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Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Remarks For Presentation Of The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award To Aminatou Haidar
Thank you for that kind introduction. I also want to thank Ethel, Kerry and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights for inviting me to speak here today. It is an honor to stand in for my good friend Senator Ted Kennedy, who has been, and continues to be, such an eloquent force for human rights in this country and around the world. Whether he is reminding us of our moral obligation to provide a safe haven for Iraqi refugees, leading the fight in Congress against aparth… Continue Reading
11.03.08
Every Consumer Has A Stake In Vermonter’s Election-Eve Day In Court
When Vermonter Diana Levine has her day in the highest court in the land today, every American consumer will have a stake in the outcome. Like an escalating number of the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in recent years, this case reaches into the lives of ordinary Americans in profound ways. Largely unknown yet to most Americans, those decisions are reshaping our constitutional rights to privacy, free speech and full access to justice. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a series of he… Continue Reading
11.03.08
Every Consumer Has A Stake In Vermonter’s Election-Eve Day In Court
When Vermonter Diana Levine has her day in the highest court in the land today, every American consumer will have a stake in the outcome. Like an escalating number of the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in recent years, this case reaches into the lives of ordinary Americans in profound ways. Largely unknown yet to most Americans, those decisions are reshaping our constitutional rights to privacy, free speech and full access to justice. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a series of hearings… Continue Reading
10.30.08
Statement On Agreement To Protect Online Privacy And Free Speech
I applaud the historic agreement reached among some our Nation's leading Internet companies and human rights organizations to work together to resist government censorship of information on the Internet. Online privacy is a human right and the Global Network Initiative will help advance privacy and freedom of expression on the Internet around the world. Over the last decade, the Internet has become a vital tool to protect and ensure the rights and basic freedoms not only of Americans, but … Continue Reading
10.28.08
Attorney General Must Work Without Partisanship
In much the same way that our financial system is suffering a crisis of confidence, our Justice Department - the flagship of our system of justice - also faces a difficult road to rebuild trust after a crisis of leadership and conscience. The infusion of politics into the Justice Department and an abdication of responsibility by its leaders have dealt a severe blow, squandering the public's trust in a system that is supposed to apply our laws without fear or favor. Investigations by Con… Continue Reading
10.21.08
Leahy Issues Subpoena For OLC Documents Leahy Schedules November 18 Deadline To Receive Documents, Testimony From Attorney General Mukasey
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued a subpoena Tuesday compelling Attorney General Michael Mukasey to provide testimony and related documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee about legal analysis and advice from the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) related to the Bush administration's terrorism policies, including detention and interrogation policies and practices. Leahy and other Judiciary Committee members have sought information related to the… Continue Reading
10.17.08
On Signing Of Legislation To Extend The Bulletproof Vest Partnership
On Wednesday, the President signed a bill to reauthorize a life-saving grant program to help law enforcement agencies purchase bulletproof vests for officers. The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program was first authored by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in 1998. In May, Leahy chaired a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the importance of the program, which has provided over $234 million in federal grants for state and local law enforcement agencies to purchase bulletproof ve… Continue Reading
10.16.08
Leahy Again Presses White House For Torture Documents
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) sent a letter Wednesday to the White House again pressing for disclosure of White House and Justice Department documents and materials related to the government's use of torture, including the technique known as waterboarding. A press account in The Washington Postrevealed the existence of two previously undisclosed White House memoranda to the CIA from 2003 and 2004. Neither the Senate Judiciary Committee nor the Senate Select Committe… Continue Reading
10.16.08
$38.7 Million In Home Energy Funds For Vermont Released Today
BURLINGTON, October 16 - The Vermont congressional delegation announced today thatVermont's share of federal funding for home heating assistance this winter will be $38.7 million. The total is $3.7 million more than was projected for Vermont even after Congress doubled funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Last year, Vermont received $17 million in federal funds and the state contributed $6.3 million. The extra assistance at a time of rising home heating bills was bas… Continue Reading
10.14.08
U.S. Launches $1 M. Leahy-Led Ad Effort Aimed At Canadian Visitors In Advance Of New U.S. Border Crossing Requirements Next June
With tourism from Canada on the rise in recent years, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Tuesday that the U.S. State Department will launch a $1 million English and French public relations campaign in Quebec and its neighboring Atlantic Canadian provinces to raise awareness of new U.S. border crossing requirements set to begin next June. Leahy, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured the funding in a budget bill enacted earlier this year. Leahy chartered the o… Continue Reading
