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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Leahy Joins Merkley And Other Senate Democrats In Standing With Saudi Women And Pushing For Human Rights Progress
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has joined with Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in announcing the introduction of a resolution standing with Saudi women and pushing for human rights progress in Saudi Arabia. Merkley was joined on the resolution by Leahy, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambass… Continue Reading
08.22.18
Leahy Floor Statement On Arbitrary Detention In South Sudan
Mr. President, several of the warring parties in the South Sudanese civil war, including President Kiir and the leader of the main opposition party, Riek Machar, recently signed a power-sharing deal to ostensibly bring to an end a conflict that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and the largest refugee crisis in Africa. Today in South Sudan there are nearly 200,000 people sheltering at UN peacekeeping bases, 4.5 million people have been forcibly displaced, and an estimated 7 millio… Continue Reading
08.22.18
Leahy Floor Statement On Arrests Of Women Activists In Saudi Arabia
Mr. President, an unrelenting government crackdown on the women's rights movement is taking place in Saudi Arabia. This is the subject of a Senate Resolution, of which I am an original cosponsor, introduced today by Senator Merkley. It is widely known that Saudi Arabia has a long history of subjugating and discriminating against women and girls. Today, despite talk of reform, Saudi authorities continue to arbitrarily arrest and detail women's rights activists and supporters, including Samar … Continue Reading
08.22.18
Leahy Floor Statement On The Guilty Plea Of Michael Cohen And Conviction Of Paul Manafort
There have been a number of headline-grabbing days during the first 18 months of the Trump administration. Yesterday will likely rank among the most extraordinary. And among the most troubling. The President of the United States was effectively identified by his longtime lawyer and confidant as an unindicted co-conspirator in their efforts to commit criminal campaign finance violations. If true, then-candidate Trump arranged payments to two women he had affairs with in violation of federal l… Continue Reading
08.22.18
Leahy Floor Statement On The Vetting Of Supreme Court Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh
We are now less than two weeks away from Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Two weeks away and the Committee has received only six percent of his total White House records according to the National Archives. And not a single one of the records we have received has been provided by the National Archives. That is because the Archives will not complete its review of the limited-number of records requested by Chairman Grassley until October-a month after… Continue Reading
08.20.18
Statement Of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy On The “Minibus” Appropriations Bill
Today the Senate begins consideration of the Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related agencies "Minibus" appropriations bill. This will be the third appropriations package brought to the Senate floor this year, and once we complete action, the Senate will have passed nine out of the 12 committee-reported appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2019. I want to thank Chairman Shelby for his commitment to a bipartisan process, and his friendship, that have made this prog… Continue Reading
08.17.18
Leahy To McGahn: What Was Discussed At Private White House Meeting That Led Republicans To Abruptly Change Course On Kavanaugh Documents
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), on Friday, asked White House Counsel Don McGahn for information on a pivotal July 24, 2018, meeting with Judiciary Committee Republicans that shaped their document request. Prior to the private meeting, Republican leadership seemed poised to request records that Judge Kavanaugh authored, generated, or contributed to as White House Staff Secretary. In an abrupt change of course after the meeting, Republicans refused to request any of Judge Kavanaugh's records from… Continue Reading
08.16.18
BREAKING NEWS From Senator Feinstein, Senator Leahy, And Senator Durbin: Documents Indicate That Kavanaugh Misled Senate; Make Them Public
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Thursday asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to join a request for Judge Kavanaugh's Staff Secretary records and to publicly release the documents now. Feinstein is the Judiciary Committee's Ranking Member, and Leahy and Durbin are also senior members of the committee. The senators emphasize the fact that documents that are currently "committee confidential" contain information indicati… Continue Reading
08.16.18
Senator Patrick Leahy's Remarks Today At The Judiciary Committee, On The Vetting Of SCOTUS Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh
There are so many things wrong with the Judiciary Committee's vetting of Judge Kavanaugh that it is hard to know where to begin. The White House was well aware of Judge Kavanaugh's lengthy, controversial record as a political operative when the President selected him. But the President selected him nonetheless. Now the burden falls to this Committee to review his record. To date, we are failing miserably. The methodical review of a Supreme Court nominee's full record is not optional. It is… Continue Reading
08.10.18
Senator Leahy Comment On Kavanaugh Hearing Date Announcement Circumventing Vetting Process
Comment of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduling a confirmation hearing before it will receive Judge Kavanaugh's political record August 10, 2018 There are so many things wrong with the Judiciary Committee's vetting of Judge Kavanaugh that it is hard to know where to begin. The review of his record has gone from being shameful to an outright sham. The nonpartisan National Archives cannot complete its review of the limited documents requested by Chairman Gra… Continue Reading
08.10.18
Scott, Congressional Delegation Announce $2.8 Million In Northern Border Regional Commission Grants to Northern Vermont
