senator leahy deserves a medal. the senate has acted 95-5, and that's a good consensus. that's positive when you have republicans and democrats joining together. our c.e.o. was in town last week to take the next step. to speak to the chairman of the committee, who is a republican, and he also has worked on this issue for years. you had leahy a democrat on the health side, lamar smith, a republican, who wants to move forward. this is an area where something could get enacted into law and intel is right in the middle of it. we're very hopeful about legislation in the patent reform area. >> anything you'd like to see in the house version that's not in the senate version? >> we would like to see a process of p.t.o. called interparties review which is fair and appropriate administratively, so that there's not extensive litigation. there's a way to judge how patents are issued and the elements of those patents, and do it administratively on a less costly basis. we spend $125 million on patent litigation oftentimes bound in texas. and we fight hard, and we fight hard, because w

before the california state assembly, judiciary committee, and provided written testimony to senator leahyfor the uniting of american families act. the irc, in making their recommendations to the mayor and board of a supervisors, to improve and enhance the quality of life into the participation of all the grim immigrants in the city and county of san francisco must include the plight of same-sex couples and by-national relationships. at the four of any immigration reform discussion, particularly for this city, the current immigration law fails so many immigrants and families. yes, same-sex relationships stand on prejudicial ground when compared to their heterosexual counterparts. without specific language such as that in the united families act which seeks to have permanent partners, same-sex by dutch national couples will remain victims to the law that compels discrimination against lgbt couples, including the right to sponsor a spouse, and with no right to a k1 same-sex visa. we are advised that took schumer will introduce same-sex reform in january 2010. we are also told that passage by

>> it's a pleasure, senator leahy. chairman leahy and distinguished members of this committee, thank you so much for inviting me here today. i'm leapleased to talk about wh we do in order to fulfill our obligations to victims of crime. the department of justice's office of justice program has a broad mission, but it includes providing resources and leadership to support key services for crime victims. my own personal commitment goes well beyond the office of justice programs as the senator just said. i was a former united states attorney in the district of columbia and a local prosecutor in massachusetts. i've been working with victims pretty much my entire career. i'm very proud to have served as the director of the national center for victims of crime, national non-profit here in washington. as you know, this is national crime victims rights week. just last week, the attorney general at a special ceremony honored men and women from across this country who have devoted their lives to serving victims of crime. several

senator leahy has introduced bills on the services and the gratuities question that attempt to fill thethat provides real direction that isn't setting traps for people but that is allowing prosecutors to go after those cases where we have people who are public servants not acting in the interest of the public but rather in their own financial interest, and i feel that i agree if you have a potential company charity somebody who likes this to attenuate, that sounds like something that ought to be addressed if at all and ethics rules but if you have a public official personally financially that something that ought to be covered by the criminal statutes and can be it the statutes are drafted in the clear but appropriately broad way. >> pam, you want to weigh in on that? >> one thing to keep in mind here with regard to for example the state legislators who have business is on the side is the american people are getting the kind of legislature they are willing to pay for. that is if you say to people you cannot be a legislator and eat you have to do something else to put food on the table t

passed on these documents now from the freedom of information act request to said there's grassley and leahy so we'll see if they happen to bring that up any next time that there is a hearing that may twenty seventh is the deadline thanks so much for joining us. any time. as still to come tonight why the word uterus shouldn't be spoken in a count of building in florida that's in our tools have a war and the jobs number is a term arch are out so what are the never say about the recovery here in the u.s. and around the world a look into it in just a moment. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so bleak you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and here's some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm sorry welcome to the big picture.

say this is a piece of legislation that was introduced, and if it can be tightened, i know senator leahy is all for tightening it and making it better, but saying this is hard is not an excuse for not doing it when there are very significant factual scenarios of what all of us would agree are real corruptions not now covered by the criminal law. >> i want to move to the question and answer part, so if you have a question, i see a microphone there, and please take the microphone, and if you don't mind, let us know who you are, you could be a law enforcer or even a corrupt politician. [laughter] >> good morning, panelists, members. i have a question for anne about corruption in new jersey. >> the questions are for the panelists. she'll talk to you later. >> oh, she's still with us in the front row. she can answer if she chooses to. my question is for the panelists i'm sorry. >> well -- >> my name is howard, and ronde joseph fish released a public report in which he found that the regarding rungs at the water front harbor and among the subjects of this a report by the inspector general was

