“This is a default of U.S. leadership and a detour from the clear path of history,” Leahy said in a press statement.

“The United States is the most powerful nation on earth. We don’t need these weapons and most of our allies have long ago abandoned them. It is a lost opportunity for the United States to show leadership instead of joining with China and Russia and impeding progress. The United States took some of the earliest and most effective steps to restrict the use of landmines. We should be leading this effort, not sitting on the sidelines,” said Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Leahy’s supporters say that for two decades Leahy has been the leading U.S. officeholder advocating an international ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines. Leahy claims his legislation, including the world’s first export ban on landmines, was a catalyst in launching the international treaty effort.

The Vermont senator went on to say that the Obama Administration’s review of the earlier decision to stand apart from the treaty “can only be described as cursory and half-hearted.” 

The Obama Administration’s decision was announced on the eve of an international meeting this weekend in Cartagena, Colombia, to assess compliance with the ten-year-old treaty.

Senator Leahy gained the nickname “Leaky Leahy” because of his propensity for leaking classified intelligence to the news media if he did not agree with a policy decision. 

During the Reagan Administration, at the height of the Cold War, Leahy was forced to step down as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee because he leaked classified information to a news reporter in an attempt to thwart a decision by then-President Ronald Reagan.