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Search Senator Leahy’s press releases, floor statements, and Committee speeches by date or by subject.
SUMMARY: Senate FY2018 Energy & Water Development Appropriations Bill Advances
The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved the Energy and Water Development fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill that totals $38.4 billion, which is $629 million more than the fiscal year 2017 level and $4.1 billion above the President's requested level. There is a $1 billion increase for defense activities, while non-defense activities see a decrease of $415 million, demonstrating the fundamental imbalance in the current approach to funding the nation's infrastructure, scientific r… Continue Reading
07.20.17
SUMMARY Of The FY18 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, Approved TODAY By The Committee
The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved the fiscal year 2018 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill that provides a total discretionary funding level of $20.525 billion, which is $352 million below the fiscal year 2017 enacted level and $4.8 billion above the President's request. The bill does not contain poison pill riders. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administr… Continue Reading
07.20.17
Vice Chairman Leahy Statement On the FY 2018 Agriculture Appropriations Bill And Energy & Water Appropriations Bill
Today we mark up two appropriations bills, the FY 2018 Agriculture Appropriations bill and the FY 2018 Energy & Water bill. We will also consider the allocation offered by Chairman Cochran. Before I comment on the Chairman's allocations, I want to talk briefly about the two bills under consideration today. I thank Chairman Hoeven and Ranking Member Merkley for their hard work on the Agriculture Appropriations bill. While this bill is $352 million below last year's funding level, it … Continue Reading
07.20.17
Appropriations Vice Chairman Leahy Includes Key Safety Net Help For Dairy Farmers In FY 2018 Agriculture Appropriations Bill
The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved legislation to fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration, rejecting what Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy calls "harmful" cuts proposed by the Trump administration. At the request of Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Vice Chairman Leahy, the bill includes bipartisan provisions that make crucial improvements for dairy farmers and cotton farmers who are struggling with low prices … Continue Reading
07.19.17
$500,000 Granted For New Burlington Waterfront Park Supported By Leahy, Sanders And Welch
Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), along with Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.), announced Wednesday that Burlington had been selected for a $500,000 Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program competitive grant from the National Park Service, which will help the city acquire 12 acres on shores of Lake Champlain to develop a new city park and eventually develop a trail connecting two other park properties as well as other recreational amenities. Funding for this project w… Continue Reading
07.18.17
Leahy: CDC Releases $239,060 Grant To VT To Combat Opioid Epidemic
[The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week awarded more than $12 million to 23 states, including Vermont and the District of Columbia, to support their responses to the opioid overdose epidemic. The funds were made available through a bipartisan effort in Congress during negotiations over the fiscal year 2017 Omnibus Appropriations bill. The grant to Vermont is $239,060. As Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) played a central… Continue Reading
07.17.17
Leahy: Vermont Is Among States Receiving Grants To Fight Bat-Killing White Nose Syndrome
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy says that the State of Vermont's Department of Fish and Wildlife will receive a grant of $30,000 to support its work to control and counter White Nose Syndrome (WNS), the fungal disease that has devastated bat populations in Vermont and across the United States. Leahy, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has long led in federal efforts to address the pandemic, through appropriations funding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal ag… Continue Reading
07.13.17
Leahy Notches Budget Win For White River Junction VA Facility As Appropriations Committee Approves VA Appropriations Bill
The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved legislation to fund the Veterans Affairs Administration (VA), staving off "devastating" cuts proposed by the Trump Administration to a facility in Vermont and securing additional resources for Vermont veterans. It was the first markup session on one of the 12 annual Appropriations bills that fund the government to be co-led by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in his new role as Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Leahy has sl… Continue Reading
07.13.17
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To The Latest Trumpcare Plan From Senate Republican Leaders
Senate Trumpcare 2.0 is just as bad as earlier versions and in some ways is worse. This remains a stumbling, shameful and craven exercise to pass a tax bill in the guise of a health care bill. The 'mean' House bill the President described keeps getting meaner. Lost to many in the White House and on Capitol Hill is the fact that these are decisions that literally mean health or illness and life or death to countless people. Not much is new in the latest Trumpcare bill. It will still drop mil… Continue Reading
07.13.17
Senate Appropriations Committee Democrats Offer $1.6 Billion Amendment To Care For Nation’s Veterans
Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday offered a $1.6 billion amendment that would have supported the health care of thousands of veterans across the country and bolstered the Department of Veterans Affairs. The amendment, which was offered by Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), was rejected in Committee by a vote of 15 to 16. The amendment was the first of a series to be offered by the Appropriations Committee Democrats to demand parity in budget priorities and show what Congr… Continue Reading
