Patrick Leahy

They have advantaged the Republican Party by opening up the floodgates to these special interest dollars.

This Congress was given the sacred obligation under the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution to protect against voting discrimination.

I am troubled by the Supreme Court's Shelby County decision.

Voting discrimination continues to exist; no one doubts that.

Democrats and Republicans must work together now to renew and to strengthen the Voting Rights Act.

America must keep her promises regarding the right to vote.

Race still matters in America, and it certainly matters in Georgia.

It would be a travesty if the Voting Rights Act were to become partisan for the very first time in this Nation's history.

I could not disagree more with Justice Scalia, and I would suggest that he live in the real world.

There are, sadly, too many instances where voters face intentional discrimination at the ballot box.

I worked with Congressman Sensenbrenner... to forge a bipartisan compromise to update and modernize the law.

There is no right more fundamental to our existence as American citizens than the right to vote.

It would have been news if you had said otherwise.

I have great confidence in them.

We Americans have shown we are not afraid. We don't have to send these people off to Guantanamo.

I do not agree. I think it is the fact that we in the Congress have not fixed a broken immigration system.

Do you remember when the gavel came down on the final vote, a number of people in the back of the room stood up and shouted, 'Viva, Leahy'?

What we could do, if we wanted to solve the problem, is have the House pass the legislation that we passed.

Are you taking steps to ensure that there is proper training and proper action when excessive force is used?

President Obama has called this an 'urgent humanitarian situation,' and I agree.

I would urge you to allow others to go in and look at these facilities or, frankly, some of us will come down and look at them.

This country, to its credit, has responded to humanitarian crises around the world.

It would be a lot more gratifying if we actually get the bill through.

The status quo is not an option. It is not sustainable for our families, for our economy, or for our national security.

Every day the House fails to act is another day that families are torn apart and our economy lags.