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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Leahy, Sanders, Welch: USDA Makes $8.5 M. Investment In WINOOSKI Main Street Revitalization
(TUESDAY, Sept. 25, 2018) -- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development has awarded the City of Winooski a package of loans and grants totaling more than $8.5 million for upgrades to the City's drinking water and wastewater systems. The infrastructure upgrades are a key element in the City's vision to undertake a $23 million effort to revitalize Main Street north of downtown. The… Continue Reading
09.22.18
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To Senate Republicans' Unilateral Rejection Of Dr. Blasey Ford’s Offer To Testify On Thursday
Unwilling to wait until Thursday to allow Dr. Blasey Ford a chance to share her story with the American people, Senate Republicans are threatening to hold a vote on Monday without a single minute of testimony on the allegation of sexual assault. By blocking both an FBI investigation and a hearing where all three witnesses present during the assault could answer questions under oath, the Senate will fail in its duty to the American people. Why this headlong, heedless rush? What are Senate Republ… Continue Reading
09.21.18
Senators Secure Commitment From NARA, CIA, DOJ To Produce Kavanaugh Documents
On Friday, in response to a request by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Kamala Harris (D-CA), Judge Randolph Moss ordered the National Archives, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of Justice to begin immediate negotiations on a schedule for releasing records involving Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. "We are very pleased to have secured a commitment from these fe… Continue Reading
09.21.18
Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) REAX To President Trump Signing The Appropriations “Minibus 1” Bill
"This bill is the product of a bipartisan agreement among Chairman Shelby, Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer and myself. It is free of partisan policy riders, has broad bipartisan support, and it complies with the Bipartisan Budget Agreement reached in February. This is a successful framework that we should continue to follow to complete the remaining nine appropriations bills to ensure the Government of the American people stays open for business. I am glad that President Trump signed onto ou… Continue Reading
09.21.18
Vermont Receives $4 Million Through Leahy-Led Program To Address The Opioid Crisis
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Friday announced that the Vermont State Agency of Human Services is receiving $4,020,896 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The funding is part of the State Opioid Response Grant program created as part of the Leahy-negotiated 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act signed into law this spring. Vermont's $4 million grant is a direct result of language that Leahy fought for in the… Continue Reading
09.21.18
Leahy And Other Senators Expand Lawsuit For Hidden Kavanaugh Documents, To Include The Department of Justice
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), joined by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senators Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Kamala Harris (D-CA), expanded their lawsuit to compel the release of records involving Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh to include documents held by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Earlier this week, the senators asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to order the National Archives and the CIA to… Continue Reading
09.20.18
Judiciary Committee Democrats Ask Immediate FBI Action To Investigate Alleged Crimes Against Dr. Christine Blasey Ford
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Thursday led a letter, joined by all Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asking the Federal Bureau of Investigation to take immediate action and investigate potential federal crimes being committed against Dr. Christine Blasey Ford since it was disclosed that she alleged Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her years ago. In the letter, the senators said: "We are increasingly concerned by reports of alleged death threats against her, the hack… Continue Reading
09.20.18
Leahy-Led Funding Nets $1.45 Million For Vermont Maple Research And Education
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Thursday announced $1,448,371 in grants to the University of Vermont and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets to expand market opportunities and support research and education in the maple industry. Vermont's three grants, awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Acer Access and Development Program (Acer) account for more than half of the grants awarded nationally this year. Leahy is the Vice Chairman of … Continue Reading
09.19.18
Delegation Announces Nearly $1 Million in Grants for Vermont’s First Responders
Vermont's congressional delegation announced on Wednesday that firefighters throughout Vermont have received $991,958 through nine federal grants. The awards are part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, which helps fire departments and fire academies purchase critically needed equipment to better protect the public and first responders. This year's grants will help buy a range of equipment, including air packs, vehicle extrication tools a… Continue Reading
09.19.18
Leahy Secures New Funding For LIHEAP
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced $3.69 billion in funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, better known as LIHEAP. The LIHEAP funding is in a package of appropriations bills passed by the Senate on Tuesday, thwarting President Trump's repeated efforts to eliminate a program thousands of Vermonters rely on to heat their homes during the cold New England winters. The appropriations package - which has already been t… Continue Reading
09.18.18
Latest Major Appropriations Progress: Statement Of Appropriations Vice Chair Leahy As Senate Passes The Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, And Education Appropriations Conference Report