07.13.17
Leahy Statement On the FY 2018 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill
Good Morning Chairman Cochran and members of the Committee. I am pleased to be here and look forward to my first Appropriations Committee markup as Vice Chairman. I am particularly pleased to be sitting next to my good friend from Mississippi, Thad Cochran. He and I have been friends for many years, and I look forward to working with him this year to move these bills forward in a bipartisan manner, which has been a hallmark of this Committee. Chairman Cochran and I are both committed to ret… Continue Reading
07.13.17
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy The Global Crisis of Killings of Environmental Activists
Today Global Witness, a widely respected international nongovernmental organization that reports on corruption and other criminality involving the exploitation of natural resources, released a report entitled "Defenders of the Earth - Global Killings of Land and Environmental Defenders in 2016". According to the report, 2016 was the worst year yet for environmental and land rights defenders. At least 200 were killed in what has become a global crisis, pitting local communities - particularly i… Continue Reading
07.11.17
Leahy Joins Durbin And Other Senators In Urging DEA To Lower Opioid Quotas To Combat Prescription Drug Abuse
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy has joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and a group of 15 other senators in sending a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the agency to better prevent painkillers from flooding the market by setting lower opioid production quotas for 2018. Last year the DEA heeded the senators' call to alleviate the opioid epidemic hitting Vermont and the nation by reducing nearly all opioid quotas by 25 percent or more. This was the first reduction of its kin… Continue Reading
07.05.17
Leahy Supports Secy of State Condos’ Efforts To Protect VT Voter Files Requested By Trump’s Sham Commission On Voting And Elections
MIDDLESEX, Vt. (WEDNESDAY, July 5, 2017) -- Senator Patrick Leahy spoke with Secretary of State Condos on Wednesday to convey his support. Leahy's statement follows: "President Trump's commission is a sham based on false pretenses. It could not be clearer that the true goal is further voter suppression. "Vermonters value our voting rights as a solemn and foundational right of citizenship and a pillar of our democracy. We are proud of our state's proven and trusted record of integrity in our… Continue Reading
06.29.17
Office of Government Ethics Reports Top White House Ethics Official to White House Counsel for Potential Ethics Breach
United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Patrick Leahy, and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), today released a letter from the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), responding to a previous inquiry about whether Stefan Passantino, President Trump's Deputy White House Counsel and Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO), appropriately followed recusal rules in his interac… Continue Reading
06.28.17
Leahy Statement On The 150th Anniversary Of The Appropriations Committee
Thank you Chairman Cochran and the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, for gathering us here today with the former and current members and staff of the committee, and Senate Historian Betty Koed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Senate Appropriations Committee. I also want to welcome to the former chair, Senator Mikulski, the only woman in the history of the Senate to chair this committee and the longest serving woman in the history of Congress. Established on March 6, 1867, its powers a… Continue Reading
06.27.17
Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To Majority Leader McConnell's Decision To Delay Senate Votes On The Trumpcare Bill
"I have heard from thousands of Vermonters who oppose these stumbling and outrageous efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and to replace it with Trumpcare. 'Mean' only begins to describe it. "It's time for Senate Republicans not just to delay this vote, but to shelve it. In truth, this is a plan for more huge tax cuts for the wealthiest, in the guise of a health plan. It would take away health insurance from 22 million Americans and leave millions more with less coverage, at higher cos… Continue Reading
06.27.17
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy at the Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing on "The President's FY18 Funding Request for the EPA"
Chairwoman Murkowski and Ranking Member Udall, this is an important hearing. The Trump administration has demonstrated its clear contempt for the critical work historically done by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect and preserve our environment. I wonder how you can look at this Committee and defend this as a plan to uphold the Agency's mission. Where we should be doubling down on our investment to protect our environment and curb the effects of climate change, this administrat… Continue Reading
06.26.17
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy On President Trump's Cuba Policy
Mr. President, on June 16th, in a campaign style speech glorifying the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, President Trump spoke of freedom and democracy for the Cuban people. Those are goals we all share, not only for the people of Cuba but for people everywhere. But the hypocrisy of the President's remarks in Miami, when he announced his decision to roll back engagement between the United States and Cuba, was glaring, if not surprising. This is a president who has praised, feted, … Continue Reading
06.26.17
Senators (including Leahy, the 'father' of the nat'l organic program) Call on USDA to Combat Fraudulent Organic Imports
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today called on Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to increase enforcement of non-organic imports being fraudulently sold as USDA-certified organic in the United States. "Organic farmers in the United States cannot be expected to compete against fraudulent organic imports, and American consumers have the right to expect that products sold as organic meet the criteria for use of the organic l… Continue Reading
