Patrick Leahy

Because you represent all Americans, and we have a right to it.

I worry that since September 11th there has been overuse of the secrecy stamp.

They need more physical security, if they really, truly want to protect their people.

The transparency that we are supposed to have in FOIA is a promise to everybody in this country because it impacts the lives of Americans all across the Nation.

Also, back in 2007, Senator Cornyn and I authored the Open Government Act to strengthen FOIA.

[a] popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both.

Of course, in the National Defense Act, we tried to put in a very, very narrow exemption.

Sunshine Week is a timely reminder that as the Congress considers how best to safeguard critical infrastructure information in cyberspace, we have to safeguard the American public's right to know about threats to their health and safety.

We support President Obama's nomination of Andrew L. Traver for this position.

Yes, full access to fees is critical to help the USPTO achieve strategic goals and performance objectives.

I'm concerned that this budget is flat to fight violent crime and gangs.

This definitely is not J. Edgar Hoover's FBI anymore.

I'm going to conclude my remarks, though, by saying this budget is not about numbers and statistics; it's about people.

I want to know what concrete steps you have taken to put these guidelines into practice and give teeth to make sure they are followed.

It is no substitute for an independent review by the Congress of the actual legal opinion underpinning such actions.

The executive branch regularly informs the appropriate Members of Congress about our counterterrorism activities, including the legal framework, and would of course follow the same practice where lethal force is used against United States…

I still want to see the OLC memorandum, and I would urge you to keep working on that.

One of the things I'm very proud of for my time here in the Senate is a bill that I wrote with then-Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell on bulletproof vests.

There is an easy way out of all of this. It requires a little cooperation on both sides.

I hope you will reconsider the administration's position.

I just would suggest that as an easy way out.

I have made repeated requests for the legal opinions upon which the administration has relied in taking such extraordinary actions against American citizens.

I remain concerned about the low staffing levels at Vermont's ports-of-entry, where I have received troubling reports involving overall safety practices, security procedures, and the morale and welfare of CBP officers.

I think it is ill-advised, that you are talking with the U.S. maritime to see if they have the capability to move this oil.

I do not support the President's call to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Office (SPRO).