Patrick Leahy

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For the hockey player, see Pat Leahy (ice hockey). For the American football player, see Pat Leahy (football player).

For other persons named Patrick Leahy, see Patrick Leahy (disambiguation).

Patrick Joseph Leahy (born March 31, 1940) is the senior United States Senator from Vermont. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and is the current chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Leahy was born in Montpelier, Vermont, the son of Alba (née Zambon) and Howard Francis Leahy, a printer. His father was Irish-American and his mother Italian-American. His family roots are traced back to Irish immigrants in Montreal, Quebec and his wife's family is from Quebec. He has a brother, John, and a sister, Mary. Leahy graduated from Saint Michael's College in 1961 and received his J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law School in 1964. He practiced as a lawyer until he was elected for four terms as State's Attorney of Chittenden County from 1966 to 1974. Leahy was elected to the United States Senate for the first time in 1974 (at 34, he was the youngest U.S. Senator ever to be elected by Vermont), and has been re-elected five times. Leahy was the first Democrat elected to Congress from Vermont since the Civil War, and remains the only Democrat to have been elected Senator from Vermont.

Leahy married Marcelle Pomerleau in 1962; they have three children: Kevin (an attorney living in Burlington), Alicia, and Mark. He is legally blind in one eye.

[edit] U.S. Senator

Despite Vermont's 2006 status as a solidly Democrat state, Leahy is the only Democrat to be elected to the U.S. Senate by Vermont (Jim Jeffords was elected as a Republican before he switched to become an Independent, while Bernie Sanders was elected as an Independent; he won and then refused the Democratic Party nomination).

Leahy was reelected in 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2004. He was chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee from 1987 until the Democrats lost control of the Senate in 1995 and was then chairman of the Judiciary Committee from 2001 until the Democrats lost control again in 2003. He is now the chairman of that committee, and is one of the key Democratic leaders in the partisan Senate fight over the complicated and ever-changing rules for filling federal judgeships via the Senate's constitutional duty of advise and consent. Leahy also serves as third-highest Democrat on the Appropriations Committee and as the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs. In his position as the second-highest Democrat on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Leahy serves as the Ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Subcommittee on Research, Nutrition and General Legislation.

In 1987, Leahy resigned from his position as Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after an investigation into an alleged leak to a reporter regarding information. The information released by Leahy was not classified and it was determined there was no ethical or criminal violation. In 2005, Leahy was critical of the George W. Bush administration's unprecedented use of the National Security Agency to spy on US citizens without obtaining a warrant.

The 1998 election was noteworthy in that Leahy had the rare endorsement of his Republican opponent, Fred Tuttle. Tuttle was the lead actor in the Vermont movie Man With A Plan, in which a farmer decides to run for the House. Tuttle told voters to vote for Leahy because he didn't want to move to Washington D.C. Leahy was touched by this gesture; he once said that Tuttle was the "distilled essence of Vermonthood".

Leahy resides in a farmhouse in Middlesex, Vermont that he moved to from Burlington. He was one of two Senators targeted in the 2001 anthrax attacks. The anthrax letter meant for him was intercepted before it reached his office. In 2004, Leahy was awarded the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Champion of Freedom Award for efforts in information privacy and open government. Leahy is regarded as one of the leading privacy advocates in Congress. Leahy is also passionate about the issue of land mines.

On June 22, 2004, Leahy and Vice President Dick Cheney participated in the US Senate class photo. During this time, Cheney upbraided Leahy for Leahy's recent excoriations of Cheney over Halliburton's alleged war profiteering. The discussion ended with Cheney saying to Leahy either "fuck off" or "go fuck yourself".^[1] After the vote, the Vice President was only talking to Republicans, which is not customary(typically the VP associates with members of both parties). When Leahy asked him to come over and talk to the Democrats, Cheney swore at him.^[2] Some have pointed to this incident as further evidence of increased partisanship in American politics. Leahy joked about the incident in 2007 when he escorted Bernie Sanders, Vermont's newly-elected senator, to the well of the Senate where he was sworn in by Cheney "When it comes to the vice president, it's always better to be sworn in than to be sworn at".^[3]

In March, 2004, Leahy and Orrin Hatch introduced the Pirate Act backed by the RIAA as part of an on-going crusade against Internet file sharing. In July, 2004, Leahy and Orrin Hatch introduced the INDUCE Act aimed at combating copyright infringement.^[4]

