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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Leahy Unveils Legislation to Combat Illegal Straw Purchasing and Firearms Trafficking
- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced legislation Tuesday, the first day that bills can be introduced in the Senate in the new 113th Congress, that aims to combat the practice of straw purchasing and illegal trafficking in firearms. The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013 provides law enforcement officials with the tools they need to investigate and prosecute the all-too-common practice of straw purchasing, where an individual buys a firearm fo… Continue Reading
01.23.13
Leahy, Grassley Introduce Legislation to Protect Whistleblowers in Criminal Antitrust Cases
U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday to extend whistleblower protection for employees who provide information to the Department of Justice related to criminal antitrust violations. The Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act, which the Senators also introduced last Congress, seeks to protect whistleblowers in criminal antitrust cases. It would prohibit an employer from re… Continue Reading
01.23.13
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On House Stripping Of The Leahy Embassy Security Amendment
[Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairs the Subcommittee on the State Department and Foreign Operations of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He is the author of the Leahy Amendment on embassy security to the supplemental appropriations bill passed by the Senate in December, which was removed by Republican leaders in the counterpart bill passed by the House last week.] "In time when a terrorist attack in Algeria has led to security alerts for U.S. facilities abroad, House Republicans once … Continue Reading
01.22.13
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Judiciary, On The Nomination Of David Medine to be Chairman of The Privacy And Civil Liberties Oversight Board
[U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following comment Tuesday after David Medine was renominated to serve as chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). The Senate confirmed four PCLOB nominees last year, but Medine's nomination was ultimately returned to the White House.] "I commend President Obama for re-nominating David Medine to serve as the Chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The PCLOB is an essential… Continue Reading
01.22.13
Leahy, Crapo Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill To Reauthorize The Landmark Violence Against Women Act
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) reintroduced the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act Tuesday-the first day that bills can be introduced in the Senate in the new 113th Congress- and called for the Senate to take up the measure without delay. The bill, which reauthorizes the landmark Violence Against Women Act law that was enacted more than 20 years ago, strengthens and improves existing programs that assist victims and survivors of domestic violen… Continue Reading
01.17.13
Leahy Meets With Hagel -- Comment of Senator Patrick Leahy After His Meeting With Former Senator Chuck Hagel On His Nomination To Be Secretary Of Defense
[Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), President Pro Tem of the Senate, is the most senior member of the Pentagon's budget committee - the Appropriations Committee's Defense Subcommittee - and chairs the Senate National Guard Caucus. He also heads one of the Senate's two committees with responsibility in U.S. foreign affairs and overseas operations, the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on the State Department and Foreign Operations. Leahy and former Senator Chuck Hagel, the President's nominee… Continue Reading
01.16.13
The Leahy Letter -- January 2013
Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy Outlines Committee's Priorities For The New 113th Congress Senator Patrick Leahy Wednesday listed issues ranging from immigration reform to renewing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) among his top priorities for the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he will again chair in the new 113th Congress. Speaking before students, reporters and others at the Georgetown University Law Center has become a tradition for Senator Leahy at the start of each new two-year … Continue Reading
01.16.13
Sen. Patrick Leahy Exhibits His Photos From A Political Life
Sen. Patrick Leahy displays, on his own website, a digital gallery of photographs taken since 2008 - though he has, by his own recollection, wielded a camera "since age 4 or 5." The senator is now 72. His shutterbug habit has been noted numerous times in Vermont's media outlets, including this one. He's had photos of momentous events published in such august publications as theNew York Times. So why would Leahy bother with mounting a local exhibit, like the one that opened last Wednesday at the … Continue Reading
01.16.13
Leahy Lays Out Judiciary Committee Agenda For 113th Congress
NOTE: Prepared remarks include Chairman Leahy's announcement that the first Judiciary Committee hearing on issues relating to gun violence (and the first such hearing announced in Congress) will be two weeks from today, Jan. 30. A webcast of the speech can be viewed here. Address By Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee "The Agenda of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 113th Congress" Georgetown University Law Center It is great to see so many stude… Continue Reading
01.11.13
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On President Obama’s Announcement Of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day
[U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following comment Friday to commemorate National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and reaffirm his commitment to passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which last year drew 56 cosponsors, including 15 Republicans.] "Trafficking is an affront to human dignity and a generator of human suffering that we cannot ignore. I was disappointed that Congress failed last year to pass the bipartisa… Continue Reading
01.11.13
