Press Room
Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Statement On Judicial Nominations
Today we continue to make progress by confirming two more nominations for lifetime appointments to the Federal bench: Paul Gardephe for the Southern District of New York and Kiyo Matsumoto for the Eastern District of New York. These nominees each have the support of the New York Senators, who worked with the White House to identify a slate of consensus nominees. I thank Senators Schumer and Clinton for their consideration of these nominees. I also thank Senator Schumer for chairing the hea… Continue Reading
07.16.08
Leahy, Boxer Solicit Testimony From EPA Administrator Senate Judiciary Committee To Hold Hearing On White House Interference In EPA Decision Making
The chairs of two Senate Committees today requested sworn testimony from the administrator of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) at a hearing scheduled in the Senate Judiciary Committee for July 30. In a letter sent Wednesday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) invited EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to testify before the Judiciary panel about the EPA's refusal to provide Congress wit… Continue Reading
07.16.08
Statement on Global HIV/AIDS, Malaria, And Tuberculosis Programs Senate Floor
Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I support this bill, which extends the authorization of United States HIV/AIDS programs administered by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, and includes several important changes to the former authorization act. I commend Senators Biden and Lugar, and their capable staff, for the outstanding work they have done, over many months, to get this bill through committee and to the Senate floor. This administration will not be remembered for its foreign policy achiev… Continue Reading
07.16.08
Leahy Presses Mukasey For Analysis Of Executive Privilege Request
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), today pressed Attorney General Michael Mukasey on his recent request that the President to claim executive privilege, thereby exempting Mukasey himself from complying with a subpoena to provide documents to a House Committee investigating the leak of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. In a letter sent to President Bush dated July 15, Mukasey requested that the President assert executive privilege, shielding Mukasey an… Continue Reading
07.16.08
Hearing On “How The Administration's Failed Detainee Policies Have Hurt The Fight Against Terrorism: Putting The Fight Against Terrorism On A Sound Legal Foundation”
In the wake of the tragic attacks on September 11, 2001, and toward the end of President Bush's first year in office, this country had an opportunity to show that we could fight terrorism, secure our nation, and bring the perpetrators of those heinous acts to justice, all in a way that was consistent with our history and our most deeply valued principles. A number of us reached out to the White House in an effort to craft a thoughtful, effective bipartisan way forward. The White House, support… Continue Reading
07.15.08
Senate Judiciary Committee To Examine Supreme Court Decisions On Corporate Misconduct
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today announced a Committee hearing scheduled for July 23 to look at how recent decisions by the Supreme Court have shielded corporations engaged in misconduct. The hearing follows an examination by the Senate panel last month of how the Supreme Court's recently concluded term favored big business over protecting the rights of individuals relating to health care, retirement, financial services and employment issues. Recent Supreme Court… Continue Reading
07.15.08
Hearing On “The Google-Yahoo Agreement And The Future Of Internet Advertising”
The Internet has opened new means of communication, new ways to promote ideas, and new ways to buy and sell products and services. The explosion of free and easily accessed content on the Internet has been driven by a successful and competitive online advertising industry. The online advertising industry in the U.S. reportedly surpassed $25 billion last year. As more people use the Internet more often and with increased purposes, advertisers will similarly move to online platforms to move th… Continue Reading
07.14.08
Vermont Center For Crime Victim Services Gains $764,896 Grant From U.S. Department Of Justice
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Monday that the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, based in Waterbury, will receive a $764,896 grant from the Office on Violence Against Women at the U.S. Department of Justice. The funds come from the STOP (Services-Training-Officers-Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grants Program, originally established in 1994 by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). VAWA was reauthorized in 2006 under legislation that Leahy helped shepherd through Con… Continue Reading
07.14.08
Comment On House Passage Of S. 231, A Bill To Reauthorize The Byrne Grant Program
The House of Representatives today passed S. 231, a bill to reauthorize the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program through 2012. The reauthorization is an extension of the authorization contained in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2005. The grant program is administered by the Department of Justice. The Senate passed the legislation in June 2007. The bill will now be sent to the President for signature. "Congress has now passed a key bill to reauthorize th… Continue Reading
07.14.08
On House Passage Of H.R. 3564, The Regulatory Improvement Act Of 2007
The Regulatory Improvement Act reauthorizes the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) through 2011. The Administrative Conference was last funded in 1995. In 2004, Justices Breyer and Scalia both testified in support of reauthorizing ACUS. Congress reauthorized appropriations for the Administrative Conference for fiscal years 2004-2007, but funds were never appropriated. The Senate passed the bill in June. It will now head to the President's desk for signature. "I am please… Continue Reading
