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Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Leahy, Sessions Announce Updated Subcommittee Rosters
(Thursday, May 21, 2009) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) Thursday announced new membership lists for the Committee's subcommittees. Leahy and Sessions also announced the return of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, which was first established during the 110th Congress. The full Committee approved the Subcommittee memberships during an executive business meeting Thursday. The seven Judiciary Committee Subco… Continue Reading
05.21.09
Leahy Introduces Bill To Improve Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Thursday introduced legislation to improve the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA). The Leahy-authored legislation would make necessary improvements to the Act, which permits active and qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms in most situations. The Act was signed into law in 2004. The legislation introduced Thursday would make the LEOSA certification process more flexible for active and qua… Continue Reading
05.21.09
Statement On The Need For Health Care Reform Legislation
Very few people in America today would argue that our health care system is not in need of reform. It is a travesty that in the richest, most powerful country in the world, there are more than forty-seven million people without health insurance. That is an absolutely shocking number. It represents roughly one in six people who are going without regular trips to the doctor, forgoing needed medications and resorting to emergency rooms for care because they have nowhere else to turn. These are … Continue Reading
05.20.09
Statement At Hearing On Fiscal Year 2010 State Department Budget Request
Welcome Madam Secretary. We know how busy you are and appreciate you being here. We also have amendments to the FY 2009 supplemental appropriations bill on the Senate floor today, so I am not going to talk long. We will hear your testimony and place your written statement in the record, to leave plenty of time for questions. I do want to say how pleased and proud we are that you are representing the United States as Secretary of State. It is reassuring to have someone with your stature, int… Continue Reading
05.20.09
Comment On Creation Of The Health Care Fraud Prevention And Enforcement Action Team (HEAT)
"Attorney General Holder and Secretary Sebelius are committed to making health care fraud enforcement a priority. By expanding the joint-agency health care task forces to Detroit and Houston and establishing the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, they have pledged to make greater efforts to use technology and data sharing to stop fraud before it starts. "Just as the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, which the President will sign into law today, will help combat fraud, … Continue Reading
05.20.09
Leahy Attends White House Signing Ceremony For Anti-Fraud Legislation
(Wednesday, May 20, 2009) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday attended a White House ceremony where President Obama signed into law Leahy-authored legislation to combat the growing wave of fraud. Leahy introduced the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act in February, and worked to move the legislation through Judiciary Committee and Senate consideration. Leahy is the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act will strengthen tools and increase resour… Continue Reading
05.19.09
Clean Water Economic Stimulus Funding Released
, May 19 - The Vermont congressional delegation today announced more than $19 million in federal aid for water projects. The funds, from the economic recovery act, support improvements to municipal wastewater systems in communities around the state. Forty-one projects around the state will receive at least partial funding out of the $19,239,100 in economic stimulus funds. These funds will go toward low- and negative-interest loans to pay for clean water projects in Vermont. More than … Continue Reading
05.19.09
Leahy-Authored Anti-Fraud Legislation Clears Final Hurdle, Headed To President’s Desk For Signature
(Tuesday, May 19, 2009) - Legislation authored by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D) to strengthen tools and increase resources available to federal prosecutors to combat fraud cleared a final hurdle in Congress Monday when the House of Representatives approved the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act. On May 14, the Senate unanimously passed the amended bipartisan legislation. The bill will now head to the President's desk to be signed into law. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA) wil… Continue Reading
05.19.09
Comment On Senate Passage Of The Credit Card Reform Bill
[The Senate today (Tuesday) passed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, by a vote of 90 to 5, with Senator Leahy and Senator Sanders voting for the bill. The reforms - long supported by Leahy, who cosponsored an earlier version of the bill -- would prohibit interest charges on credit card debt that is paid on time; requires a 45-day notice of any fee or interest rate changes; prohibits interest charges on credit card transaction fees such as late fees; prohib… Continue Reading
05.19.09
Statement on Credit Card Reform Bill
Mr. President, it is a mark of the difference between the Senate's agenda last year and the new Senate's agenda this year that we finally are able to debate and move toward a vote on the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which I strongly support. I thank and commend both Senator Dodd and Senator Shelby for their hard work on this important legislation. The Banking Committee has faced a number of extraordinary challenges this year - stabilizing our financial institu… Continue Reading
05.18.09
