[30][b] In 1980, Leahy defeated Republican Stewart Ledbetter by only 2,700 votes amid Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the presidential election. He also argued that the Chinese government should commit to ending the use of torture, organ harvesting of prisoners, and propaganda against minorities. [139], In May 2019, Leahy and eight other Democratic senators sent Perdue a letter that criticized the USDA for using farm bailout money to purchase pork from the Brazilian-owned JBS USA, writing that it was "counterproductive and contradictory" for foreign companies to receive "U.S. taxpayer dollars intended to help American farmers struggling with this administration's trade policy". He is regarded as one of the leading privacy advocates in Congress. The amendment was defeated in the Senate on October 28 by a vote of 48 to 43. He voted in favor of prohibiting foreign and UN aid that inhibits gun ownership. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy discusses his decision to retire - WAMC Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official from the Jefferson Awards for Public Service. [123] Later that month, Leahy was one of eight senators to sign a letter to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats requesting a classified briefing on what the American intelligence community knew about threats to Khashoggi, so that the senators may fulfill their "oversight obligation" as members of Congress. [74][75], The 1998 United States Senate election in Vermont was noteworthy, in that Republican candidate Fred Tuttle endorsed Leahy. He was also the youngest senator in the states history. [55] Later that year, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Leahy said that if Reagan could not produce an acceptable Supreme Court nominee[c] to replace Lewis F. Powell Jr., after Robert Bork was rejected and Douglas Ginsburg withdrew, Senate Democrats would refuse hearings for any nominee until after the 1988 presidential election. [68] The 1994 midterm elections resulted in a Republican majority in the House for the first time since the 1950s,[69] and conversation arose of limiting feeding programs. Leahy was also the last of the Senate's "Watergate Babies"Democrats first elected to Congress in the wave election of 1974 that followed President Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal. You know, passing the organic farm bill and how that's helped so many people. The Leahys live on a tree farm in Middlesex, Vermont. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [121], In September 2018, as the Senate weighed the first spending package for the 2019 fiscal year, Leahy advocated for increasing the spending cap for a veterans' care program. [136][137], In 2019, Leahy worked with Senators Sherrod Brown, Susan Collins, and David Perdue on a bipartisan effort to ensure students have access to local foods. [183], In April 2019, after the Trump administration refused to distribute money to West Bank and Gaza "because of perceived intransigence on peace talks by the Palestinians and payments to the families of those who have attacked Israelis", Leahy was one of six Democratic senators to introduce a resolution restoring U.S. humanitarian aid to the West Bank and Gaza.
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