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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
The #BudgetTruthSquad Fact Checks President Trump’s State Of The Union
Infrastructure: "I am asking both parties to come together to give us the safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure our economy needs and our people deserve….Together, we can reclaim our building heritage. We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land. And we will do it with American heart, American hands, and American grit." · One year after the President took office, he still has not sent Congress a detailed proposal f… Continue Reading
01.30.18
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To The President’s State Of The Union Message
Under this President, the State of our Union is suddenly tenuous, in many ways. President Trump can say he's for uniting instead of dividing the nation. He's said it before. But after a year of intensely divisive actions, petty insults and disgraceful race-baiting, those words ring hollow by now. Nor does doubling down on his broken promises to help struggling Americans sound as convincing as it once might have. The tens of billions of dollars that he wants taxpayers - not Mexico, as he p… Continue Reading
01.30.18
Statement Of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Need For A Bipartisan Agreement
The Fiscal Year began on October 1st of last year. Four months have passed-122 days-since the start of the Fiscal Year, and we still do not have a budget deal that will allow us to finish the FY 2018 Appropriations bills. Recently, President Trump has taken to Twitter accusing Democrats of holding up funding for our troops. The idea that Democrats are holding up defense spending does not pass the laugh test. Last July-nearly seven months ago-I called for bipartisan budget negotiations. I pu… Continue Reading
01.25.18
Leahy REAX To Trump Administration’s Imposition Of A Tariff That Will Punish U.S. Solar Energy Businesses & Workers
"This is a cynical, rash and shortsighted unilateral action. It will damage America's clean energy future, in Vermont and across the nation. Incredibly, the Trump Administration wants to hand new taxpayer subsidies to coal and nuclear, while slapping on new taxes - these tariffs - that hurt the thriving U.S. businesses that are installing solar equipment. They seemingly don't care about how this will hurt U.S. jobs in our domestic solar installation market. This could especially do real dama… Continue Reading
01.24.18
Leahy Committee Statement On The Nomination Of Michael Brennan to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
As the longest-serving member of the Senate and a former chairman of this Committee, I feel obligated to speak up about the steady erosion of this body's norms and traditions. Lately, unfortunately, I have had to speak up a lot. Once again, I am concerned that the blue slip tradition that Chairman Grassley steadfastly adhered to during the Obama administration is being further tarnished today. This is not a matter of a chairman choosing a blue slip policy that differs from my own. It is a m… Continue Reading
01.22.18
Comment Of Appropriations Vice Chair Patrick Leahy On His ‘No’ Vote On Cloture On The GOP Stop-Gap Spending Bill
"I'm relieved there is an end in sight to this Trump Shutdown. But Republican leaders and President Trump have left too much undone - from a bipartisan budget deal, to disaster relief, to community health centers, to the opioid crisis, to DACA. There are many pressing and unfinished priorities, and I cannot give my support to yet another short-term, stopgap measure that, yet again, keeps budget priorities on autopilot, without the ability to adjust for changing priorities since these budget le… Continue Reading
01.20.18
Senate Floor Address Saturday Afternoon By Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Leahy On The Trump Shutdown
Mr. President, months ago, President Donald Trump called for a government shutdown, and through his leadership of chaos and his inability to govern or keep his word, he got exactly what he wanted. Make no mistake, it is the Majority's responsibility to produce a bill to send to the President. If they cannot get 60 votes because they refuse to negotiate with Democrats, that is THEIR responsibility. All they needed was nine Democrats, and they could not get it done - in fact they lost four of … Continue Reading
01.18.18
Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Leahy Statement Opposing The Fourth Continuing Resolution
Mr. President, here we go again. In 1995, Republicans shut down our government - seeking to recklessly cut education programs and environmental programs and raise Medicare premiums on millions of senior citizens. In 2013, Republicans once again sought to strip the health care of millions of Americans by shutting down the government in a failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. An effort they continued this summer instead of negotiating a bipartisan budget deal that could have averte… Continue Reading
01.18.18
Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Leahy Announces His Opposition To The Fourth Continuing Resolution
Democrats have been ready and willing to negotiate a spending agreement since June. The House bill does not address the needs of our military, our veterans, or the opioid epidemic, and it does not protect the DREAMers. Instead of working on these important matters, congressional Republican leadership spent the last year overturning consumer protections, stripping health care from millions of Americans, and passing a massive tax cut for big corporations and wealthy Americans to be paid for by m… Continue Reading
01.17.18
Remarks of Senator Patrick Leahy At The Congressional Medal Ceremony For Senator Bob Dole
Bob, what a flood of memories come to the surface, to be here with you and Elizabeth. Marcelle and I feel blessed for the opportunities we've had to spend time with you both on so many occasions, but especially at your wedding reception. I've enjoyed and learned much from working with Senator Bob Dole, with Majority Leader Bob Dole, and with Republican Leader Bob Dole, beginning when I was a young member of the Senate. And as time went on, also as a not-so-young member of the Senate. Beyond … Continue Reading
