WASHINGTON, March 14 -- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on March 13 on President Trump's national security declaration: I am glad that President Trump took the responsible step this afternoon of making an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act. This will free up billions of dollars to assist the government-wide response to the coronavirus and provide states and local governments with the resources they nee  more

WASHINGTON, March 13 -- The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on the nation's fiscal health. The report (GAO-20-482T) is entitled "Action Is Needed to Address the Federal Government's Fiscal Future". The report was sent to Sen. Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyoming, chairman, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee on March 12, 2020. Here are excerpts of summaries associated with the report. What GAO Found: "This testimony summarizes informatio  more

WASHINGTON, March 12 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Wednesday announced that Vermont will receive $4.9 million in grants to combat the novel coronavirus. Leahy was a lead negotiator of the $8.3 billion emergency coronavirus supplemental appropriations package that was signed into law last week. The grants were awarded from the nearly $1 billion in Centers for Disease Con  more

WASHINGTON, March 14 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the text of the following statement on March 13: I am glad that President Trump took the responsible step this afternoon of making an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act. This will free up billions of dollars to assist the government-wide response to the coronavirus and provide states and local governments with the resources they need. But this is not a substitute for Congress acting and the President signing legislation  more

WASHINGTON, March 11 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release on March 10: Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-UT) Monday introduced the "USA FREEDOM Act" and the "USA FREEDOM Extension and Amici Curiae Reform Act," two bills that provides federal law enforcement the tools they need to protect Americans from foreign powers while also better protecting the civil liberties of all Americans. "I have been working with Senator Lee for years to rein in our na  more