Patrick Leahy

WASHINGTON -- June 9, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday announced that hearings to consider the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court will begin on July 13.    » read more »

Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee Holds Hearing To Examine ‘Prolonged Detention’

WASHINGTON -- June 9, 2009 – A Senate Judiciary Committee panel Tuesday morning will consider the consequences of ‘prolonged detention’ of detainees held in U.S. custody. The Subcommittee on the Constitution, chaired by Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), will hear testimony from a panel of six witnesses. Member statements, witness testimony, and a live webcast of the hearing are available online.

Full Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following statement at the hearing.

Statement Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),

Chairman, Committee On The Judiciary,

Hearing On “The Legal, Moral, and National Security    » read more »

June 5, 2009 – Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest and its surrounding communities will benefit from the next wave of economic recovery act funds coming to the state. Vermont’s Congressional Delegation – Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) – said the U.S. Forest Service will invest $5.295 million in economic stimulus funds on projects that range from road upgrades to waterway improvements that will help conserve endangered species such as the Atlantic Salmon.    » read more »

WASHINGTON June 4, 2009 – The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday reported the first judicial nominations of the 111th Congress. Judge David Hamilton is a nominee to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and Judge Andre Davis is a nominee to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

The Committee also reported one executive nomination to the Senate for consideration. Thomas Perez is nominated to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. All three nominees appeared before the Judiciary Committee at a hearing on April 21, 2009.    » read more »

June 2, 2009 -- "I was delighted to have the chance to see Judge Sotomayor, again. I have come to know her fairly well during her years of service on the Second Circuit, the Circuit covering Vermont, New York and Connecticut.    » read more »

May 27, 2009 -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) Wednesday released the bipartisan questionnaire the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Judge Sonia Sotomayor to complete in connection with her nomination to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Once the questionnaire is completed and returned to the Committee, copies will be made available online and in print.

A PDF of the questionnaire is available online.

UNITED STATES SENATE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES

PUBLIC

1. Name: State full name (include any former names used).

2. Position: State the position for which you have been nominated.    » read more »

Leahy Played Crucial Role In Including Program In Stimulus Package

(WEDNESDAY, May 27) – U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) says Vermont will receive $30 million under an innovative and proven economic development program – New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) – to spur economic growth and affordable housing in the state.    » read more »

May 26, 2009 -- "While I was visiting with our troops in Afghanistan today, President Obama called to inform me that he will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the next Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor has a long and distinguished career on the federal bench.    » read more »

WASHINGTON (Friday, May 22, 2009) – The U.S. Senators from Vermont and New Hampshire have introduced the Upper Connecticut River Partnership Act of 2009, legislation that would help conserve the largest ecosystem in New England.    » read more »

May 21, 2009 -- "Very few people in America today would argue that our health care system is not in need of reform. It is a travesty that in the richest, most powerful country in the world, there are more than forty-seven million people without health insurance. That is an absolutely shocking number. It represents roughly one in six people who are going without regular trips to the doctor, forgoing needed medications and resorting to emergency rooms for care because they have nowhere else to turn. These are our friends, our neighbors, and millions of our children.    » read more »

Washington, D.C. -- May 22, 2009 -- U.S. Senators Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus, announced that they have secured an additional $500 million to help the National Guard and Reserves address critical equipment shortfalls, in a budget bill passed by the Senate Thursday night.    » read more »

May 20, 2009 -- Senator Chuck Grassley today issued the following comment after President Barack Obama signed legislation he authored with Senators Patrick Leahy and Ted Kaufman. The Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act will help protect Americans from fraud as well as recover taxpayers’ money lost to fraud.

The legislation bolsters existing tools and increases resources available to federal investigators and prosecutors to combat fraud. It also includes the most significant update to the federal False Claims Act since 1986 when Grassley authored amendments to the False Claims Act which have helped the government recover more than $22 billion to the United States treasury.

Here is Grassley’s comment.    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- August 12, 2008 – A bill introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to extend the United States Parole Commission for three years was signed into law by the President today.    » read more »

Washington, D.C. -- August 11, 2008 -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) sent a letter Monday to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller pressing the Director to provide more information to Committee members about the misuse of so-called “exigent letters.” Press accounts last week revealed that Mueller apologized to editors at The New York Times and The Washington Post for a 2004 breach of Department of Justice guidelines regarding subpoenas for reporters’ phone records.    » read more »

Senators Feinstein and Leahy and Representative McGovern Introduce Joint Resolution Calling on the United States to Sign International Treaty Banning Cluster Bombs

June 3, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Representative James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) today introduced a joint resolution calling on the United States to sign on to a new treaty to ban the vast majority of cluster munitions.

The resolution specifically calls on the United States to “embrace efforts to protect innocent civilians from cluster munitions and sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions when it becomes open for signature in December 2008.”    » read more »