. >> senator leahy, sorry'm late. so then. d has arrived that we talking about plastics in the ocean. why are we having this hearing? so that senator sullivan and senator whitehouse will leave me alone. [laughing] >> highly meritorious reason. >> if we ever clean up classics in the ocean it will be because of these two folks, and senator pat leahy and i would be willing co-conspirators. i have been told about this a lot and i'm just astounded by the problem mankind has created for the oceans. we can be better stewards of god's creation and what were going to dog is have a hearing today about some solutions, and senator leahy and myself will sit down and find a way to create somee kind of fund that people can contribute to. i know they're doing it at the world bank, that i like the fund idea where the world kd of comes together under amecan leadership to solve the problem. so too are two colleagues, thank you very much for your leadership and senator leahy. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. with all joking they goes back an

hello, senator leahy. sorry i am late. so, the day has arrived that we are talking about plastics in the ocean. [laughter] why are we having this hearing? so that senator sullivan and the white house will leave me alone. [laughter] i am telling you, if we ever clean up plastics in the ocean, it will be because of these two folks and senator lee, and i wi be willing co-conspirators. i have been told about this a lot, and i'm astounded by the problem mankind has created for the oceans. we can be better stewards of god's creation. we are going to have a hearing today about some solutions, and we are going to find a way to create some kind of fund that people can contribute to. i know they are doing it for the world bank, but i like the global fund idea where you come together under american leadership to solve the problem. to our two colleagues, to live for your leadership. senator leahy? thank you, mr. chairman. with all the jokinthat goes back and forth, it isafe to say that the chairman d i feel very strongly about this. w

. >> senator leahy, sorry'm late. so then. d has arrived that we talking about plastics in the ocean. why are we having this hearing? so that senator sullivan and senator whitehouse will leave me alone. [laughing] >> highly meritorious reason. >> if we ever clean up classics in the ocean it will be because of these two folks, and senator pat leahy and i would be willing

leahy: mr. president, i have founso much of what i can agree in in what i have heard, but unfortunately, i certainly agree that we ought to be able to pass our annual appropriations bills. i certainly agree we should prevent federal government shutdowns which waste billions upon billions upon billions of dollars' worth of taxpayers' money. plus all the burden they put on american families, federal employees, and so forth. but i'm afraid that my good friends on the other side of the aisle are kind of letting rhetoric get ahead of reality. the reality is the majority in the senate, they control the calendar in the senate. all these appropriations bills could have been brought up in june or july, september. voted piece by piece, up and down, have amendments, things you don't like. everybody would have plenty of time to read every line of it, to have amendments to strike things or add things that they wanted. i mentioned this can be done. the house of representatives under democratic control -- i do

senator leahy was here. it was more than when the book was published.he said america is adrift in turbulent and dangerous waters facing infamous challenges at home and abroad. we urgently need our once wanted political system to function at its best instead of at its worst. to be sure it is more difficult to be a senator today in the 1960s and 70s, the increasingly vitriolic political culture fueled by the 24 hour news cycle, the endless pressure to raise money, the proliferation of demanding organized interests and they take a toll. all those factors make it essential that our country has a senate of men and women who bring wisdom, judgment, experience and independence to their work along with an understanding that the senate must be able to take collective action in the national interests. please remember that as you go about the country's interest. remember as you go about the senate's business, remember that as you go about your business as a senator. as you do, keep the reference the founders envisioned, as former majority leader, the constitutiona

i ask the minister, on behalf of melanie leahy, to set up a public inquiry.icipation needed to rebuild trust in the services. the minister will know it is the only way witnesses can be compelled to give evidence without seeking to apportion blame and evidence must be given on oath. as melanie has said, "since matthew's death, i have been on a mission to get to the truth of what happened to him and to getjustice. on myjourney, i have not only found that many other families are in the same position as me but also individuals who have survived the "care" that they received." so, in this most tragic case, inadequate and neglectful care led to the death of a young man like matthew, and his mother's had to take on a fight over many years to get to the truth. as a result of what i have heard, both from melanie and other relatives, today, i can confirm that there will be an independent inquiry into the events at the linden centre, covering the period from 2000 to the present day. i hope melanie will understand that an independent inquiry, a robustly independent inqui