Gov. Phil Scott, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and officials from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) announced Friday that 14 Northern Vermont organizations, including the town of Fairfax, will receive $2.8 million in federal grants to spur job creation, build essential infrastructure and train new workers. Fairfax will use a $263,055 grant to expand water and wastewater infrastructure to the new home of maple products business Runamok Maple, enabling the company's e… Continue Reading
08.08.18
Blumenthal & Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, Including Leahy, File FOIA Request To Compel Release Of Kavanaugh Documents
In the absence of action by Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans to seek the full scope of documents necessary to properly consider Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and every Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee filed several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests today to compel the release of all records involving Brett Kavanaugh during his time as an associate in the White House Counsel's office and as White House Staff S… Continue Reading
08.07.18
Vermont Delegation Announces $19 Million in Federal Funds for Clean Water in Vermont
Vermont's congressional delegation announced on Tuesday a combined $18.97 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Vermont's Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). The CWSRF program is a federal-state partnership that provides communities a permanent, independent source of low-cost financing for a wide range of water quality infrastructure projects. The DWSRF is a federal-state partnership to help ensure safe drinking … Continue Reading
08.06.18
Comment of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On Tom Sullivan’s Retirement as President of the University of Vermont
"Tom Sullivan has been a remarkable leader for the University of Vermont. During his tenure the University has continued to grow while holding true to its founding as a Land Grant university, as shown most recently by the opening of UVM's state-of-the-art Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Center. Tom shares the belief that income should not be a barrier to a good education. Because of his dedication to the education of all students, Tom was instrumental in developing the Univer… Continue Reading
08.02.18
Comment of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Reliance On An Unprecedented Partisan Records Production For Judge Kavanaugh
[On Thursday, August 2, 2018, the General Counsel of the National Archives and Records Administration informed the Senate Judiciary Committee that it will not be able to complete its statutory review of the subset of Judge Kavanaugh's White House records requested by Senate Republicans until October. This subset only comprises one quarter of Judge Kavanaugh's total White House records. Nonetheless, a spokesperson for Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley asserted that the Judiciary Commi… Continue Reading
08.01.18
Leahy Named As Senate Conferee On The 5-Year Farm Bill
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday afternoon was named as one of four Senate Democratic conferees on the 5-year Farm Bill. The Senate and the House now have passed their separate versions of the bill. Senate and House leaders hope to forge a final compromise bill soon after Labor Day. Leahy is a former chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a principal architect of past Farm Bills. He also is the Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Leahy said it is even more… Continue Reading
08.01.18
Appropriations Vice Chairman Leahy Statement On Senate Passage Of The Interior, THUD, FSGG & Agriculture “Minibus” Appropriations Bill
Today, we are voting on final passage of the second "minibus" package of appropriations bills, and I urge an "aye" vote. This bill contains the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies bill, the Financial Services and General Government and Related Agencies bill, the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill, and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies bill. Each of these were reported by the Appropriations Committ… Continue Reading
08.01.18
Senate GOP Blocks The Leahy Election Security Grants Amendment, Which Would Help States Bolster Voting And Election Security
Despite gaining the support of a majority of senators voting, an amendment to bolster election security efforts by the states, offered by Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), was blocked Wednesday by Senate Republicans. Leahy's amendment would strengthen election security ahead of the 2018 midterms by providing $250 million in grants to states. The amendment to one of the four annual Appropriations bills pending on the Senate Floor fell on a vote of 50 to 47, ga… Continue Reading
07.31.18
Leahy Statement Urging A Senate Floor Vote On His Election Security Grant Amendment
I want to thank the Senior Senator from Alabama for working closely with me throughout this process. We are continuing to work on a managers' package, and I urge the Senate to bring up my election security grants amendment soon. The Senate must act as a coequal branch of government in defending against a threat to our democracy. The threat is very real. Our intelligence community unanimously agrees that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections, and that there is an imminent threat to the … Continue Reading
07.27.18
Leahy Comment On The Senate Judiciary Committee's Incomplete Records Request For Judge Brett Kavanaugh
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee failed the American people. In a stark departure from bipartisan precedent, Senate Republicans are seeking to prevent the Senate from fulfilling its obligation to review the full record of a nominee for a lifetime appointment to our nation's highest court. We must ask: What do Senate Republicans so badly want to hide? After Senate Republicans travelled to the White House to discuss what documents they should request, they decided the American people do n… Continue Reading
