Patrick Leahy

'What a place this is'

'What a place this is'

A U.S. senator retiring from the chamber after 48 years reflects on what it takes to keep the world's most deliberative body functioning properly: bipartisan cooperation, which once was the norm and not the exception

There are some things we experience in life that we can never prepare for, no matter how hard we try.

Embarking on a life with the person you love is one.

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‘It’s time to come home’

Sen. Patrick Leahy speaks on his decision not to seek reelection after 24 years in the United States Senate

Thank you all for being here this morning. This room is special to both Marcelle and me, and not just because as a kid I used to ride my tricycle down these halls. Having grown up right across the street, Marcelle and I gathered here with our parents, our...

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An assault on our constitutional republic

By pretending that Congress could effectively overturn the will of the American people, members of Congress, predictably, poured gasoline on an already lit fire. We must now get to work to put this fire out.

Jan. 6, 2021, will forever mark a day of infamy for our nation. It will be remembered because our beloved Capitol building - the very heart of our democracy - was stormed and laid under siege. Rioters broke through windows, doors, and security barriers in both the Senate and...

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We are better than this

Throughout history, including, at times, in our own country many years ago, the forcible separation of families has been used as an instrument of terror. I struggle to imagine a more damaging and inhumane governmental policy than to forcibly and needlessly tear children away from their parents. For decades, the United States has rightly led the world in condemning such practices as flagrant abuses of government power and human rights. Yet today, in an extraordinary breach of our most basic...

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Shutdown

On Tuesday, Oct. 4 at midnight, the federal government shut its doors, closed for all but the most essential business concerning national security and the safety of the American people. Vermonters, like Americans in every state and town of this country, are frustrated, confused, and angry because of the Congress's inability to do its job and keep the government running. Visual consequences of the shutdown can be found around Washington, where museums and national monuments are barricaded. In the states,

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