This is a knotted complex of challenges that reaches into neighborhoods and communities of all kinds and sizes, in urban and rural areas alike. Vermont has not been spared. Between 2000 and 2012, treatment for opioid addiction in Vermont rose by more than 770 percen… Continue Reading
03.17.14
Closing Remarks Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Field Hearing On “Community Solutions to Breaking the Cycle of Heroin and Opioid Addiction” Rutland, Vermont
At this time, I would like to enter into the record, testimony and statements the Committee has received in connection with this hearing. These include statements from Joseph Krause, the chairman of Rutland's Project VISION, from law enforcement officers, EMTs, judges, education providers, and concerned Vermonters. There are many here in this room who I know hoped to testify today, and many around Vermont who have contacted my office wanting to be part of this hearing. The best stories are tho… Continue Reading
03.13.14
SJC Chairman Leahy Statement On Committee Consideration Of Legislation To Combat Abuse In The Patent System
(Thursday, March 13, 2014) - Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following statement Thursday regarding the Committee's upcoming consideration of legislation to combat abuses in the patent system. Leahy is the author of the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013, a bipartisan bill to protect businesses and innovators who are being improperly targeted by patent trolls. He chaired a hearing on the issue in December and led a series of staff briefings in … Continue Reading
03.13.14
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PATRICK LEAHY DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND FOREIGN OPERATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE FY 2015 BUDGET REQUEST HEARING WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY
We are here to discuss President Obama's Fiscal Year 2015 budget for the Department of State and foreign operations. Mr. Secretary, welcome. I want to say how impressed I am by the way you have embraced what can only be described as one of the most challenging jobs in the world. It is hard to imagine anyone more qualified for it, and we are very fortunate to have you there. I also want to recognize our committee chairwoman, Senator Mikulski, who has long been an active member and strong sup… Continue Reading
03.12.14
Leahy To Hold Hearing On Satellite Television This Month, On Cable Merger In April
(Wednesday, March 12, 2014) - The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing this month on the upcoming reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA). The legislation allows cable and satellite companies to retransmit broadcast television signals and content to their customers under a statutory license, important elements of which expire this year. Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said it is critical the Committee begin discussing reauthorization so that the l… Continue Reading
03.12.14
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On Judicial Nominations
The last two days, we have spent unnecessary floor time overcoming procedural obstacles so that we can vote to confirm the five judicial nominations before us today. Every single one of the nominees that we will vote on today has bipartisan support and will be confirmed by significant margins. Judge Carolyn McHugh was nominated last May, while all four nominees to the Eastern District of Michigan were nominated last July. All of these nominees could and should have been confirmed before we ad… Continue Reading
03.12.14
STATEMENT OF SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT.), CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING ON THE NOMINATION OF LEON RODRIGUEZ TO BE DIRECTOR OF UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES
Today the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing to consider President Obama's nominee to be Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Leon Rodriguez. This office within the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for administering and processing asylum and refugee applications, immigration benefits, and naturalization and visa petitions, including the EB-5 Regional Center Program. This office must have a qualified director at the helm. Since … Continue Reading
03.12.14
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Vermont Judicial Nominating Commission’s Completion Of Candidate Screening For Vermont’s Upcoming Federal Judicial Vacancy
[(WEDNESDAY, March 12, 2014) -- The U.S. District Court in Vermont is at full strength with two active judges currently serving, but Judge William Sessions' decision to take senior status will soon create a vacancy. The nine-member, nonpartisan Vermont Judicial Nominating Commission consists of three commissioners named by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), three by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and three by the Vermont Bar Association. The merit commission continues a tradition that the late Se… Continue Reading
03.11.14
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On CIA Interference with Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Investigation
I commend Chairman Feinstein for speaking so forcefully in defense of the indispensable role that Congress plays under our Constitution in overseeing the executive branch, and in particular the intelligence community. Chairman Feinstein described a troubling pattern of interference and intimidation by the CIA that raises serious questions about possible violations of the Constitution and our criminal laws. This only compounds the grave concerns I have had for years about the underlying conduct… Continue Reading
03.11.14
Ahead Of Sunshine Week, Leahy Chairs Annual SJC Government Transparency Hearing
(Tuesday, March 11, 2014) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a longtime advocate of open and transparent government, is chairing an oversight hearing this morning ahead of Sunshine Week to examine FOIA compliance in federal agencies. Leahy is the coauthor of the bipartisan OPEN Government Act, which was enacted in 2007 and ushered in the first major reforms to the Freedom of Information Act in more than a decade. Testimony, member statements, and a webcast of the heari… Continue Reading
03.10.14
