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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Administration’s Further Extension Of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) Provisions For Liberian Nationals In The United States
"I commend the President for extending deferred enforced departure for Liberians, and for doing so well ahead of the September 30 expiration of their current status. I joined Senator Jack Reed in asking President Obama to take this step and appreciate the President's timely action. "Liberia continues to make great strides under the leadership of the freely elected President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, with whom I was pleased to meet again recently in Washington. Liberia faces continuing challenge… Continue Reading
08.16.11
Comment From The Office Of Senator Patrick Leahy On August 16th Haaretz Article On U.S. Aid To Particular IDF Units
"Senator Leahy does not discuss private conversations he has had for decades with Israeli leaders. "However, the Haaretz article contains significant inaccuracies. He has not proposed legislation to withhold U.S. aid to units of the Israel Defense Forces. "By way of general background about the Leahy Amendment, the law applies to U.S. aid to foreign security forces around the globe and is intended to be applied consistently across the spectrum of U.S. military aid abroad. Under the law … Continue Reading
08.15.11
Leahy And U.S. Interior Secretary Salazar Tour Vermont’s Natural Places, Examine Economic Impact Of Interior Programs
(MONDAY, August 15) -- U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar joined Senator Patrick Leahy in Vermont Monday to announce several new Interior Department initiatives in Vermont aimed at boosting recreation-related economic development and advancing the President's American's Great Outdoors initiative. During the visit, Salazar and Leahy were also briefed on key land and wildlife conservation projects. At Bibens Ace Lakeshore Hardware in Colchester Salazar announced an expanded role for the … Continue Reading
08.12.11
Senators Push Administration for Action to Protect Air Quality
(THURSDAY, Aug. 11) - Nine U.S. senators Thursday urged the Obama Administration to take action to protect air quality and public health. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) was joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.Y.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in sending a letter to President Barack Obama expressing concern for the Administration's co… Continue Reading
08.11.11
Leahy Urges Debt Committee To Adopt Transparency, Accountability Measures
(THURSDAY, Aug. 11, 2011) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Co-Chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction congratulating them on their appointments and asking that the panel conduct its proceedings with transparency and accountability to the American people. In his letter, Leahy - a longtime champion of the Freedom of Information Act and the public's right to know - urges the Select Committee's members to adopt rules… Continue Reading
08.04.11
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Presidential Proclamation And Study Directive On Suspension Of Entry As Immigrants And Nonimmigrants Of Human Rights And Humanitarian Law Violators
"I commend President Obama for recognizing the moral responsibility of the United States to prevent mass atrocities. The United States must be a leader in protecting human rights and taking action to protect those who are threatened. The United States failed to act to stop the Rwandan genocide, and acted far too slowly during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. But the action taken by the President today is welcome, even if overdue. The authority granted to the Secretary of State will be equally i… Continue Reading
08.03.11
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Enhancements To The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
"When U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services first proposed positive steps to improve the EB-5 Regional Center Program in May, I commended Director Mayorkas and the Obama administration for recognizing the positive impact of the EB-5 Regional Center Program as an important economic engine for communities across the country. Now, after reviewing feedback and comments from across the spectrum, USCIS is developing a plan to implement these enhancements in the coming weeks. "The EB-5 Regional C… Continue Reading
08.03.11
FDA Announces Long-Awaited Standards for Labeling of Gluten-Free Food
(Wednesday, Aug. 3) - After more than four years of inaction, the Food and Drug Administration has announced that a final rule setting standards for the labeling of gluten-free food will move forward. U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) two weeks ago had written to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, asking that the agency end more than four years of silence and fulfill FDA's statutory requirement to establish standards for the growing gluten-free food industry. "I am del… Continue Reading
08.03.11
Leahy, Blumenthal Press Leading National Mortgage Servicing Companies About Foreclosures In Bankruptcy Courts
(Wednesday, August 3, 2011) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Committee Member Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) last week sent letters to several of the nation's leading mortgage servicers, requesting information about policies and practices related to foreclosures in the bankruptcy courts. Leahy and Blumenthal, in letters to 11 leading mortgage services, inquired about steps the companies are taking to ensure that homeowners are treated fairly, consistently and honest… Continue Reading
08.03.11
Senate Confirms Just Four Of 24 Pending Judicial Nominees Before Recess
(Tuesday, August 2, 2011) - The Senate Tuesday evening confirmed just four pending judicial nominees before the chamber recessed for the August in-state work period, leaving 20 nominees approved by the Judiciary Committee on the Senate's calendar. The Senate has confirmed just 11 judicial nominations since the Memorial Day recess in May, and just 35 nominees this year. "The Senate's failure to take action and vote on 20 of the 24 judicial nominees reviewed by the Judiciary Committee and report… Continue Reading
