Patrick Leahy

I'm happy to be an original co-sponsor of that Act.

But what we are now seeing are real declines in the size of police forces.

We then had one very important thing happen: we had 9/11, which put huge additional burdens on State and local law enforcement.

I believe we should restore the COPS program and the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program to the levels that worked so effectively in the '90s.

So we have to act now. We have got to do something to reverse the nearly 50 percent reduction in overall funding for State and local law enforcement.

I think that I would like to see us worry more about law enforcement in America than law enforcement in Iraq.

An effective way to protect our citizens and create jobs, that begin rebuilding our economy and our communities, with confidence, would be to restore Federal support for State and local law enforcement.

We have to act quickly and decisively to shore up State and local law enforcement or face reversal of the really great strides we made in the '90s at reducing crime.

The most severe--certainly the most severe--economic period of my lifetime.

I know Congressman Welch has similar kinds of groups over in the House of Representatives.

I want to make sure ours are well directed.

I know over the years in talking with the President-elect about his own children how much he feels about them.

The Vice President, Joe Biden, and we have watched his children grow up, and we all have these concerns.

This is the most frustrating thing. I can help get law enforcement money.

I would like to see us start spending that money at home.

I strongly disagree. I do not want this to sound political, and I do not mean it that way--I have said this same thing to President Bush and others.

There also has to be a Federal component.

The COPS program is C-O-P-S, a program to bring additional law enforcement into local law enforcement.

We are all in this together.

I cannot emphasize enough the small States--obviously, I care the most about my own State of Vermont.

I am very, very worried that we are being penny-wise, pound-foolish.

I really want to thank Senator Kohl for staying vigilant on this.

The Internet opens new means of communication, new ways to buy and sell products

The online advertising industry in the U.S. I understood surpassed $21 billion last year

He is right. I ask the leader one last question on why I mentioned the Washington Times story about the motivation for this. Was he aware that one of the circuit court nominees whom we held up for a number of appropriate reasons--that even…