Patrick Leahy

I hate to suggest a double standard here, but I will.

I agree with the former official in the Bush administration.

It's one thing to write academic papers and another thing to testify under oath.

I'd love to see that same standard applied to you.

I supported his nomination, and unlike now when even people come out of here unanimously and are held up month after month, week after week, he was reported favorably by this Committee and was confirmed to the Tenth Circuit by a voice vote.

I think of when another widely regarded law professor appeared before this Committee as a nominee, the University of Utah professor, Michael McConnell.

I think it is fanciful thinking looking for that kind of collegiality to carry the day, so that I would hope that the ideological battleground would be recognized.

I believe the President ought not to be concerned about a filibuster, but ought to face squarely the fact that the Supreme Court is an ideological battleground and the lines are drawn.

Citizens United is one hell of a jolt. It is hard to figure a jolt harder than that one on 100 years of precedent.

I think you are standing up for a very fundamental principle and rule of law here that does go back to John Adams and the earliest days of this Nation.

It was the Bush administration that said Guantanamo detainees have the right to counsel. This was not a decision made by the Obama administration.

I am pleased that the Senate acted to pass legislation that will extend key provisions of the Satellite Home Viewer Act through the end of April. The statutory licenses and Communications Act authorizations that are contained in this act…

However, we will not be able to hear from those nominees today because Senate Republicans have anonymously objected to the hearing. They have continued their ill-advised protest of meaningful health reform legislation by exploiting…

I worry we're dealing with countries where in--particularly in Afghanistan, Pakistan--where enormous corruption--a huge amount of money already is in the pipeline.

Under our law, money cannot go to army or police units that are violating human rights.

I would appreciate being advised of just how that's done.

Senator Leahy and I have introduced the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act--co-sponsored by 25 of our colleagues--to restrict the use of cluster bombs with high failure rates.

I just want less time to be spent on conflicts inside the Pentagon and more time spent concentrating on your mission.

I have enjoyed our bipartisan cooperation, and that cooperation is one of the reasons why you have four stars on your shoulder, General.

In a time of economic downturn and smaller defense budgets, we encourage the Department of Defense and the Air Force to adopt structures such as active associate wings to leverage the Air National Guard's lower operating and infrastructure…

What I worry about is how the Army and Air Guard still fall short of the equipment and the aircraft they need.

I've been on more C-130s than I'd like to think about.

Of course, Senator Bond and I have the privilege of not being within departmental guidelines and we can do what we want to do.

Today's men and women volunteer to join, or stay, in the National Guard fully expecting to be deployed.

We ask the subcommittee to fully fund that request.