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Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Leahy To Introduce Bill To Restore Americans’ Freedom To Travel To Cuba
(THURSDAY, July 25, 2019) -- Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined by 45 Senate cosponsors, on Monday, July 29th, will introduce the Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act of 2019. The bill would eliminate restrictions on travel to Cuba by American citizens and legal residents. Identical legislation is being introduced today in the House by Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Tom Emmer (R-Minn.). Specifically, the bipartisan le… Continue Reading
07.24.19
Leahy, Sanders And Welch Announce $3 Million Federal Grant For Electric Buses And Charging Stations In Vermont’s Upper Valley
(WEDNESDAY, July 24, 2019) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Wednesday announced that the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) will receive a $3 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to purchase electric buses and charging stations to be used in Vermont's Upper Valley. They had written last year to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in support of the grant. The new federally funded electric b… Continue Reading
07.24.19
Grassley, Leahy, Cornyn And Feinstein Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Reinforce Transparency In Wake Of The Supreme Court’s FOIA Decision And Recent Regulations
(WEDNESDAY, July 24, 2019) -- Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), along with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), late Tuesday introduced the Open and Responsive Government Act (S. 2220), to reverse recent developments that undermine the public's right to access information and hold government accountable. The legislation would restore a longstanding legal interpretation of the Freedom of Information Act's (FOIA) exemption regarding confide… Continue Reading
07.23.19
Leahy Leads Judiciary Committee Democrats In Forcefully Condemning Proposal To Zero Out Refugee Admissions
(TUESDAY, July 23, 2019) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday led all Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee - the Senate committee of jurisdiction over all refugee and immigration laws - in forcefully condemning a proposal reportedly being considered by Trump administration officials to dramatically reduce - or worse, eliminate - annual refugee admissions, which have already plummeted to historic lows under President Trump. The Judiciary Committee Democrats reiterated the longstanding b… Continue Reading
07.23.19
REAX of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To the Bipartisan Budget Agreement Reached Between Congress and The President
A budget is where we set our priorities as a nation, and President Trump's annual budget proposals have shown time and again that his administration's priority is to slash investments here at home for American families and pour money into an ineffective wall along our Southern Border. Today's bipartisan budget agreement once again rejects the shortsighted priorities of the Trump administration for the real priorities of the American people. This agreement will build upon the 2018 bipartisan bu… Continue Reading
07.22.19
Senators Leahy, Grassley, Feinstein, And Cornyn Raise Concerns About EPA’s FOIA Rule
(MONDAY, July 22, 2019) - Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas) - all senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee with exclusive jurisdiction over the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - sent a bipartisan letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler raising serious concerns with the EPA's recent "FOIA Regulations Update" final rule, asking him to reconsider the rule or provide sufficien… Continue Reading
07.19.19
Vermont Receives $98,918 To Connect Schools And Local Farms Under Leahy-Authored Farm To School Program
(FRIDAY, July 19, 2019) - A program long championed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will invest $98,918 in bolstering efforts to bring local agriculture into the classrooms and cafeterias of Vermont schools. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced Farm to School grants to connect child nutrition programs with local farmers. Leahy said: "Tying local agriculture to our schools not only provides our children with healthy meals and improved nutrition, it encourages a long standing … Continue Reading
07.19.19
Reflections On The Moon Landing
By Patrick Leahy This week America celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of a monumental achievement for our country and all of humankind, the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first human beings on the Moon. Like families across America, and across the world, our family gathered in front of the television in our living room that Sunday night of July 20, 1969, to watch this history unfold. I was State's Attorney then, and we lived in a duplex in Burlington. Our five-year-old son Kevin asked if … Continue Reading
07.19.19
Leahy, Murray And Welch Reintroduce Legislation To Curtail Warrantless Vehicle Checkpoint Stops And Property Searches Away From The Border
(FRIDAY, July 19, 2019) - U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) late Thursday reintroduced their legislation to strengthen privacy protections in the United States by limiting the unreasonably large "border zone." Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced an identical version of the bill in the House of Representatives. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers currently have broad legal authority to stop vehicles without a warrant or even reasonable suspicion o… Continue Reading
07.18.19
Comment On The July 14th Washington Post Editorial On Former Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana
