Latest Patrick Leahy Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• The last thing our founding fathers wanted was to be ruled by king with absolute power, and the next to the last thing they wanted was to be ruled by a temporary king with absolute powers for four years.

  Patrick Leahy

  Father, Our Founding Fathers, Absolute Power

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• I think that we should not delay for the sake of delay, but delay until questions are answered.

  Patrick Leahy

  Thinking, Delay, Sake

  Source: www.npr.org

• We have a whole lot of the president-elect's nominees that have not filled out their ethics disclosures. I can never remember a time when anybody was voted on for a Cabinet position who hadn't completed their ethics report, and certainly nobody should be allowed to vote until that's done.

  Patrick Leahy

  Filled Out, President, Done

  Source: www.npr.org

• I don't want somebody as attorney general who thinks he has to rubberstamp whatever the president says.

  Patrick Leahy

  Thinking, President, Want

  Source: www.npr.org

• It's even more important for the integrity of the country if there are conflicts of interest in an administration, if there are things being done that they shouldn't do - and I hope there won't be, but if there were, you have to go and prosecute.

  Patrick Leahy

  Country, Integrity, Important

  Source: www.npr.org

• Remember the attorney general is not a member of the president's staff. He's the attorney general of the United States. He's there to represent all of us, and it means all the laws have to be enforced fairly. And you can't bring your individual prejudices in there.

  Patrick Leahy

  Mean, Law, President

  Source: www.npr.org

• Senator Sessions has opposed protections for LGBT individuals. He's spoken out against Freedom Corps' marriage equality decision. He opposed the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He opposed the nomination of Loretta Lynch, the nation's first African-American woman to serve as attorney general. These things worry me.

  Patrick Leahy

  Worry, Decision, African American

  Source: www.npr.org

• The appointment of the next Supreme Court justice must be made in the people's interest and in the nation's interest, not in the interest of any partisan faction.

  Patrick Leahy

  People, Justice, Next

  "U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito's Nomination to the Supreme Court". www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

• This is a time when the protections of Americans' liberties are directly at risk, as are the checks and balances that have served to constrain abuses of power for more than 200 years. The Supreme Court is relied upon by all of to us protect our fundamental rights.

  Patrick Leahy

  Rights, Years, Risk

  "U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito's Nomination to the Supreme Court". www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

• 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.

  Patrick Leahy

  Law, People, Justice

  "U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito's Nomination to the Supreme Court". www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

• As the elected representatives of the American people, all the people, nearly 300 million people, that we in the Senate are charged with the responsibility to examine whether to entrust their precious rights and liberties to [Supreme Court] nominee.

  Patrick Leahy

  Responsibility, Rights, People

  U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito's Nomination to the Supreme Court, www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

• The federal judiciary is unlike the other branches of government. And once confirmed, a federal judge serves for life. And there's no court above the Supreme Court.

  Patrick Leahy

  Government, Judging, Branches

  U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito's Nomination to the Supreme Court, www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

• Her [Jurdge Sandra Day O'Connor] judgment has also been critical in protecting our environmental rights. She joined in 5-4 majorities affirming reproductive freedom and religious freedom and the Voting Rights Act.

  Patrick Leahy

  Religious, Rights, Voting

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• She [Justice sandra Day O'Connor] wrote - and this is one we should all remember - she wrote that even war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens. She held that even this president is not above the law.

  Patrick Leahy

  War, Rights, Law

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• Of course no president, Democratic or Republican - no president - is above the law, as neither are you, nor I, nor anyone.

  Patrick Leahy

  Law, President, Republican

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• She [Justice sandra Day O'Connor] rejected the [George] Bush administration's claim that it could indefinitely detain a United States citizen. She upheld the fundamental principle of judicial review over the exercise of government power.

  Patrick Leahy

  Exercise, Government, Justice

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• I look forward to the time when the membership of the Supreme Court's more reflective of the country it serves.

  Patrick Leahy

  Country, Looks, Membership

  Patrick Leahy's opening statements at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

• Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor has been a guardian of the protections the Constitution provides the American people. She's come to provide balance and a check on government intrusion into our personal privacy and freedoms.

  Patrick Leahy

  Government, Justice, People

  "The Situation: Monday, January 9". The Samuel Alito Hearings, transcripts.cnn.com. January 9, 2006.

• The court that serves America should reflect America.

  Patrick Leahy

  America, Should, Court

  "Leahy's Opening Statement". www.nytimes.com. January 9, 2006.

• I regret that some on the extreme right have been so critical of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and have adamantly opposed the naming of a successor who shares her judicial philosophy and qualities. And their criticism actually reflects poorly upon them.

  Patrick Leahy

  Regret, Philosophy, Justice

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• [Sandra Day O'Connor] is a justice whose graciousness and sense of duty fuels her continued service, even agreeing to serve more than six months after her retirement date.

  Patrick Leahy

  Retirement, Justice, Six Months

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• Justice Sandra Day O'Connor serves as a model Supreme Court justice, widely recognized as a jurist with practical values, a sense of the consequences of the legal decisions being made by the Supreme Court.

  Patrick Leahy

  Justice, Decision, Sandra Day O Connor

  Patrick Leahy's opening statements at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

• 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.

  Patrick Leahy

  Want, Privacy, Realizing

  "Sen. Patrick Leahy: 'Our Privacy Is Part Of Our Security'". "All Things Considered" with Audie Cornish, www.npr.org. June 3, 2015.