Press Room
Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Leahy, Sanders, Welch: Vermont Community Lenders Net $1.2 Million In Federal Funds
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) announced Tuesday that two Vermont organizations have received $1.2 million in federal funds from the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The CDFI Fund awarded $184 million in grants and loans to 264 community credit unions and loan funds across the country that provide affordable financial products and services in economically distressed areas. Two Vermont programs re… Continue Reading
10.06.18
Senate Floor Statement Of Senator Leahy On The Confirmation Vote On The Nomination Of Judge Kavanaugh To The U.S. Supreme Court
This is not a normal confirmation vote. I have now served in the Senate for 19 Supreme Court nominations, more than any other senator. I have never seen so much at stake with a single seat. And I have never seen this much at stake precisely because this is about so much more than one seat. Indeed, the integrity of two of the three coequal branches of our republic is at stake. This vote will decide whether the United States Senate - which, at its best, can serve as the conscience of the nati… Continue Reading
10.05.18
Comment Of Senator Leahy On The Cloture Vote On Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Nomination To The U.S. Supreme Court
I am disappointed that the Senate, by the narrowest margin, has voted to end debate on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination, which sets up a confirmation vote over the weekend. Judge Kavanaugh is not fit to serve on our nation's highest court. His relentless dishonesty under oath is disqualifying, as is his temperament and partisan zeal. And still-developing and credible allegations of sexual assault cannot be ignored in a manic rush to fill this seat. I will continue to talk to any senator willing … Continue Reading
10.05.18
Leahy Announces $2.5 Million Investment In Northeast Kingdom Affordable Housing
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Friday that RuralEdge, a regional housing nonprofit based in Lyndon, will receive a $2.5 million loan package from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to preserve and rehabilitate three housing properties in Newport, West Burke and Ryegate. The projects received funding as part of the USDA's Northeast Kingdom Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) Zone and will provide quality affordable homes for 46 families. Leahy was instrumental in enacting the REA… Continue Reading
10.04.18
NEW: Leahy Compiles Comprehensive, Point-By-Point Summary Of The Many Times That Judge Kavanaugh Misled The Senate Under Oath; (includes documents and descriptions)
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has compiled and released a comprehensive, point-by-point summary of several times Judge Kavanaugh has misled the Senate under oath. He first published this list - one of the most thorough available - on Wednesday night. In topical threads, each with several entries and revealing documents, he shows how Judge Kavanaugh was not truthful in his sworn testimony about his involvement in the Manny Miranda "Memogate" cyber-theft scandal (here), his work on the controve… Continue Reading
10.04.18
Leahy Addresses The Senate On The Kavanaugh Nomination And The FBI Report
It is extraordinary where we find ourselves today. We are on the verge of a cloture vote, and possibly a confirmation vote, for Judge Kavanaugh to join the Supreme Court - while credible allegations of sexual assault against the nominee are not just lingering, they're developing. The FBI investigation that we hoped would be full and fair has turned out to be neither, after the Trump White House and Senate Republicans appear to have successfully imposed so many restrictions to render it almost … Continue Reading
10.03.18
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy About President Trump's Attack In His Campaign Rally In Mississippi
By now just about everyone who stands up to this president has been targeted for his bogus attacks and smears. Curiously, everyone except Putin. I must be doing something right. His shameful mocking of a sexual assault victim is by far the biggest outrage. He has no idea the damage he's doing to sexual assault survivors everywhere, or he just doesn't care. The President and his nominee lie constantly. The truth is that Brett Kavanaugh is unfit to serve on the nation's highest court.… Continue Reading
10.02.18
Menendez, Leahy Blast Pompeo for Trying to Pay Mexico to Deport Migrants with State Dept. Funds
Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tuesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing their deep opposition to the Trump Administration's decision to divert $20 million dollars allocated for foreign assistance to advance its anti-immigration agenda by paying for the deportation of up to 17,000 migrants from Mexico to third countries. "The decisi… Continue Reading
10.01.18
Democratic Senators (Including Leahy): FBI Must Investigate All 3 Credible Allegations Of Sexual Assault Against Judge Brett Kavanaugh
Following reports that the White House is limiting the scope of the investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) wrote White House Counsel Don McGahn and FBI Director Christopher Wray Monday demanding that the investigat… Continue Reading
09.28.18
Statement of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy On President Trump Signing The Defense / Labor-HHS-Education "Minibus" Appropriations Bill
Statement of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On President Trump Signing The Defense/Labor-HHS-Education "Minibus" Appropriations Bill Friday, Sept. 28, 2018 "For the first time in 22 years, Congress passed and the President now has signed a bill including Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations on time by the beginning of the fiscal year. This appropriations package also invests in the men and women of the armed forces and their families, and it ensures the gove… Continue Reading
09.28.18
