Senator Patrick Leahy's 13,000th Vote

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to honor Senator Patrick Leahy on the occasion of his 13,000th vote.

I have had the privilege of serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Leahy's leadership for more than 10 years. The Judiciary Committee is one of the original standing committees of the U.S. Senate and its role is unique. It is the Judiciary Committee's special charge to ensure that we remain faithful to our Founders' vision of America as a nation of laws.

As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy takes this responsibility very seriously and he has continually demonstrated his fidelity to the rule of law. Chairman Leahy has repeatedly risen in defense of our fundamental constitutional rights, even when it is not politically popular.

He particularly distinguished himself in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks. At a time when some were calling for us to sacrifice our rights in the fight against terrorism, Pat Leahy said that we could be both safe and free.

He worked to include important civil liberties protections in the PATRIOT Act. He led the opposition to controversial Bush administration policies relating to torture, indefinite detention, and the warrantless surveillance of innocent American citizens. He was one of the first Members of Congress to speak out against the Guantánamo Bay detention center. Chairman Leahy led the fight against the Military Commissions Act. He was particularly eloquent and persistent in defending the right to habeas corpus and he was vindicated when the Supreme Court held that the habeas-stripping provision of the Military Commissions Act is unconstitutional.

Chairman Leahy has also been a giant in the Senate when it comes to judicial nominations. He has fought to preserve the integrity and independence of our Federal judiciary throughout his career and long tenure on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Despite the highly charged atmosphere that has beset the judicial nominations process in recent years, Chairman Leahy handled judicial nominations fairly and expeditiously during his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee under President George W. Bush. In the approximately 3 years in which he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee under President Bush, 168 of the President's judicial nominees were confirmed. By comparison, during the 4-year period under President Bush when Republicans had a majority in the Senate and chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, only 158 judicial nominees were confirmed.

Chairman Leahy also led the fight to enhance the security of Federal judges and courthouses in the wake of several tragic incidents of violence our Nation witnessed in recent years. This record is a tribute to Chairman Leahy's deep respect for the Federal bench and his commitment to bipartisanship in the advice and consent process.

Senator Leahy has fought for human rights at home and abroad. As the lead sponsor of the Innocence Protection Act, he has worked to ensure that innocent people are not subject to the death penalty. He has been the foremost champion in Congress in the campaign against antipersonnel landmines, authoring the first legislation by any government to ban the export of landmines.

I want to pay tribute particularly to Chairman Leahy for creating the Human Rights and the Law subcommittee in January 2007 and for giving me the opportunity to chair this subcommittee during the 110th Congress. I was proud to work with Senator Leahy in the 110th Congress to enact the Genocide Accountability Act, which makes it a crime to commit genocide anywhere in the world; the Child Soldiers Accountability Act, which makes it a crime and violation of immigration law to recruit or use child soldiers anywhere in the world; and the Trafficking in Persons Accountability Act, which makes it a crime to engage in human trafficking anywhere in the world.

Mr. President, America is fortunate to have Senator Patrick Leahy's leadership at this challenging moment in our history. I look forward to working with him as we strive to restore the rule of law at home and to reclaim America's role as a champion for human rights around the world.

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