08.02.11
Comment Of Senator Leahy On The Senate Motion To Proceed To The America Invents Act
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today filed cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 1249, the House-passed Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The Senate will vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill when it returns to session in September. "Congress is closer than ever to enacting meaningful reforms to give American inventors and innovators the 21st century patent system they need to compete in an evolving global marketplace. The product of six years of debate, the America Invent… Continue Reading
08.02.11
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Application Of Material Support Laws To Humanitarian Relief In Somalia
"I have long urged reform of our laws governing so-called material support for terrorism. The current law is so broad as to be unworkable. Aid workers trying to provide relief to starving Somalis fear they could be prosecuted if some of it were to end up in the hands of al-Shabab, an al Qaeda affiliate that controls parts of Somalia. And so while the situation in Somalia grows more desperate each day, with children dying needlessly, the delivery of food and medicines is hampered, first by al-… Continue Reading
08.02.11
Leahy Reacts To Senate Passage Of Bipartisan Solution On The Debt Ceiling Crisis
Remarks of Senator Patrick Leahy Senate Passage Of The Bipartisan Agreement On The Debt Ceiling Tuesday, August 2, 2011 With no time to spare, this bipartisan solution has averted a manufactured crisis that has held hostage our entire economy and every American family in it. A default on U.S. obligations for the first time in our history would have imposed incalculable harm and a credit rate tax on every citizen, every state, every community and every business. This is not a… Continue Reading
08.02.11
Senate – Again – Unanimously Approves Leahy-Authored Faster FOIA Act
(Tuesday, August 2, 2011) - For the second time this year, the U.S. Senate Monday night unanimously approved legislation to make improvements to the nation's premier open government law, the Freedom of Information Act. The Senate passed the Faster FOIA Act in May, but leaders in the House of Representatives tapped the legislation as a vehicle for passing a bill to address the nation's debt ceiling. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D) reintroduced the legislation on Monday, and the Senate acted q… Continue Reading
08.01.11
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy In Support Of The Agreement To End The Debt Ceiling Crisis
This is not a solution I would have preferred, but the compromise finally reached by the White House and congressional leaders has the potential to end this manufactured crisis. It is a solution that puts common sense and the national interest above partisanship and ideology. The country has been brought to the brink of catastrophe. The choice at hand is not this bill or something better. The choice is between the only bipartisan practical solution to the debt ceiling crisis, or a devastatin… Continue Reading
07.30.11
Senate Floor Address By Senator Patrick Leahy, On The Debt Ceiling Crisis
Remarks of Senator Patrick Leahy The Debt Ceiling Crisis Senate Floor Saturday, July 30, 2011 It is unfortunate that a partisan faction first manufactured this debt limit crisis and now continues to prevent a bipartisan solution. An unwillingness to compromise and find a bipartisan solution has led us to the brink. The United States of America is now just three days away from defaulting on its obligations, for the first time in our history. We are needlessly risking financial turmoil t… Continue Reading
07.29.11
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To House Passage Of The Boehner Debt Ceiling Package
"It is unfortunate that a partisan faction first manufactured this debt limit crisis and now continues to prevent a bipartisan solution. Everyone knows that this lopsided House debt package has no chance of averting a debt catastrophe. "Instead of taking days to play political games, Republicans and Democrats should come together in good faith for the good of the country. Vermonters and the rest of the American people want this solved, they want it solved fairly, and they want it solved now."… Continue Reading
07.29.11
Leahy: Nuclear Waste Report Is Impetus For Congress To Forge Sensible Waste Storage Program
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Draft Report On Nuclear Waste Management Of The Blue Ribbon Commission On America's Nuclear Future July 29, 2011 In its draft of its final report today on nuclear waste management in the United States, the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future has made constructive recommendations. If appropriately implemented, their conclusions can become an action plan to renew confidence in the nation's nuclear waste management program. Forging the … Continue Reading
07.29.11
Vermont Delegation Opposes Post Office Closings
, July 29 - A U.S. Postal Service proposal to close more than 3,600 post offices and branches, including 14 in Vermont, drew opposition today from the Vermont congressional delegation. "Post offices in a rural state like Vermont are not just post offices - they are often the heart and soul of the town - and they must not be closed down," Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said in a letter to Postal Service commissioners. "Many of these post off… Continue Reading
07.28.11
Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Leahy-Authored Bipartisan Anti-Corruption Bill
(Thursday, July 28, 2011) - The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday approved bipartisan legislation authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) that will give prosecutors new tools to identify, investigate, and prosecute criminal conduct by public officials. The Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act (PCPIA) will strengthen existing federal criminal law for acts of public corruption, and raise maximum statutory penalties. The bill will also clarify the… Continue Reading