Senator Patrick Leahy’s Statement On The Kavanaugh Nomination, At The Senate Judiciary Committee Voting Session
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On the Confirmation of Supreme Court Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh Executive Business Meeting - Senate Judiciary Committee September 28, 2018 It is unbelievable where we are today, almost surreal. This Committee, after months of breaking precedent after precedent in a manic rush to fill a Supreme Court seat, is now on the verge of voting on a nominee who has been credibly accused of sexual assault without even having conducted any meaningful investiga… Continue Reading
09.27.18
Cardin Leads Colleagues, Including Leahy, In Urging Greater U.S. Leadership To Combat Guatemalan Corruption, Support CICIG
(THURSDAY, Sept. 27, 2018) -- U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and an anti-corruption champion in the Senate, led nearly two dozen of his bicameral colleagues Thursday in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding the president of Guatemala's efforts to shut down the internationally-supported anti-corruption investigative body in that country. The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemal… Continue Reading
09.26.18
Judiciary Committee Democrats To Chairman Grassley: Postpone Hearing, Support FBI Investigation
Following the release of a sworn affidavit from Julie Swetnick detailing new allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh, all 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today urged Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to postpone tomorrow's hearing and Friday's vote and support an FBI investigation of all allegations. The senators wrote: "The Senate Judiciary Committee is not a court of law. Our job is not to determine whether Brett Kavanaugh is guilty of a crime. Our job is … Continue Reading
09.26.18
Judiciary Committee Democrats To President Trump: Withdraw The Kavanaugh Nomination
Following the release of a sworn affidavit from Julie Swetnick detailing new allegations of sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh, all 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today urged President Trump to immediately withdraw the nomination or order an FBI investigation into all allegations. The senators wrote: "We are writing to request that you immediately withdraw the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court or direct the FBI to re-open its b… Continue Reading
09.26.18
Registration Deadline Nears (Oct. 5) For Leahy’s 22nd Annual Vermont Women’s Economic Opportunity Conference
(WEDNESDAY, Sept. 26, 2018) - Vermont's 22nd Annual Women's Economic Opportunity Conference, presented by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), will be held Saturday, Oct. 13, at Vermont Technical College in Randolph. The registration deadline is October 5. Partnered again this year with Change The Story VT, this daylong conference aims to promote economic security and equality for all women in Vermont. Covering topics from #MeToo to money management, there will be nearly two dozen workshops tha… Continue Reading
09.26.18
Lake Champlain Basin Program Offers $890,000 in Grants for Local Projects
Grand Isle, VT (Sept. 25, 2018) - The Lake Champlain Basin Program seeks proposals for projects that improve water quality and ecosystems in the Lake Champlain watershed. The Program anticipates awarding more than 75 grants totaling more than $890,000 to local organizations, municipalities, and educational institutions. The grants will support projects that advance the goals of the long-term Lake Champlain management plan Opportunities for Action (plan.lcbp.org). Grants will be awarded in five … Continue Reading
09.25.18
Hatch, Leahy And House Sponsors Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral "American Royalties Too Act"
(TUESDAY, Sept. 25, 2018) -- Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), together with Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Doug Collins (R-GA), released the following statements after introducing the American Royalties Too (ART) Act of 2018 in the Senate and House of Representatives. The legislation will provide a measure of equity to visual artists by allowing them to receive a portion of the sales price of their art. The ART Act amends the Copyright Act to provide creators of vis… Continue Reading
09.25.18
Leahy, Sanders, Welch: USDA Makes $8.5 M. Investment In WINOOSKI Main Street Revitalization
(TUESDAY, Sept. 25, 2018) -- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development has awarded the City of Winooski a package of loans and grants totaling more than $8.5 million for upgrades to the City's drinking water and wastewater systems. The infrastructure upgrades are a key element in the City's vision to undertake a $23 million effort to revitalize Main Street north of downtown. The… Continue Reading
09.22.18
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To Senate Republicans' Unilateral Rejection Of Dr. Blasey Ford’s Offer To Testify On Thursday
Unwilling to wait until Thursday to allow Dr. Blasey Ford a chance to share her story with the American people, Senate Republicans are threatening to hold a vote on Monday without a single minute of testimony on the allegation of sexual assault. By blocking both an FBI investigation and a hearing where all three witnesses present during the assault could answer questions under oath, the Senate will fail in its duty to the American people. Why this headlong, heedless rush? What are Senate Republ… Continue Reading
09.21.18
Senators Secure Commitment From NARA, CIA, DOJ To Produce Kavanaugh Documents
On Friday, in response to a request by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Kamala Harris (D-CA), Judge Randolph Moss ordered the National Archives, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of Justice to begin immediate negotiations on a schedule for releasing records involving Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. "We are very pleased to have secured a commitment from these fe… Continue Reading
