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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
Leahy Honored With ‘Congressional Champion Award’ For His Leadership In Addressing Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) In Former Conflict Zones
(TUESDAY, Sept. 10, 2019) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday was recognized for his long leadership on efforts to end the use of cluster munitions, anti-personnel landmines, and other unexploded ordnance (UXO), which continue to kill innocent civilians long after conflicts have ended. Legacies of War, a nonprofit, nonpartisan project dedicated to raising awareness about the history of the Vietnam War-era bombing during the secret war in Laos, presented Leahy with the Congressional Champio… Continue Reading
09.10.19
Vice Chairman Leahy Floor Address On President Trump Raiding Military Dollars For The Wall, And On The Assault On Congress's Constitutional Powers Of The Purse
Last week the Administration announced that it was raiding $3.6 billion from military construction projects to pay for President Trump's ineffective and controversial border wall. A new middle school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, a child development center at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, a new elementary school in Puerto Rico, and a fire-rescue station at Tyndall Air Force base in Florida, are among the projects canceled on orders from a President who apparently values a cynical campaign pro… Continue Reading
09.09.19
What is the Cost Of President Trump’s Wall?
Q: What Is The Cost Of Less Than 23 Miles Of President Trump's Ineffective Border Wall? A: Stealing From Children of Military Families. To build less than 23 miles of his ineffective border wall, President Trump cancelled 11 projects to replace schools and build a child development center on American military bases around the world. This included the School at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Butner Elementary School in North Carolina, and the Ramey Unit School in Puerto Rico, impacting thousands … Continue Reading
09.04.19
Leahy: Vermont Will Receive $4 Million Grant To Continue Expansion Of State’s Opioid Response Strategies
(WEDNESDAY, Sept. 4, 2019) -- Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Wednesday announced that the Vermont Department of Health will soon receive its third State Opioid Response (SOR) grant of $4,020,896 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Vermont now has been awarded a total of $10,140,700 from SAMHSA through SOR grants since the inception of the grant program. This funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health … Continue Reading
09.03.19
Leahy, Durbin, Schatz REAX To President Trump Robbing From The Military To Pay For His Vanity Wall
"Military construction projects are carefully scrutinized by Congress. We work with the military services to validate and review these projects thoroughly. It is vital that we balance their operational necessity with existing fiscal constraints. "The President is robbing the men and women of our armed services of funds meant for critical construction projects that are necessary to serve our troops, support our allies, deter our adversaries, and care for our military families - all to build … Continue Reading
09.03.19
Leahy Announces $9.5 Million CDC Grant To Improve Tracking and Prevention Of Opioid-Related Overdoses in Vermont
BURLINGTON, Vt. (TUESDAY, Sept. 3, 2019) -- Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tuesday announced that the Vermont Department of Health will receive a three-year, $9.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support a comprehensive statewide response to opioid-related overdoses, while strengthening Vermont's prevention efforts. The grant will increase the state's ability to track and respond to overdoses, including th… Continue Reading
08.27.19
Preservation Trust of VT Nets $747,000 From Leahy-Authored Historic Revitalization Grant Program
BURLINGTON, Vt. (TUESDAY, Aug. 27, 2019) - Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday announced that the Preservation Trust of Vermont has been awarded a $747,000 Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program grant, administered by the National Park Service. The grant was among the largest nationwide of nine released from the new, Leahy-created program to invest in historic preservation in rural communities around the country. Leahy said: "Vermont's successes again have offered a model for an important … Continue Reading
08.21.19
Senators Leahy, Murray, and Peters Ask Government Accountability Office (GAO) For Review of Border Patrol Checkpoints
(TUESDAY, Aug. 20, 2019) - Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) on Tuesday requested that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a comprehensive review of the Border Patrol's use of interior immigration checkpoints as part of their border security mission and their compliance with the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right of Americans to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreas… Continue Reading
08.15.19
Senators Schumer And Leahy Call On President Trump To Fully Withdraw $5 Billion Budget Request For Expensive, Ineffective Border Wall, Instead Use Requested Funds For Other Pressing Needs, Such As Proven Initiatives To Address Threat Of Gun Violence And White Supremacist Extremism
Senators Schumer And Leahy Send Letter To President Trump Requesting That He Fully Withdraw His DHS Budget Request For Border Wall Funding And Instead Use Requested Funds, In Part, To Address The Threat Of Gun Violence And White Supremacist Extremism In America The Senators' Letter Comes Amid Continued Calls From The American People For Greater Investment In Addressing Threat Of Gun Violence And Follows FBI Director Wray's Call For More Resources To Protect Americans From Rising Threat Of Domes… Continue Reading
08.09.19
Statement On International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
Today, on the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, we celebrate the unique contributions and achievements of the world's indigenous peoples and reaffirm our commitment to advancing their rights and supporting their struggles both at home and around the world. Indigenous peoples live in over 90 countries and represent some 5,000 distinct cultures. Their contributions to the global community are incalculable.They are guardians of the world's biological diversity and stewards of th… Continue Reading
