Patrick Leahy

WASHINGTON -- Nov. 17, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday urged the Senate to vote to end the filibuster of the nomination of Judge David Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton’s nomination has been pending on the Senate’s executive calendar since June 4.

President Obama nominated Judge Hamilton on March 17. He appeared before the Judiciary Committee twice, on April 1 and April 29. His nomination is supported by Indiana Senators Richard Lugar (R) and Evan Bayh (D). Senate Republicans have rejected efforts to reach an agreement to debate and vote on Hamilton’s nomination, and last Tuesday, the Senate Majority Leader filed cloture – a motion to bring debate to an end – on the nomination.    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- Nov. 17, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy Tuesday joined 56 other Senators to defeat an amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act that would have prohibited the use of funds to construct or modify prison facilities to hold individuals currently being detained at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Leahy has opposed similar measures designed to curb the tools and resources available to the Federal Government to bring charges against detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. The amendment was opposed by the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,    » read more »

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009) – Ten state Attorneys General are backing legislation authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to repeal the health insurance and medical malpractice insurance industries’ exemption from federal antitrust laws.

In a letter dated November 13, Attorneys General from Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Oregon, Arizona, Iowa, Montana, Florida and Wyoming urge Congress to end the decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws, which are designed to encourage competition and protect consumers. Dating back to the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act, health insurers and medical malpractice insurers have been exempt from these laws. Leahy chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing on the exemption in October.    » read more »

Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act Would Help Localities Conduct Studies to Control Costs

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - United States Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced today the Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help states and localities better understand how to manage the growth in prison and jail populations and increase public safety.

The legislation would authorize grants to analyze criminal justice trends and to design and implement policies to better manage prison spending. Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Dan Lungren (R-CA) also introduced companion legislation today in the U.S. House of Representatives.    » read more »

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009) – The Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday held a hearing focusing on reauthorizing and improving the landmark Innocence Protection Act, legislation enacted as part of the 2004 Justice For All Act. The Innocence Protection Act was first introduced in 2000 by Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Leahy crafted the unprecedented criminal justice reform legislation to ensure that law enforcement officials have the necessary tools to find and convict criminals, while making sure that innocent people have the means to establish and prove their innocence. The Committee is expected to consider the reauthorization of Justice For All Act programs, including the Innocence Protection Act, in the coming months.    » read more »

November 4, 2009 -- [After ending a Republican filibuster on the bill earlier in the day, in a vote of 98 to 0, the U.S. Senate Wednesday night approved legislation to: 1) extend unemployment insurance by up to 14 additional weeks for jobless workers across the nation; 2) continue the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit through April 30, 2010, but with 60 days to close after that date; 3) provide a $6,500 credit to new purchasers who have lived in their current residences for five or more years; and 4) extend and expand the carry back provision to allow all businesses to carry back losses incurred in 2008 or 2009 for five years.    » read more »

Bill Clears Congress Late Thursday, President Will Sign

WASHINGTON -- Oct. 29 -- The U.S. Senate Thursday night passed a bill that includes emergency help authored by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to address a disease that is decimating bat populations in Vermont and the Northeast.

Leahy secured $1.9 million to buttress the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s response to the puzzling outbreak of “white nose syndrome” in Northeast bat populations. Leahy’s provision, in the annual budget bill for the Department of the Interior and other agencies, doubles funding for investigating and devising solutions to the epidemic. Leahy is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a conferee on the Interior Appropriations Bill.    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- October 29 - Senator Patrick Leahy and the Vermont Congressional Delegation – Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Representative Peter Welch (D) -- announced Thursday that the Secretary of the Air Force has selected the Vermont National Guard in Burlington as one of 10 final candidates to base the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The Air Force conducted a system-wide review of more than 200 locations before selecting Burlington and nine other bases as finalists for either the training or primary operations of the F-35.    » read more »

Health Care Fraud Enforcement Act Will Strengthen Tools To Investigate Health Care Fraud

WASHINGTON -- October 28, 2009 – Following a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday on “Effective Strategies for Preventing Health Care Fraud,” Senator Patrick Leahy joined with Senator Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) to introduce the Health Care Fraud Enforcement Act. The legislation is also cosponsored by Committee members Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Leahy chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.    » read more »

Meeting With Energy Secretary Helped Make Vermont’s Case

WASHINGTON -- Oct. 27 -- The Vermont Congressional Delegation – Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Representative Peter Welch (D) – announced Tuesday morning that Vermont Transco, LLC, will receive $68,928,650 in federal support to launch Vermont’s Smart Grid technology.

The funds are part of $3.4 billion in Smart Grid grants across the nation that President Obama announced today – the largest awards made in a single day from this year’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- October 15, 2009 – The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday reported bipartisan legislation that will give fair compensation to musical artists while protecting songwriters. The bill reported by the Committee responds to concerns from smaller commercial and noncommercial stations by providing a flat annual royalty option for unlimited use of music.

Introduced in February by Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the Performance Rights Act will end an exemption that benefits traditional, over-the-air broadcasters that are not required to pay recording artists for use of their work. Webcasters, satellite radio providers, and cable companies are required under current law to pay compensation to artists.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, October 14 – Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today welcomed President Barack Obama’s support for a one-time, $250 payment next year to more than 50 million seniors to keep Social Security benefits from shrinking.

“Even as we seek to bring about recovery, we must act on behalf of those hardest hit by this recession,” Obama said. “I want to compliment all the members of Congress who have been working to address these challenges, especially Senators Reid, Baucus, Sanders, and Lincoln, Speaker Pelosi, and Representatives Rangel, McCarthy, and DeFazio.”    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- October 14, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday announced that the Committee will hold a hearing on October 21 to examine health care fraud prevention.    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- October 14, 2009 – The Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday held a hearing on legislation to repeal a federal antitrust exemption currently enjoyed by the health insurance and medical malpractice insurance industries. Legislation introduced by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in September will repeal the exemption established in the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act. The Health Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act was the focus of Wednesday’s hearing.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) testified before the panel in support of the legislation. Reid is a cosponsor of Leahy-authored bill. Also testifying on Wednesday was Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, who leads the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice.    » read more »

National Telecommunications And Information Administration Awards $1.2 M. To Vermont

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Oct. 6) - U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Congressman Peter Welch and Governor Jim Douglas Tuesday welcomed the announcement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, that Vermont has been awarded Vermont a $1.2 million broadband mapping grant. Vermont's grant is one of the first four American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband grants to reach the states for broadband mapping, aggregation and infrastructure.    » read more »