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Sen. Patrick J. Leahy

Democrat from Vermont



Update (1/20/2012): SOPA and PIPA have been indefinitely postponed; see statements by Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Lamar Smith.

L000174

Stance on PIPA
72
Age
37
Years served in Senate
95.18%
% Votes with Party
Phone 202-224-4242
Fax 202-224-3479
Office 437 Russell Senate Office Building
Twitter http://twitter.com/SenatorLeahy
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/patrickleahy
Official homepage http://leahy.senate.gov/

Financial Contributions by Industry

This reported campaign contributions information comes from the OpenSecrets/Center for Responsive Politics API (read more about their campaign-contributions-per-industry API). You can also visit the OpenSecrets profile for Sen. Leahy.

Industry Election Cycle Amount
Computers/Internet 2010 $140,620
2008 $157,241
TV/Movies/Music 2010 $346,056
2008 $22,250

Timeline: Sen. Leahy and PIPA

A list of statements and legislative actions made by Sen. Leahy relating to PIPA. Contact us at sopa[at]propublica.org if you have additions or corrections.

Jan 20, 2012 Reaction to the postponement of the vote on cloture
“The United States Senate has identified a problem directly affecting American jobs, American workers and American consumers. When I first came to Congress, it was the practice of the Senate to debate competing ideas to address such a problem; regrettably, that is not the practice today... I remain committed to addressing this problem; I hope other members of Congress won’t simply stand on hollow promises to find a way to eliminate online theft by foreign rogue websites, and will instead work with me to send a bill to the President’s desk this year...I understand and respect Majority Leader Reid’s decision to seek consent to vitiate cloture on the motion to proceed to the PROTECT IP Act. But the day will come when the Senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem. Somewhere in China today, in Russia today, and in many other countries that do not respect American intellectual property, criminals who do nothing but peddle in counterfeit products and stolen American content are smugly watching how the United States Senate decided it was not even worth debating how to stop the overseas criminals from draining our economy.”
Dec 17, 2011 Press release
"Few issues before Congress today are as well supported on both sides of the political aisle as the PROTECT IP Act, and boast the broad support that this legislation has received. As we continue to look for ways to bolster the economy and get Americans back to work, we can ill-afford to save the debate on how to counter online infringement for another day."
May 26, 2011 Press release
"Copyright infringement and the sale of counterfeit goods can cost American businesses billions of dollars, and result in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs. Protecting intellectual property is not uniquely a Democratic or Republican priority – it is a bipartisan priority."
May 26, 2011 Votes to move PIPA out of committee
Part of unanimous vote of approval by Senate Judiciary committee to move PIPA forward.
May 12, 2011 Introduces PROTECT-IP S.968 to Senate (i.e. PIPA)
Feb 16, 2011 Prepared Statement to Senate Committee on the Judiciary, re: Targeting Websites Dedicated to Stealing American Intellectual Property
"What these rogue websites do is theft, pure and simple. They are no more than digital stores selling stolen, and in the case of counterfeits, often dangerous products. If they existed in the physical world, everyone would agree that they should be shuttered and their proprietors arrested. We cannot excuse the behavior because it happens on the Internet and the owners operate overseas. The Internet needs to be free and open - not lawless."
Nov 18, 2010 Votes to move COICA out of committee
The Senate Judiciary committee voted unanimously to move COICA forward.
Sep 20, 2010 Introduces Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, S. 3804 (COICA) to Senate
Sen. Leahy introduced both COICA and PIPA to the Senate. The latter is a rewrite of the former after it failed to reach the Senate floor for a vote.
Source: OpenCongress

See a complete list of actions and statements by members of Congress