Patrick Leahy Quotes on Government (27 Quotes)

I have become increasingly concerned that he's not showing a willingness or ability to be sufficiently candid and forthcoming with the Senate, ... And without that candor and without being so forthcoming, I would have difficulty in having confidence in his abilities to carry out the responsibilities of solicitor general and to be the voice of the United States.

We are a democracy -- let's have checks and balances. Let us have a government of checks and balances.

These answers do not help the Senate much in reaching an informed decision about this nomination.

At a time when the Republican Party has control of all three branches of the federal government, my worry is that the system of checks and balances may become short-circuited,

Suppose (administration officials) felt that the rescue operations of the government, whether it's state, local or federal, was being handled in an inept way, or evacuees are being mistreated, ... Does that give them a right to bar the media, who may want to expose that.

Well, this kind of condescending attitude does not go over well with the Senate, ... We have the responsibility to determine how best to do it. Now they've done it on their side. Now it's up to the Senate to decide how to do it.

If you're going to fix a broken system, it's going to require cooperation by the states, by the federal government, ... catalyst for the reforms that have to happen in the state capitals where most of these criminal cases come from.

This president is in the midst of a radical realignment of the powers of the government and its intrusiveness into the private lives of Americans. This nomination is part of that plan. I am concerned that, if confirmed, this nominee will further erode the checks and balances that have protected our constitutional rights for more than 200 years.

I find it very, very troubling, and I think most of Congress would,

Four months ago, when we first started talking about the package of death penalty reform, I don't think that too many people thought this would become a front-burner issue this year, or that even we might have legislation this year. But now hearings are imminent in both the Senate and the House, governors and senators and presidential candidates are being asked about it.

This is a commonsense solution that gives the Senate more time to craft a consensus bill that will promote our security while preserving our freedom.

Whether I agree or disagree with the opinion of the Supreme Court, it will be the ultimate law of the land and I will work to uphold it, ... All of us hope that we're not going to be down to a point where the final election is going to be done across the street in the Congress.

come on up here and make sure that the Congress will actually back up that money.

I want to hear ... what controls the FBI has in place when Carnivore is used to ensure the program is operated only as authorized by the court order. This keeping in mind the fact that usually the court order isn't going to be designed the way the government wants it to be.

I think he was just having a bad day, ... and I was kind of shocked to hear that kind of language on the Senate floor.

let some healthy sunshine into the Senate to exposed a flawed rule that puts special interests over the health of the American people.

In the Reagan administration, in his earlier work, he seemed to try to out-conservative some of the conservatives on issues involving gender discrimination, environmental matters, and individual rights versus the government, ... What I'm interested in is to what extent do his views that he expressed in his late 20s and early 30s reflect his views as a jurist today.

I regret that instead of accepting our many previous invitations to work with the Senate and increase the level of consultation and cooperation to help fill judicial vacancies, the White House repeatedly has chosen to continue down its path of trying to politicize the process,

With Enron and WorldCom and others, this is the last time in the world that the Senate should weaken conflict-of-interest standards.

The U. S. Supreme Court has looked at this, the Florida Supreme Court has looked at this. Basically they end up saying, 'Let's count the ballots.' I don't want partisan party line votes in the House or the Senate determining this, it should be the voters of America that determine it.

The bureau lives sometimes as an isolated area where they forget that they're responsible to the attorney general and they're responsible to the Congress,

regrettable that they were not able to take the time to review the documents that now have been provided to the Senate.

Congress has the power to declare war. Do we have the power to terminate war

Despite my misgivings, I have acquiesced in some of the administration's proposals because it is important to preserve national unity in this time of crisis and to move the legislative process forward,

The rest of America, including the Senate, deserves to know what he and the White House know. We don't confirm justices of the Supreme Court on a wink and a nod. And a litmus test is no less a litmus test by using whispers and signals.

It would be a mistake to be decided by Congress. It should be decided by the voters.

We're in a Congress that much prefers to investigate than legislate, so we can assume that there will be hearings and an investigation.