[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 23, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13866-S13867]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             LEGISLATIVE WORK OF COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this has been an extraordinary year in the 
history of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Thanks to the members 
and their work through 87 hearings and 33 business meetings this year 
we have been productive. Here are some of the legislative highlights:
  We have considered and reported to the Senate several important 
legislative initiatives: We successfully considered and reported to the 
Senate the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act that President Obama 
signed into law in May. We reported the important Patent Reform Act, 
which can help our economic recovery and lead to additional American 
jobs. We reported significant cyber security legislation, including the 
Personal Data Privacy and Security Act.
  We also reported the Improving Assistance to Domestic Violence 
Victims Act; Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act; the Crime 
Victims Fund Preservation Act; and the Performance Rights Act. We 
reported the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act; the PACT Act on 
cigarette smuggling; and the Preserve Access to Affordable Generics 
Act, to end anticompetitive pay-for-delay schemes in the drug industry.
  Mindful of the end of the year deadlines, we worked hard to report 
with bipartisan support the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act and 
the Satellite Television Modernization Act.

[[Page S13867]]

  We reported the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 
Reauthorization Act just last week. And after many working sessions, we 
were finally able to report the historic Free Flow of Information Act 
to establish a qualified privilege in Federal law for journalists to 
protect their confidential sources and the public's right to know.
  Through the course of the year Senators on this Committee contributed 
to enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Matthew Shepard and 
James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the Fraud Enforcement and 
Recovery Act, the OPEN FOIA Act, the Human Rights Enforcement Act, the 
Webcasters Settlement Act, an extension of the EB-5 program for three 
years, an end to the ``widow penalty'' in immigration law, the Judicial 
Survivors Protection Act, the Reserve Officers Modernization Act, the 
charter for the Military Officers Association of America, as well as 
legislation to keep the Patent Office on a financial footing, and 
legislation to clarify statutory time periods for litigation. We worked 
to include in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provisions to 
provide needed funding to state and local law enforcement and to 
protect privacy as we improve healthcare information technology.
  Many of us worked for Senate passage of the District of Columbia 
House Voting Rights Act.
  Within the health insurance reform legislation being passed by the 
Senate this week are provisions we worked on to improve our anti-fraud 
efforts and to provide recourse for those harmed by health services.
  I thank the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for their 
contributions and cooperation.

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