The editorial is titled, "The Trump administration should fight graft and impunity in Guatemala. It's doing the opposite." It is available at this LINK: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administration-should-fight-graft-and-impunity-in-guatemala-its-doing-the-opposite/2019/07/14/26f8e8be-a418-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html Senator Leahy: "Thelma Aldana is a courageous, respected prosecutor who, at great personal risk, took on the forces of corruption and impunity in Guatem… Continue Reading
07.16.19
Reaction To The Passing Of Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To The Passing Of Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens The first vote I ever cast for a Supreme Court Justice was for John Paul Stevens, a true champion of the law, of decency, and of equal justice for all. He is already sorely missed. I'll miss my conversations with him and all I learned from him. Marcelle and my thoughts and prayers are with the Stevens family this evening. # # # # #… Continue Reading
07.16.19
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Murder Of Jamal Khashoggi
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings, Ms. Agnes Callamard, recently released her report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi after a six-month investigation.I encourage everyone to read the report, and I want to share several of her findings: Mr. Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in an extrajudicial killing that violated numerous international laws and for which the Government of Saudi Arabi… Continue Reading
07.08.19
Udall, Leahy, Van Hollen Request GAO Investigation into Full Costs, Legal Compliance for Trump Fourth of July Event
(MONDAY, July 8, 2019) - U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing the Department of Interior's budget, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Monday requested a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into the costs and impacts associated with President Trump's expanded Fourth of July events and into whether t… Continue Reading
06.28.19
Schatz, Leahy, Other Senators: Census Should Stay On Schedule, Omit Citizenship Question
(FRIDAY, June 28, 2019) - On Friday Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and 27 other senators in calling for Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to meet the administration's previously set deadline of July 1 to begin printing materials for the 2020 Census and move forward without adding a politically motivated question about citizenship. Their call comes a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration's rationale for adding the question "appea… Continue Reading
06.27.19
House Passes Bipartisan Senate Supplemental To Address Humanitarian Crisis At The Southern Border
(Thursday, June 27, 2019) Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Thursday welcomed the House passage of the $4.6 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill to address the escalating humanitarian crisis on the southern border. The bill is a bipartisan compromise forged between Leahy and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), which passed the Senate earlier this week with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 84 to 8. The bill now heads t… Continue Reading
06.27.19
Leahy And Perdue Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Renew And Expand Emerging Farm To School Efforts
(THURSDAY, June 27, 2019) - U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), David Perdue (R-GA), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Susan Collins (R-Maine), Thursday introduced legislation to extend a key nutrition program for school-aged children. The bipartisan Farm to School Act of 2019 will increase the federal resources committed to helping to bring fresh, local foods to schools nationwide. It also helps set the stage for action as Congress begins the process of reauthorizing child nutrition programs. Com… Continue Reading
06.27.19
Leahy And Perdue Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Renew And Expand Emerging Farm To School Efforts
(THURSDAY, June 27, 2019) - U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), David Perdue (R-GA), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Susan Collins (R-Maine), Thursday introduced legislation to extend a key nutrition program for school-aged children. The bipartisan Farm to School Act of 2019 will increase the federal resources committed to helping to bring fresh, local foods to schools nationwide. It also helps set the stage for action as Congress begins the process of reauthorizing child nutrition programs. Com… Continue Reading
06.26.19
Leahy And Others Call For IG Investigation At USDA Amid Reports Of Scientific Data Suppression
(WEDNESDAY, June 26, 2019) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), with Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and 16 other senators, Wednesday sent a letter to Ms. Phyllis K. Fong, the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to request an investigation into potential instances of suppression and alteration of scientific reports, documents, or communications produced by USDA. The senators also called for the Inspector General to investigate instances of re… Continue Reading
06.26.19
Senate Floor Address On The Emergency Supplemental For The Humanitarian Crisis At The Southern Border
Address of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman, Appropriations Committee, On The Emergency Supplemental Appropriation for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Senate Floor Wednesday, June 26, 2019 Last week, Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee came together and approved - 30 to 1 - an emergency supplemental to address the most urgent, humanitarian needs at our southwest border. This bill reflects weeks of good-faith negotiations to … Continue Reading
06.25.19
Saudi Arabia False Emergencies Act Is Approved By The Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Saudi Arabia False Emergencies Act Cosponsored By Leahy, Is Approved By The Senate Foreign Relations Committee WASHINGTON (TUESDAY, June 25, 2019) - U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) issued the following statement after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday approved their bipartisan legislation limiting the ability of the President to… Continue Reading
