Hailing from a small town called Elwood in Long Island, New York, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand represent me in the U.S. Senate and Steve Israel represents me in the House of Representatives.
Senator Schumer, a Democrat, attended Harvard Law School and soon after returning home was elected into the New York State Assembly (www.chuckschumer.com). In 1980, he won the seat in the 9th Congressional District and following that was elected into the U.S. Senate in 1998. In his time in the Assembly, he was a leading advocate for the Violence Against Women Act against domestic violence, the Brady Bill, which "instituted mandatory background checks for handgun purchases", and also co-wrote the Assault Weapons Ban and sponsored the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (schumer.senate.gov/about-chuck). In the Senate, he shares a seat on the Senate Finance Committee and oversees tax, trade, social security and legislation of healthcare for the nation. Each year since his election he has visited each of New York's 62 counties personally. This is a tradition he has upheld to attempt to get to know voters on a statewide level. As of recent, he has opposed a nuclear agreement with Iran, sparking controversy in and out of the Senate (http://www.politico.com). Schumer is popular with voters, being that New York is a "blue" state and mostly aligns with Democratic policies and ideologies. However, not all are pleased with Schumer's work and some are concerned about his recent opposition to a nuclear deal with Iran. According to Schumer's Twitter, he is currently in Eaton, NY visiting constituents, and "hashtagging" #NYtownoftheday.
Senator Gillibrand formerly served as a representative of New York's 20th Congressional District in the House of Representatives. She was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in 2009 and is a Democrat like Senator Schumer. During her time in the Senate, she has become the first Senator ever to "publish her personal tax returns for every year she has served in office directly on her own website" (www.gillibrand.senate.gov/about/biography). She was also a leading advocate in the passing of the STOCK Act, which renders insider trading by members of Congress illegal (www.kirstengillibrand.com). She is an active supporter of equality for LGBT persons, helping repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which banned gay people from serving openly in the army or military. She also supports a raise in minimum wage to $15/hr. While Gillibrand is a human rights activist for LGBT peoples and for the working class, she is very fickle on her gun control policies. While in the House, she was known as a "conservative liberal" and was highly against gun-control policies. Since she has been elected into the Senate her opinions have become more "flexible" on the subject. Some believe that Gillibrand does not have conviction in her choices due to her adaptation of ideology.
Steve Israel is the representative in the House for the 3rd District of New York. Within the 3rd District he represents several townships on Long Island, including that of my hometown, Elwood. He is the 6th ranking member of the House Democratic Leadership, "serving as Chair of Policy & Communications, where he focuses on the issue of middle-class economic security and opportunity" (www.israel.house.gov/about/full-biography). In his time as a representative, he funded the U.S. Israel Energy Cooperation Act and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy in an effort to help Long Islanders conserve and make the most out of energy on the island. His focus is on heightening financial security and accelerating opportunity for middle class individuals on Long Island.
2 comments:
Being from New York, I also saw that Senator Schumer visits every county in New York every year. Do you think that affects how people view him? Does he actually get to know the different people of New York and thus represent them better, or is it a publicity stunt?
You mentioned his twitter page, where he (or some intern) posts facts about a New York town of the day. It is unclear however if the Senator is actually traveling there, at least for me. There were no tweets about, or photos posted of the Senator meeting constituents. There was one of him meeting volunteers in Schenectady before he spoke about HUD funding, but this was weeks ago.
I feel as though that Senator Schumer's trips to visit every county in New York are beneficial for his public image, but also help him show his involvement in local issues. As a senior Senator with many responsibilities concerning national and foreign affairs issues, Schumer is able to spend some time dealing with issues faced by every day New Yorkers. The site http://www.schumer.senate.gov/chuck-around-new-york shows his involvement fixing problems and addressing political issues around the state. It seems that the Senator spent much of the summer traveling and addressing state politics in many counties.
Being from New York as well, I also touched upon the fact that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has become known as somewhat of a "flip-flopper." Since becoming Senator her views on many subjects have changed. Not only that, her views on many different topics are inconsistent with each other. I'm wondering if may be she's just being very honest about her views or is she trying to please many different people?
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