Patrick Leahy's Quotes

The American public is sick and tired of being lied to.

A lot of people in my state of Vermont are gun owners.

I'm a gun owner.

I'm an old trial lawyer.

Judiciary is where my passion is.

Stealing is stealing. I don't care if it's on the Internet or you're breaking into a warehouse somewhere - it's theft.

You get fifteen democrats in a room, and you get twenty opinions.

A victim is a victim is a victim. We should stop setting up standards that say we will have one standard of law enforcement for one group of victims but not for another.

Our alliances and our credibility are crucial elements of our working capital in advancing America's interests in the world, and they have been eroded over the last four years.

The rights of copyright holders need to be protected, but some draconian remedies that have been suggested would create more problems than they would solve.

There have been 111 Justices in the Supreme Court of the United States. Only three have been women. If she is confirmed, Solicitor General Kagan will bring the Supreme Court to an historical high-water mark, with three women concurrently serving as Justices.

We need to consider nominations as thoroughly and carefully as the American people deserve. No one is entitled to a free pass to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

Why do the President and Vice-President constantly change the subject when asked to explain why things are going so badly in Iraq? The answer is simple. They have been consistently wrong about Iraq, and the results speak for themselves.

You know how the church has been hit so hard by the sexual misconduct by clergy, and what's that's done to Catholics, especially here in Boston but elsewhere as well.

As a university, we're not focused on bringing about huge reforms - that's not our role.

Clearly there are individuals who don't understand what the church teaches, or they think it's so limiting.

I am very confident that the Spirit is with us.

I say let's respond as best we can to the victims and their families.

I think the issue of clergy sexual abuse sparked people to look at their faith in a different way.

I think we can work through a lot of these issues.

I would be with those who say the hierarchy in the United States has badly mishandled this whole situation.

I would say the hierarchy has made terrible errors in judgment and it has to seek forgiveness by its members.

Individuals will speak their minds, which I think is healthy.

Others don't want to listen to viewpoints that members of the church have.

Some of the speakers we bring on campus may not reflect official church teaching, but that's how it is.

The church may hold whatever it holds with regard to clerical celibacy.