and foremost i think my staff we are only as good as the people on our team and as my friend patrick leahy says we're just a constitutional impediment to the staff. [laughter] i have been impressed with staffers who are full of talent, skill, drive and heart. madden president i don't want to leave anyone out i won't part of the record all of those who have been part of my team thank you for your public service and your commitment. i want to thank my family and to my parents who instilled in me the will to do good and to be good and to my brothers a and sisters and my sister lawyer one - - lori and my cousins supporting me throughout my three decades in elected office. thank you to my daughter amand amanda, my forever campaign manager and my son-in-law just recently a judge in new mexico for their constant love and support. most importantly thank you to my brilliant and beautiful partner of 42 years, jill cooper who has been my rock , my chief counse counsel, my everything and i could not have asked for a better partner to have this public service adventure. it'sn truly been an adventure be

my question is the leahy laws prohibit the united states from funding for foreign units, forces, forced implication of human rights. human rights violations torture, forced abuses rances and gainst migrants has continued under the administration of rador.ent observe i notice the report does not nclude in the reference to leahy law in mexico. does the u.s. government have in place safeguards to guard against systemic human rights violations by mexican security forces? thank you, representative wild. it's an important question. thething we have seen under administration is, frankly, a eterioration in the relationship and working back and forth between u.s. law initiative and their programs and the current governments. dr. o'neil: they're less than we have seen in past governments. one of the challenges, too, in is this reordering of the security forces. o we've seen the disappearance of some and the rise of totally new forces that have yet to, let's say, find their footing or find their coherence and order. i think all those are important considerations. and we create a ew merit initiativ

and my friend, as my friend patrick leahy says, these senators are often just a constitutional impedimentto the staff . and over the years i've been blessed with staffers who are full of talent, skill, drive and heart. madam president, i don't want to leave anyone out so i asked permission to enter into the record a list of all my staff who have been part of team udall and i want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart fto each of you for your hardwork , public service andyour commitment . and i want to thank my family . to my parents in me but work to do good and to be good. and to my brothers andsisters , my sister lori is here and my cousin who have supported me throughout my three decades in electedoffice . you to our daughter amanda, my forever campaign manager ig and our son-in-law, just recently a judge for their constant love and support. and most importantly thank you to my brilliance and beautiful partner of 42 years , jill cooper udall. jill has been my rock. she's been my chief counsel. she's been my everything and i couldn't have asked her about her partner to have this pu

senator here knows we're only as good as the people on our team, and my friend -- as my friend patrick leahy says, we senators are often a constitutional impediment to the staff. over the years i have been blessed with staffers who are full of talent, skill, drive, and heart. madam president, i don't want to leave anyone out, and so i ask to enter into the record all of my staff who have been part of team udall and i want to say thank you to each of you for your hard work, public service and your commitment. and i want to thank my family. to my parents, stuart and leigh udall who instilled in me the will to do good and to be good. and to my brothers and sisters, my sister laurie, who is here, and my cousins who have supported me throughout my three decades in elected office. thank you to our daughter amanda, my forever campaign manager, and our son-in-law, judge jim, just recently a judge in new mexico, for their constant love and support. and most importantly, thank you to my brilliant and beautiful partner of 42 years, jill cooper udall. jill has been my rock. she's been my chief counsel,

leahy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent the equal of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, steven sidney swaforts, of virginia, to be a judge for the court of federal claims. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, speaking both as the senator from vermont and as vice chairman of the senate appropriations committee, and speaking with a concern about what's happening in the senate. it's been 321 days since the first covid-19 case was reported in the united states. 321 days. it's been 282 days since the first covid-19 death was reported in the united states. the bureau of labor and stati

