In 2004, New Yorkers re-elected U.S. Senator Charles E. “Chuck”
Schumer to represent the State of New York in the U.S. Senate for
a second-six year term. Chuck started off his second term by being
appointed to the Democratic Leadership team by Senate
Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Chuck also earned a seat
on the Senate Finance Committee,
which oversees the nation’s tax, trade, social security and
health care legislation. Chuck also sits on the Committee
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; the Judiciary
Committee; and the Rules
Committee. He is the Ranking Member of the Administrative
Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee and the Economic Policy
Subcommittee. Prior to his election to the Senate, Chuck represented
the Ninth Congressional District in Brooklyn and Queens for eighteen
years. Before that, he represented the Forty-Fifth Assembly District
in Brooklyn for six years.
For the past two and a half decades, Chuck Schumer has been a leader
on national issues and a tireless fighter for New York. For his
efforts, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle called Chuck "an
accomplished, far-sighted legislator," while The New York Times
wrote that Chuck "is a more serious lawmaker with more rooted
values, sounder policy positions and a deeper commitment to the
common good."
Serving three terms in the New York State Assembly, Chuck worked
vigorously for his Brooklyn constituents. He sponsored legislation
to protect local cemeteries from vandalism and passed laws limiting
noise pollution by banning motorcycles from residential streets
between 9 pm and 8 am. He was a staunch affordable housing advocate,
and sponsored legislation that increased penalties for arson in
houses of worship.
Throughout his 20 years in Congress, Chuck has been a pioneer in
the fight against crime. His work in this area led Attorney General
Janet Reno, the nation's top law enforcer, to state, "I have
never met a public official more dedicated to fighting crime than
Mr. Schumer."
In 1994, Chuck authored the Omnibus Crime Bill, which put 100,000
new policemen on the street, enforced the "three strikes and
you're out" sentencing, and created after school programs for
troubled teens. As of August 2000, the Crime Bill's COPS program
had put 11,461 new officers on New York's streets.
Chuck was a leading sponsor of the Brady Bill, which instituted
mandatory background checks for handgun purchases. Chuck co-wrote
the Assault Weapons Ban, which outlawed the manufacture and importation
of 19 types of semi-automatic weapons, including the Uzi, AK-47
and Tec-9. He also sponsored both the Hate Crimes Statistics Act
and Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which organized data on crimes of
bigotry and allowed federal authorities to prosecute these crimes.
In 1992, Chuck authored the Anti-Auto Theft Act, which required
car manufacturers to mark often-stolen vehicle parts with an indelible
ID number. Chuck won the first federal funding for Albany, Buffalo,
Syracuse and Rochester to implement Project Exile, a program that
enforces strict sentencing guidelines for illegal gun possession.
Chuck also sponsored legislation in the Senate that provided $125
million in funding for rape kit testing and $100 million for the
Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners program to help law enforcement
identify, arrest and convict perpetrators of sexual assaults.
In addition to his record on crime, Chuck has been a tireless advocate
for women' rights. He is the author of the landmark Violence Against
Women Act, which was the first federal legislation protecting women
against domestic abuse. As Chair of the House Judiciary's Subcommittee
on Crime and Criminal Justice, Chuck passed the Freedom of Access
to Clinic Entrances Act and made blockading the entrances to family
clinics a federal crime.
Since his election to the Senate, Chuck has made improving New York's
economy his top priority. He has been particularly successful in
bringing affordable air service to Upstate New York, helping deliver
new airline Jet Blue to Buffalo,
Rochester
and Syracuse
and working with low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines to expand service
to Albany and Western New York. His Group of 35 developed
a comprehensive plan to address New York City's long-term economic
needs by adding 60,000 new square feet of desperately needed office
space to accommodate 300,000 new jobs projected over the next twenty
years.
Chuck also established an Economic Development Initiative (EDI),
a comprehensive effort to attract new businesses and financial resources
to Upstate New York. As part of EDI, Chuck has held business roundtables
throughout the state, organizing meetings between economic development
officials and business leaders in Rochester,
Buffalo,
Syracuse
during his first year in office. Later he toured the state with
the site
selectors who help businesses decide where to locate offices
and factories, and sent a brochure promoting Upstate's merits to
CEO's in New York City.
Chuck is the author of legislation that would eliminate many of
the barriers that delay low-cost
generic medications from coming to the marketplace. Chuck's
bill would save consumers 60% when they choose a generic drug over
the name brand by the third year the generic alternative is on the
market. Chuck is also the author of legislation that would create
an electronic national organ registry
that would immediately link donors and recipients nationwide. Chuck
has also written bi-partisan legislation to stabilize
the Medicare + Choice program to help correct funding disparities
that have caused over 1.6 million Americans, many of them senior
citizens, to lose their HMO coverage.
Improving access to quality education is another of Chuck's long-term
priorities. He led the charge in Congress to make
college tuition tax deductible, and for the first time in history,
parents will be able to deduct a portion of their children's tuition.