leahy: mr. president, i'd like to take a moment just to describe to the american people and actually members of both bodies of congress what's going to happen to our troops and their families if a collapse of budget negotiation forces the government to shut down. you know, we look at charts and graphs and numbers and all, but let's talk about the reality. well, i'm sure many understand that most government services will halt, it's also important to understand some government operations will not shut down. in particular, our men and women on active duty and in the national guard and reserves will continue to serve, but they will do so without pay. at a time when we ask them to fight two wars, to help stay the slaughter in libya, to keep peace around the world. another burden is going to be added to their shoulders. they are going to be asked to do it without a paycheck. now, some of those in the armed forces, many of them, do not have savings to fall back on on hard times. many a family member is

senator leahy has introduced bills on the services and gratuity question that attempt to fill these gaps left in the law, but to do it in a way that provides real direction that is not setting traps for people, but allowing prosecutors to go after those cases where you have people that are public servants not acting in the interest of the public, but rather in their own financial interests. i agree if you have a potential company donating to a certain charity that somebody likes, that sounds like something that i to be addressed in ethics rules. when you have a public official personally benefiting financially, that is something not to be covered by the criminal statutes and can be it the statutes are drafted in a clear but it are agreeably broadway. >> pam, do you want to weigh in on that? >> sure, one thing to keep in mind here with regard to example state legislators with businesses on the side, the american people are getting the kind of legislators are willing to pay for it. that is, if you say to people you cannot be a legislator and eat, you have to do something to put food on the

i lost chairman leahy's gavel, hold on. we will keep the record open for further testimony, or anything people want to put in the record from the committee, and thank you. with that hearing is adjourned. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] but, mr. president, what i want but, mr. president, what i want >> i want to talk about is the lking a consequences of what they are talking about. to change the conversation away from how do we create jobs in this country? how do we authentically reduce deficit and debt in socially provocative riders that wage war against women. now, the extreme wing campaigned against health care. they said they were going to repeal and replace. all they want to do is repeal. they have no idea for replacing. well, let's talk about what they want to repeal. let's talk about the war they're waging against women. if you repeal or defund health care, it will have draconian impact on american women. make no mistake about it in the health care bill we ended gender discrimination

. >> it's a pleasure, senator leahy. distinguished members of this committee, thank you so much for inviting me here today and i am pleased to talk about what we do to fulfil our obligations to the victims of crime. the department of justice program has a broad mission but it includes providing resources to support the key services for the crime victims. my own personal commitment was well beyond the justice of office programs that i was a former united states attorney in columbia and a local prosecutor in massachusetts. so i have been working with victims pretty much my entire career, and i am very proud to have served as the deputy director of the national center for victims of crime at the national nonprofit here in washington. as you know this is the national crime victims' rights week and just last week the attorney general had a special ceremony honored men and women from across this country who have devoted their lives to serving victims of crime. several of the people who were honored actually were victims themse

leahy: mr.nt, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination: the judiciary. jimmie v. reyna of maryland to be united states circuit judge for the federal circuit. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be one hour of debate equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. mr. leahy: mr. president, i'd ask consent that however the time is divided, that the vote not be later than 5:30. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: i thank the majority leader for beginning another workweek by scheduling a confirmation vote on an important judicial nomination. the nomination of jimmie v. reyna to the federal circuit was reported unanimously by the judiciary committee last month. i expect his nomination to be co

we have a lot more i could say that i'm going to stop at that and call on senator leahy and then aftersenator -- and i will call on others. >> at the end of the day this is an issue that is neither democratic nor republican, neither dog liberal nor conservative. this issue, our mounting debt potentially threatens every federal program, every federal expenditure known to man. by the end of this decade, if we continue to spend at our current rate, it is likely we will be spending about a trillion dollars a year just on interest on national debt and to put that in perspective of course this is substantially more than we spend on social security and an entire year. is more than we spend on medicare and medicaid combined in an entire year. is substantially more than we spend on national defense in an entire year. so regardless of whether you most concerned about protecting our ability to defend ourselves against foreign aggressors, or on the other hand you are most concerned about protecting entitlement spending, you should be concerned about perpetual reckless runaway deficit spending, and

how would like to acknowledge senator leahy. -- i would like to knowledge senator leahy. coalesce senator gramm make a statement. >> this is -- i will let senator gramm make a statement. >> this is a hearing about what it means to practice religion in america. that means i have to stand up for your right to pursue your religion. if i do not stand up for your right, you must data for mine. -- you will not stand up for my. it is ok to argue, but there are lined to cannot cross. we are living in a rule-of-law society. i stand with senator thurmond or anyone else who wants to send the message -- senator durbin or anyone else wants to send the message. and to anyone who will wear the uniform and protect america, god bless you. that is the unique thing about america. we are able to attract a large group of people with different views for a common cause. i do understand where you're coming from. but there are some real issues to be dealt with. can we do two things at once? can we stand up for the rights of most americans? i think the answer is unequivocally yes, we must. if anyo