[The Senate passed this Appropriations package this afternoon, in an overwhelming and bipartisan vote of 97 to 3. It is the latest in the unbroken string of successes that Leahy, as Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the committee's chairman, have had in their partnership this year to fix an Appropriations process that has been broken for more than a decade. This bill, passed by the Senate today, and expected to be passed by the House and signed… Continue Reading
09.18.18
Leahy Champions Fight Against Opioids In Senate-Passed Appropriations Bill
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) led the fight against the opioid epidemic in another Senate-passed appropriations bill Tuesday, securing $3.78 billion in funding to address the opioid crisis and mental health, an increase of $2.7 billion over fiscal year 2017. The appropriations bill passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support in a vote of 93 to 7 and is on track to be signed into law by the end of the month. The bill contains Leahy-authored provision t… Continue Reading
09.18.18
Blumenthal, Jones & Leahy Question McGahn's Knowledge Of Sexual Assault Allegations Against Kavanaugh
Today, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Doug Jones (D-AL), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) wrote White House Counsel Don McGahn seeking information about his knowledge of sexual assault and attempted rape allegations against Judge Kavanaugh before they became public last week. "Based on your unique role in choosing and vetting judicial nominees for the administration and shepherding Judge Kavanaugh through the Supreme Court nominations process, we have questions about your knowledge surroundin… Continue Reading
09.18.18
Feinstein, Leahy And Other Judiciary Committee Democrats To Chairman Grassley: Don’t Repeat Past Mistakes
All ten Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Tuesday outlined ways in which Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is upending the investigation and public hearing into Dr. Blasey Ford's allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault: The senators wrote: "Now, just two days after Dr. Blasey Ford shared her story with the public, Republicans are again rushing forward with a hearing within a week. This time, they are doing so without d… Continue Reading
09.18.18
Under Leahy-Led Appropriations Legislation, Taxpayer-Funded Congressional Research Service Reports Are Publicly Available Today, For The First Time
(TUESDAY, Sept. 18, 2018) - Widely hailed as a key victory for transparency and open access to information, Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports will be made freely available to the public for the first time beginning Tuesday. The change in policy was directed by appropriations provisions authored by Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). The Leahy legislation was signed into law in March. A legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS issues … Continue Reading
09.18.18
REAX of Appropriations Vice Chair Patrick Leahy To Guatemalan Govt’s Request That UN SecGen Propose A Replacement For The CICIG Commissioner
"The Constitutional Court of Guatemala has rightly rejected attempts by President Morales to summarily expel the CICIG Commissioner. For a public official to remove an international prosecutor who, jointly with the Attorney General, has initiated a criminal investigation against that official, threatens the judicial process. Absent a showing of misconduct, such interference would undermine the office of the Commissioner and deter future prosecutors from carrying out their responsibilities inde… Continue Reading
09.17.18
REAX Of Senator Leahy To The Trump Administration's Announcement Of The Lowest Number Of Refugees To Be Admitted In U.S. History
"In so many ways, this White House has shown a particular contempt for the world's most vulnerable people seeking refuge from persecution and war. What previous Republican and Democratic administrations believed was a moral responsibility - and a way to demonstrate that unmatched American power is derived in part from how we treat the powerless among us - the Trump administration shamelessly treats as a burden to be callously discarded. "As disheartening as this abdication of leadership is, s… Continue Reading
09.17.18
Judiciary Committee Democrats (including Senator Leahy): Reopen Kavanaugh FBI Background Investigatio
All 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today urged White House Counsel Don McGahn to request that the FBI reopen Brett Kavanaugh's background investigation. The senators wrote: "It is our understanding that the FBI conducts background investigations of nominees at the White House's request. Accordingly, the President can request an appropriate follow-up, even after a background investigation may be closed. We ask that the President immediately do so here." Full text of the… Continue Reading
09.17.18
Leahy And Other Senators File Suit For Hidden Kavanaugh Documents
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), joined by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and others, are filing a lawsuit to compel the National Archives and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to release all records involving Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his time as an associate in the White House Counsel's office and as White House Staff Secretary. The senators are represented in this effort by American Oversight, a nonpartisan ethics and accountability watchdog. Also joining the l… Continue Reading
09.17.18
BREAKING: Comment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), On Judiciary Committee Democrats Demanding That Kavanaugh Vote Be Postponed Due To New Allegations
Dr. Ford has shown courage and deserves to be heard, to be treated with respect, and to have her detailed allegations evaluated by professionals trained on trauma-informed investigations. The integrity of our nation's highest court is on the line. We cannot brush aside these extraordinarily serious allegations in an unseemly rush to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to a lifetime seat. Unimpeachable integrity must never be in doubt. I join my fellow Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee to d… Continue Reading