Chuck has developed a "Marshall
Plan for Teachers," which would provide a series of incentives
to attract the best and brightest to teaching, and successfully
authored several amendments to the Education bill which would
double funding for recruiting and retaining math and science teachers.
Chuck, as the Ranking Member of the Administrative
Oversight and the Courts subcommittee, plays a key role in judicial
nominations. He held hearings in June 2001 to examine
the role of judicial ideology in the judicial confirmation process.
Chuck is the author of bipartisan legislation to allow
federal trials to be televised and also of legislation that
would modernize
the nation's voting system by providing guidance, expertise
and $3.5 billion in grants to states and localities to upgrade their
voting equipment. Chuck was also a strong supporter of the McCain-Feingold
campaign finance legislation.
A member of the Banking committee in the House and the Senate, Chuck
worked for a decade to pass the 1999
Financial Services Modernization legislation, which modernizes
regulations governing the US banking, securities and insurance industries.
He played a key role in drafting language to ensure that financial
companies serve traditionally underserved areas and has exposed
unequal lending practices of banks and predatory
lending practices of subprime lenders in minority communities.
Chuck is currently the Ranking Member of the Banking committee's
Economic Policy subcommittee.
In 2005, Chuck was appointed to the Finance committee and the Finance
subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight. Occupying a seat once
occupied by his former colleague, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
Chuck now leads the fight against the privatization of Social Security
and to ensure the solvency of the program through a bipartisan solution.
He is working to maintain Medicaid funding for our seniors and to
prevent a tax-hike for middle-class Americans by maintaining the
deductibility of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns.
Chuck is concerned about the growing trade deficit with China and
co-sponsored a bill that will help U.S. businesses by forcing China
to adhere to its WTO obligations.
Chuck has also had a powerful effect on a wide-ranging number of
issues, including:
• Consumers: The "Schumer Box," enacted in 1988,
requires that credit card companies clearly inform consumers of
their terms.
• Immigration: Chuck forged an agreement in 1986 that resulted
in an overhaul of the immigration system. He is also the author
of pending legislation that would crack down on fraudulent immigration
consultants.
• AIDS: Chuck authored the Housing Opportunities for People
with AIDS Law.
• Israel: Chuck is a staunch advocate for our Middle East
ally and has been a leader in bringing restitution to Holocaust
survivors and their families.
• Terrorism: Chuck was one of the authors of the 1996 Antiterrorism
Act. He successful fought to maintain the Iran
and Libya Sanctions Act, which maintains sanctions on rogue
states, and demanded the State Department stop
omitting Palestinian terrorists from its website offering rewards
and information for the capture of those suspected of killing American
citizens.
Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, Chuck has worked tirelessly
to help New York recover and rebuild. On September 13, Chuck, along
with Senator Clinton, secured a commitment from President Bush to
provide $20
billion in federal funding to help New York pay for recovery
and relief efforts. Chuck also helped create the federal Victims
Compensation Fund, which helps the families of those lost on
September 11 or anyone physically injured in the attack continue
with their lives by providing the family with all of the money the
person killed or injured would have earned over his or her lifetime,
all within five months of filing the claim. Chuck and Senator Clinton
also successfully lobbied for $5 billion in aid for New York in
the economic stimulus package pending before the Senate.
In addition, Chuck:
• Helped broker a compromise between Senate Democrats and
the Bush Administration to support the antiterrorism bill.
• Helped write new laws cracking down on money laundering.
• Wrote legislation providing federal terrorism reinsurance
to make it easier for private companies to obtain insurance.
• Worked on legislation that would make terrorist
hoaxes a federal crime.
• Fought for funding to strengthen security at New York's
northern
border with Canada.
• Successfully convinced HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to use
the availability of the generic
version of Cipro to lower the price the federal government pays
for the antibotic, saving the taxpayers over $100 million.
• Wrote legislation with Senator Clinton allowing
the FBI to share information with local law enforcement agencies
like the NYPD.
• Asked the USDA to conduct a full security assessment of
the Plum
Island Animal Disease Research Laboratory on Long Island and
asked the NRC and Homeland Security to assess security risks for
all of New
York's nuclear facilities.
• Nominated
Father Mychal Judge, the fallen New York Fire Department Chaplain,
for the US Medal of Freedom.
• Worked with the US Embassy in Santo Domingo to expedite
visa approvals for families of the victims of American Airlines
Flight 587.
• Obtained liability protection for New York City and the
Port Authority in the airport security bill.
• Fought for increased funding to enhance
rail and Amtrak security.
• Fought for increased funding for port
security.
• Called for a national
sales tax holiday to boost consumer spending.
For a more complete list of Chuck's agenda and accomplishments,
please click here.
A product of the Brooklyn public schools, Chuck, who was born on
November 23, 1950, is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard
Law School. He was elected to the New York State Assembly at age
23 -- making him one of the youngest members since Theodore Roosevelt
-- and to Congress at 29. In 1998, Chuck became New York's junior
Senator, and he now holds the senior position. He lives in Brooklyn
with his wife, Iris Weinshall, and their daughters, Jessica and
Alison.
To see an interactive timeline detailing Chuck's life and career,
please click here.
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