Latest Patrick Leahy Stories
By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Monday began debating whether the Constitution should be changed to give Congress the power to ban flag burning, a divisive issue that may pass or fail by one vote. Backers and opponents expect 66 senators to support the measure, one short of the two-thirds vote needed to approve constitutional amendments. Observers say it stands a good chance of becoming law if it passes the Senate. The flag debate comes shortly after the...
By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A measure that would change the U.S. Constitution to let Congress ban burning the American flag was sent to the Senate floor on Thursday, setting up an election-year debate. The amendment has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives by the needed two-thirds margin. The bill's sponsor, Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, said he believes it will pass the Senate. "I know we have more than 67 votes, if people are allowed to vote their...
(Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a fellow quail hunter in Texas gave new ammunition to television comedians who have long made the powerful, gruff-spoken conservative a target. Fellow politicians, newspaper headline writers, and even the White House -- on the defensive over delays in reporting the incident -- also got in on the act. Cheney's victim, attorney Harry Whittington, 78, was hit in the face, neck and chest by shotgun pellets in the accident...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats pounded away on Monday at Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' defense of President George W. Bush's electronic eavesdropping program, with one voicing frustration that Gonzales would not answer questions relevant to the congressional probe. The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, was particularly pointed with the attorney general, who was summoned before lawmakers on the legality of the National Security Agency...
By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday strongly defended the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program as an indispensable "early warning system" against attacks, denying accusations the White House had broken the law. "The terrorist surveillance program is necessary. It is lawful and it respects the civil liberties we all cherish," Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee as Republican and Democratic members questioned...
By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Co-sponsors of a controversial U.S. Senate bill to create a $140 billion asbestos injury fund warned on Thursday it was the last chance for such a measure to pass Congress in the foreseeable future. But Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter and Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy made no predictions about whether their proposal could overcome expected procedural hurdles when it is brought up for debate in the Senate on Monday. "If this...
By James ViciniWASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee's top Democrat asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales what steps are being taken to protect Americans' privacy rights as the Justice Department demands information about Internet searches.In the letter released on Wednesday, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont asked Gonzales about the subpoena to Google Inc. and three other companies seeking data about what millions of Americans search for on the Internet's leading search engines.Leahy...
By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sharply divided Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved President George W. Bush's nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, moving the 55-year-old conservative a step closer toward confirmation by the full Republican-led Senate. On a party-line vote of 10-8, the committee sent the nomination of Alito to the 100-member Senate. The full chamber is to begin debate on Wednesday, with a confirmation vote as early as the end of this...
By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sharply divided Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved President George W. Bush's nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, moving the 55-year-old conservative a step closer toward confirmation by the full Republican-led Senate. On a party-line vote of 10-8, the committee sent the nomination of Alito to the 100-member Senate. The full chamber is to begin debate on Wednesday, with a confirmation vote as early as the end of this...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate floor debate on a bill to create a $140 billion fund to compensate asbestos victims will begin on February 6, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said on Tuesday. "That's the day we will open the arguments on, opening statements on asbestos," Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said at a committee meeting. He is co-sponsor of the asbestos bill along with Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy.
