Yes, it’s time
for another blog post from a New Yorker. However, this time you get to read
about a different representative. I live in the 18th district of New
York, in the town of Hopewell Junction, as a constituent of Representative Sean
Patrick Maloney (Democrat), the first openly gay person to be elected to
Congress from New York.
Congressmen
Maloney was first elected to office in November 2012 and currently serves on
the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure. Maloney entered politics as a volunteer for Bill Clinton’s
presidential campaigns and later served as his senior advisor as part of the
team that balanced the budget and created thousands of jobs in New York. After
working in the West Wing for Bill Clinton, Congressmen Maloney serves as a
senior staff member for New York Governors Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson.
One of the many issues Congressmen Maloney is vested in are veterans issues.
Earlier this year, Representative Maloney and Representative Mullin (OK-02)
announced bipartisan legislation to reform the VA Rehabilitation program.
My
two senators, like all the other New Yorkers in this class, are Senator Kirsten
Gillibrand (Democrat) and Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer (Democrat). Senator
Gillibrand has been in office since 2009. Before becoming Senator, Gillibrand
served in the House of Representatives in the 20th congressional
district. Gillibrand ran in a special election in 2010 after being appointed by
Governor David Paterson to fill Hillary Clinton’s seat. While in Senate,
Gillibrand has served on the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry,
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Environment and Public Works,
and the Special Committee on Aging. Senator Gillibrand is a big supporter of a
women’s right to choose and believes that a women’s medical decisions should
always be made between her, her family, and her doctor. As a member of the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Gillibrand recently held a meeting to discuss
the fight against efforts to weaken school nutrition standards. Senator
Gillibrand’s strength lies within relating to the youth of New York by having a
constant presence on social media, specifically Twitter (which I follow).
Senator
Chuck Schumer was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998. Prior to his seat
in Senate, 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. One thing that
Schumer has done since he first became New York Senator was visit each of New
York’s 62 counties each year. Doing this allows Senator Schumer to stay in
touch with voters from all over New York State, a reason why he has been
reelected to this day. Senator Schumer is
a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and National Interest, the
Joint Committee on the Library, the Joint Committee on Printing, the Senate
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Senate Committee on
Finance, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and the United States Senate Caucus
on International Narcotics Control.
Recently,
Senator Schumer announced his opposition to the Iran Nuclear deal. Schumer
released his position for the controversial deal on the website, Medium.
Helpful links:
2 comments:
I'm from the same district in New York as you, so it was interesting to read your analysis of Representative Maloney in comparison to the work I did.
A question I have for you has to do with the Senators. While researching Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, I saw that Schumer has been a major force in opposition of the Iran nuclear deal, crossing party lines and jeopardizing his potential spot as minority leader in the Senate. My question is this: how will Gillibrand's support of the deal affect her political relationship with the senior Senator, Schumer? Gillibrand's vote can potentially derail or even ruin Schumer's career.
From research I've done, it seems as though that this won't destroy or harm any working relationship that the two have had. Schumer was the senior senator to Hillary Clinton is used to this kind of tension because of his relative lower recognition to the national spotlight on Clinton. Schumer and Gillibrand have a healthy rivalry and more often than not agree on issues. Most of their work doesn't coincide anyway, as Schumer is the much bigger profile and tends to have a larger role in national politics while Gillibrand focuses more on New York State.
Hey Matt,
I also noticed that you are from the same district as I am (I'm in Dutchess County). From what I have read, I think we will be seeing a split between Democrats in New York; more conservative Democrats and Orthodox Jews are going to be siding with Schumer. But the Orthodox Jews always have voted for Schumer, so I think he was thinking about upcoming reelections when making this decision as well. Overall, I think that this move is risky for Schumer's overall political career. At the moment, he is slated to take over next year as Democratic leader of the Senate.
On a side note, I find it interesting that both Senators released their statements on the website Medium.
This article I found explains everything really well if you are interested in reading it! http://forward.com/news/319404/how-chuck-schumer-and-kirsten-gillibrand-split-on-iran-deal/
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