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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Twenty-four Senators Urge for Establishment of Independent Human Rights Monitor on Iran
Twenty-four senators today urged Secretary of State Clinton to work at the United Nations Human Rights Council session, which begins March 1, to establish an independent human rights monitor on Iran. In their letter, the senators maintain that an independent human rights monitor achieved some progress in Iran from 1984 to 2002, but that the situation has deteriorated since 2002, when the monitor was removed. The following senators signed the letter to Secretary Clinton: Carl Levin (D-Mich… Continue Reading
02.15.11
Leahy Introduces Bill To Boost Penalties For Environmental Crimes
(Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday renewed his efforts to enact legislation to enhance penalties for corporations and individuals responsible for environmental crimes. Leahy first introduced the Environmental Crimes Enforcement Act in June 2010, following the April explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Leahy authored bill will strengthen penalties for companies who violate the Clean Water Act and provide victims of environmental cri… Continue Reading
02.14.11
Delegation Joins Forces on Home Heating Assistance
BURLINGTON, Vt., Feb. 14 - The Vermont congressional delegation today opposed a White House budget proposal that would nearly cut in half a heating assistance program for seniors and low-income families with children. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said "heat in the winter is not a consumer choice. It's not a luxury." Instead of cutting heating assistance, Leahy said Congress should end tax breaks for oil companies that "are just using them t… Continue Reading
02.14.11
Senator Patrick Leahy’s Statement On The Deep Cuts Proposed For The LIHEAP Program
[(MONDAY, Feb. 14, 2011) -- Vermont's delegation in Congress -- Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I), and Congressman Peter Welch D) - Monday held a news conference at the Champlain Senior Center in Burlington, Vt., to discuss their opposition to the president budget proposal for deep cuts in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Also on Monday, the Northeast-Midwest Coalition - a study group in Congress - confirmed that Vermont would lose half of its LIHEAP fu… Continue Reading
02.11.11
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Departure Of President Mubarak
President Mubarak's departure is an extraordinary, epochal event. It also illustrates the power of social media and modern telecommunications in connecting people in pursuit of their common aspirations. Egypt's military leaders have both the ability and the responsibility to support a process that honors the Egyptian people's yearnings for liberty and opportunity. That will require a credible and transparent transition to the freedom and open society values voiced by the protestors. The res… Continue Reading
02.10.11
Senator Leahy Launches Facebook Page And Twitter Account
(THURSDAY, Feb. 10) - Senator Patrick Leahy has formally launched his Government Official Facebook page and has simultaneously joined the world of Twitter. Long known for his enthusiasm for and leadership on Internet and technology issues, Leahy was one of the first senators to launch a website, write a blog and conduct online chats with school students. Leahy often heralds the Internet's value in improving access to information and in connecting people. He said social media such as Facebook … Continue Reading
02.09.11
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On President Obama’s Establishment Of Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committees
"I am pleased that the President has established a series of Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committees, including the committee required by the PRO-IP Act. I am also glad that he has created a Cabinet-level Senior Advisory Committee. The creation of these Committees is another important step toward fulfilling the promise of the PRO-IP Act. That legislation established the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, to provide greater coordination of our intellectu… Continue Reading
02.09.11
Leahy, Grassley Press DOJ, USDA For Follow Up To Agriculture Competition Workshops
(Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, seeking follow up on a recent series of competition workshops held by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The conferences, which were held in locations across the country from March 2010 to December 2010, focused on vertical i… Continue Reading
02.08.11
Comments Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Expiring Provisions Of The USA PATRIOT Act
"In less than three weeks, the current short-term extension of three authorities in the USA PATRIOT Act will expire. The House of Representatives will vote later today to extend these expiring provisions until December. It should not take an entire year to pass improvements to these provisions, which we should have adopted last year, and we should not extend this debate into an election year and risk that some will play politics with our national security. "I do not support efforts to permane… Continue Reading
02.08.11
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy On The House Budget Allocations
MR. LEAHY. Mr. President, last week the House Appropriations Committee announced its 302(b) budget allocations for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011. I am sure other subcommittee chairmen have views on what this proposal would mean for the agencies and programs under their jurisdiction, but I want to speak briefly about the impact the House action would have on the Department of State and foreign operations. It is notable that the House defines diplomacy and development as "non-security" spen… Continue Reading
02.08.11
Leahy Schedules Hearing Examining Online Infringement
(Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011) - The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing focused on online infringement on Wednesday, Feb. 16, Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced today. "Online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods cost American creators and producers billions of dollars each year, and cost American workers hundreds of thousands of jobs," said Leahy. "Bipartisan legislation aimed at stopping this criminal activity received unanimous support in the Judiciary Committee last fall. T… Continue Reading
02.07.11
Leahy: Spurring Innovation Requires A Modernized Patent System
(Monday, Feb. 7, 2011) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Monday released the following comments after President Obama's remarks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Innovation drives the nation's economy, and that entrepreneurial spirit can only be protected by a patent system that promotes invention and spurs new ideas. As the President said today, 'we're reforming our patent system so innovations can move more quickly to market.' This administration is committed to re… Continue Reading
02.07.11
Senate Unanimously Confirms First Judicial Nominations Of 112th Congress
(Monday, Feb. 7, 2011) - The Senate Monday night completed final action on three long-pending judicial nominations. All three nominations garnered the unanimous support of the Senate, and will fill seats designated as judicial emergencies. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) praised the Senate's action on the nominations, which were unanimously approved by the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 3. "I am hopeful that our actions today signal a return to regular order in the cons… Continue Reading
02.04.11
Leahy threatens to cut U.S. aid to Egypt until Mubarak out
Amid reports that the Obama administration is negotiating behind the scenes for a swift departure of Hosni Mubarak, a top Senate appropriator is warning he will cut off U.S. aid to Egypt until Mubarak steps down. "I am just stating the facts: Nobody is going to vote for foreign aid for Egypt ... so long as this is going on," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Appropriations State/foreign ops subcommittee told POLITICO Friday. "I know Mubarak well, I've been many times to Eg… Continue Reading
02.03.11
Leahy Meets With Student Extracted From Egypt With Middlebury Students
(THURSDAY, Feb. 3) - Senator Patrick Leahy was able to personally deliver a heartfelt "welcome home" this week to one of the students stranded for two tense days in Egypt. Leahy on Thursday met in his Washington office with Lara Getz, a second year college student, and her sister Meghan Metzger, to discuss Lara's harrowing experience over the past week. Lara was studying abroad in Alexandria, Egypt, through a program administered by Middlebury College, when political upheaval unfolded around h… Continue Reading
02.03.11
Top US senator denounces Egypt media attacks
(AFP) - A top US Senator warned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday that "thuggery" against media covering bloody turmoil in his country will not delay the "inevitable" end of his decades of rule. "For Egypt's future, and for President Mubarak's own good, the attacks on protestors and the assaults on and detention of journalists must end immediately," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. Leahy, a Democrat who chairs the subcommittee that decides foreign aid, blasted… Continue Reading
02.03.11
SJC Work On PATRIOT Act Reauthorization Delayed At Request Of Committee Republicans
(Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011) - The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday postponed action on legislation authored by Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to extend provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that expire in three weeks. Committee Republicans exercised their rights under the Committee's rules to postpone debate until the panel's next meeting. Leahy is expected to include the legislation, called the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act, on the Committee's next business meeting agenda. Also… Continue Reading
02.03.11
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Arrests Of And Assaults On Journalists In Egypt
The thuggery that is being waged against Egyptian protestors and working journalists is deeply disturbing and deserves the world's condemnation. I applaud our country's leaders for their strong objections to this unfortunate turn in the Egyptian Government's handling of the crisis. Attacking the press is the desperate and futile recourse of an autocratic regime under siege. It is a further assault on the people's right to know, to speak and to peaceably gather. For Egypt's future, and for Pr… Continue Reading
02.03.11
SJC Sends 11 Judicial Nominees To Full Senate
(Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011) - The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday unanimously approved 11 judicial nominations, sending the first federal court nominations of the 112th Congress to the full Senate for consideration. The nominations reported Thursday received unanimous support from Judiciary Committee members in 2010, but final consideration of the nominations was denied before the 111th Congress adjourned, and the nominations were returned to the President. Each was renominated when the 112t… Continue Reading
02.03.11
Senate Judiciary Committee Unanimously Votes To Send Bipartisan Patent Reform Legislation To Full Senate
(Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011) - A unanimous vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday sent comprehensive patent reform legislation to the full Senate for the third time since 2008. The Patent Reform Act is authored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Congressional efforts to reform the nation's patent system first began in 2005. The legislation approved by the Judiciary Committee Thursday is the product of years of work and compromise. Enact… Continue Reading