08.08.19
Vermont Receives $6.6 Million Through Leahy-Created National Centers Program To Address Rural Addiction
BURLINGTON, Vt. (THURSDAY, Aug. 8, 2019) -- Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thursday announced that the University of Vermont is receiving $6.6 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration's Rural Communities Opioid Response Program for Rural Centers of Excellence on Substance Use Disorders. Drawing on the groundbreaking work being done at the University of Vermont and the UVM… Continue Reading
08.07.19
Leahy Joins Senator Blumenthal And Four Others In Demanding That FDA Direct Sunscreen Makers To Clearly And Accurately Inform Consumers About Their Products
(WEDNESDAY, Aug. 7, 2019) -- In a letter on Wednesday, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) joined Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and four other senators in calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to swiftly implement new regulations requiring that non-prescription, commercially-available sunscreens are safe, effective, and labeled clearly and accurately. Although experts agree that sunscreen is vital to protect skin from the sun's potentially harmful UV rays, the sunscreen industry has… Continue Reading
08.01.19
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Situation in Honduras
Anyone who follows the situation in Honduras, as I and many Vermonters do, cannot help but be disappointed and concerned by what is happening there. I won't take the time to discuss in detail the lengthy litany of circumstances that have resulted in the deep social and political divisions, the rampant corruption, violence and insecurity, the prevalence of threats and assassinations by gangs, the dysfunctional justice system, and the sense of desperation and hopelessness that so many Hondurans a… Continue Reading
08.01.19
REAX of Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On Senate Passage Of The Bipartisan Budget Agreement
Today, Congress once again rejected the shortsighted, reckless cuts proposed by the Trump Administration for the entire non-military side of the federal budget, in favor of a bipartisan budget agreement that will allow us to make responsible investments here at home in our communities and bring a final end to the devastating policy of sequestration. In the coming weeks, the Appropriations Committee will use this agreement to build upon the 2018 bipartisan budget agreement, and direct new resou… Continue Reading
08.01.19
Statement On Senate Republicans Breaking Committee Rules to Advance Partisan Trump Immigration Bill
August 1, 2019 Having served on this Committee for over 40 years, half of which as its chairman or ranking member, I think I can say with some authority that the Senate Judiciary Committee is not what it used to be. It's never been perfect; we've always had our fair share of disagreements. But even as this Committee has considered controversial legislation, and been host to passionate debate, it has always respected the rights of the minority. It is true that over the last 40 years this Commit… Continue Reading
07.31.19
Leahy, Collins And Durbin Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation To Combat Illegal Straw Purchasing And Firearms Trafficking
(WEDNESDAY, July 31, 2019) - U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Wednesday introduced legislation to close loopholes that criminals exploit to obtain firearms through straw purchasing and firearms trafficking. The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2019 would, for the first time, make it an explicit federal crime to act as a straw purchaser of firearms. And it would create tough penalties for anyone who transfers a firearm with rea… Continue Reading
07.31.19
DURBIN, LEAHY, BOOKER INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO BAN THE DEATH PENALTY
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced legislation to immediately ban the use of the death penalty by the federal government. The legislation comes after Attorney General (AG) William Barr's announcement that federal executions will resume for the first time in more than 16 years. While there have been only three federal executions in the last five decades, AG Barr has ordered the Federal B… Continue Reading
07.30.19
Leahy Renews Call For FIFA To Provide Pay Equity For Female Soccer Athletes
(TUESDAY, July 30, 2019) - U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Tuesday introduced a Senate Resolution calling on the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to immediately eliminate gender-based pay discrimination between male and female athletes. Leahy first introduced the resolution in 2015 following the U.S. Women's National Team's historic win in the Women's World Cup. The team repeated the feat earlier this year. "Equal pay for equal work shouldn't be a p… Continue Reading
07.29.19
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act of 2019 Congressional Record
Mr. LEAHY. Today I am introducing, along with 45 Democratic and Republican cosponsors, the Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act of 2019. Identical legislation is being introduced today by Representatives Jim McGovern and Tom Emmer in the House. We are introducing this bill for one reason: so Americans can travel to Cuba in the same way that they can travel to every other country in the world except North Korea, to which President Trump banned travel by executive order. Based on my conv… Continue Reading
07.26.19
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Passing Of Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Of Cuba
"I will never forget my very first meeting with Cardinal Ortega in Havana, because Marcelle and I recognized immediately that this was a man of the highest integrity, of immeasurable devotion to the humanitarian mission of the Catholic Church and to his country, and of unwavering determination to improve the lives of the Cuban people. Cardinal Ortega and I met many times, and I valued enormously his friendship and guidance. I asked Cardinal Ortega to seek Pope Francis' support for reconciliati… Continue Reading
