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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
On Final Passage Of The Housing And Economic Recovery Act Senate Floor
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the sluggish national economy and the rising cost of housing is a one-two punch that is keeping affordable housing out of the reach of too many Vermont families. It is important that during these times of economic hardship we do more--not less--to help struggling families make ends meet. I am pleased that today, after months of delay, the Senate is set to act on final passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, H.R. 3221, a responsible bill to strengthen our econo… Continue Reading
07.25.08
Leahy Asks EPA Inspector General To Investigate Executive Privilege Claim And White House Interference
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Friday pressed the Inspector General's office at the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to investigate the President's purported claims of executive privilege over documents and testimony related to the public health threats of global warming, and possibleWhite House interference with EPA decision-making. On Thursday, Leahy canceled a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee after EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson declined t… Continue Reading
07.24.08
On S. 3297, The Advancing America’s Priorities Act
Earlier this week, I joined the Majority Leader in the introduction of S.3297, the Advancing America's Priorities Act. The Majority Leader selected 35 legislative items from the jurisdiction of seven Senate Committees, including eight bills from that of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for this effort. These are all measures with bipartisan support and, we believe the support of a strong bipartisan majority of the Senate. I have moved several through the Judiciary Committee and several have al… Continue Reading
07.24.08
Leahy, Specter, Bayh, Voinovich Introduce Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Legislation
Leading advocates in the Senate today will introduce legislation to protect American innovation and address intellectual property rights enforcement. The Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008 will be introduced in the Senate by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), and is co-sponsored by Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio). Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) are also cosponsors… Continue Reading
07.24.08
Leahy Cancels Hearing After EPA Administrator Declines To Testify
The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee today canceled a hearing scheduled for July 30 at which the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was invited to present testimony about the EPA's refusal to provide Congress with documents related to the public health risks associated with global warming. In a letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy dated July 22, the EPA signaled that Johnson would decline the Committee's invitation to appear. Leahy and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), … Continue Reading
07.23.08
Exxon Oil Spill Victim Testifies At Senate Hearing
(Wednesday, July 23, 2008) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today held a hearing to examine the shield recent Supreme Court decisions have provided for corporate misconduct. The hearing featured a witness panel that included a fisherwoman from Alaska, whose business was crippled by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound. In a decision released by the Supreme Court in June, the damages assessed to Exxon by a jury were slashed, and the oil company is n… Continue Reading
07.23.08
Senators To Leavitt: Abandon Attempt To Undermine Women's Health In letter To HHS Secretary, 28 Senators Say Proposed Rule Would Limit Women's Family Planning Options, Access To Health Care Service
() - Twenty-eight U.S. Senators today wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt urging him to drop a draft regulation which could deny access to critical family planning options to millions of American women. The draft rule, which surfaced last week in news reports, aims to change the definition of abortion to include all contraceptives and therefore allow health care providers and corporations to refuse to provide family planning. The draft regulation could have the effect … Continue Reading
07.23.08
Leahy Announces $1.5 Million For New Public Transit Buses In Vermont
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced that public transit providers around Vermont will receive $1,556,689 in U.S. Department of Transportation grants to buy new buses and maintenance equipment. Leahy and former Senator Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) secured the funding for these grants in earlier federal transportation budget bills. Leahy is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "With spiking gas prices, more Vermonters are leaving their cars behind, and even more people want … Continue Reading
07.23.08
Comments Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, On S. 3297, The Advancing America’s Priorities Act Press Conference, Capitol Hill July 23, 2008
Today we talk about pieces of legislation with broad bipartisan support that have moved through the Judiciary Committee and that have passed the House of Representatives, but that have been stalled on the Senate floor by Republican objection. Some of these bills have been incorporated by the Majority leader into the "Advancing America's Priorities Act," which combines 35 bills that span across seven Senate Committees into one bill. People are rightly worried about keeping their communities s… Continue Reading
07.23.08
Senate Passes Leahy Bill To Ensure Constitutional Appointment Of Patent Judges
The Senate Tuesday night unanimously approved a bill sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to ensure the constitutional appointment of administrative patent and trademark judges. The legislation will next be considered in the House of Representatives, where bipartisan companion legislation was introduced last month. The measure was quickly considered and approved by the Senate after Leahy introduced the bill this week with Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Arlen Spe… Continue Reading
07.22.08
Senate Confirms Two Judicial Nominations
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) praised the Senate Democratic majority's work in confirming judicial appointments Tuesday night, as the Senate reached a milestone with the confirmation of two nominees for lifetime appointments to the federal bench. In just three and a half years, Democrats have now matched the total number of President Bush's judicial appointments confirmed by Republicans in the more than four years in which they held the majority. With Tuesday's conf… Continue Reading
07.22.08
Senate Confirms Two Judicial Nominations
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) praised the Senate Democratic majority's work in confirming judicial appointments Tuesday night, as the Senate reached a milestone with the confirmation of two nominees for lifetime appointments to the federal bench. In just three and a half years, Democrats have now matched the total number of President Bush's judicial appointments confirmed by Republicans in the more than four years in which they held the majority. With Tuesday's conf… Continue Reading
07.22.08
Leahy Joins Democratic Senators In Introducing Legislation To Improve Voter Registration Access For Veterans
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) joined with Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John Kerry (D-Mass.) and others today to introduce legislation to require the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide voter registration services to veterans in the department's care. The senators introduced the legislation after receiving a response from Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake earlier this month, again denying the senators' request that Secretary Peake designate VA facilities as voter registration… Continue Reading
07.21.08
Reaction To Attorney General Mukasey’s Call For Congressional Action On Rules For Detainee Hearings
The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Boumediene v. Bush last month reaffirmed our core American values by concluding that detainees at Guantanamo have the right to bring habeas corpus claims in federal court. I applauded that decision because I have maintained from the beginning that the provisions of the Military Commission Act that purported to strip away those rights were unconstitutional and un-American. The Judiciary Committee has held a wide range of hearings on issues of detainee right… Continue Reading
07.17.08
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Fiscal Year 2009 State And Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill
The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved Fiscal Year 2009 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations legislation that strengthens American diplomacy, advances international security, invests in clean energy, and promotes international economic development and global health. The legislation provides $36.62 billion in discretionary funding, which is $3.82 billion above the FY 2008 enacted level. In addition, $3.42 billion was provided as FY 2009 bridge funding in the recently enacted … Continue Reading
07.17.08
Opening Remarks At The Appropriations Committee Markup For The FY2009 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill
Thank you Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you and Senator Cochran for the allocation we received this year. Senator Gregg and I have worked together to produce this bipartisan bill. He and his staff have been extremely helpful and I thank him for it.Without taking the time to go into detail about this bill, I want to highlight a few items: There are no congressionally directed spending items in this bill. No organization, other than the United Nations or a multilateral organization that the U.S.… Continue Reading
07.17.08
Two More Lifetime Judicial Appointments ConfirmedTwo More Lifetime Judicial Appointments Confirmed
The Senate Thursday confirmed two nominees for lifetime appointments to the federal bench, bringing the total number of judicial nominations confirmed this Congress to 56. Two additional nominations remain pending on the Senate's executive calendar, and confirmation votes on those nominations could occur as early as next week. The Senate confirmed the nominations of Paul Gardephe and Kiyo Matsumoto for district court seats in New York. Under the Democratic leadership in the Senate, the pac… Continue Reading
07.17.08
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
