Press Room
Press Releases
Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Appropriations Vice Chair Leahy’s Summary Of Chairman’s Mark Of The FY2018 Interior, Environment Appropriations Bill
The Senate Appropriations Committee Monday made public the Chairman's Mark for the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriations Bill. The Senate bill recommends $32.536 billion in discretionary funding for agencies funded by the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill, which includes $32.030 billion in discretionary funds and $507 million in emergency funds to pay for wildland firefighting needs. Excluding emergency funding, the amount provided is $250 … Continue Reading
11.20.17
Federal Grants Totaling Nearly $600,000 To Help 5 VT Communities Hire New Officers (COPS Grants)
Senator Patrick Leahy Monday announced that five rural Vermont law enforcement agencies will receive a total of nearly $600,000 to help hire new officers through the Department of Justice COPS Hiring Program. The program covers a large portion of the costs that communities face when adding officers to their ranks, thereby supporting the goals of community policing. "These funds are critical to small law enforcement agencies that would otherwise find it too costly to bring a new officer on board… Continue Reading
11.17.17
Senator Lee And Senator Leahy Introduce The USA Liberty Act In The Senate
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Senator Patrick Leahy have jointly introduced the Uniting and Strengthening American Liberty Act (USA Liberty Act) of 2017 in the United States Senate. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act will expire on December 31, 2017. This legislation would reauthorize Section 702 while making key privacy improvements. Section 702 allows the government to collect sweeping amounts of Internet and other communications, including conte… Continue Reading
11.17.17
Appropriations Vice Chairman Leahy's REAX To Trump Adm.'s 3rd Emergency Supplemental Request
[Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Friday issued the following statement on the Trump Administration's emergency supplemental request, totaling $44 billion, to address recent natural disasters. Earlier this month, Leahy and Senator Schumer led a letter outlining what Senate Democrats believe should be contained in the supplemental request.] The Trump Administration's request does not come close to meeting the needs of victims of recent natural disasters in Tex… Continue Reading
11.17.17
Senate Unanimously Passes Grassley-Leahy Bill to Protect Whistleblowers in Criminal Antitrust Cases
The U.S. Senate Wednesday night unanimously passed the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act to extend whistleblower protection for employees who provide information to the Department of Justice related to criminal antitrust violations. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), coauthors of the legislation, hailed the Senate's quick action on their bipartisan measure. Approval of the bill comes just one month after the Judiciary Committee unanimously reported it to the full… Continue Reading
11.16.17
Reaction Of Appropriations Vice Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To The House-Passed Tax Bill
The House has passed a hodge-podge collection of broken promises to middle class Americans. Republican leaders and President Trump promised to close loopholes for large corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay for lowering their tax rates. Instead, their tax rates would be cut, and the loopholes remain, meaning even lower effective tax rates for the wealthy, while exploding the federal debt. Vermonters would pay more by losing deductions for state and local taxes, by losing deductio… Continue Reading
11.16.17
Leahy Statement On The National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report
The Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, while laudable in its goals, does not comport with reality. At roughly $700 billion, the proposed base funding in this bill is $85 billion above budget caps that are set in law for fiscal year 2018 in the Budget Control Act (BCA), and $31 billion above the administration's budget request. If the authorized funding level were to be appropriated, without changing the caps, it would trigger a 12 percent across-the-board sequester of defense… Continue Reading
11.15.17
Leahy Slams Attorney General Sessions For Threatening Public Safety Funding To Burlington And The State Of Vermont, Over The Trump Administration’s Misguided Anti-Immigrant Policies
[(WEDNESDAY, Nov. 15, 2017) - This afternoon (Wednesday), Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Justice Department notified the State of Vermont and the City of Burlington that the Department believes they have laws, policies or practices that violate 8 U.S.C. 1373, a federal statute that promotes information-sharing related to immigration enforcement. In all, the Department cited 29 jurisdictions, sometimes derided as "sanctuary cities," that are being threatened with the withholding of funds. Spec… Continue Reading
11.15.17
Appropriations Vice Chairman Leahy Statement At Hearing On VA Efforts To Prevent And Combat Opioid Over Medication
The opioid epidemic has reached every state - every community - in the country. It is impacting sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, friends and coworkers. And it is impacting our veterans and servicemembers. We have for over 16 years of war asked members of the active and reserve components to serve an unprecedented numbers of deployments, leaving too many veterans broken and in pain. When we needed these brave men and women to return to battle, it was too easy to prescribe opioids for … Continue Reading
11.14.17
Leahy Introduces The Consumer Privacy Protection Act
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), joined by six other senators, Tuesday introduced comprehensive consumer privacy legislation to protect Americans' sensitive personal information against cyberattacks and to ensure timely notification and protection when data is breached. Leahy's Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017 would require companies to take preventive steps to defend against cyberattacks and data breaches, and to quickly provide consumers with notice and appropriate protection when a data… Continue Reading
