Patrick Leahy: “there are a great many important policy issues that divide Democrats and Republicans. When we find certain common sense…”

“there are a great many important policy issues that divide Democrats and Republicans. When we find certain common sense principles that we agree on, however, we should seize the opportunity and act on them. I believe that we have such an opportunity today. On April 24, 2001, the Supreme Court issued its latest in the never-ending sequence of 5- to-4 ``State's rights'' decisions, Alexander v. Sandoval. I rise to urge my colleagues to reaffirm our shared values by passing legislation to reverse the Court's decision in this case. By doing so, we can reinstate what was always Congress's intent, and reaffirm our nation's commitment to civil rights for all Americans. Let me explain. Let's start with the principle of cooperative federalism. Every year, we in Congress send billions of Federal taxpayer dollars to the States to help fund education systems, health care, motor vehicle departments, law enforcement and other government services that every American is entitled to enjoy, no matter which State he or she lives in. That is the essence of federalism: helping to fund the States to perform government functions that are best performed at the local level. It is not Republican, and it is not Democratic; it is common sense. The Federal Government and Federal taxpayers count on the States to use those Federal funds in a lawful manner, and most everyone would agree that the States should be accountable for doing so.”