anwhile remarks some setors leahy and cnyn on the tnsition of power between president trump and president-electnt biden. mr. president i see no more. [inaudible] so i will take the mask off. i appreciate the fact the distinguished presiding officer recognized who it was even with the mask. mr. president, i have a couple of things that concern me. i was going through the history and looking at transitions between president. i'll struck by even presidents who did not like their successor. how hard they worked to make sure that everything was done properly for the good of the country. now how they might feel about themselveshe personally, this epic country first and foremost. i contrast that with what is happening now. former vice president, former u.s. senator, i served with him, joe biden. got the most votes of any democratic nominee for president in the history of this country. millions more than what president trump did. he has an insurmountable lead in certified electoral votes. and yet the president, four weeks, refused to even carry out the law that we all voted for. republicans and democrats

leahy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i see we are not in a quorum call so so -- and i was planning to speak in a few minutes. everything's been filed now appropriately. let me speak in my role not only as the senator from vermont but as the vice chairman of the senate appropriations committee. we've had months of delay and painstaking negotiations, sometimes those negotiations have gone all weekend long to midnight, 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, but this afternoon we'll have before us a spending package. it includes all 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021. it also includes the vitally important covid relief package. those are the numbers and figures, but let's talk about what it means. it priestles funding for programs that -- it provides funding for programs that are critically important to the american people and i'd like to see it swiftly passed and on the president's desk. after all, it's not like we're suddenly rushing things. we're two months and 20 days into the fiscal year. it would be absolutely

doing their jobs as a threat under china's national security law and last week, actually, senator leahy and i addressed a bill to ensure that governments that committee human rights violations against journalists are held accountable by our country. do you think that the u.s. should be doing more to protect journalists in hong kong? >> thank you, senator, for the question. so i think the u.s. should be doing more to protect the journalists and also the very vulnerable hong kongers to providing them to a safe harbor here in the u.s. and also in the other countries. so we have during 2019, we have seen frequent arrests and also suppression on journalists in hong kong, including arrests, including journalists being beaten up by the hong kong police and we have prodemocracy immediate being targeted by the hong kong government. it would be very helpful if the u.s. could be providing policies that would help these very vulnerable hong kongers, including journalists, organizers and also the protesters who are facing charges related to the protests last year. >> thank you. professor ku, do you

leahy: mr. president, i have the privilege of serving with senators of both parties, many of whom i have applauded. some stand out especially. some for longevity, but some for who they are. doug jones stands out for who he is. i think listening to his work as a prosecutor, of course is near and dear to my heart having been a prosecutor, but never facing what he did, and i think of his discussion, of the summation he gave, and the trial, the people involved with the bombing of the church in alabama and the killing and maiming of youngsters. in fact, i had a chance to meet one of the survivors of that, and i saw how she thought about him all these years later because he had the courage to stand up and do something that may not have been popular with some in his state, but it was the right thing to do. in all the years i have known him here, what he's done, the right thing to do. i have only had one objection about him. they showed me a picture that was taken when this young man, doug jones, workin

leahy: i know we're about to vote, but i -- and i will speak further at another time about senator udall, but i want to tell him what i tell you, all of you, what i said to you when he finished speaking in my 46 years he's one of the most finest, most moving, heartfelt, honest speeches i have heard. i also sent a note telling senator udall -- jill udall, to tell her how great you are but i think she probably knew it but i will speak further at another time. i yield the floor. a senator: i ask consent to complete my brief remarks before the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. carper: madam president, i want to say a few words about leadership and when i think of the word leadership, i think of tom udall. leaders are humble, not hotty. leaders have the heart of a servant. they realize that our job is to serve, not be served. leaders have the courage to stay out of step when everyone else is marching to the wrong tune. leaders unite, not divide. they build bridges, not walls. leaders crowndz themselves with -- surround themselves with the very best people they can find. when

met that the senate does operate today in that fashion, i was here for one of those years, senator leahyhere during that time. his closing is even more important today than when the book was m published. he said america is adrift and turbulent dangerous waters facing the normans challenges at home and abroad, we urgently call our one political system to function at its best instead of at its worst. to be sure it's more difficult being a senator today than it was in the 1960s and the 1970s, increasingly political culture fueled by the 24 hour news cycle or the pressure to raise money, the proliferation of lobbyist and demanding more from organize interest are all known and theyer take control bt all of those factors make it essential that our country has a senate amending women who bring wisdom, judgment, experience and independence to their work, along with the understanding and to take collective action in the national interest. please remember as you go about the country's business, remember as you go about this in his business, remember that as you go about your business as a senator