Senator Leahy, U.S. Forest Chief Announce Forest Legacy Funding
RICHMOND (Monday, May 18) - U.S. Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell joined Senator Patrick Leahy Monday to announce $50 million in grants to protect 24 working forests in 21 states, including Vermont, through the Forest Service's Forest Legacy Program. Chief Kimbell also announced the details of the President's Fiscal Year 2010 proposal to fund 47 Forest Legacy projects at $91 million. Kimbell, a graduate of the University of Vermont who graduated from high school in St. Albans, hailed V… Continue Reading
05.15.09
President To Nominate Tristram Coffin To Be U.S. Attorney For Vermont
President Obama has accepted the recommendation of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and announced Friday that he will nominate Hinesburg attorney Tristram J. Coffin to be Vermont's next U.S. Attorney. Coffin will be one of the first six U.S. Attorneys to be nominated by the new President. Leahy said, "Tris Coffin's experience as a prosecutor and in the courtroom makes him a good match for this difficult job. His work on drug-crime issues in particular will help him hit the ground running in dealing… Continue Reading
05.15.09
Leahy Backs Legislation To Relieve Labor Crunch For Dairy Farmers
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) joined more than dozen U.S. Senators Thursday to introduce legislation to provide relief to the nation's ongoing agriculture labor shortage. The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act (AgJOBS) will help Vermont dairy farmers and other farmers by reforming the H-2A seasonal worker program. The bill will provide farmers with legal foreign workers, and offer a path to lawful immigration status for hardworking, law-abiding immigrants already employe… Continue Reading
05.15.09
Comment On Military Commissions
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is a coauthor of the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2006, a bill to restore the writ of habeas corpus that was revoked in the Military Commission Act of 2006. "I have always said that establishing appropriate military commissions is possible. I objected to the military commissions that were created by the Bush-Cheney administration because they stripped away critical protections in our laws. For years I worked with others in Congress to resto… Continue Reading
05.14.09
Leahy Secures $476,000 For Shelburne Farms And Vermont Farm-To-School Programs
(THURSDAY, May 14) -- In the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act passed in March, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) secured $476,000 in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Shelburne Farms to develop strategies to enhance and improve partnerships between local farmers, students and teachers, providing additional economic opportunities for farmers and improved nutritional and health awareness for students. This effort is part of Leahy's longstanding work for farm-to-s… Continue Reading
05.14.09
Truckin': The Pat Leahy Story
Patrick J Leahy is the stuff of legend and he isn't finished yet. Passionate native Vermonter, devoted family man, land mine opponent, free-speech advocate, storyteller, defender of the US Constitution, published photographer, early Obama supporter, six-term US senator (the only Democrat Vermont has ever sent to the Senate), caster of 13,000 senatorial votes (only eight have achieved this longevity), fourth in seniority in a place where seniority really matters, highly publicized enemy of former… Continue Reading
05.13.09
A Supreme Court For All Americans
Among the most serious constitutional duties entrusted to Congress is the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices. As President Obama prepares to announce his first nominee to the nation's highest court, this is a good time to consider the vital role played by the Court in our system of government and in Americans' everyday lives. Through recent, narrowly decided cases, we have seen clearly the Supreme Court's impact on ordinary Americans. In Ledbetter v. Goodyear, we saw t… Continue Reading
05.13.09
Accountability Will Help Restore America’s Reputation
A Senate Judiciary Subcommittee today held the first pubic hearing on Office of Legal Counsel memoranda released last month by the Department of Justice. The memoranda, which provided binding legal counsel to the Bush administration on the legality of interrogation techniques, authorized the use of harsh techniques on individuals held in U.S. custody. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has for years sought access to the memoranda, and last year is… Continue Reading
05.13.09
Comment Following A Meeting At The White House With President Obama On The Upcoming Supreme Court Vacancy
I appreciate that the President has reached out to us as part of his process to select a nominee for the Supreme Court. I appreciate that he is doing so in a bipartisan manner, including both the Republican leader in the Senate and the Ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. He has also reached out to the other Republican members of the Judiciary Committee. Having done so, and having given each of us the opportunity to consult with him and offer our counsel, I kno… Continue Reading
05.12.09
Burlington Police Officer Testifies Before Leahy Panel
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) held a hearing Tuesday on the needs of state and local law enforcement. Lieutenant Kris Carlson with the Burlington Police Department testified at the hearing held in Washington. Leahy chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. This week, thousands of law enforcement officers and officials are expected to travel to Washington to celebrate National Police Week. Last week, Leahy introduced a Senate Resolution to designate Friday, May 15, National Peace Officers Memoria… Continue Reading
