Patrick Leahy: “I have said over and over that no one in the Senate is against crime victims. I care deeply about the rights of crime…”

“I have said over and over that no one in the Senate is against crime victims. I care deeply about the rights of crime victims, just as I care about the rights of all Americans. I established one of the first formal systems in my State to make sure crime victims are heard. It is something that is done all the time now. In fact, one of the distinguished family court judges, Judge Amy Davenport, was in town yesterday and listened to part of this debate. She said: There is nothing you talked about here that we just don't do automatically. In Vermont, we do not need a constitutional amendment to do it. We all care about the rights of crime victims. This is not a case of for or against amending the Constitution. We establish whether we care about crime victims. We all do. I care about their rights. I also care about the rights of mothers and expectant mothers, the rights of immigrants, the rights of workers, the rights of farmers, the rights of hospital patients, the rights of the young, the rights of the old, the rights of people seeking housing, the rights of students, the rights of artists, journalists, and scientists, the rights of those people who care about the environment, and the rights of families. I do not know anybody in this body, Democrat or Republican, who does not care about the rights of all these people. We all care about the rights of all law-abiding Americans. We could easily pass unanimous resolutions to that effect.…”