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Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Leahy Sets Hearing To Examine Founding Fathers Project
(Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008) - The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Feb. 7 to examine the progress of the Founding Fathers Project, which was established more than a half century ago to publish the complete, annotated writings of country's six founding fathers and make these historical treasures available to the public. The program has received criticism in recent years for its high costs, slow progress and lack of accountability. Scholars and researchers at … Continue Reading
01.24.08
Leahy Outlines Strengths Of Judiciary Committee Substitute Language
(Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday afternoon took to the Senate floor to discuss the important work of the Judiciary Committee in crafting legislation to amend the country's critical surveillance laws. The Judiciary Committee in November passed an improved version of the Intelligence Committee's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act, including measures to strengthen… Continue Reading
01.23.08
Statement On The White House Withdrawal Of The Nomination Of E. Duncan Getchell, Jr. To The 4th Circuit Court Of Appeals
"I was disappointed last September when the President chose a nominee specifically opposed by Virginia's Republican and Democratic Senators. The nomination of Duncan Getchell seemed to be an effort to pick a political fight rather than a nominee the Senate could confirm to fill a vacancy on the 4th Circuit. Now more time has been wasted and we are into the President's last year in office. With the withdrawal of Mr. Getchell's nomination, the President has another c… Continue Reading
01.23.08
“Oversight Of The Justice For All Act: Has The Justice Department Effectively Administered The Bloodsworth And Coverdell DNA Grant Programs?”
In 2000, I introduced the Innocence Protection Act , which aimed to improve the administration of justice by ensuring that defendants in the most serious cases have access to counsel and, where appropriate, access to post-conviction DNA testing necessary to prove their innocence in those cases where the system got it grievously wrong. As a former prosecutor, I saw both sides of the crisis that DNA testing had illuminated in clearing those wrongful… Continue Reading
01.17.08
DHS Secretary Chertoff’s Insistence On Demanding Birth Certificates At The Northern Border Beginning Feb. 1
[Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff today (Thursday, Jan. 17) responded to a Dec. 19 letter from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Leahy had asked for the legal and practical justification for DHS's decision to require birth certificates at the Northern Border beginning Feb.1, at least 17 months before a newly enacted law allows implementation of the land-crossing phases of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). … Continue Reading
01.16.08
Delegation Announces $3.9 Million For Vermont Home Heating Assistance
BURLINGTON, January 16 - U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Congressman Peter Welch announced the release of $450 million in home heating emergency funds, including $3.9 million for Vermont. As prices for home heating fuel soar to record highs this winter, Sanders has introduced legislation, cosponsored by Leahy, which would increase funding for the Low Income Home Heating Assistance Program by another $800 million. Welch introduced com… Continue Reading
01.16.08
Leahy, Conyers Ask For GAO Inquiry Into Awarding Of No-Bid Contracts By Justice Department
(Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008) - The Chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees today sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asking the Comptroller General to launch an inquiry into the use, award and implementation of contracts by the Department of Justice to outside entities for the monitoring of compliance with out-of-court settlement and deferred prosecution agreements in criminal investigations. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt… Continue Reading
01.15.08
Mukasey To Testify Before Senate Judiciary Committee Jan. 30 Leahy Announces Justice Department Oversight Hearing
(Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today announced that the Committee will hold the first Department of Justice oversight hearing of the year on Jan. 30, 2008. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey will testify. The Judiciary Committee under Chairman Leahy has held periodic oversight hearings of the Department of Justice with the Attorney General. This will be the first hearing at which Mukasey tes… Continue Reading
01.11.08
Reaction Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), On Release Of The Final REAL ID Regulations By The U.S. Department Of Homeland Security
"The Bush administration's REAL ID program will not only lead to long lines at every DMV across the country, it will impose a massive unfunded mandate on state governments while offering absolutely no federal privacy protections to our citizens. "It is unfortunate that instead of addressing the fundamental problems this law poses for the states, the Administration appears content merely to prolong a contentious and unproductive battle to force the states to comply. Rat… Continue Reading
01.10.08
Leahy Seeks Details Of No-Bid Contracts Directed To Be Awarded By Justice Department Official
(Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Thursday sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking the Department of Justice to provide the Committee with information regarding no-bid contracts directed to be awarded to firms affiliated with former Justice Department officials. According to an article in The New York Times, U. S. Attorney Christopher Christie directed the awarding of no-bid contracts to for… Continue Reading
01.08.08
President Signs Court Security Reforms Into Law
[CORRECTION: President Bush today (Tuesday) signed legislation to improve security for federal judges, witnesses and officers. Our Jan. 4 news release indicated that the bill had become law without the President's signature at the end of the 10-day period for presidential signing, as provided by the Constitution, based on reports that the bill had been sent to the President on Dec. 24. Since the bill was not sent to the White House until Dec. 27, the 10-day period would have expired Jan. 8, r… Continue Reading
01.02.08
Comment On Presidential Signing Of The OPEN Government Act
"In the closing days of its first session, the 110th Congress was able to deliver to the President's desk the first reforms to the Freedom of Information Act in more than a decade. Earlier this week, the President signed into law the OPEN Government Act, bringing greater transparency to a government that in recent years has seen increased efforts to conceal important information from the American people. In a time when government is compiling more and more information about every American, it ha… Continue Reading
02.15.07
Leahy Leads Bipartisan Effort To Hold Insurance Companies Accountable Under The Antitrust Laws
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee today joined with Senate Democratic and Republican leaders to introduce a bipartisan bill that would level the playing field so that insurance companies must abide by the same competition laws as every other industry. Leahy introduced the Insurance Industry Competition Act, along with the panel's Ranking Member, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-Nev.), and Senate Republican Whip Trent Lot… Continue Reading
12.15.05
Opening Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy Ranking Member, Judiciary Committee On The Conference Report On H.R.3199 The USA PATRIOT Improvement And Reauthorization Act Of 2005
Earlier this week, I spoke about how the world changed on September 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on American soil. In the aftermath of the attacks, Congress moved quickly to pass anti-terrorism legislation. The fires were still smoldering at Ground Zero when the USA PATRIOT Act became law on October 30, 2001, just six weeks after that horrible day. Security and liberty are always in tension in our free society, and especially so in the wa… Continue Reading
10.24.01
Summary of USA PATRIOT Act
THE UNITING AND STRENGTHENING AMERICA BY PROVIDING APPROPRIATE TOOLS REQUIRED TO INTERCEPT AND OBSTRUCT TERRORISM (USA PATRIOT) ACT OF 2001, H.R. 3162 SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. Both S. 1510 passed by the Senate on October 11, 2001 (the "Senate bill"), and H.R. 2975 passed by the House of Representatives on October 12, 2001, included this section containing the short title "Uniting and Strengthening America (USA) Act of 2001" and the table of conte… Continue Reading
