Leahy calls motorcades ‘out of control’

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday arrived late at a panel hearing on the Real ID Act and blamed his tardiness on a traffic jam caused by a massive motorcade.

Before starting the hearing, Leahy took some time to criticize the prevalence and size of motorcades in Washington, saying, “Somewhere we’ve gotten out of control.”

{mosads}Leahy said he was stuck in traffic for 20 minutes because of a motorcade and relayed a story from the old days.

“I recall when I was a law student here at Georgetown, one time up in the Capitol I got on an elevator and stopped because there was then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson and one agent with him,” Leahy said. “He said, ‘Boy, are you getting on or off?’ I said I was getting on, Mr. Vice President. He grabbed me by the belt and pulled me on. He said, ‘Well, get on.’”

Leahy said later that day, he saw Johnson drive off in a single car with a chauffeur and a Secret Service agent. The lawmaker compared it to a 38-vehicle vice presidential motorcade he observed earlier this year.

Leahy was about to launch another story when he caught himself, to laughter from the audience, and began the hearing with his opening remarks.