Floor Remarks Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) #Up4Climate Senate Floor
Nearly 30 years ago, I joined a good friend, the late Hub Vogelmann, a Republican congressman, a Democratic governor, and President Reagan's EPA Administrator, on a hike to the summit of Vermont's iconic peak, Camel's Hump. We had a goal in mind: to observe first-hand the effects of acid raid. When we arrived at the summit, we saw the evidence we feared: a scar burned across the peaks of the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks, visible to the West. Due to human action, weather patterns had ch… Continue Reading
03.10.14
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On Judicial Nominations
In the last few weeks, we have wasted precious floor time and energy to overcome filibusters on several judicial nominations. The Majority Leader was forced to file cloture on judicial nominees in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Puerto Rico, and Tennessee. This was the case, even though every single one of those nominations had the support of home state Senators -whether Democrat or Republican. In fact, seven of the eight judges confirmed in the last two weeks after filibusters were defeat… Continue Reading
03.07.14
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, on the One-Year Anniversary of the Enactment of the Leahy-Crapo Violence Against Women Act
One year ago today, victims of violence, members of law enforcement and those committed to working against domestic and sexual violence celebrated the signing of the Leahy-Crapo Violence Against Women Act reauthorization and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. It was an enormous accomplishment for a divided Congress, which came together to pass meaningful and historic legislation that protects all victims. Today, we honor those victims and survivors by renewing our commitment… Continue Reading
03.07.14
Leahy Announces Witnesses For March 17 U.S. Senate Field Hearing In Rutland On Vermont’s Battle Against Heroin And Opioid Addiction
Senator Patrick Leahy on Friday announced the witnesses who will testify at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's field hearing, in Rutland on March 17, on "Community Solutions To Breaking The Cycle Of Heroin And Opioid Addiction." Leahy, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, released this list of witnesses for the rare field hearing: Tristram Coffin, U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont; Chief James Baker of the Rutland City Police Department; Dr. Harry Chen, Commissioner of the Vermont Dep… Continue Reading
03.06.14
SJC Continues Its Work To Address The Nation’s Exploding Prison Population
(Thursday, March 6, 2014) -The Senate Judiciary Committee continued its work to pass legislation aimed at reducing the nation's exploding prison population on Thursday by approving a bill that addresses "back-end" sentencing reform for qualifying inmates. Thursday's bipartisan vote to approve the Recidivism Reduction and Public Safety Act comes weeks after the Committee approved a compromise agreement of the Smarter Sentencing Act, which would lower nonviolent drug mandatory sentences. Chairman… Continue Reading
03.06.14
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy On Silencing the Press in Ecuador
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to speak briefly, as I have several times over the past year, about the government of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, which continues its aggressive clamp down on press freedom. Most recently, political cartoonist Xavier Bonilla was reprimanded for a cartoon he drew, and the newspaper he works for, El Universo, was fined for publishing it. El Universal, one of Ecuador's most respected dailies, has been the target of one of the dozens of harassing lawsuits f… Continue Reading
03.06.14
Leahy Leads Bicameral Coalition of 41 Lawmakers In Support of Proposed Rule to Protect Consumers of Generic Drugs
(WEDNESDAY, March 5, 2014) - Senator Patrick Leahy Wednesday led a coalition of 17 senators and 24 members of the House in support of a proposed regulation by the Food and Drug Administration that will improve the labeling on generic drugs and secure equal treatment for consumers who take generics. Leahy has worked closely on this issue since he became involved in the case of Marshfield, Vt., musician Diana Levine, who was forced to undergo amputation of her arm after being injected with a misl… Continue Reading
03.06.14
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Committee On The Judiciary, On Reports Of CIA Surveillance Of Senate Staff
[Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following comment Wednesday responding to news reports that CIA personnel monitored computers used by Senate staff investigating the CIA's interrogation program. Leahy is the lead Democratic coauthor of the bipartisan USA FREEDOM Act to rein in dragnet surveillance, and he has asked top intelligence officials in public hearings about the surveillance of lawmakers.] "The use of torture was a shameful chapter in our nation's… Continue Reading
03.06.14
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Current Developments In Venezuela
Mr. President, we are all painfully aware of the many resource rich countries whose leaders care far more about maintaining their grip on power and enriching themselves than addressing the needs of their people. The departed Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych was a good example, and in this hemisphere, Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez, and his successor President Nicolas Maduro, stand out. President Chavez, a former army officer who was swept into power in a wave of popular discontent… Continue Reading
03.05.14
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On the Nomination of Debo P. Adegbile
Today, we will vote to end the filibuster on the nomination of Debo Adegbile to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Department of Justice. Anyone who personally knows Debo understands that he is a man of the highest character and utmost integrity. The Civil Rights Division was created in 1957 in the wake of the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, and is charged with enforcing Federal laws prohibiting discrimination, and upholding the civil and constit… Continue Reading
