Majority News Releases
Senate Republicans Reject Leahy Amendment To Provide Aid For 2019 Disasters
WASHINGTON (MONDAY, April 1, 2019) - Senate Republicans Monday rejected an amendment to the emergency disaster supplemental offered by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to provide aid to communities affected by 2019 disasters. Leahy said: "It is disappointing that the Republicans rejected my amendment. As Americans and as Senators, we should stand with all American communities that are affected by disaster. We should not pick and choose who … Continue Reading
04.01.19
Statement Of Vice Chairman Leahy On The Disaster Emergency Supplemental
It is the responsibility of the federal government to stand with American communities in crisis. And I appreciate the efforts of Chairman Shelby and his staff to move this process forward. I know communities in the Chairman's state recently experienced their own natural disaster, and as Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee, as a United States Senator, and as a Vermonter, I am ready to stand with the people of Alabama. Because that is what we as Americans do. When Tropical Storm … Continue Reading
03.27.19
Vice Chairman Leahy Introduces Compromise Path Forward On Emergency Disaster Supplemental
WASHINGTON (Wednesday, March 27, 2019) - Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday introduced a compromise path forward on the Emergency Disaster Supplemental that adequately addresses the needs of communities affected by recent natural disasters, including the American citizens of Puerto Rico and other territories. For more than two months, Senate Republicans - at the direction of President Trump - have refused to take up a comprehensive disaster relief pack… Continue Reading
03.27.19
Statement Of Vice Chairman Leahy On The Disaster Supplemental Appropriations Bill
On January 16th, over two months ago, the House passed a supplemental appropriations bill, H.R. 268, that addressed the needs of all communities impacted by disasters. The House-passed disaster bill provided assistance to help people impacted by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, the Hawaii volcanoes, and the California wildfires. It provided aid to the people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam who were struck last year by typhoons, and the people of American Samoa who… Continue Reading
03.27.19
Comment of Vice Chairman Leahy On Secretary Ross Declining To Testify Before The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee On Commerce, Justice and Science
[The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science on Tuesday announced an annual hearing to review the budget for the Department of Commerce. Giving no public explanation, Secretary Ross declined the Subcommittee's invitation to appear at the hearing, as Department Secretaries traditionally do. Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy on Wednesday commented:] "Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross was supposed to appear before a Senate Appropriations subcommitt… Continue Reading
03.26.19
Leahy, Schumer Blast Trump Administration For Abysmal Response To Puerto Rico Recovery And Demand Timeline For Correcting Its Uncoordinated, Long-Delayed Response
WASHINGTON (TUESDAY, March 26, 2019) - In a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director, and Acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney; Acting FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor; and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) blasted the Trump administration for continuing to undermine the immediate and long-term recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, and de… Continue Reading
03.25.19
Vice Chairman Leahy Statement on Senator Udall Announcing He Will Not Run For Reelection
Tom Udall has been a steadfast partner on the Appropriations Committee, a workhorse senator, and a dear friend. In the key role of Ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, he has worked with me as we fought together to turn back the devastating cuts to environmental programs proposed by the Trump Administration, to protect the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and to enhance cultural programs around the country. I'm confident that Senator Udall will spend the n… Continue Reading
03.25.19
House Appropriations Chairwoman Lowey and Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Leahy Statement on the Emergency Supplemental
WASHINGTON - House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY-17) and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) released the following statement on Senate Republicans' emergency supplemental appropriations bill for disaster relief and recovery: "House Democrats first passed a comprehensive, emergency disaster supplemental in January. We are disappointed Senate Republicans have refused to take up this bill for more than two months, leaving millions of Am… Continue Reading
03.12.19
LEAHY, DURBIN, SCHATZ, SENATORS DEMAND ANSWERS FROM DOD ON ITS PLANS TO DEFUND MILITARY PROJECTS TO PAY FOR TRUMP WALL
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, led a group of Democratic appropriators calling on the Department of Defense to provide Congress with a list of military projects it intends to defund to pay for Pres… Continue Reading
03.11.19
Statement Of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On President Trump’s Budget Proposal
For the third year in a row, President Trump has sent a budget proposal that is dead on arrival and divorced from reality. It is not worth the paper it is printed on, and it will be rejected by Congress. Yet again, the President has proposed shortsighted cuts that would slash investments in infrastructure, medical research, and American families, cuts that have been rejected by Congress two fiscal years in a row. But now he relies on a budget gimmick, Overseas Contingency Operations funding … Continue Reading
02.28.19
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Need To Reach A New Two-Year Budget Agreement
