Ranking

Patrick J. Leahy,
Vermont

leahy

Patrick Leahy of Middlesex, Vermont, was elected to the United States Senate in 1974.  Leahy is the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a position he has held since January 2015.  He served as Chairman of the Committee from June 2001 through January 2003, and from January 2007 until January 2015.  

A graduate of Saint Michael's College in Colchester (1961), Leahy received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center (1964).  After graduating, he worked in private practice and then served for eight years as State’s Attorney in Chittenden County, Vermont.  He gained a national reputation and was selected in 1974 as one of three outstanding prosecutors in the United States. Patrick Leahy has been married to Marcelle Pomerleau Leahy since 1962.  They have a daughter, two sons, and five grandchildren.  The Leahys live on a tree farm in Middlesex, Vermont.

Building bipartisan coalitions are hallmarks of Leahy’s legislative achievements.  In 2015, he worked with Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to successfully pass the bipartisan USA FREEDOM Act to end the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records.  He joined with a bipartisan coalition of Senators to tackle sentencing reform and he continues to push for an end to all mandatory minimum sentences.  In 2016, just before the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Leahy’s bipartisan FOIA Improvement Act to strengthen FOIA was signed into law.  Leahy is also the coauthor of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which was signed into law in 2011 after six years of bipartisan work to enact the first significant reforms to the nation’s patent system in nearly 60 years. 

Leahy has drawn from his experience as a former prosecutor to support law enforcement, first responders, and victims of crime.  He is the author of the bipartisan Leahy-Crapo Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, a bill which dramatically expanded and modernized that landmark legislation, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.  Both were signed into law in 2013.  Leahy helped to establish the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program in 1999, which has provided more than a million protective vests since its creation and was reauthorized in 2016.  In 2009, Congress passed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, Leahy’s bipartisan bill with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to strengthen tools and increase resources available to federal prosecutors to combat fraud.  

Leahy is the co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus.  He is the longest serving member of the Appropriations Committee, and serves as the Ranking Member of that panel’s Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.  He is also the longest serving member of the Agriculture Committee.  He is one of only six U.S. Senators to cast more than 15,000 votes.

Among Senator Leahy’s many other legislative accomplishments on the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Protecting Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

  • As chairman of the Judiciary Committee in 2009, Leahy led the effort to pass the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to broaden federal hate crimes law so that those targeted because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability are protected.  
  • In 2011, Leahy convened the first congressional hearing on proposals to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), setting the stage for the Judiciary Committee to later approve legislation to repeal the law.
  • Leahy managed the Senate’s successful consideration of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, earning high praise from across the political spectrum for the thorough, transparent and bipartisan manner with which the Judiciary Committee considered the complicated legislation.  
  • As chairman, Leahy created the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, and he established the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. 

Supporting Innovation & Intellectual Property Laws

  • Leahy’s bipartisan Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, which unanimously passed the Senate and House in 2014, empowered consumers to transfer their cell phone to other wireless carriers.
  • As chairman, Leahy ushered the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act through the Senate in 2014 to ensure that satellite customers can continue to access their local television content.
  • Leahy’s PRO-IP Act, which was enacted in 2012, has been instrumental in bolstering efforts to combat online infringement through the creation of the office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.
  • Leahy is a proponent of strong net neutrality rules designed to prevent discrimination against lawful Internet content and promote competition in the online marketplace.  

Improving Our Criminal Justice System

  • Leahy is the chief sponsor of the Innocence Protection Act, which addresses flaws in the administration of capital punishment.  Parts of Leahy’s death penalty reform package, which were enacted in 2004, reduce the risk that innocent people are executed by providing for post-conviction DNA testing and better access to competent legal counsel.
  • Leahy also ushered through the Senate the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Reduction Program, which was enacted in 2014.  The bill, which was part of Senator Leahy’s Justice for All Reauthorization Act, seeks to reduce the backlog of untested rape kits and other DNA evidence.  
  • Leahy is also a lead author of the bipartisan Second Chance Act, which was signed into law in 2007 and helps state and local authorities successfully reintegrate prisoners into their communities and reduce the rate of repeat offenders.  

Advancing Judicial Nominations

  • As a senior member of the Senate, Leahy is one of the few Senators to have voted on the confirmation of every sitting member of the current Supreme Court.  During his time as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Leahy has overseen the confirmation of hundreds of judicial and executive nominations.  He is a leading voice on the role that America’s independent judicial system plays in the nation’s democracy.