Patrick Leahy

The Senator is probably aware of the fact that we have a large number of amendments that were from both Republicans and Democrats. We suggested that they are all acceptable, could probably be adopted by a voice vote, both these Republican…

Is it not a fact that the first amendment that was brought up was a bipartisan one of Senator Hatch's and mine? Shortly thereafter, the Senator from Iowa came with an amendment. Following the normal courtesy done, I allowed mine to be set…

In answer to my friend from Florida, who has been a friend for decades and knows the coastal area far better than anyone else, the more secure we make the land border for those who want to have illegal entry into the United States, the…

I appreciate the Senator from Nevada getting this unanimous consent agreement and that it was agreed to. I commend the majority leader for the work he is doing. It is a slow process. It would be an awful lot slower if it wasn't for the…

I believe the Senator is aware of this. I ask, does he know when we passed the farm bill last year by a huge bipartisan margin, and again this year, that on the Senate committee are several former chairs of that committee in both parties…

You know, I hear a lot of speeches that we should support family values, as both the Senator from Nevada and I do, but when you try to put it in a bill--that it is obviously a family value, protecting children--then we have an objection…

I agree that we need to better track visa overstays. But a fully biometric entry-exit system at all air, sea, and land ports of entry is the kind of unrealistic trigger we can't adopt. Implementation of this amendment would be…

The kind of meat axe approach of that has been devastating to law enforcement.

I have had concerns about the scope of Section 702, even though its statutory focus is on foreigners overseas.

I intend to reintroduce that bill tomorrow and hope that Senators from both parties will join me in this effort to improve the PATRIOT Act.

I remain concerned that as a country we have yet to strike the right balance between the intelligence-gathering needs of the FBI and the civil liberties and privacy rights of Americans.

Had the CIA shared records with the FBI, that might have made a difference.

The recent public revelations about two classified data collection programs illustrate the need for close scrutiny by Congress of the government's surveillance activities.

We know that the President was told in August of a serious concern about this.

I have long said that protecting national security and protecting Americans' fundamental rights are not mutually exclusive.

Had Minnesota had the warnings... that might have made a difference.

The American people deserve to know how broad investigative laws like the PATRIOT Act are being interpreted and used to conduct electronic surveillance.

I have never questioned the integrity, the dedication, and the consummate professionalism of Director Mueller as he has led the Bureau through very difficult times.

As always, I commend the distinguished majority leader for his words on immigration reform. We are on this bill because he set this time aside, and he, like I, hopes we will soon be voting on amendments. There are a lot of potential…

I just want to make sure I have time prior to the vote at noon. How long does the Senator from Pennsylvania wish to speak?

To finish putting my question to the Senator from New York, I wish to make sure, because I thought I heard some comment that this was a closed process, and I appreciate that the Senator from New York agreed it was anything but. Mr. McCAIN…

Isn't it possible to say that of the eight Senators we have talked about, four of them, two Democrats and two Republicans, serve on the Judiciary Committee? They were helpful in voting for most of these changes that were changes to the…

Forty-nine of those amendments were proposed by Republicans; is that not correct?

There has been some discussion about whether this might be a closed thing, and the eight Senators came together on this and did a tremendous job. There were four Democrats and four Republicans putting it together. They were saying it was…

I appreciate the words of my friend of decades, the Senator from Iowa. He and I worked very closely to have an open and transparent process. Whether we agreed or disagreed on an issue, we tried to move it on. After all, it worked better…