Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator (D-Vt.)
National Press Club Luncheon Speaker -- June 25, 2003

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Patrick Leahy, the senior U.S. senator from Vermont, was born in Montpelier, Vt., in 1940. He graduated in 1961 from Saint Michael's College in Colchester, and, three years later, earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. After serving for eight years as State's Attorney in Chittenden County, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974. Leahy ranks eighth in seniority in the Senate.

As a senator, Leahy has worked on a number of issues, such as anti-personnel mines; death penalty reform; environmental protection; and agricultural issues, including Department of Agriculture reorganization. In 2001, as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he led the Senate's consideration of the USA Patriot Act. He has continued to work for the passage of the Innocence Protection Act, a response to recent post-conviction exonerations by DNA evidence.

Currently, Leahy serves as the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, as well as being a senior member of both the Appropriations and Agriculture committees. Leahy sits on many Appropriations subcomittees, including Foreign Operations; Homeland Security; and Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary.

Leahy and his wife, Marcelle Pomerleau Leahy, have been married for 40 years. They have a daughter and two sons.

Related Links:

• Sen. Patrick Leahy's web site

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