Minority News Releases
Senate Republicans Reject Investing In American Communities In Favor Of Trump’s Ineffective Vanity Wall
WASHINGTON (Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019) - Senate Appropriations Committee Republicans Thursday rejected a proposal by Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to invest in American communities, instead directing billions of taxpayer dollars to President Trump's ineffective border wall. The Leahy proposal would redirect $5 billion from the Republicans' allocations for the Appropriations Committee's 12 subcommittees, commonly referred to as 302(b)s, from President Trump's ineffective wall to i… Continue Reading
09.12.19
Republicans Reject Amendment Preventing President Trump From Stealing From The Military And Military Families To Pay For Ineffective Border Wall
WASHINGTON (Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019) - Senate Appropriations Committee Republicans Thursday rejected an amendment offered by Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Vice Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) meant to protect funding appropriated for the military and military families from being raided by President Trump to pay for an ineffective, vanity wall along the southern border. Leahy said: "The power of the purse is … Continue Reading
09.12.19
SUMMARY: Senate Appropriations Committee FY2020 Defense Funding Bill
Washington, D.C. - The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2020, provides $694.9 billion for the Department of Defense, in accordance with the budget agreement. This amount is $20.5 billion over the enacted level, and a decrease of $3 billion from the President's request. Of the funds provided in the bill, $622.5 billion is for base budget requirements, $70.6 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, and $1.7 billion for response to natural disasters impacting military facilities. Un… Continue Reading
09.12.19
Statement Of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), On 302(b) Allocations, the FY 2020 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill, and the FY 2020 Defense Appropriations Bill
I am glad to be here at the first markup for the Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations bills. I know the Chairman and I both wish we could have begun this process sooner, but I hope we can make good progress over the next few weeks and put ourselves on the path to enacting all twelve appropriations bills as soon as possible. Today we will consider the Committee 302(b) allocations, the Fiscal Year 2020 Defense Appropriations Bill, and the Fiscal Year 2020 Energy & Water bill. Chairman Shelby and… Continue Reading
09.10.19
Vice Chairman Leahy Floor Address On President Trump Raiding Military Dollars For The Wall, And On The Assault Of Congress's Constitutional Powers Of The Purse
Last week the Administration announced that it was raiding $3.6 billion from military construction projects to pay for President Trump's ineffective and controversial border wall. A new middle school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, a child development center at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, a new elementary school in Puerto Rico, and a fire-rescue station at Tyndall Air Force base in Florida, are among the projects canceled on orders from a President who apparently values a cynical campaign pro… Continue Reading
09.10.19
SUMMARY: Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Advances FY2020 Bill
Washington, D.C. - The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2020, provides $694.9 billion for the Department of Defense, in accordance with the budget agreement. This amount is $20.5 billion over the enacted level, and a decrease of $3 billion from the President's request. Of the funds provided in the bill, $622.5 billion is for base budget requirements, $70.6 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, and $1.7 billion for response to natural disasters impacting military facilities. Un… Continue Reading
09.09.19
What is the Cost Of President Trump’s Wall?
Q: What Is The Cost Of Less Than 23 Miles Of President Trump's Ineffective Border Wall? A: Stealing From Children of Military Families. To build less than 23 miles of his ineffective border wall, President Trump cancelled 11 projects to replace schools and build a child development center on American military bases around the world. This included the School at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Butner Elementary School in North Carolina, and the Ramey Unit School in Puerto Rico, impacting thousands … Continue Reading
09.05.19
NEWS: Schatz, Leahy, Durbin Statement On DoD Plan To Defund Military Projects To Pay For Trump Wall
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, released the following statement after the Department of Defense announced it will divert $3.6 billion from military construction projects to pay for President Trump… Continue Reading
09.03.19
Leahy, Durbin, Schatz REAX To President Trump Robbing From The Military To Pay For His Vanity Wall
"Military construction projects are carefully scrutinized by Congress. We work with the military services to validate and review these projects thoroughly. It is vital that we balance their operational necessity with existing fiscal constraints. "The President is robbing the men and women of our armed services of funds meant for critical construction projects that are necessary to serve our troops, support our allies, deter our adversaries, and care for our military families - all to build … Continue Reading
08.01.19
REAX of Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) On Senate Passage Of The Bipartisan Budget Agreement
Today, Congress once again rejected the shortsighted, reckless cuts proposed by the Trump Administration for the entire non-military side of the federal budget, in favor of a bipartisan budget agreement that will allow us to make responsible investments here at home in our communities and bring a final end to the devastating policy of sequestration. In the coming weeks, the Appropriations Committee will use this agreement to build upon the 2018 bipartisan budget agreement, and direct new resou… Continue Reading
