Press Room
Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Statement On The Tenth Anniversary Of The Massacre at Ahuas, Honduras
Mr. LEAHY. Ten years ago today a joint counter-narcotics team of Honduran security agents and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers opened fire on a water taxi as it approached Ahuas, a small town located in the remote Mosquitia region of northeastern Honduras. The canoe-like taxi was carrying families traveling between the indigenous Miskito villages that populate the shores of the Patuca River when it was shot at repeatedly by the counter-narcotics officers, leaving two women… Continue Reading
05.11.22
Comment On The Women’s Health Protection Act
This is a debate about the Women's Health Protection Act. Protecting women's health. Protecting half America's population in their right to seek the health care they require. Protecting their ability, half of America, to make decisions about their own bodies. How is this a question even up for debate? Today the Senate considers the Women's Health Protection Act. A woman's right to make choices about her own body is a constitutional right. It was affirmed by the Supreme Court nearly 50 yea… Continue Reading
05.10.22
REAX On House Passage Of The Emergency Supplemental For Ukraine And Global Food Aid
After weeks of negotiations, I am glad that tonight the House passed the emergency supplemental funding bill to provide emergency humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. Importantly, this supplemental also begins to address the escalating global hunger crisis that is trailing in the wake of Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war. The bill provides $40.1 billion - $7.1 billion more than what the Administration requested - in critical military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine. This includes $… Continue Reading
05.05.22
Bipartisan NOPEC Bill Backed By Leahy Is OKd By The Senate Judiciary Committee
(THURSDAY, May 5, 2022) - Bipartisan legislation backed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to crack down on anticompetitive behavior by foreign oil producing nations advanced Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill now goes to the full Senate. The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, or NOPEC, will let the federal government take action against price fixing by OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and its partner nations. The bill is sponsored by Senator Ch… Continue Reading
05.04.22
Senator Leahy Meets Vermont Olympians
(WEDNESDAY, May 4, 2022) - U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) was able to meet with several of Vermont's Olympic and Paralympic athletes Tuesday when they visited the U.S. Capitol. "It was a pleasure to have a chance to meet our Vermont Olympians and Paralympians in person. I am proud of the hard work, dedication and sportsmanship each of them has exhibited while representing Vermont on the international stage," Leahy said. The athletes visiting the Capitol were: Elle Purrier St. Pierre, B… Continue Reading
05.03.22
Comment On News That The Supreme Court May Be Poised To Overturn Roe v. Wade
"I was deeply concerned, and saddened, to read reports that a narrow majority on the Supreme Court may be poised to overturn the landmark decision Roe v. Wade. If the reporting is correct, the Supreme Court could send us tumbling backward in time, stripping away a bedrock constitutional right that has granted women autonomy over their bodies and health for nearly five decades. "Our independent federal judiciary is a crown jewel of our American system of government. It is the envy of the wor… Continue Reading
04.29.22
Comment On The Deployment Of The 158th Fighter Wing Of The Vermont Air National Guard To Europe
"Marcelle and I extend our prayers and well-wishes to members of our Vermont Air National Guard and their families on this deployment to Europe. The nation has called on you in a time of need to provide our NATO allies with reassurance that the United States will stand side-by-side with them to prevent threats to their homes. You were called because you can be counted on to provide the highest level of professionalism and service. All Vermonters are also grateful to and proud of the families … Continue Reading
04.25.22
Joint Meeting Of The Vermont Legislature And The State’s Other Top Leaders Surprise Senator Leahy With A Tribute To His Years Of Service To Vermont
MONTPELIER -- On Wednesday, April 20, both houses of the Vermont General Assembly all gathered together in the House Chamber with Governor Phil Scott (R) and Lt. Governor Molly Gray (D), for the first such assembly since before the pandemic, to surprise U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) with an official resolution and to warmly express recognition of all he has done for Vermont during his 48 years of service in the U.S. Senate. Leahy late last year announced that this will be his last term, whi… Continue Reading
04.11.22
Comment On President Biden’s Nomination Of Steve Dettelbach To Serve As Director Of ATF
I commend President Biden for nominating Steve Dettelbach to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The Bureau is in urgent need of a permanent director, and Steve Dettelbach is the leader it needs. I know Steve. I have worked with Steve. He has an extraordinary set of skills and experiences that will allow him to excel as the Director of the ATF. Steve spent seven years as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, a position to which he was un… Continue Reading
04.08.22
Ahead Of U.S.-Honduras Strategic Dialogue, Kaine & Leahy Push State Dept. To Urge New Honduran Government To Ramp Up Its Anticorruption Efforts
Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine - Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues - and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), President Pro Tempore and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter pushing the U.S. Department of State to urge Honduran President Xiomara Castro's Administration to ensure the new anticorruption commission in Honduras is empowered to ro… Continue Reading