On November 2, 2004, Leahy easily defeated his opponent, businessman Jack McMullen, with 70.6% of the vote. On January 5, 2005, Leahy was sworn in for his sixth term in the Senate by Vice President Cheney. Leahy surprised many when on September 21, 2005 he announced his support for John Roberts to be Chief Justice. Despite often being labeled a liberal Democrat, he has broken with his party on other occasions. However, on January 19, 2006, Leahy announced that he would vote against Judge Samuel Alito to be a justice on the Supreme Court. He has a mixed record on gun control, being one of the few Senate Democrats to vote against the Brady Bill. He voted for NAFTA and is in favor of phasing out farm subsidies that are supported by the populist wing of the Democratic Party. However, he recently voted against CAFTA. Leahy voted for the Defense of Marriage Act and was one of the few liberal Democrats to support the ban on intact dilation and extraction procedures.

On March 2, 2006, Leahy was one of ten senators that voted against the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act, a bill to extend the USA PATRIOT Act. The Reauthorization Act changed the appointment process for interim United States attorneys, allowing the Attorney General to make interim appointments without term limit, and without Senatorial confirmation. This was an aspect of hearings in the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy. Both houses voted to overturn the interim appointment provision in March 2007.

On January 18, 2007, Leahy received widespread coverage in the Canadian media for his harsh cross-examination of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the Maher Arar affair and the extraordinary rendition of Arar to Syria.^[5] ly

[edit] Involvement with comic books & other interests

A big fan of the Batman comics, he lent his voice in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series as a Governor in a western tale involving Ra's al Ghul and Jonah Hex. He also appeared as a cameo in Batman and Robin during the Jungle Party Sequence and will have another cameo in the upcoming Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight.^[6]

Leahy wrote the introduction to the collected edition of Green Arrow: the Archer's Quest and the foreword to the first volume of "The Dark Knight Archives," a hardcover reprinting of the first four issues of the Batman comic book.

Leahy is a fan of the Grateful Dead. He has not only attended concerts, but has taped them, and has a collection of Dead tapes in his Senate Offices. Jerry Garcia visited him at his Senate offices, and the Senator gave a tie designed by Garcia to Senator Orrin Hatch (who responded by giving Leahy a Rush Limbaugh tie). Surviving band members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart have participated in fundraisers for Leahy and his Political Action Committee, the Green Mountain Victory Fund. Leahy also appeared in a videotaped tribute to the Dead when they received a lifetime achievement award at the 2002 Jammys. His Senate website notes this response to a question from seventh grade students from Vermont's Thetford Academy who asked Leahy which Dead song was his favorite, he replied: "...my favorite is Black Muddy River but we always play Trucking on election night at my headquarters."

Also a fan of U2, Leahy has a picture mounted on the wall of his office of himself, his wife, President Bill Clinton and Bono. On it, Bono has drawn an arrow pointed to himself, with the caption, "Would you trust this man with your children?"

He is quoted on Loung Ung's website: "In this gripping narrative Loung Ung describes the unfathomable evil that engulfed Cambodia during her childhood, the courage that enabled her family to survive, and the determination that has made her an eloquent voice for peace and justice in Cambodia. It is a tour de force that strengthens our resolve to prevent and punish crimes against humanities." The book he is referring to is Lucky Child.

He is a published photographer.^[7]

[edit] Electoral history

• 1974 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patrick Leahy (D), 49.5%
  • Richard W. Mallary (R), 46.4%

• 1980 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patrick Leahy (D) (inc.), 49.8%
  • Stewart M. Ledbetter (R), 48.5%

• 1986 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patrick Leahy (D) (inc.), 63.7%
  • Richard A. Snelling (R), 34.7%

• 1992 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patrick Leahy (D) (inc.), 54.2%
  • Jim Douglas (R), 43.3%

• 1998 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patrick Leahy (D) (inc.), 72%
  • Fred Tuttle (R), 23%

• 2004 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patrick Leahy (D) (inc.), 71%
  • Jack McMullen (R) 25%
  • Cris Ericson (M) 2%
  • Craig Hill (G) 1%
  • Keith Stern (I) 1%
  • Ben Mitchell (LU) 0%

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Patrick Leahy, Senate site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• New York Times — Patrick J. Leahy News collected news and commentary
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Patrick Leahy profile
• Videos of Patrick Leahy, via Meteor

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