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Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
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
07.07.08
On Oil Prices And Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Press Conference, Burlington
Welcome everyone. I'm pleased to be here with the rest of Vermont's Congressional Delegation, Senator Sanders and Congressman Welch, and we're glad to have with us representatives of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association and of Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, who will be available to answer questions. Vermonters have just spent a gorgeous Fourth of July weekend with their families and friends, and they've also just spent another unplanned portion of their family budgets at the… Continue Reading
07.07.08
On Oil Prices And Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Press Conference, Burlington
Welcome everyone. I'm pleased to be here with the rest of Vermont's Congressional Delegation, Senator Sanders and Congressman Welch, and we're glad to have with us representatives of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association and of Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, who will be available to answer questions. Vermonters have just spent a gorgeous Fourth of July weekend with their families and friends, and they've also just spent another unplanned portion of their family budgets at the… Continue Reading
06.27.08
Senators Push Mukasey For Juvenile Justice Grant Application Information
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today led a bipartisan group of senators in sending a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, pushing for greater transparency of the policies related to the grant-making authority of the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Leahy was joined by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). The letter follows recent reports in The Washington Post and… Continue Reading
06.27.08
Senate Passes Gregg-Leahy Provision In Supplemental Appropriations Bill Requiring Iraq To Match U.S. Foreign Assistance For Iraq On A Dollar-For-Dollar Basis Provision Will Ensure Equal Buy-In By Government Of Iraq In Rebuilding Efforts And Provide Greater Accountability For Investment By U.S. Taxpayers
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) Friday announced that the Senate late Thursday night passed a supplemental appropriations bill that includes their provision that for the first time requires the Government of Iraq to match U.S. foreign assistance on a dollar-for-dollar basis. The provision excludes the matching requirement for programs to promote democracy, human rights, hu… Continue Reading
06.26.08
As Fuel Prices Continue To Skyrocket, Key Panel Okays Leahy Amendment Directing Bush Administration To Release $120 Million In Emergency Home Heating Relief
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday afternoon approved an amendment by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to direct the Bush Administration to release $120 million in emergency home heating assistance funds. Leahy, a senior member of the committee, added the amendment to the annual budget bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies. The bill now goes to the full Senate for action. The Leahy amendment would require the Bush Administration upon enactm… Continue Reading
06.26.08
Comment On The House Subcommittee Markup Of Performance Rights Legislation
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), reacted today to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property's markup of legislation to recognize the rights of musical performers. Last year, Leahy introduced legislation to end an exemption benefiting traditional, over-the-air broadcasters and to ensure that performing artists are compensated when their sound recordings are played on the radio. Representative Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who chair… Continue Reading
06.26.08
Judiciary Committee Reports Leahy Bill To Address Wartime Fraud
The Senate Judiciary Committee today reported critical legislation to extend the window for the federal government to prosecute wartime contracting fraud, including fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Wartime Enforcement of Fraud Act (WEFA) was introduced in April by Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Committee Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). The legislation would close a loophole in a World War II-era law that has allowed individuals and corporations to go unpunished for delivering… Continue Reading
06.26.08
Reaction On Supreme Court Decision In District of Columbia v. Heller
"In its decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court has recognized the personal right to bear arms, guaranteed in the Second Amendment of the Constitution, and expressly held for the first time that our Bill of Rights includes this right among its guarantees of individual liberty and freedom. That is a good thing. This opinion should usher in a new era in which the constitutionality of government regulations of firearms are reviewed against the backdrop of this important righ… Continue Reading
06.25.08
Leahy: FOIA Anniversary Time For Renewed Open Government Commitment
(Wednesday, June 25, 2008) - Open government advocate Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) urged Congress today to renew efforts to improve government transparency and strengthen the nation's open government laws in advance of the upcoming anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). July 4 will mark the 42nd anniversary of the signing of the Freedom of Information Act, a law that continues to bring transparency to actions of the federal government at a time when excessive government secrecy has… Continue Reading
06.25.08
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee On The Constitution “Laptop Searches And Other Violations Of Privacy Faced By Americans Returning From Overseas Travel”
I am glad Senator Feingold has convened this important hearing to examine intrusive practices by the Department of Homeland Security at our Nation's ports of entry. These practices affect the privacy interests of American citizens. Americans understand that it is the Federal Government's responsibility to ensure that anyone entering the United States complies with the law. There is no dispute about this basic principle. But Americans also want their government's policies to respect and pres… Continue Reading
06.25.08
Leahy Statement On FISA Legislation ?Chairman Will Support Efforts To Strike Immunity Provisions
Leahy Statement On FISA Legislation Chairman Will Support Efforts To Strike Immunity Provisions WASHINGTON (Wednesday, June 25, 2008) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) delivered the following remarks today as the Senate prepares to debate the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Leahy said he intends to oppose the Senate's motion to proceed to the legislation, and that he will support efforts to strike provisions in the bill that fail to provide accountability for the Bus… Continue Reading
