Because I reside from Westchester, New York my Congressman is Rep. Eliot Engel and my Senators are Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand. Rep. Eliot Engel (D) represents New York's 16th District. He's lived in the Bronx for most of his life and he's currently married and has three children. Before he entered into the political arena, he graduated from Hunter-Lehman College in 1969 with a B.A. in history and received a master's degree in Guidance and Counseling in 1973 from Herbert H. Lehman College. Also prior to his political career, he was a teacher and a guidance counselor in the New York City School District. His political career kicked off in 1974 when he became the Bronx Democratic District Leader and held that title until 1976 (read more: https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/26972/eliot-engel#.VejzsdNViko). He then continued in his political career when served in the New York State Assembly from 1977-1988. His apparent passion for assisting others back from when he worked in the New York City School District is echoed when he made the decision to become the chair of the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse and the Subcommittee on Mitchell-Lama Housing. His lack of previous experience in the political sphere, though, could of been one of the reasons he ended up receiving a law degree from New York Law School in 1987--right when his time as the New York State Assembly was coming to an end. After his time the New York State Assembly, he went on to be the Representative of New York's 19th District from 1989-1992 and the Representative of New York's 17th District from 1993-2012 (read more: http://engel.house.gov/biography/).
Congressman Engel's area of expertise is reflected in the committees he's currently a part of. He's currently a Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and also serves as a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Subcommittee on Energy and Power, and the Subcommittee on Health. Some of his biggest accomplishments as a Representative include his creation of the Dependence Reduction through Innovation in Vehicles and Energy (DRIVE) Act--which addressed the issue of America's dependence on foreign oil--with many provisions successfully included in the energy bill signed into law on December 19, 2007, authoring the ALS Registry Act (P.L. 110-373) which successfully established a national registry for the collection and storage of data on those suffering from ALS, and authoring the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, which successfully managed to spark international pressure on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon (read more: http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/rep_eliot_engel.html).
These accomplishments of his reflect his need to maintain his view of safety. He and this need for his form of safety to be maintained was revealed yet again when he recently came out against the Iran Nuclear Deal. His placement on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs makes his recent opposing vote even more significant than it would for the average Congressperson. Representative Engel openly stated in an interview with The Journal News that, "The main part I find most objectionable is you look at the behaviors of Iran these past years when they had no money and they were still a leading sponsor of international terrorism," Engel said. "Can you imagine how much more destruction that they can do if they are awash in cash?" (read more: http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/07/sen-schumer-rep-engel-oppose-iran-deal/31270541/).
Most recently, on September 1, 2015, Congressman Engel spoke before members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union during their annual Speaker's Conference at the UN. He took his interest in the environment and made his speaking time about the threat climate change poses to all nations (read more: https://www.facebook.com/RepEliotLEngel/posts/10153632856984853).
Congressman Engel's wide range of accomplishments and opinions regarding foreign affairs, health and healthcare, and environmental issues make him out to be favorable to the constituents of District 16 because his accomplishments and ideologies tend to be more liberal and democratic and District 16, and New York in general, tends to be more liberal. Some aspects of how effectively he's doing his job, though, are up for debate. It was revealed by govtracker.us that Representative Engel missed 7.4% of the role call votes from January 1989-July 2015, which is considered to be much worse than the median 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives that are currently serving (read more: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/eliot_engel/400122). While the general opinion of his district is vastly important, it should be noted how he has been proven to do so poorly at a one of the most important aspects of his career.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) has been one of New York's Senators since 1999. He was born in Brooklyn and is married with two children. He first became interested in politics when he was attending Harvard for undergraduate school and campaigned for Eugene McCarthy in 1968. His interest in politics encouraged him to continue his education and receive his law degree, with honors, from Harvard Law School in 1974. He wasted no time in entering into the political arena when he was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1974, right after he received his law degree from Harvard with honors, at the young age of 23 (read more: http://www.schumer.senate.gov/about-chuck). After his time in the Assembly, he was elected as the Representative of New York's 16th District from 1981-1982, the Representative of New York's 10th District from 1983-1992, and the Representative of New York's 9th District from 1993-1998.
Senator Schumer's areas of expertise are reflected in the committees he's a part of. He's a Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration as well as a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and National Interest and is a member of the Joint Committee on the Library, the Joint Committee on Printing, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Senate Committee of Finance, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. He is also a member of nine other Subcommittees (read more: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/charles_schumer/300087). Some of his biggest accomplishments as a Senator include passing legislation in his areas of expertise such as authoring legislation that eliminated barriers that delayed low-cost generic medications from entering the marketplace as well as leading the charge to make college tuition tax deductible and sponsoring legislation that demonstrates his allegiance to the general democratic platform such as being the leading sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, to fight against domestic violence and sexual assault and sponsoring the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which allows for the organization of data on hate crimes and allows the authorities to prosecute these crimes (read more: http://www.schumer.senate.gov/about-chuck).