01.17.18
Remarks Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Passing Of Tim O’Connor
The O'Connors have been friends since I was a young lawyer starting my practice. Tim had such a great sense of humor, especially when it involved the Irish. I told Martha this morning how I will miss him but that I'll look, every day, at the walking stick he brought me from Ireland. Marcelle and I remember so fondly the meals at their home, and how they cared for us and our children. His love of our state was matched by his devotion to his family. Tim lived his life with a commitment to m… Continue Reading
01.16.18
Leahy Statement On On S. 139, the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017
In about an hour, the members of this body will vote whether or not to cut off debate and block any amendments on a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation that fails to reform one of our most important surveillance tools. Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act was intended to provide for vast and powerful surveillance of foreigners overseas. And it does. But the fact that it is an effective surveillance tool used against foreigners abroad is not what you will hear concern about today. You… Continue Reading
01.16.18
Leahy, Rubio, Colleagues Urge DOJ To Require China-Controlled Media Operating in the U.S. To Register As Foreign Agents
U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) today led a bipartisan group of senators in urging Attorney General Jeff Sessions to detail the Department of Justice's (DOJ) efforts requiring Chinese state-controlled media outlets operating in the U.S. to register as foreign agents. All of the signatories serve on either the Senate Judiciary Committee, with jurisdiction over the Department of Justice and enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), or the Senate Select… Continue Reading
01.16.18
Leahy Plays Matchmaker, Arranging For Donation Of 25 U.S. Senate Surplus Computers To Vermont Classrooms
Senator Patrick Leahy has arranged for a shipment of 25 surplus computers to five Vermont Schools through the U.S. Senate's Computers for Schools programs. Overseen by the Senate's Sergeant At Arms, the program was established to offer surplus computers to classrooms across the country. Leahy worked with Vermont Agency of Education officials to identify Vermont schools with the highest needs for computers. They jointly identified five schools, which have now received five computers each. Don… Continue Reading
01.12.18
Guest Column from Appropriations Vice Chair Patrick Leahy, On The Budget Showdown
The Clock Is Ticking, And The People Are Watching Once again Congress finds itself lurching toward another manufactured made-in-Washington crisis. We are four months into a new fiscal year, and our government is still operating under last year's fixed funding levels with little flexibility to adapt to today's world. We have not reauthorized the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), putting the health care of 9 million children, including more than 4700 Vermont children, at risk. And 800,0… Continue Reading
01.12.18
Statement On Hector Timerman
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Hector Timerman January 12, 2018 On December 6, 2017, former Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman, along with former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and others, was indicted for "concealment." The judge responsible for the indictments accused the defendants of conspiring with Iran to undermine the criminal investigation of the 1994 attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and in… Continue Reading
01.12.18
Comment On The President’s Vulgar And Racially Charged Remarks In A White House Meeting On DACA And Immigration
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The President's Vulgar And Racially Charged Remarks In A White House Meeting On DACA And Immigration Jan. 11, 2018 "The President's vulgar remarks, and the sentiments they represent, were breathtakingly offensive. Worse, they displayed ignorance of American ideals, and of the strength we derive from E Pluribus Unum. This is not who we are." # # # # #… Continue Reading
01.12.18
The Clock Is Ticking, And The People Are Watching
Once again Congress finds itself lurching toward another manufactured made-in-Washington crisis. We are four months into a new fiscal year, and our government is still operating under last year's fixed funding levels with little flexibility to adapt to today's world. We have not reauthorized the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), putting the health care of 9 million children, including more than 4700 Vermont children, at risk. And 800,000 DREAMers live under a cloud of uncertainty an… Continue Reading
01.12.18
Sen. Leahy & Gov. Scott: Leahy And Scott Make Joint Recommendation For Vermont’s Next U.S. Marshal
NEWS from Senator Leahy and Governor Scott Senator Leahy And Governor Scott Make Joint Recommendation For Vermont's Next U.S. Marshal (FRIDAY, Jan. 12, 2018) -- U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Vermont Governor Phil Scott (R) have recommended Essex Police Chief Brad LaRose to President Trump to be Vermont's next U.S. Marshal. >If nominated and confirmed, LaRose would oversee all U.S. Marshals Service operations in Vermont. With offices in Burlington, Rutland, and Brattleboro, the Mar… Continue Reading
01.11.18
Lee And Leahy: Joint Statement On The Senate’s Upcoming Debate On FISA Sec. 702, And Their USA Liberty Act Reforms
Today the House of Representatives passed the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017, by a vote of 256 to 167. The bill would reauthorize Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. The House also rejected an amendment offered by Congressman Amash (R-Mich.) -- by a vote of 233 to 183 - which would have provided an overhaul of Section 702 with reforms intended to protect Americans' privacy rights. Statutory authorization for Section 702 will expire after January 19, 2018. Following is the jo… Continue Reading
