Press Room
Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Statement On U.S. Policy Toward Cuba
The White House's announcement -- devoid of details and after 17 months of an unnecessary review -- that it will begin to shift its Cuba policy back toward what it was under President Obama, is a timid but very welcome step. It is indisputable that the policy of pressuring Cuba's authorities to abandon their one-party authoritarian rule has completely failed, despite six decades of punishing, unilateral sanctions. Yet just as the Cubans remain wedded to a failed political and economic system … Continue Reading
05.16.22
Statement On The Emergency Supplemental Funding For Ukraine And Global Food Aid
The horrors we have witnessed in the weeks and months following Vladimir Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine are an abomination and an affront to all civilized people. Entire communities wiped from the face of the earth. Countless lives ruined. Unarmed civilians summarily executed randomly in the street. Millions of desperate people fleeing everything they have ever known because of one man's zeal to destroy whatever is necessary to realize his own twisted vision of the world. All of this … Continue Reading
05.13.22
Leahy And Grassley Introduce Bill To Bolster The Patents For Humanity Program That Recognizes And Rewards Inventors Who Address Global Humanitarian Challenges
(FRIDAY, May 13, 2022) - Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) have introduced the Patents for Humanity Act of 2022 in the Senate. Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) introduced a companion bill in the House that passed by voice vote in April. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patents for Humanity Program recognizes and rewards inventors who address global humanitarian challenges. Since its inception in 2012, Leahy and Grassley have been … Continue Reading
05.12.22
Cornyn, Leahy Bill Combatting Cybersecurity Attacks Signed Into Law
(THURSDAY, May 12, 2022) -- U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Thursday released the following statements after their National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act, which will authorize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to work with the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC) to help prepare for and respond to cybersecurity risks at the national, state, and local levels, was signed into law: "We've already seen an increase in cyberattacks during … Continue Reading
05.12.22
Leahy, Collins, Wyden Lead In Introducing Bipartisan LIFELINE Act To Unlock American Rescue Plan Funds For Affordable Housing Development
(THURSDAY, May 12, 2022) - Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) on Thursday introduced the bipartisan S. 4181 LIFELINE Act (LIHTC Financing Enabling Long-term Investment in Neighborhood Excellence), to improve the use of state and local and Fiscal Recovery … Continue Reading
05.12.22
Leahy And Tillis Introduce Bill To Facilitate Music-Related Cultural Exchange Programs
(THURSDAY, May 12, 2022) - Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) on Thursday introduced the Promoting Peace, Education, and Cultural Exchange (PEACE) through Music Diplomacy Act. This bipartisan and bicameral bill authorizes the State Department to facilitate music-related exchange programs, including those focused on conflict resolution, with other countries. A companion bill was introduced in the House last year by Representatives Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Ted Deutch (D-FL). … Continue Reading
05.12.22
Leahy Joins In Introducing Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, And Transparency Act
(THURSDAY, May 12, 2022) - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) have introduced a new version of the Twenty-First Century Courts Act to promote accountability and increase transparency in the federal courts. The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act was marked up in the House Judiciary Committee last night, teeing it up for a vote in the full Ho… Continue Reading
05.11.22
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
