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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Reaction Of Appropriations Vice Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To The House-Passed Tax Bill
The House has passed a hodge-podge collection of broken promises to middle class Americans. Republican leaders and President Trump promised to close loopholes for large corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay for lowering their tax rates. Instead, their tax rates would be cut, and the loopholes remain, meaning even lower effective tax rates for the wealthy, while exploding the federal debt. Vermonters would pay more by losing deductions for state and local taxes, by losing deductio… Continue Reading
11.16.17
Leahy Statement On The National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report
The Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, while laudable in its goals, does not comport with reality. At roughly $700 billion, the proposed base funding in this bill is $85 billion above budget caps that are set in law for fiscal year 2018 in the Budget Control Act (BCA), and $31 billion above the administration's budget request. If the authorized funding level were to be appropriated, without changing the caps, it would trigger a 12 percent across-the-board sequester of defense… Continue Reading
11.15.17
Leahy Slams Attorney General Sessions For Threatening Public Safety Funding To Burlington And The State Of Vermont, Over The Trump Administration’s Misguided Anti-Immigrant Policies
[(WEDNESDAY, Nov. 15, 2017) - This afternoon (Wednesday), Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Justice Department notified the State of Vermont and the City of Burlington that the Department believes they have laws, policies or practices that violate 8 U.S.C. 1373, a federal statute that promotes information-sharing related to immigration enforcement. In all, the Department cited 29 jurisdictions, sometimes derided as "sanctuary cities," that are being threatened with the withholding of funds. Spec… Continue Reading
11.15.17
Appropriations Vice Chairman Leahy Statement At Hearing On VA Efforts To Prevent And Combat Opioid Over Medication
The opioid epidemic has reached every state - every community - in the country. It is impacting sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, friends and coworkers. And it is impacting our veterans and servicemembers. We have for over 16 years of war asked members of the active and reserve components to serve an unprecedented numbers of deployments, leaving too many veterans broken and in pain. When we needed these brave men and women to return to battle, it was too easy to prescribe opioids for … Continue Reading
11.14.17
Leahy Introduces The Consumer Privacy Protection Act
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), joined by six other senators, Tuesday introduced comprehensive consumer privacy legislation to protect Americans' sensitive personal information against cyberattacks and to ensure timely notification and protection when data is breached. Leahy's Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017 would require companies to take preventive steps to defend against cyberattacks and data breaches, and to quickly provide consumers with notice and appropriate protection when a data… Continue Reading
11.14.17
Leahy Statement On the Introduction of the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017
Today, I am introducing the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017. This legislation, if enacted, will help ensure that when Americans entrust corporations with their most sensitive personal information, these corporations take the right steps to keep this information secure, and do the right thing in the event of a data breach. In today's modern world, data security is no longer just about protecting our identities and our bank accounts; it is about protecting our privacy and even our nation… Continue Reading
11.13.17
Leahy Statement On the Attorney General’s Russia-related testimony before the Senate
Over the past 10 months, the Attorney General has testified before the Senate on three occasions about his knowledge of and contacts with Russian operatives. He also answered written questions and provided additional supplemental testimony. But he still has not gotten his story straight. On numerous occasions, new disclosures of his communications involving Russia have raised serious doubts about his testimony. And not one of these disclosures has come from the Attorney General; all have com… Continue Reading
11.09.17
Senate Confirms Senator Leahy’s And Governor Scott’s Recommendation For Vermont’s Next U.S. Attorney, Christina Nolan
The U.S. Senate Thursday night unanimously confirmed Christina Nolan to be Vermont's next U.S. Attorney, following the recommendation of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and Vermont Governor Phil Scott (R). Ms. Nolan was nominated less than two months ago by President Trump, and she is one of only two U.S. Attorney nominees to be confirmed in states with Democratic Senators and is also one of only two women to be confirmed as U.S. Attorneys in this Congress. Leahy is a leading member of the Senate J… Continue Reading
11.09.17
Leahy: No Tax Breaks For Corporate Misconduct
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Thursday reintroduced legislation to close a tax loophole that allows corporations to write off the punishment they receive for egregious wrongdoing as an "ordinary" business expense. Punitive damages are imposed rarely, and only on bad actors whose reckless misconduct resulted in extreme consequences - and usually great harm to peoples' lives. Such damages are intended to impose a punishment on the wrongdoer so that more responsible decisions will be made in the fut… Continue Reading
11.08.17
Leahy And Lee REAX To House Judiciary Approval Of Key Reforms To Section 702 Surveillance Authorities
[On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee reported the USA Liberty Act, sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), and by Crime Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). The legislation, which reauthorizes and reforms Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act, was approved by a vote of 27-8 and will now be reported to the House Floor. … Continue Reading
11.08.17