07.14.08
Senator Leahy Addresses Medical Coding Graduates At Fletcher Allen Health Care
The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, U.S. Senator addressed graduates of a medical coding training program developed by Fletcher Allen Health Care and Vermont HITEC today in a ceremony held at Fletcher Allen Health Care. Senator Leahy has been instrumental in securing funding for many of the recent training programs developed by Fletcher Allen and Vermont HITEC as well as the Fletcher Allen Health Care Workforce Development Institute, created in partnership with Vermont HITEC to help Fletcher Allen… Continue Reading
07.14.08
Comments To Override The President’s Veto Of The Medicare Reimbursement Act
"Vermonters depend on Medicare insurance being there when they need it. Overriding this veto helps keep that promise by averting disastrous cuts that would have affected all Vermonters who rely on Medicare. I'm proud that there was a strong showing in Congress to stand up to the President and to the wealthy corporate interests who opposed this bill." # # # # #… Continue Reading
07.14.08
Comment On Consideration Of Judicial Nominations
"The continued attempt by Senate Republicans to make a partisan, election-year issue out of judicial nominations would be laughable if they were not tragically ignoring the real priorities of hardworking Americans. Ironically, confirmation of judicial nominees is the one area where the numbers have actually improved during the Bush presidency. Since the years in which Republicans pocket filibustered more than 60 of President Clinton's moderate and qualified judicial nominees and judicial vacan… Continue Reading
07.10.08
On Senate Appropriations Committee Decision To Fund National Archives And Records Administration Office To Process Agency FOIA Requests
The Senate Appropriations Committee today reported a bill to provide $1 million to fund the new Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) in the National Archives and Records Administration. The action follows action by the Committee last month on the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, rejecting the Bush administration's efforts to fund the functions of OGIS in the Department of Justice rather than the National Archives. The OGIS was established in the Leahy-Cornyn OPEN Gover… Continue Reading
07.10.08
Senate Judiciary Panel Examines Passport Breaches At State Department
The Senate Judiciary Committee today held a hearing to examine a report released late last week by the State Department Acting Inspector General about unauthorized access to the passport files of high-profile Americans by contractors and State Department workers. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) noticed the hearing Monday following the release of the report. The Inspector General report stated that 85 percent of the passport records included in a sample of high-profile Americans had be… Continue Reading
07.09.08
Comment On Deputy Attorney General Filip’s Letter Regarding The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege
I am pleased that the Department of Justice is conducting what appears to be a serious analysis of Department policy regarding requests for waiver of the corporate attorney-client privilege. The Department appears poised to make substantive changes to its policy. I have emphad for years the importance of the attorney-client privilege and have said the Department must take all necessary steps to correct the abuses documented earlier in this Administration and to address lingering concerns. Ju… Continue Reading
07.09.08
Closing Statements On Department Of Justice Oversight
I thank you, Mr. Attorney General, for appearing before the Committee today. I am grateful that, at least for today, we did not see a repeat of the anonymous Republican objections that blocked us from holding and completing many important hearings before the July Fourth recess. We might have made more progress today had we received timely responses from you to questions we sent following our last hearing in January. We received the Department's responses only late last week, and responses to … Continue Reading
07.09.08
Legislation Does Not Provide Accountability
(Wednesday, July 9, 2008) - Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today delivered closing remarks in the Senate's debate over amending the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Senate is expected to vote on three amendments to the pending legislation, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, including a Leahy-sponsored amendment to strike Title II of the bill, which would provide immunity for telecommunications carriers that aided in the Bush administration's illegal wiretapping program. Leahy is expec… Continue Reading
07.09.08
Mukasey Testifies At Senate Judiciary Committee Oversight Hearing
(Wednesday, July 9, 2008) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) convened a hearing Wednesday morning where the Committee heard testimony from Attorney General Michael Mukasey related to oversight of the Department of Justice. The Attorney General last appeared before the panel on January 30. Under Leahy's chairmanship, the Judiciary Committee has held periodic hearings as part of its function in conducting oversight of the Department of Justice. Leahy's prepared opening … Continue Reading
07.08.08
CommentOn The Bingaman Amendment To The FISA Amendments Act Of 2008
I strongly oppose the immunity provisions contained in this bill, and I have supported every effort to strike them. But if we cannot eliminate these ill-advised provisions, then I agree that Senator Bingaman's amendment to delay a decision on immunity until after the Inspectors General have conducted their review of the warrantless surveillance program makes good sense. I worked hard to include the Inspectors General amendment as a part of this FISA bill. For that provision to have its full … Continue Reading
