WASHINGTON, June 4 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following statement on June 3: America is hurting. Reeling from a deadly pandemic that has taken more than 100,000 lives. Witnessing the broad daylight murder of yet another black man by an officer of the law. Seething with rage and sorrow about the racial injustices that still plague our society. And suffering from unprecedented political divisions, routinely worsened and deepened by a President whose every utterance only tears  more

WASHINGTON, June 4 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday unveiled the Congressional Power Of The Purse Act to restore Congress' constitutional authority and rein in encroachment on federal spending decisions by the Executive Branch. Leahy said: "When Congress appropriates federal dollars we expect those dollars to be used as directed. We expect appropriations laws to be upheld. And w  more

WASHINGTON, June 3 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: "The President's threat of using military force against protestors is a grossly inappropriate, unnecessary and dangerous escalation at a time when Americans are looking for constructive and enlightened leadership. "America's power and strength derives above all not from our military might, but from the values that are at the very foundation of this country, rooted in the First Amendment of the Constitut  more

WASHINGTON, June 4 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following news release: Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) outlined a sweeping set of policy reforms to be adopted in Senate Democrats' legislative response to police violence, in order to "protect people and communities that have suffered this violence for far too long," he wrote in a letter addressed to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Sanders listed the following goals "to seriously address an intolerable situation  more

WASHINGTON, June 2 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following joint statement with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, on the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that U.S. GDP will lose nearly $16 trillion over the next 10 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic: "Last week we learned that over 40 million Americans lost their jobs as a result of this horrific pandemic. The CBO tells us that if current trends continue, we will see a jaw-dropping $16 trillion reduction in economic growth o  more

WASHINGTON, June 1 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following news release: Let's be clear. We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. More than 100,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, 40 million Americans have lost their jobs, millions have lost their health insurance and people across the country face hunger and the fear of being evicted from their homes. Given the enormity of this crisis, it is incomprehensible for Senator McConnell t  more

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined by Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) led a letter demanding answers from Defense Secretary Mark Esper about this week's haphazard decision-making around the transfer of 1,600 active duty troops to the National Capital Region. The Senators begin, "Earli  more