Patrick Leahy

Republicans and Democrats worked together to get it through the Senate, and we passed it.

I do not think it has helped the Republican Party, but it also has not helped the country.

I want to thank Chairman Leahy of the Senate Judiciary Committee for authorizing this hearing to take place in Rhode Island and for his support for reauthorization of the JJDPA.

I would urge everybody to read the filings of the State of Montana in the Bullock case because what the State described was a history of massive corporate corruption from outside of the State to take over their democracy.

I fear that these Supreme Court decisions have reversed that course.

If we do nothing now, pretty soon the people will no longer govern the corporations; the corporations will govern the people.

Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have repeatedly filibustered that legislation, known as the DISCLOSE Act.

The common sense of the American people tells us that corporations are not people.

If you asked the vast majority of North Carolinians did they like the early vote period, did they like the right to exercise their constitutional privilege in a broader, more expansive way, the answer would be resoundingly yes.

The story of our Constitution has been one of progressive inclusion, as I read it.

Eighty percent oppose Citizens United and unlimited spending; 74 percent of voters in Colorado and Montana voted to call for this amendment.

I have long been wary of attempts to change the Constitution because I have seen so many hundreds of proposals that I have opposed used like bumper stickers merely to score political points.

I believe that, left unanswered, these rulings will continue to erode fundamental aspects of our democratic process.

The ability of all Americans--not just wealthy ones--to express their views and have their voices heard in the political process is vital to self-government.

This is no assault on the First Amendment because Citizens United did not increase the rights of a single citizen to express his or her views.

The Supreme Court has opened the floodgates to billionaires who are pouring vast amounts of unfettered and undisclosed dollars into political campaigns across the country.

That is not what he answered.

Good morning, everybody. Today the Judiciary Committee welcomes James Comey for his first appearance before this panel as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

I would hope that national security letters are not being engaged in bulk collection.

I think I have raised this with you in the past, but we are again seeing metal theft spreading throughout our country because of the price of copper and other precious metals.

I urge you to make sure that the investigations and prosecutions are targeted and fair, and that respect for civil rights and civil liberties is upheld.

Do you have any intention of changing that and using them for bulk collections?

There is no question your example of a Dillinger today could be sitting offshore, in fact, and steal huge amounts of money.

Drones... raise some serious privacy concerns.

I remain concerned that some important reforms in that Act were removed.