Patrick Leahy

We should restore Federal voting rights for ex-offenders, a cause which has been championed by Senators Ben Cardin and Rand Paul.

We should pass the Smarter Sentencing Act which I introduced with Senator Mike Lee; cosponsored by Senator Leahy, the Chairman of our full Committee; Senator Ted Cruz, my Ranking Member on this Subcommittee; and Senator Rand Paul of…

Reserving the right to object, I will not object. I was going to yield the remainder of my time to the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cruz, and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed up to 4 minutes.

Would the Republican leader yield for a question? The minority leader will not yield for a question, but I would note, based on his concerns about the bipartisan piece of legislation regarding the NSA and others and his concern about…

Will the distinguished majority leader yield for an observation? The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kaine). Will the majority leader yield to the Senator from Vermont for a question?

I have supported domestic violence legislation since first taking elected office more than 30 years ago and am proud that one of the first major bills that I co-sponsored and worked on as a Senator was the 2013 VAWA reauthorization.

Senator Leahy, as I think you mentioned--at 30 percent or more every year.

Thank you very much.

I share your belief that the FCC has to adopt strong and clear rules to protect the open Internet.

Make no mistake, this is a civil rights issue and it is my hope that for future generations of minority and low-income youth having a platform where they can express themselves on an equal-playing field will be nothing out of the ordinary…

It is a complex policy debate and I look forward to today's testimony. And who knows? You could change my mind.

An open Internet in a rural area is critical.

We believe that the Internet is an enabler of knowledge, of community, and of Democracy around the world.

I believe the FCC should heed their call.

We cannot rehab affordable housing. We cannot make home ownership a reality in rural America with all that means.

I worry that in USDA, the cuts have disproportionately impacted Rural Development--a billion dollars in proposed cuts of loans and grants for business development.

We have to ensure that we have this broadband high-speed Internet, because otherwise, you are not going to bring the jobs into rural America.

I included in the farm bill a program to deploy ultra-high-speed networks in rural areas.

Full funding of PTO should remain a priority and we have to do more work to strengthen our patent system.

Last month, I sent a letter to the major credit card companies urging them to do more to prevent use of their payment networks for illegal activity.

Earlier this year, Senator Grassley and I sent a letter to President Obama urging him to nominate someone to fill this position.

The Committee worked for 6 years to pass that landmark legislation bringing our patent system into the 21st century.

I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle next year to address these so-called patent trolls.

I agree with my distinguished colleague, the senior Senator from Illinois. I think Senator Sanders and Senator McCain showed that things can get done around here. I think of the tremendous work the Senator from Illinois did last year and…

I thank my friend from Tennessee who has said that the trial he described is not a trial. It is a sham, and no honest and civilized country, no country that has even a pretense upon the rule of law should accept that kind of a trial. So I…