in washington, democratic senator patrick leahy of vermont said -- "after losing his own bid for reelection, president trump cannot by 'proclamation' negate international law or the rights of the people of western sahara. they are entitled to what they have long been promised -- a free and fair vote on self-determination." in 1991, the united nations promised sahrawis a referendum on self-determinatn as part of a ceasefire deal but morocco has blocked the referend from happing. bassam al-salhi ofhe palestine liberation organization also condemd morocco r joining bahrain, sudan, and the united arab emirates in estabshing ties witisrael deste the ongoinoccupation othe west bank a gaza. heaid the al is unceptable d warnede will embden srael's belligence and its denial othe paleinian peop's ghts." we're joineright noby hanan asawi,ongtimpalestinn diplat and solar. she rently resned her positi as execive commtee meer of thpalestin liberaon organation. she wathe firswoman toold a seatn the hiest execive body in lestine. she is jnings right w from the st bank. weelcome y to demoacy now! it isreat

laura, attorney general bill barr, whose last day was yesterday, when asked by vermont senator patrick leahy as his confirmation hearings whether a promise for silence in exchange for a pardon would be a crime, bill barr answered that question, yes. but like all things trump, the question isn't so much if it's illegal. it's what can he get away with? and in this moment, we have a united states congress who essentially, knowing that the mueller report mentioned pardons 64 times, didn't do anything about that and then also decided not to even really hold an impeachment trial, saying that the whole thing can be resolved in the election and then we have over 100 republicans in the house of representatives essentially signing on to a brief to take away lawful votes in four states. this is really damaging to the united states constitution because it's setting up a precedent, particularly if the president goes forward and self-pardons, whereby there's essentially no accountability for committing federal crimes potentially in the oval office. presidents going forward, it's a green light for full-on

old mentor exotic places like china were the younger guys got to meet the ansi type like jonathan leahyer have a private equity fund where the chances when he been kicked out of the navy for hopping bulgur sugar and your professional skills rival rat droppings for banking easy money on your dad's name coincidence aside hunters reportedly also taking intent million dollars a year from a chinese billionaire or introductions. all of this and addition to ukraine as young biden's haul from that cesspool was small potatoes compared to the golden dumplings he was gobbling from red chinese backs. i memo obtained by fox news hunter did forget to claim an extra $400,000 in ukrainian money on his 2014 tax return. ringing that your salary to one point to million dollars. it found sound like utter poverty right? don't wear that scrappy lad made of us 2.5 million in 2015 while dear old dad was still bp. all of this will he was sheep in his mother's widow, what a guy. no wonder we hear only this when the loneliness, the only when the press corps to ask real questions finally get sequestered into the p

this is a live picture of senator patrick leahy of vermont speaking on the floor of the senate. waiting on mitch mcconnell, the senate leader, but listen, why is it coming together? maybe because only certain concessions are on the table. charlie gasparino has been breaking news all day on this. charlie, what do you have now? charlie: we should point out if you and i bought tesla, we couldn't report on it. we have been doing a lot of reporting on it. liz: right. charlie: the stimulus package, here's what we do know. as of now, business groups are pressuring mitch mcconnell to find some sort of compromise on this bill. why are business groups worried about this? the word simply is that there's not a trillion dollar stimulus that by the time we get a vaccine widely distributed, the economy is likely to fall into another recession. that's why they're worried about it, given the types of lockdowns going on. we should point out that california is locked down pretty dramatically. new york state, governor cuomo threatened today over the next five days, in five days, we could have no in