11.14.17
Leahy Statement On the Introduction of the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017
Today, I am introducing the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017. This legislation, if enacted, will help ensure that when Americans entrust corporations with their most sensitive personal information, these corporations take the right steps to keep this information secure, and do the right thing in the event of a data breach. In today's modern world, data security is no longer just about protecting our identities and our bank accounts; it is about protecting our privacy and even our nation… Continue Reading
11.13.17
Leahy Statement On the Attorney General’s Russia-related testimony before the Senate
Over the past 10 months, the Attorney General has testified before the Senate on three occasions about his knowledge of and contacts with Russian operatives. He also answered written questions and provided additional supplemental testimony. But he still has not gotten his story straight. On numerous occasions, new disclosures of his communications involving Russia have raised serious doubts about his testimony. And not one of these disclosures has come from the Attorney General; all have com… Continue Reading
11.09.17
Senate Confirms Senator Leahy’s And Governor Scott’s Recommendation For Vermont’s Next U.S. Attorney, Christina Nolan
The U.S. Senate Thursday night unanimously confirmed Christina Nolan to be Vermont's next U.S. Attorney, following the recommendation of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and Vermont Governor Phil Scott (R). Ms. Nolan was nominated less than two months ago by President Trump, and she is one of only two U.S. Attorney nominees to be confirmed in states with Democratic Senators and is also one of only two women to be confirmed as U.S. Attorneys in this Congress. Leahy is a leading member of the Senate J… Continue Reading
11.09.17
Leahy: No Tax Breaks For Corporate Misconduct
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Thursday reintroduced legislation to close a tax loophole that allows corporations to write off the punishment they receive for egregious wrongdoing as an "ordinary" business expense. Punitive damages are imposed rarely, and only on bad actors whose reckless misconduct resulted in extreme consequences - and usually great harm to peoples' lives. Such damages are intended to impose a punishment on the wrongdoer so that more responsible decisions will be made in the fut… Continue Reading
11.08.17
Leahy And Lee REAX To House Judiciary Approval Of Key Reforms To Section 702 Surveillance Authorities
[On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee reported the USA Liberty Act, sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), and by Crime Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). The legislation, which reauthorizes and reforms Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act, was approved by a vote of 27-8 and will now be reported to the House Floor. … Continue Reading
11.08.17
Leahy’s Bulletproof Vest Program Awards Grants To 34 Vermont Communities To Help Equip Law Enforcement Officers With 280 More Lifesaving Vests
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday announced that 34 Vermont law enforcement agencies will receive federal funding to help purchase a total of 280 lifesaving protective vests. The FY 2017 funding, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, is made possible under the Leahy-authored Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Program. With these most recent awards, Vermont agencies to date have received more than $1 million to help purchase nearly 4,800 vests. Leahy said: "In Vermont and acros… Continue Reading
11.08.17
BREAKING: Leahy REAX To New Treasury Dept. Regs. Restricting Travel & Transactions By American Citizens In Cuba
"These new regulations are reminiscent of the Cold War and what one would expect of a paranoid totalitarian government, not a democracy like ours. "The hypocrisy of the White House ideologues is glaring. It is stunning. On a day when President Trump and members of his Cabinet are feted in Beijing by the world's most repressive, nuclear-armed communist government, in a country to which Americans can travel freely, his Treasury Department releases onerous and petty restrictions on what private … Continue Reading
11.07.17
Leahy Leads Senators Urging Senate Finance Committee To Reject Tax Changes To 401(k)’s
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday led a group of Senate Democrats in calling on the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee to reject changes to the tax system that would harm existing tax incentives for Americans to save for retirement. The letter comes as Senate Republicans are poised to release their own version of tax reform legislation later this week. Senate Republicans may be considering making changes to the incentives Americans enjoy for retirement, specifically by adopting so-… Continue Reading
11.02.17
Leahy: AG Sessions Must Return To Judiciary Committee For Under-Oath Testimony To Address New Revelations
[On Monday, unsealed court records revealed that George Papadopoulos - former foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign - pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about interactions with Russian agents during the 2016 campaign. Court documents show that there was a March 31, 2016, "national security meeting" in Washington, D.C., involving candidate Trump and other advisors, where Papadopoulos explained that he had connections to the Russian government and he offered to "help arrange a meeting betw… Continue Reading
11.02.17
Leahy REAX On The Closed-Door GOP Tax Plan And The Frantic Rush To Pass It Without Hearings
"Republicans are repeating the same mistakes they made with health care. It's the same old playbook: jam through a bill, cobbled together in a back room, that sticks it to hard-working Americans. "Republicans are desperately seeking a 'win' in Congress, but this one would only come at great cost to the American people. "What House Republican leaders released is a hugely complex bill, with hundreds of pages of fine print, written behind closed doors. House leaders, at President Trump's tweet… Continue Reading
