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Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
PROJECTED IMPACTS OF A TRUMP SHUTDOWN
More Than 420,000 Will Be Working Without Pay Including: More than 41,000 Federal Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers, Including: 2,614 ATF agents; 16,742 Bureau of Prisons correctional officers; 13,709 FBI agents; 3,600 deputy U.S. Marshals; and 4,399 DEA agents. Up To 88 Percent Of Department of Homeland Security Employees, Including: 53,000 TSA Employees; 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and customs offers; 42,000 Coast Guard employees As many as 5,000 Fo… Continue Reading
12.12.18
Senate & House Lawmakers Release Updated First Step Act
A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers today released revised text of the First Step Act to continue building support for criminal justice reform. This update was brokered by the White House and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in both chambers of Congress. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan have pledged to take up the revised package before the end of the year. "Over the last several years, we've expanded support for comprehensive criminal justice reform by listening to s… Continue Reading
12.12.18
Leahy Statement On The Senate's Passage Of The Reciprocal Access To Tibet Act
Mr. President, this evening the Senate unanimously passed the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018. I was one of the earliest cosponsors of this bill, and I strongly support it. For far too long, the Chinese government has tightly restricted access to Tibet, preventing U.S. diplomats and journalists from reporting on the systematic human rights abuses and destruction of Tibetan culture perpetrated by the Chinese government, and arbitrarily preventing Tibetan-Americans from visiting their fam… Continue Reading
12.12.18
Statement Of Appropriations Vice Chair Patrick Leahy On The Fearmongering Falsehoods Fueling President Trump's Fixation On The Wall: A REALITY CHECK
If Americans had any doubt that President Trump is fixated on wasting billions of dollars to wall off our 2,000 mile southern border, all they had to do was watch his jaw-dropping press conference yesterday, demanding another $5 billion of their hard earned tax dollars for his political pet project that he promised Mexico would pay for. Using words I never thought I would hear from a President, he boasted he would be, "proud to shut down the government" if Congress doesn't meet his funding dema… Continue Reading
12.11.18
Leahy Hails Senate Passage Of Five-Year Farm Bill
The U.S. Senate late Tuesday passed a new five-year Farm Bill that includes significant wins for Vermont families, dairy, organic and hemp farms, and the state's rural communities. As a member of the conference committee that negotiated the bill, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) played a central role in shaping the final provisions that are vital to Vermont's economy, farmers, working landscape, the food and nutrition of Vermont's families, and the economic vitality of rural communities throughout… Continue Reading
12.07.18
Following Washington Post Report, Leahy And Other Senators Reiterate Calls For Full Disclosure Of Trump-Saudi Business Ties
A group of 11 Democratic senators, including Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Friday renewed their call for President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization to disclose any financial ties between the Trump Organization and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, following a Washington Post report that lobbyists representing the Saudi government paid for 500 rooms at the Trump D.C. hotel shortly after President Trump's election. Last month, after the Saudi-led killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, U.S. S… Continue Reading
12.06.18
Leahy Helps Vermont Score A Major $20 Million Investment In Rail Infrastructure
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Thursday that the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) will receive a $20 million federal award from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program. The funding will support the rehabilitation or replacement of 31 rail bridges along 53 miles of the Vermont Railway. The work will be done on the southern section of the state-owned rail line that runs in Vermont between Rutland an… Continue Reading
12.06.18
Shaheen & Leahy Bill To Support Small Businesses With National Guard And Military Reservists Passes Senate
U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following statements after their legislation to support small businesses with National Guard and Military Reservists unanimously passed the Senate on Thursday. The National Guard and Reserve Entrepreneurship Act will assist small businesses when essential employees, including small business owners, are called up as part of National Guard or Reservist duties, by improving existing loan and deferral programs of the Small B… Continue Reading
12.04.18
Senators Press Justice Department on Whitaker, Benczkowski Conflicts of Interest
Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Kamala Harris (D-CA) asked the Department of Justice today to detail its handling of the serious financial, professional, and political conflicts of interest of Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Brian… Continue Reading
12.01.18
Comments Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Passing Of Former President George H.W. Bush
He was the last President of the Greatest Generation, and he leaves a lasting legacy of true and meaningful public service. While we had our share of differences over policy, his decency, his civility and his humility have never been a more important example to the nation than they are today. He skillfully steered our country after the collapse of the Soviet Union. His legacy includes working with many of us in enacting the Americans With Disabilities Act, a far-reaching civil rights achieve… Continue Reading
11.30.18
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To The Verdicts In The First Berta Caceres Murder Trial
