Political Quotes

“I rise today to honor, as all of my colleagues do, someone whom I have had the good fortune to work with my entire time in the U.S. Senate, 22 years. It is hard for me to believe that. But Senator Pat Leahy really is more than a friend. He really is more than a leader. As my colleagues have said, he is an institution, and it is really hard to picture the U.S. Senate without him. I was thinking that maybe the only time that we have disagreed was when he wanted to name Lake Champlain a Great Lake. It may be a big lake. It may be a beautiful lake. It is not a Great Lake. Senator Leahy has literally made our Nation and our world a freer and fairer place. Through his leadership on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy has fought, as we know, for a fair criminal justice system and greater civil rights protections. One example is his tireless work that he spoke about to restore the landmark Voting Rights Act after the horrific Shelby County decision in 2013. And he hasn't limited his fight for justice to the United States. Pat Leahy is a champion for human rights around the world, and I have had the great fortune to travel with him and see this up close. Some of my fondest memories of Senator Leahy and Marcelle were when we traveled to Cuba in 2013 and then again in 2015. What an adventure that was. We met with Cuban officials to discuss opportunities for greater cooperation and reformers and activists who bravely pushed back against the Castro regime.…”