we have a lot more i could say that i'm going to stop at that and call on senator leahy and then after senator leahy, senator cornyn, senator cornyn and then senator -- and i will call on others. >> at the end of the day this is an issue that is neither democratic nor republican, neither dog liberal nor conservative. this issue, our mounting debt potentially threatens every federal program, every federal expenditure known to man. by the end of this decade, if we continue to spend at our current rate, it is likely we will be spending about a trillion dollars a year just on interest on national debt and to put that in perspective of course this is substantially more than we spend on social security and an entire year. is more than we spend on medicare and medicaid combined in an entire year. is substantially more than we spend on national defense in an entire year. so regardless of whether you most concerned about protecting our ability to defend ourselves against foreign aggressors, or on the other hand you are most concerned about protecting entitlement spending, you should be concerne

so i'm working on a request that i shared with chairman leahy, you may not know about it, but i have given it to your staff. hoping that we can work together on this issue. but i would also request that the government accountability office conduct a top-to-bottom review of the department of justice's process for dealing with fbi whistleblowers. delays like the one in the colbis case send a clear signal to potential whistleblowers that reporting wrongdoing will only end up in an expensive bureaucratic mess. another area of concern that i have relates to the fbi employee misconduct. in january of this year the internal fbi office of progressal responsibility -- professional responsibility documents were leaked to the trez press containing a number of shocking allegations of misconduct committed by employees of the fbi. an example, the document detailed fbi agents who were dismissed because they were arrested for drunk driving and engaged in improper relationship with fbi informants, leaked classified information to reporters, sought reimbursement for expenditures they never made, and i

leahy: madam president, i see my distinguished colleagues, the senator from -- the senior senator from hawaii and the senior senator from mississippi, the leaders of our appropriations committee on the floor, and i just ask that i might be able to continue for two or three minutes before the -- thank you. madam president, i appreciate the extremely hard work that the majority leader -- and i've told him this -- and president -- i've told him that -- and the distinguished chairman -- i've told him that -- that the work they have done to get the best possible deal under extremely difficult circumstances now standing there with the final resolution, i will not be able to vote for it, as i assume others in the vermont delegation will not. i'm afraid that it creates a impossible bargain. it averts a government shutdown at the expense of our overall national interest. this year, congress spent most of its time negotiating three rounds of deeper and deeper cuts in the current year's budget, an exercise in oftentimes misguided wheel spinning. it ignores the fact that discretionary spending is

. >> senator leahy said there was a problem. >> i am not certain it is a different branch of the federal government. i will refer you to a congressional historian. provide't want to information other than what i have already said. >> people being held and is this a pattern? >> it is a travel warning. it is a pattern. this is one we have raised with the syrian government. i don't want to attempt to articulate what their views on this are, but they understand clearly our position. >> do you have anything else? >> you are all aware of a tax on -- the attack on a compound today. we are saddened by these reports that un personnel were killed in an attack in afghanistan. we condemn this attack on un staff, both international and afghan. we convey our condolences to the families of the victims. there is no justification for the murder of innocent people. we stand firmly with the special representatives of the secretary general at this difficult moment. we are in close contact with our view and colleagues about the situation on the ground. we recognize the vital role to you and place in afghanis

if we have a really precise rules when you can can't do that, it's something that my boss, senator leahyould argue is the problem is something you're trying to get at. instead of taking a bribe, you have a mayor who secretly has an interest in a company that that era words a contract to. it's hard to c. that is less insidious and yet that's the kind of case that formally was honest services fraud now it's not. so i really do agree that there is a need as they think jack said, bright lines, but broad lines. and i will certainly agree with pam's point that you're not going to address everything to criminal statutes, that there are structural issues that need to be addressed on their own merit and that you're never going to be able to criminalize everything people find distasteful. you should be criminalizing does being that people are actually being corrupted by taking money they are not supposed to be taking. i'd actually argue that over time, aggressive standards for corruption and ethics, while you're going to have our prosecutions come watch me in the short term lead people to think th

president, i do unanimous consent to add senators leahy, america lirgs and boxer to -- merkley and boxer to senate bill 724. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. hutchison: mr. president, this brings to 77 out of 100 senators who are now sponsoring this bill. our bill, senate bill 724, is very simple. it just says that if there is a government shutdown, our military will be paid on time their full pay. and this bill is what i think is the very least that we can do to assure every military family that they do not have to worry for one minute that their mortgage is going to be paid, that their car payments will be paid, that they will be able to get over this hump just without thinking that there might be a haling of their pay or it -- a haling of their pay or it might be -- a having of their pay or it might be delayed. i am concerned about those who are overseas and their families are at home because if the mom or dad is overseas and there is a glitch somewhere they're not here to help. and i think it would be unthinkable that we would go to midnight and not have taken care of t