"Berta Caceres, a widely known and respected Honduran indigenous environmental activist, was disparaged, threatened, targeted, and ultimately murdered in her home by assassins more than two and a half years ago. Since then, we have witnessed an attempted cover-up by the Honduran police, an investigation fraught with irregularities, including reports of cell phone and ballistics evidence not analyzed, and a trial laden with delays involving eight defendants who almost certainly do not include th… Continue Reading
11.30.18
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Probe In Argentina Of Mohammed bin Salman
The ongoing probe by Argentine authorities into the criminal responsibility of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for alleged war crimes in Yemen and the torture of Saudi citizens sends a powerful message to victims that justice is possible, and that those responsible for the gravest crimes may eventually be held accountable. On November 26th, Human Rights Watch filed a petition before an Argentine federal prosecutor with information on several cases of Saudi citizens tortured in government… Continue Reading
11.29.18
Senate Floor Address Of Sen. Patrick Leahy, On Threats To Journalists, And Defending Press Freedom
In the 44 years I have served in the Senate, I have never been so concerned about the state of press freedom around the world, including, I deeply regret to say, in our own country. I was brought up in a family that owned a weekly newspaper and owned a printing business. The First Amendment was the most important part of our Constitution because it promised the freedom of speech and it promised the diversity of religion, and that Amendment was the foundation of our democracy. Yet the premedita… Continue Reading
11.29.18
Full Congressional Record Statement Thursday Of Sen. Patrick Leahy, On The Senate Resolution On Yemen And Saudi Arabia
Mr. President, I hope the Saudi royal family was paying attention to yesterday's debate in the United States Senate. The bipartisan vote on Senate Joint Resolution 54, introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy, of which I am a cosponsor, was significant for multiple reasons, but most of all for what it says about the potency of the outrage and disgust in this country and in the Congress about the conduct of Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince. That outrage has … Continue Reading
11.28.18
Spaulding High School
On November 28, 2018, Senator Leahy continued his series of online chats with Vermont students - this time, with Spaulding High School's 11th and 12th grade AP U.S. Government class, taught by Ms. Katie Saint Raymond. He enjoyed answering their questions about Vermont's priorities and communities and what he expects the Senate to do during the 116th Congress. Senator Leahy also discussed the important role that bipartisanship plays in the passage of pieces of legislations and appropriations bi… Continue Reading
11.28.18
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy On the Confirmation Vote of Thomas Alvin Farr To the Eastern District of North Carolina
Our constitutional obligation as Senators is to provide advice and informed consent to a President's nominees. I do my best to scrutinize each nominee on the merits, regardless of party, and decide whether they deserve a lifetime appointment to our esteemed federal bench. And during my 44 years in the Senate, I have voted for more Republican nominated judges than almost all Republican Senators in this body today. The simple fact is, given his track record of working to systematically dismantl… Continue Reading
11.27.18
Statement of Vermont’s Congressional Delegation In Response to Swanton Sector Border Patrol’s Planned Immigration Checkpoints
In a joint statement, Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Representative Peter Welch (D) said: "While we sincerely appreciate the work of the U.S. Border Patrol in keeping our country safe along the Northern Border through their actions to interdict dangerous criminal behavior such as human trafficking, we are concerned to learn of the U.S. Border Patrol's plans to operate a number of immigration checkpoints in the interior of Vermont. While these checkpoints will cause n… Continue Reading
11.21.18
Leahy Statement On Forest Management Provisions In The Farm Bill, And The California Wildfires
"It is outrageous that House Republicans and the Trump Administration are continuing to hold up the Farm Bill negotiations over harmful and extreme forestry provisions. Secretaries Perdue and Zinke shockingly are trying to co-opt the terrible tragedies in California to push for the Trump Administration's crass, cynical and unaccountable logging of the public's national forests. "Both have failed to mention that Congress, in March of this year, a mere eight months ago, already provided both of … Continue Reading
11.16.18
Portman And Leahy Introduce Second Chance Reauthorization Act To Reduce Recidivism And Help Ex-Offenders, As Congress Considers Criminal Justice Reform
As Sentencing Reform Moves To Congress's Front Burner In The Post-Election Lame Duck Session- Portman And Leahy Introduce Second Chance Reauthorization Act To Reduce Recidivism And Help Ex-Offenders, As Congress Considers Criminal Justice Reform … Program Has Helped Vermont Achieve A Steady And Dramatic Reduction In Incarceration Numbers WASHINGTON (FRIDAY, Nov. 16, 2018) - U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Thursday introduced their Second Chance Reauthori… Continue Reading
11.15.18
Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Nom. Of Retired Essex Police Chief Brad LaRose To Be Vermont’s Next U.S. Marshal
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday advanced the nomination of retired Essex Police Chief Brad LaRose to be Vermont's next U.S. Marshal. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Governor Phil Scott (R) had jointly recommended LaRose to President Trump in January to fill the vacancy, and the President nominated him in June. The nomination now goes to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Once confirmed by the full Senate, LaRose will oversee all U.S. Marshals Service operations in Vermont… Continue Reading