While it was only two short weeks ago that we finished the Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriations bills, there is no rest for the weary on the Senate Appropriations Committee. I come to the Floor today to talk about the need to reach a new two-year budget deal so that the Appropriations Committee can begin its work in earnest on the Fiscal Year 2020 bills. Unless we get a budget deal, sequestration returns in Fiscal Year 2020, necessitating steep cuts in programs that invest in America and support … Continue Reading
02.26.19
Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On President’s Trump Declaration of a National Emergency
When President Trump declared a national emergency two weeks ago in order to build his pet project - and in the process declared his intent to siphon billions of dollars that Congress had appropriated for our men and women in uniform- I am not sure which lawyers he consulted, but those lawyers seemed to overlook our nation's founding document, the United States Constitution. I know the President likes to communicate in 280 characters or less, so I'll point him to a 77 character phrase he may wa… Continue Reading
02.15.19
Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy On President Trump’s Declaration Of A National Emergency
There is no national emergency. No one who subscribes to reality can claim otherwise. Crossings are historically down, billions are being spent on border security, and Congress yesterday appropriated still more. President Trump simply failed to get a deal to build his wasteful vanity wall. He failed to get a deal with Mexico, despite promising his supporters more than 200 times that Mexico would pay for it. He failed to get a deal with his own party, even during the two years when Republica… Continue Reading
02.14.19
Statement Of Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On The Seven-Bill Appropriations Conference Report
This week, Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate came together, ignoring the distractions and tweetstorms coming from the White House, and reached an agreement to fund our government and make responsible investments in the American people. This is not the agreement I would have reached on my own. There are things in this bill that I support, and things that I disagree with, but that is the nature of a negotiation. Everyone had to give something to reach a bipartisan compromise. … Continue Reading
02.13.19
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Releases Border Security And Government Funding Agreement
WASHINGTON (WEDNESDAY, Feb. 13, 2019) - Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday released the bipartisan conference agreement to make responsible investments in border security and finish work on the remaining seven appropriations bills to fund the government. The $333 billion bipartisan package funds the nine remaining federal departments and their agencies, rejects President Trump's demand $5.7 billion border wall and a deportation force, and makes respons… Continue Reading
02.05.19
REAX Of Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To President Trump’s State Of The Union Address
We truly need leadership to unify the nation at this time. After two years of division and demagoguery, tonight President Trump paid lip service to unity. Unfortunately, what the TelePrompTer giveth, the President's daily actions and hourly tweets quickly taketh away. The President again relied on fearmongering and falsehoods to justify building a wall on the southern border, a wall he promised Mexico, not hardworking American taxpayers, would pay for. Repeating the same delusions over and o… Continue Reading
01.30.19
Statement of Vice Chairman Leahy At The Meeting Of The Homeland Security Appropriations Conference
We are all glad that the senseless 35 day shutdown has come to an end, and that the Appropriations Committee can get to work and try to come up with something that makes sense for the American people. I believe we can reach a bipartisan agreement that funds the government and secures our country and our borders. But our choices about how to allocate American taxpayer dollars must be grounded in reality. We need to address problems with solutions rooted in facts, not merely rooted in campaign… Continue Reading
01.25.19
REAX of Vice Chairman Leahy To President Trump Proposing A Three-Week Continuing Resolution
For 35 days, President Trump has robbed hundreds of thousands of American families of their paychecks, forcing dedicated public servants to turn to foodbanks and unemployment benefits to feed and support their families. For 35 days, President Trump denied millions of taxpaying Americans access to public services. For 35 days, President Trump has inflicted pain on the American people and compromised our national security. And for what? All of this pain and suffering to end where we began.… Continue Reading
01.25.19
REAX Of Vice Chairman Leahy (D-Vt.) To Reports Of The FAA Delaying Flights Due To The Trump Shutdown
The rolling consequences of the Trump Shutdown will only become more severe the longer this madness is allowed to go on by President Trump and Republican Leadership. Hundreds of thousands of public servants and their families have been robbed of a month's pay only for the president to suggest these hardworking Americans "work along" with their local grocery stores to feed their families. Millions of Americans have been denied government services that they pay their taxes to receive. Now, the … Continue Reading
01.24.19
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Statement On Day 34 Of The Trump Shutdown
It has been more than a month since the Trump Shutdown began - 34 days to be precise. I hear from people every day about the pain and suffering this shutdown has caused. Tomorrow hundreds of thousands of public servants will miss their second paycheck since the shutdown began, and many of these people have been on the job the entire time. They are angry and they are confused about why their paychecks are being held hostage by the President in what he appears to view as a political game. Man… Continue Reading