Patrick Leahy

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 »

WASHINGTON -- October 7, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday chaired a hearing in which the Committee examined two Supreme Court decisions that have made it more difficult for workers to take employers to court for civil rights violations and, once there, more difficult for victims to prove workplace discrimination.

The hearing focused on Circuit City v. Adams, which extended the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act to cover employment contracts, and Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., a recent decision that made it more difficult to prove age discrimination in the workplace. A narrowly divided Supreme Court issued 5-4 decisions in both cases.    » read more »

October 6, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, three Chairmen – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Congressman George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced landmark legislation that restores vital civil rights protections for older workers in the face of the Supreme Court’s decision in Gross v. FBL Financial.    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- October 2, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Friday announced that the Committee will hold a hearing on October 14 on legislation to repeal a federal antitrust exemption for health insurance and medical malpractice insurance companies.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, September 30 – Senate and House negotiators have agreed to provide $350 million for hard-pressed dairy farmers, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced today. The funding was first included in a Sanders amendment to the Department of Agriculture appropriations bill.    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- September 29, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday announced that the Committee will hold a hearing to examine two Supreme Court decisions that have made it more difficult for workers to take employers to court for civil rights violations and, once there, more difficult for victims to prove workplace discrimination.

The hearing will focus on Circuit City v. Adams, which extended the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act to cover employment contracts, and Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., a recent decision that made it more difficult to prove age discrimination in the workplace. A narrowly divided Supreme Court issued 5-4 decisions in both cases.    » read more »