10.13.08
Statement On The President’s Signing Of S.3325, The Prioritizing Resources And Organization Of Intellectual Property Act Of 2008
President Bush today signed into law the Prioritizing Resources and Organization of Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act. The bill was introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) For more information about the legislation, which unanimously passed the Senate in September, click here. "The intellectual property enforcement legislation that President Bush signed into law today is among the most important bills I have championed. At a time of financial and economic … Continue Reading
10.09.08
On The President’s Signing Of S.2982, The Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act Of 2008
The President on Wednesday signed the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Protection Act of 2008 into law. The legislation was introduced in May by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Leahy chairs, unanimously reported the legislation in May. The law will reauthorize key federal grant programs created by the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to provide states with grants to help the thousands of homeless young people nationwide. The law authorizes a $200,000 minimum grant … Continue Reading
10.09.08
2 Grants Secured By Senator Leahy Will Bolster Vermont’s Anti-Drug Efforts
ounter drug trafficking and to help break the cycle of drug crime and violence. These efforts were examined earlier this year in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that Senator Leahy (the panel's chairman) brought to Rutland. Senator Leahy, also a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, secured these funds in the Justice Department's FY 2008 budget bill. They are now being released to Vermont. VERMONT DRUG TASK FORCE: $951,434 These funds will be used for the Task Force… Continue Reading
10.08.08
Leahy Secures Workforce Training Funds To Recruit, Hire And Train 18 Upper Valley Residents …New Worker Recruitment Office Opens In Windsor
WINDSOR, Vt. - (Wednesday, Oct. 8) -- U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Wednesday the opening of a Windsor, Vt., worker recruitment office by Vermont HITEC, a non-profit workforce development organization. The new Vermont HITEC office, funded in part by a Leahy-secured $191,000 U.S. Department of Labor grant, will allow Vermont HITEC to recruit and train 18 Upper Valley residents as Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) machine operators and establish a regional advanced manufacturing insti… Continue Reading
10.06.08
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, To President Bush’s Speech On The Federal Judiciary
"The balance on our nation's federal courts is precarious, with seven out of the nine Supreme Court Justices and 60 percent of all Federal judges appointed by Republican Presidents. The impact of President Bush's appointments is being harshly felt by ordinary Americans who are being denied their day in court and denied the protection that federal and state laws designed to help them were intended to provide. We cannot afford more of the same if Americans' rights and liberties are to be preserve… Continue Reading
10.03.08
To The Attorney General Consolidated Guidelines For FBI Domestic Operations
"The American people deserve a vigilant Justice Department that does not sacrifice or endanger their rights and privacy, but accomplishing this goal takes clear rules, bright lines and close oversight. As a former prosecutor I know that this can be done. These new investigative guidelines unnecessarily blur those lines. "I remain disappointed that, despite several bipartisan requests to share these guidelines with members of the Judiciary Committee so that the Committee could provide meani… Continue Reading
10.02.08
On The Indictment Of A Former Congressional Candidate For Obstruction Of Justice
The Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that a federal grand jury in Santa Ana, Calif., has indicted former Republican congressional candidate Tan Nguyen on a federal obstruction of justice charge. Nguyen allegedly provided investigators with misleading statements letters sent to Latino voters in California's 47th Congressional District before the November 2006 elections. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has pressed the Justice Department to aggressively pursu… Continue Reading
10.02.08
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On Executive Nominations
Today, the Senate confirmed five more executive nominations that were reported by the Judiciary Committee, including the nomination of Greg Garre to be Solicitor General of the United States, one of the highest and most prestigious positions at the Department of Justice. The nominations that consider today also include Jeffrey Leigh Sedgwick to run the Department's Office of Justice Programs, George W. Venables to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of California, Brian Albrit… Continue Reading
10.01.08
Colloquy Between Senator Patrick Leahy And Senator Christopher Dodd
Senator LEAHY: As the Senate considers extraordinary legislation to address the current economic crisis I believe it is imperative for the record to reflect the intent behind the provisions I worked with Senator Dodd to include in this legislation. In an effort to ensure that there is no doubt about what we intended, I would ask the Banking Committee Chairman, Senator Dodd whether it is his understanding that our efforts to ensure that any actions taken by the Treasury Secretary, under the aut… Continue Reading
10.01.08
Statement In Support Of The Financial Bailout Package
This financial crisis is rooted in material actions involving executive greed and ineptitude, flawed economic policies, and the incompetence of on-the-scene regulatory agencies. And we are dealing with this crisis at the unfortunate intersection of two toxic trends: the loss of confidence in our financial system, and the public's loss of confidence in the Bush Administration. Many have come to agree with those of us who have long felt that 'trust me' is not enough when this White House asks fo… Continue Reading