Leahy’s Bulletproof Vest Program Awards Grants To 34 Vermont Communities To Help Equip Law Enforcement Officers With 280 More Lifesaving Vests
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday announced that 34 Vermont law enforcement agencies will receive federal funding to help purchase a total of 280 lifesaving protective vests. The FY 2017 funding, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, is made possible under the Leahy-authored Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Program. With these most recent awards, Vermont agencies to date have received more than $1 million to help purchase nearly 4,800 vests. Leahy said: "In Vermont and acros… Continue Reading
11.08.17
BREAKING: Leahy REAX To New Treasury Dept. Regs. Restricting Travel & Transactions By American Citizens In Cuba
"These new regulations are reminiscent of the Cold War and what one would expect of a paranoid totalitarian government, not a democracy like ours. "The hypocrisy of the White House ideologues is glaring. It is stunning. On a day when President Trump and members of his Cabinet are feted in Beijing by the world's most repressive, nuclear-armed communist government, in a country to which Americans can travel freely, his Treasury Department releases onerous and petty restrictions on what private … Continue Reading
11.07.17
Leahy Leads Senators Urging Senate Finance Committee To Reject Tax Changes To 401(k)’s
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday led a group of Senate Democrats in calling on the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee to reject changes to the tax system that would harm existing tax incentives for Americans to save for retirement. The letter comes as Senate Republicans are poised to release their own version of tax reform legislation later this week. Senate Republicans may be considering making changes to the incentives Americans enjoy for retirement, specifically by adopting so-… Continue Reading
11.02.17
Leahy: AG Sessions Must Return To Judiciary Committee For Under-Oath Testimony To Address New Revelations
[On Monday, unsealed court records revealed that George Papadopoulos - former foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign - pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about interactions with Russian agents during the 2016 campaign. Court documents show that there was a March 31, 2016, "national security meeting" in Washington, D.C., involving candidate Trump and other advisors, where Papadopoulos explained that he had connections to the Russian government and he offered to "help arrange a meeting betw… Continue Reading
11.02.17
Leahy REAX On The Closed-Door GOP Tax Plan And The Frantic Rush To Pass It Without Hearings
"Republicans are repeating the same mistakes they made with health care. It's the same old playbook: jam through a bill, cobbled together in a back room, that sticks it to hard-working Americans. "Republicans are desperately seeking a 'win' in Congress, but this one would only come at great cost to the American people. "What House Republican leaders released is a hugely complex bill, with hundreds of pages of fine print, written behind closed doors. House leaders, at President Trump's tweet… Continue Reading
11.02.17
Leahy REAX On Withdrawal Of The Clovis Nom. To USDA’s Top Science Post; Leahy Is A Leading Member Of the Agriculture
"Sam Clovis was almost a comically bad nominee, even for this administration. He is inarguably unqualified, and he is wrong on almost every major issue relevant to the chief scientist post to which he was nominated. His nomination is all too typical of the anti-science agenda and the know-nothingism pushed by President Trump and his administration. But President Trump already knew that when he nominated Mr. Clovis, and that is not why his nomination was abruptly pulled today. Not because of … Continue Reading
11.01.17
Leahy Announces $7.4 Million in Federal Funding To Support Victim Service Programs in Vermont
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has announced that Vermont organizations will receive 10 grants totaling more than $7.4 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to support crime victims and to strengthen services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. As a former prosecutor and as the Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Leahy has long led efforts to protect funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), the two federal pro… Continue Reading
11.01.17
Senate Last Night Passes Resolution By Leahy And Cruz Calling For Iran’s Release Of Unjustly Imprisoned Americans
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy issued the following statement on the Senate's passage Tuesday night of their bipartisan resolution calling on the Government of Iran to release all unjustly detained American citizens and legal permanent residents, including Siamak Namazi, Baquer Namazi, Xiyue Wang and Nizar Zakka, and to return Robert Levinson. "For years the Iranian regime has brutally detained and imprisoned Americans and dual-nationals as a matter of policy, in an… Continue Reading
10.31.17
10 Senators Led By Leahy Ask President To Abstain In Tomorrow’s UN General Assembly Vote On The Failed 55-Year U.S. Embargo Of Cuba
With the UN General Assembly tomorrow (Wednesday) scheduled to take up a periodic resolution calling for an end to the 55-year-old U.S. embargo on Cuba, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has headed a letter, signed also by nine other senators, urging that the United States abstain on the vote, as the United States did last year. The letter is available at this LINK: https://www.leahy.senate.gov/download/cuban-embargo-letter… Continue Reading
10.31.17
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To The Report Of The Independent Team Of Experts Investigating The Assassination Of Berta Caceres In Honduras
"This damning report corroborates what many have suspected -- that the investigation of Berta Caceres' murder has been plagued by incompetence, attempts to stonewall and deflect blame to protect those who conceived of and paid for this plot, and a glaring lack of political will. The Public Ministry needs to fully disclose, without further delay, all testimony and electronic and ballistics evidence to the Caceres family's legal representatives and defendants' lawyers, as required by law. The Mi… Continue Reading