and historically important military planning office that involved fdr, macarthur, minutes admiral leahy was almost always forgotten but this is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, a low-profile figure was immensely important in this training of american history wrote some of the greatest memoirs of the presidency as well. >> i agree. >> we will get to the strategic talk about the auto conference before we move away from the politics, tell us about macarthur in 1944, there was a motivating president, how badly you want to get to the oval office in 1944 class macarthur flirted with the presidency many times throughout hiscareer because beginning inthe 1920s , he had an , his name had been floated in those circles. and as you say, 1944, he allowed his supporters in the states, these were powerful members of congress, in the rollicking party, certain conservative mediaowners , and various other figures on the american right who saw macarthur as potentially their only chance to defeat fdr in a wartime election. and so they essentially sort of this dark horse campaign with macarthur's

that egyptian international mohamed salah was unhappy and wants to leave the club cellar has admitted leahy that he was disappointed not to be named captain for the champions league game earlier this month. more than a good mood more is a good moment. really good shape so that's the most important thing for me and draining ok too there were no cameras and now you would have seen him laughing a lot. joy to session so. that's good as well and all the rest. for sure nice for all of you to write about but internally nothing nothing really all the solve the next football world cup in qatar is now less than 2 years away the torment itself will last less than a month but organizers hope its benefits will be felt for years and it is the reports. head of the 2022 world cup the ongoing transformation of cattle as a landscape is hard to miss but organizers want the impact of this event to be felt far beyond the country's borders. regeneration amazing project is helping to build football facilities and train coaches in deprived communities all over the world and it already has a decade of work to its n

hello, senator leahy. sorry i am late. so, the day has arrived that we are talking about plastics in the ocean. [laughter] why are we having this hearing? so that senator sullivan and the white house will leave me alone. [laughter]

doing their jobs as a threat under china's national security law and last week, actually, senator leahy and i addressed a bill to ensure that governments that committee human rights violations against journalists are held accountable by our country. do you think that the u.s. should be doing more to protect journalists in hong kong? >> thank you, senator, for the question. so i think the u.s. should be doing more to protect the journalists and also the very vulnerable hong kongers to providing them to a safe harbor here in the u.s. and also in the other countries. so we have during 2019, we have seen frequent arrests and also suppression on journalists in hong kong, including arrests, including journalists being beaten up by the hong kong police and we have prodemocracy immediate being targeted by the hong kong government. it would be very helpful if the u.s. could be providing policies that would help these very vulnerable hong kongers, including journalists, organizers and also the protesters who are facing charges related to the protests last year. >> thank you. professor ku, do you

the majority leader for bringing this bill to the house floor and thank senator grassley and senator leahy for working so persistently to get it passed in that chamber. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from north dakota is recognized. mr. armstrong: i yield myself such time as i may consume. senate bill 2258 criminal antitrust anti-retall yation act protects whistleblowers who help the federal government to investigate and prosecute violations of antitrust laws. when workers give information or testify about an employer's crimes, their employer may retaliate. it can take forms, such as firing, demotion or suspension or other forms of discrimination. retaliation is wrong. workers should not be punished when they help authorities. violations that ultimately harm american consumers. if this retaliation goes unaddressed, it could have damaging effects. unaddressed could prevent future whistleblowers who might shine a light on my wrongdoing. when they are scared to speak out, law enforcement may never never learn of the violations in the fi

anwhile remarks some setors leahy and cnyn on the tnsition of power between president trump and president-electnt biden. mr. president i see no more. [inaudible] so i will take the mask off. i appreciate the fact the distinguished presiding officer recognized who it was even with the mask. mr. president, i have a couple of things that concern me

leahy: i request that the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i'm going to be speaking in just a few minutes on another matter. i believe i will have time at 1:00. with nobody else on the floor at the moment, i would just add to what the distinguished senator from texas just said. i discussed this with him off the floor after he spoke. there is a concern about what might be in the omnibus bill and in the covid bill, and here on a saturday and tomorrow on sunday or whenever we finish rushing through. i would remind everybody that we were ready to bring up the appropriations bills that make up the omnibus in july. the house of representatives had sent over in june, had sent over their covid bill. we could have brought it up then. we could have started having a series of votes. it might have taken us two or three votes of having votes every day on different parts of their proposal, democrats' proposals, republicans' proposals, the appropriations' proposals. and vote them up or down