Senator Schumer recently came out in opposition to the Iran Nuclear Deal. He made a statement released on the website Medium during the first nationally televised Republican presidential debate stating that, "To me, the very real risk that Iran will not moderate and will, instead, use the agreement to pursue its nefarious goals is too great," (read more: http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/07/sen-schumer-rep-engel-oppose-iran-deal/31270541/). Sen Schumer along with Rep. Engel are being closely examined by the media due to a lot of those in the media career believing their religion, Judaism, and their opinions on Israel have played a role in their decisions to come out against the Iran Agreement.
Most recently, on September 1, 2015, Senator Schumer announced that after his push, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is going to award the Dresser-Rand Company $4,000,000 to construct and test pilot-scale supersonic Carbon Dioxide compressor (read more: http://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/after-schumers-push-us-dept-of-energy-will-award-dresser-rand-4-million-to-design-and-create-super-compressor-at-olean-facility-protecting-wny-jobs). His interest in creating more jobs in New York State is highlighted in his push and success of this award. He's, unsurprisingly, very satisfied with this.
Because New York is a traditionally blue state, it's unsurprising that a relatively recent, May 2015, poll revealed that Senator Schumer has a considerably solid approval rating of 54% (read more: http://hudsonvalleynewsnetwork.com/2015/05/15/cuomos-approval-rating-is-at-record-low/). It was also revealed by govtracker.us that Senator Schumer has missed 1.1% of role call votes from January 1999-August 2015, which is on par with the median of 1.6% among the lifetime records of currently serving senators. His solid approval rating from his home state and keeping up with the voting aspect of his career reveals that he is doing a satisfactory job as a senator.
Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D) has been one of the New York State Senators since 2009. She was born in Albany, New York and is married with two children. Before she started her political career, she graduated and got her B.A. from Dartmouth College with magna cum laude in 1988 and got her law degree from UCLA Law School in 1991. Her political career began when served as a law clerk for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Also prior to her Senatorial position, she was the Representative of New York's 20th District from 2007-2009 (read more: http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/about/biography).
Senator Gillibrand's areas of expertise are reflected in the committees she's a part of. She's a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Agriculture and a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Personnel as well as being a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and the Senate Special Committee on Aging. She's also a member on six other subcommittees (read more: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/kirsten_gillibrand/412223). Some of her greatest accomplishments including fighting for the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that banned homosexuals from serving openly in the military and providing compensation and health care to 9/11 first responders and community survivors who are sick because of the toxins at Ground Zero (read more: http://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/about/biography).
Her most liberal tendencies during her time in the Senate is something that should be observed. Because she grew up in Upstate New York, which is more conservative than the rest of New York, she was originally much more conservative--mainly in regards to gun regulation and immigration. She was previously given a high rating by the NRA. The reason why much of her ways of voting has shifted to the left so drastically is because of her constituents. In a claim that was originally stated in the 2010 Senate debate, she claims that, "One thing that's clear is that I always fight for my constituents,"(read more: http://www.ontheissues.org/Domestic/Kirsten_Gillibrand_Gun_Control.htm).
She recently came out in support for the Iran Nuclear Deal. She wasn't in too much favor of the deal, though, as revealed in a statement published in The Buffalo News stating that, "If we reject this deal, we do not have a viable alternative for preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons," (read more: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/washington-politics/schumer-says-hell-oppose-iran-nuclear-deal-gillibrand-will-support-it-20150806). She interprets the current situation with Iran to be a difficult one, and believe that this deal would be making the best out of a bad situation. It should be noted how her opinion differs vastly from Rep. Engel and Sen. Schumer's opinions on the deal.
She most recently, on September 2, 2015, spoke at the annual New York Great State Fair Women's Day Luncheon about strong traditions in fighting for equal rights. She took this opportunity to discuss how she is fighting for paid family leave and medical leave in particular (read more: https://www.facebook.com/KirstenGillibrand/posts/10153291405963411). Her interest in these issues could stem from the fact she's a married woman with two children--one of which she was pregnant with while working in Congress.
Senator Gillibrand is doing decently popularity wise, as revealed by a May 2015 poll that she currently has a 45% approval rating (read more: http://hudsonvalleynewsnetwork.com/2015/05/15/cuomos-approval-rating-is-at-record-low/). It was also revealed by govtracker.us that Senator Gillibrand missed 1.0% of roll call votes from January 2009-August 2015, which is better than the median 1.6% among the lifetime records of senators that are currently serving (read more: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/kirsten_gillibrand/412223). Her decent approval rating and her above-average rating on keeping up with the voting aspect of her career reveals that she's doing a satisfactory job as a senator.
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