Patrick Leahy

I am just concerned that this case is going to open the floodgates for corporate spending.

I think the Court did right.

Teddy Roosevelt proposed the first campaign finance reforms, limiting the role of corporations in the political process.

They want a Government 'of the people, by the people and for the people,' as Abraham Lincoln famously put it in the Gettysburg Address.

The idea that these appearances have no effect on the confidence that the electorate has in us and in our democracy is naive, to put it mildly.

Our Constitution begins with the words, 'We, the People of the United States.'

I think they are going to be entirely circumspect about that sort of activity.

The reason the judge has an obligation to recuse is because of how much money the corporation is spending in the election.

Why shouldn't they be able to band together as a corporation, as a sole proprietorship, as a partnership, any other format to do that?

When the Citizens United decision was handed down, I said that it was the most partisan decision since Bush v. Gore.

I believe the Citizens United decision turns the idea of Government of, by, and for the people on its head.

It creates new rights for Wall Street at the expense of the people on Main Street.

Corporations are not the same as individual human Americans.

It is going to destroy agriculture in some part of this country--I mean, we are going to see our apple orchards disappear.

I am glad to see in the budget request that you put us on track to fully fund the LWCF by 2014.

I would urge accelerating whatever you are doing because it is basically an epidemic.

The administration remains strongly committed to preserving the integrity of the Crime Victims Fund and to supporting all victims of crime.

Will you work with Congress to ensure that a significant portion of funds provided for economic, high technology and Internet crime prevention are devoted to intellectual property enforcement?

I believe that information sharing among law enforcement agencies plays a critical role in the fight against crime and terrorism.

Trying to get people to sign away their rights for a mere $5,000 when the damage that they might have would far exceed that is clearly the wrong thing to do.

Are there ways the Government might make the fishermen, the small business owners, the residents, and other victims of the oil spill whole immediately?

Isn't it safe to say that there are many, many, many cases where a person has given a great deal of information about a crime they have committed after they have been given the Miranda warning?

I applaud you and the Department of Justice and the FBI for what they have done.

We now know over 1 million women have called that hotline, and they have either been saved from death or danger.

We really salute the Obama administration for increasing funds in the Violence Against Women programs.