Patrick Leahy

That comment should shock and offend anyone who claims to love and respect the Constitution.

I was disappointed to see the President's budget proposal cut Lake Champlain funding by 65 percent from the fiscal year 2010 level.

I once said that I didn't know whether to offer her a congratulations or condolences on the job.

I have been doing it for over 30 years and will continue.

I would like to see a better understanding of what should be classified and what is not.

We will give it to you. And then they said to us at court, 'By the way, that report is not final.'

I appreciate the efforts made by Congress and President Obama to open our Government to scrutiny.

Especially if you had to make decisions in your own life based on those answers.

Well, let us go to some of the agencies--in fact, 12 of them had pending FOIA requests that go way back.

The report released yesterday by the National Security Archives found only half of the Federal agencies surveyed have taken concrete steps to update their FOIA policies and procedures in light of this guidance.

I was also pleased when in March 2009, when Attorney General Holder issued new FOIA guidelines, it, I believe rightfully, restored the presumption of disclosure.

I have worked for years on a bipartisan basis to reinvigorate FOIA, and I am pleased by the support we have gotten for that.

Senator Cornyn and I have joined together for years now on strengthening FOIA.

FOIA remains an indispensable tool in protecting the people's right to know.

The right to know is a cornerstone of our democracy.

Subparagraph 102(b)(1)(B) is designed to work in tandem with subparagraph 102(b)(1)(A) to make a very strong grace period for inventors that have made a public disclosure before seeking a patent. Inventors who have made such disclosures…

I agree. One of the implications of the point we are making is that subsection 102(a) was drafted in part to do away with precedent under current law that private offers for sale or private uses or secret processes practiced in the United…

Congress has been working on the America Invents Act going back many years. It has gone through numerous iterations and changes have been made over time. Accordingly, I want to take a few minutes to discuss some important legislative…

It has been many years getting to this point. I cannot tell you the amount of pride I have in my fellow Senators, both Republicans and Democrats. I thank the Senator from Iowa who has been here with me and so many others I mentioned…

The patent may still be subject to the proceeding, but since the court did not hold the patent invalid or unforceable, it would not likely have an effect on the pending appeal.

That is correct. The proceeding has a higher threshold than current reexamination before the PTO will even undertake a review of the patent. So as a practical matter, a patent without any serious challenge to its validity would never be…

Certainly. If a petitioner provides evidence to the PTO and the PTO determines that the patent is on a ``covered business method patent'' then the PTO would institute a post-grant review of that patent. In this review, the PTO could…

It is still unclear whether the subject matter of these patents qualifies as patentable subject matter under current law. Patents of low quality and dubious validity, as you know, are a drag on innovation because they grant a monopoly…

The administration has expressed its desire to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, in response to the overwhelming public support for this program.

I was disappointed to see the President's budget proposal cut Lake Champlain funding by 65 percent from the fiscal year 2010 level.