Leahy, Sanders, Welch: Economic Development Administration Awards $1.8 M. To Help Businesses, Farms, Towns And Nonprofits Harness Online Tools To Bolster Disaster Resiliency
MONTPELIER, Vt. (Friday, Jan. 11, 2013) - Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Peter Welch announced Friday that the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded Vermont a $1.8 million grant to help businesses, farms, towns and nonprofits use online resources to bolster disaster resiliency in the wake of Irene and other disasters that struck Vermont in 2011. The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) applied for the grant out of a pool of disaster funding Leahy, S… Continue Reading
01.09.13
Comments of Senator Patrick Leahy On Continuing His Chairmanship Of The Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee On The Department of State, Foreign Operations, And Related Programs
"Vermonters are outward looking and have a long history of working to make life better here at home and across the globe. I have been privileged to serve as a voice for Vermont on foreign policy matters. That is why I have chosen for so many years to head one of the two Senate committees responsible for U.S. foreign affairs and protecting our global interests. "This panel is where American values are put into action and funding decisions are made to advance our national security interests, to… Continue Reading
01.08.13
Leahy To Discuss Judiciary Committee Agenda For 113th Congress In Speech At Georgetown University Law Center
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will speak on Wednesday, January 16, at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where he will discuss legislative priorities for the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 113th Congress. WHO: Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Introduction by Georgetown University Law Center Dean William M. Treanor WHAT: Remarks on "The Agenda for the Senate Judiciary C… Continue Reading
01.07.13
Comments Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The President’s Intention To Nominate Former Senator Chuck Hagel To Be Secretary Of Defense
I've served with Senator Hagel and I know him to be a person of great ability and integrity. On the Appropriations Committee those of us charged with handling the Senate's work on the Pentagon budget will have to make more than a hundred billion dollars in cuts to begin with, and it will be good to work with someone like Chuck Hagel who can lead the Pentagon during a difficult time of transition. He is a combat veteran who still carries shrapnel in his body from his wounds - he will not need o… Continue Reading
01.07.13
Leahy, Sanders, Welch: Vermont Nets $377,000 For Historic Site Preservation
(MONDAY, Jan. 7) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I.-Vt.), and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) announced Monday that Vermont has been awarded $377,564 in historic preservation grants. The grants will help the state preserve and protect its historic sites. The grants are part of $22.9 million in historic preservation grants awarded nationwide, with Vermont receiving 1.6 percent of the total award. State officials may use the grants to fund a broad range of preservation … Continue Reading
01.03.13
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Federal Trade Commission Review Of Google
[U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following comment Thursday in light of the Federal Trade Commission concluding its review of Google's Internet and business practices.] "I am pleased that the FTC conducted an important inquiry into whether the Nation's dominant Internet search company engaged in 'search bias' in a manner that constituted a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. I am disappointed, however, that it relied on simple, voluntary com… Continue Reading
01.03.13
President Signs Leahy's 'Dale Long Act' That Supports Injured 1st Responders
(THURSDAY, Jan. 3, 2013) - Capping a three-year effort by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), President Obama has signed into law legislation authored by Leahy that will remedy coverage gaps in the federal program that provides a crucial safety net for the families of first responders who are killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. The measure is Leahy's most recent effort to close gaps in the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act (PSOB) that have left some first responders without benefi… Continue Reading
01.03.13
Leahy: General Electric Of Rutland Gains $8 Million Navy Contract
(THURSDAY, January 3) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Thursday announced that General Electric Aviation of Rutland has been awarded a U.S. Navy contract for $8,056,982 for the development and production of fighter engines and devices for the EA-18G aircraft. The contract, which is being divided among several regional GE plants, totals more than $67 million and is a modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract. GE Rutland receives 12 percent of the total award. As the most sen… Continue Reading
01.02.13
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Fiscal Cliff Agreement
It is not the agreement that I or any one of us would have written on our own, but it does includes several important provisions that will benefit every Vermonter, our state's economy and the nation. The agreement continues unemployment benefits for those still struggling to find work during the fragile economic recovery. It prevents tax hikes that would have suddenly hit middle income families across Vermont. Something especially important to Vermont and our state's dairy farmers is the time… Continue Reading
01.02.13
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Republican Objections To The Nomination Of David Medine As Chairman of The Privacy And Civil Liberties Oversight Board
[U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following comment Wednesday after Senate Republicans objected to confirming the nomination of David Medine to serve as chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). The Senate confirmed four PCLOB nominees in August, but without its chairman the board cannot fully function. Medine's nomination was pending on the Senate calendar since May.] "I am disappointed that Senate Republicans have refused to … Continue Reading