04.07.22
Statement On Russian Landmines
Mr. LEAHY. Among the many barbaric atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine where civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools, and apartment buildings have been repeatedly bombed and shelled and countless civilians have been summarily executed in the streets, The New York Times reports today that the Russians are using a new kind of landmine. This mine, called the POM-3, is inherently indiscriminate like other mines in that it cannot distinguish between a civilian and a com… Continue Reading
04.07.22
Statement On The Confirmation Of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson To Be A Justice Of The United States Supreme Court
Today is an historic one. Today, each member of the Senate will have the opportunity to cast a vote on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Throughout our Nation's history, only 115 people have served on the Supreme Court. Until now, only five of them were women. Only two of them have been Black. And none of them has been a Black woman. History indeed. And long overdue. But I will not cast my vote in support of Judge… Continue Reading
04.04.22
Statement On Landmine Awareness Day
Mr. LEAHY. Sixteen years ago the United Nations General Assembly designated April 4th as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Today I am introducing a Senate Resolution recognizing that designation and reaffirming United States leadership in eliminating landmines and unexploded ordnance. As we read the reports of withdrawing Russian troops leaving landmines to terrorize, maim, and kill Ukrainian civilians, we are reminded of the necessity to redouble our eff… Continue Reading
04.04.22
Statement On The Bipartisan Agreement For Additional COVID Aid
I am glad that we have reached a bipartisan agreement to provide $10 billion in desperately needed funding to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Through great personal sacrifice by the American people, in particular our many brave healthcare workers, and an unprecedented mobilization of federal resources, we are slowly returning to a sense of "normal." But this pandemic is far from over. This needed funding will allow us to purchase additional vaccines, testing, therapeutics and treatment… Continue Reading
04.04.22
Statement On The Senate Judiciary Committee Vote To Advance Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Nomination To The United States Supreme Court
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will undertake one of its most consequential duties: to consider and vote whether to advance a nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Before us is a nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who embodies the highest ideals of our judiciary and the legal profession. During the confirmation proceedings, she put on a master class about what it means to be an independent, fair-minded Justice. Her grace, intellect, temperament and wit are exactly what America… Continue Reading
03.30.22
Comment On The Passing Of Sister Janice Ryan
"Sister Janice was a force of nature. She was a human dynamo. She made it her job to make policymakers uncomfortable as her way to achieving real change to help those who struggle. And indeed she made a real difference. The world is a better place for her selfless advocacy for others. I always felt a further connection to her when her namesake niece joined my staff several years ago. "Marcelle and I went to be with her last weekend, as the end was near. We were so moved to be with her one… Continue Reading
03.29.22
Senator Leahy Applauds Change In Organic Origin Of Livestock Rule
(TUESDAY, March 29, 2022) - U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday thanked USDA for making a key change in the rules for organic livestock, long requested by small dairy producers. Leahy said: "For far too long, large producers have been able to skirt the rules regarding organic livestock, 'transitioning' livestock to organic every year after raising them conventionally. This rule will end that practice and help level the playing field between large and small organic producers." When a f… Continue Reading
03.29.22
Remarks At Organic Trade Association’s Organic Week Conference
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is recognized as the 'father' of the national organic standards and labeling program, as author and chief sponsor of the federal law that created the system in 1990. This charter and its rules and the organic label, which are followed by farmers and trusted by consumers, have led to what is now the multi-billion-dollar organic foods industry. It is another of the 'born in Vermont' ideas that Leahy has taken to Capitol Hill to then expand to the rest of the nation.… Continue Reading
03.28.22
Statement On President Biden’s Budget Proposal
Earlier this month, President Biden laid out his vision for our country at the State of the Union by prioritizing investments in education, health care, growing the workforce, and building our economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. He rejected isolationism, and called for rebuilding partnerships with foreign allies and partners and projecting U.S. global leadership consistent with our values. Today's budget is a reflection of those priorities. It makes investment… Continue Reading
03.21.22
Sanders, Leahy, Welch Call On Sciolex CEO To Engage Fairly With Workers At Vermont Service Center For Citizenship And Immigration
(MONDAY, March 21, 2022) - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), along with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), on Monday wrote to Kevin Miller, CEO of the Sciolex Corporation, to express concern over the treatment of Sciolex workers at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Vermont Service Center (VSC). Formerly based in St. Albans, the VSC, now located in Essex Junction, is one of five USCIS service centers in the country that collectively handle between eig… Continue Reading
