I hope as a nation that we are beginning to come to terms with the systematic problem of sexual harassment and assault, but we still have a long way to go.

Patrick Leahy

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The American people deserve a Supreme Court justice who can demonstrate that he or she will not be beholden to the president, but only to the law.

law justice people

Most Americans want a sense of privacy. A lot of us don't realize how much of our privacy we're exposing by the internet.

privacy realizing want

We had a couple of members in both parties who were all' oh Patrick Leahy didn't talk to us.' It was irrelevant. We went in there and Patrick Leahy had from the most conservative to the most liberal( members), kicking ideas back and forth. And the seriousness of what we were doing, Patrick Leahy could feel it settle in... and we ended up getting procedures.

Some are so terrified of the White House and that the President might speak against them that they are receptive, but' Pat don't tell anybody,'.

Maybe you can explain why a dictator like Egypt's President al-Sisi is feted at the White House, Russia's President (Vladimir) Putin, North Korea's Kim Jong Un and Turkey's President (Tayyip) Erdogan are praised as strong leaders and the Saudi Crown Prince is treated as an indispensable friend and ally.

I was looking forward to asking Secretary Ross why Secretary Ross misled me during Secretary Ross last appearance, one year ago, when Secretary Ross asserted that Commerce Department was' the one who made the request' to include a controversial citizenship question on the Census.

Instead of standing with our neighbors, our fellow Americans, the president has chosen to hold petty grudges that are way beneath the office of the presidency.

A lot of the Republicans told me they wished he (Trump) would not... by Patrick Leahy

A lot of the Republicans told me they wished he (Trump) would not do that.

So many of the scandals it's hard to -- we don't have time to go... by Patrick Leahy

So many of the scandals it's hard to -- we don't have time to go through all of them.

Judge Judge Kavanaugh, I'm trying to get a straight answer from y... by Patrick Leahy

Judge Judge Kavanaugh, I'm trying to get a straight answer from you under oath.

It had immunization for the airlines, nothing for the victims. by Patrick Leahy

It had immunization for the airlines, nothing for the victims.

You vehemently opposed any compensation for the victims' families... by Patrick Leahy

You vehemently opposed any compensation for the victims' families.

I fear the Senate I would be defending no longer exists, i have often said that the Senate, at its best, can be the conscience of the Nation—I must now vote my conscience.

I've often said the Senate at its best and can should be the conscience of the nation, but I must first and foremost vote my conscience, i will not and cannot support advancing this nomination.

I don't speak for Justice Scalia, i speak for myself. by Patrick Leahy

I don't speak for Justice Scalia, i speak for myself.

Senate Republicans made a big show last year about respecting the voice of the American people in this process, now they're arguing that the Senate should rubber-stamp their nominees selected by extreme interest groups and nominated by a president who lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

Remember the Judiciary Committee once stood against a court-packing scheme of a Democratic president that would have eroded judicial independence, and that was a proud moment, now Republicans on this committee are guilty of their own court-unpacking scheme.

I hope next week, when the president’s Supreme Court nominee will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he provides transparent, truthful answers to Senators’ questions, i will insist on real answers from Judge Neil Gorsuch, because there are real concerns about his record and his judicial philosophy.

The fact is, when you elect a president, you have to assume a Supreme Court vacancy, he is going to make the nomination, and it would be a sheer dereliction of duty for the Senate not to have a hearing, not to have a vote.

If the Republican leadership refuses to even hold a hearing, I think that is going to guarantee they're going to lose control of the Senate.