07.22.19
REAX of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) To the Bipartisan Budget Agreement Reached Between Congress and The President
A budget is where we set our priorities as a nation, and President Trump's annual budget proposals have shown time and again that his administration's priority is to slash investments here at home for American families and pour money into an ineffective wall along our Southern Border. Today's bipartisan budget agreement once again rejects the shortsighted priorities of the Trump administration for the real priorities of the American people. This agreement will build upon the 2018 bipartisan bu… Continue Reading
07.11.19
Leahy, Feinstein, Durbin: ICE Should Not Separate Families During Upcoming ICE Raids
(THURSDAY, July 11, 2019) - Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), joined by fellow Appropriators Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) - who also serve as the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration, respectively - Thursday sent an urgent letter to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement requesting confirmation … Continue Reading
07.08.19
Udall, Leahy, Van Hollen Request GAO Investigation into Full Costs, Legal Compliance for Trump Fourth of July Event
to Members of the Appropriations Committee WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing the Department of Interior's budget, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, requested a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into the costs and impacts associated with President Trump's expanded Fourth of July … Continue Reading
06.27.19
House Passes Bipartisan Senate Supplemental To Address Humanitarian Crisis At The Southern Border
WASHINGTON (Thursday, June 27, 2019) Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Thursday welcomed the House passage of the $4.6 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill to address the escalating humanitarian crisis on the southern border. The bill is a bipartisan compromise forged between Leahy and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), which passed the Senate earlier this week with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 84 to 8. The bill … Continue Reading
06.26.19
$4.6 Billion Humanitarian Border Crisis Supplemental: Protecting Vulnerable Migrants & Rejecting Pres. Trump’s Agenda
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved - 30 to 1 - an emergency supplemental bill to address the most urgent, humanitarian needs at our southwest border. Senate Democrats fought hard to ensure that this supplemental protects vulnerable children in HHS custody, mitigates inhumane conditions for migrants in DHS custody, and improves due process for migrants - all while rejecting many of President Trump's requests to fund his extreme, anti-immigrant agenda. The $4.6 billion dollar package … Continue Reading
06.26.19
Vice Chairman Leahy Statement On The Emergency Supplemental To Address The Humanitarian Crisis At The Southern Border
Last week, Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee came together and approved - 30 to 1 - an emergency supplemental to address the most urgent, humanitarian needs at our southwest border. This bill reflects weeks of good-faith negotiations to forge a bipartisan agreement to mitigate an escalating crisis - one where infants and toddlers are sleeping on cold cement floors in wire cages and under bridges. Inaction is simply not an option for those who care about alleviat… Continue Reading
06.26.19
Statement of Vice Chairman Leahy Opposing the Paul Amendment to the Humanitarian Assistance Supplemental
Four months ago, Republicans and Democrats came together and appropriated funds in the State and Foreign Operations Act that would help counter terrorism and human trafficking, promote democracy, combat poverty, provide humanitarian aid, and support global health programs. A bipartisan majority of Congress supported this funding and the President signed it into law. The Paul amendment proposes to rescind $4.6 billion, clawing back programs with a wide range of consequences. Counterterrorism … Continue Reading
06.19.19
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves $4.6 Billion Supplemental To Address The Humanitarian Crisis At The Southern Border
WASHINGTON (WEDNESDAY, June 19, 2019) - The Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday approved a bipartisan emergency supplemental to address the humanitarian crisis on our country's southern border in a vote of 30 to 1. The supplemental totals $4.6 billion, $400 million less than the Trump Administration's revised request, including $2.88 billion for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the office charged with caring for unaccompanied minors. Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman… Continue Reading
06.12.19
Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Floor Statement On A Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Bill
Next week, the Senate Appropriations Committee will markup a supplemental appropriations bill to address the humanitarian crisis on our southern border. This does not have to be a partisan process. We have all seen news reports showing crowded conditions at Customs and Border Protection facilities at our southern border. We have seen the pictures of women and children sleeping outside, on the ground, because the facilities are full. And we have all seen the numbers of unaccompanied children … Continue Reading
06.06.19
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) REAX To President Trump Signing The Disaster Supplemental
Since the House first passed a disaster package back in January, Senate Republicans needlessly delayed its progress at the direction of President Trump. It was in response to the President's direction to not provide a dollar of additional aid to Puerto Rico that Republicans delayed the disaster relief for over four months. Democrats have said from the beginning, the President cannot pick and choose which American citizens to help in the aftermath of a disaster. From the flood-stricken farmers… Continue Reading