WASHINGTON, March 25 -- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following remarks on March 24 on bipartisan negotiations to address the coronavirus pandemic: Today, the American people are making sacrifices to keep themselves, their family, and their communities safe. Health care providers, grocery store staff, state and local government workers, truckers, bank tellers, journalists and countless others are doing important and necessary wor  more

WASHINGTON, March 24 -- The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on the Freedom of Information Act. The report (GAO-20-406R) is entitled "Federal Agencies' Recent Implementation Efforts". The report was sent to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, chairwoman, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, ranking member of   more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following news release: Unless Senators Graham (R-S.C.), Sasse (R-Neb.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) drop their anti-worker objections to fast-tracking the emergency coronavirus legislation, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that he is prepared to put a hold on this legislation to impose strong conditions on the $500 billion corporate welfare fund: "In my view, it would be an outrage to prevent working-class Americans to receive th  more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Representatives Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to create a $2 billion Keeping Critical Connections fund at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The fund would compensate small broadband providers that provide free or discounted broadband services for low-income families or students impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outb  more

WASHINGTON, March 25 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: * * * - VLS Partnership With UVM and Others Will Advance National Center to Promote Best Practices In Restorative Justice * * * U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday announced that Vermont Law School will receive a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish the nation's first National Center on Restorative Justice. Leahy, the Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations C  more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following news release on March 25: Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday released the bipartisan Senate agreement to provide relief from the coronavirus pandemic to our nation's families and working people. As Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Leahy was a lead negotiator on the appropriations title of the relief package to provide direct assistance to th  more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release on March 25: Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday released the bipartisan Senate agreement to provide relief from the coronavirus pandemic to our nation's families and working people. As Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Leahy was a lead negotiator on the appropriations title of the relief package to provide direct assistance to the American people, preserve small businesses, and d  more

WASHINGTON, March 25 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Vermont's Congressional Delegation -- Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) -- Tuesday asked that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) make immediate purchases of dairy products and distribute them to low-income Americans through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). In a joint letter, Leahy, Sanders, and Welch said: "COVID-19  more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: * * * - Leahy was the lead Democratic negotiator on a key emergency spending title of the bill * * * Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy announced Wednesday that Vermont is poised to receive nearly $2 billion in federal resources in the emergency spending package poised to pass Congress this week. The Senate passed it at Midnight. Leahy, as the Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is a lea  more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following remarks on March 25: America is at an inflection point. We are facing a public health crisis unlike any we have seen in generations. Governments at every level are racing to respond, react, and mitigate the crisis. Communities and counties are fearful their hospital systems will be overrun, and needed supplies are unavailable. States are struggling to support local and state-wide economies that are increasingly hit  more

WASHINGTON, March 25 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following statement regarding the decision by the Trump administration's Food and Drug Administration to grant Gilead Sciences a seven-year monopoly for antiviral medication remdesivir for potential treatment of the coronavirus: "It is truly outrageous that after taxpayers put tens of millions of dollars into developing remdesivir, Trump's FDA is exploiting a law reserved for rare diseases to privatize a drug to treat a pandemi  more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following statement: Reacting to the decision by the Trump Administration's FDA to grant Gilead Sciences a seven-year monopoly for antiviral medication remdesivir for potential treatment of the coronavirus, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement: "It is truly outrageous that after taxpayers put tens of millions of dollars into developing remdesivir, Trump's FDA is exploiting a law reserved for rare diseases  more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release on March 25: Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs sent a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to work with world leaders at this week's emergency G20 meeting to implement a powerful international response   more