KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND,
New York's Junior Senator Meets Her Long Island Constiutents

COVER PHOTO CREDIT Miranda Gatewood

 

Less than a month after taking the oath of office, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand scheduled her first trip to Long Island—holding an economic roundtable with Nassau County leaders, discussing jobs, infrastructure, education, housing and energy. From there, she went to a Glen Cove restaurant to speak with business owners and union leaders. In May, Gillibrand, a relentless campaigner and fundraiser, described as intense, competitive and a careful planner, visited a West Babylon Stop-and-Shop, hosting her first Long Island “Senate at Your Supermarket.” The visit was reminiscent of Gillibrand’s hallmark “Congress at Your Corner” events held in grocery stores, book stores and coffee shops during her two years as a Congresswoman representing the Hudson Valley area.
In a recent interview with Networking® magazine, Gillibrand said she “gets ideas for legislation from people” at these loosely defined town hall meetings, and she enjoys the opportunity to speak with constituents and hear what’s on their minds.

Facing an election in 2010, an ambitious Gillibrand wasted no time in addressing issues that affect populous Long Island. Sightings included Senator Gillibrand’s visit to Brookhaven National Lab, and her keynote address at a Long Island Association Breakfast. At Martin Viette Nurseries in East Norwich, she joined Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and representatives of the Long Island Farm Bureau to kick off a “Grown on Long Island” campaign, and announced a new initiative to unite consumers, growers, agricultural distributors and retailers to promote locally grown foods and plants.

After a cantankerous selection process, Gillibrand was tapped by Governor David Paterson in January to fill the remainder of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Senate term. Her appointment was clouded by challenges to her personal possession of firearms, 100% positive rating from the NRA, and work on behalf of the tobacco industry while employed by a New York City law firm.

Gillibrand has explained that as a junior law associate, she was “assigned” to corporate clients, and asks New Yorkers to look at her voting record [100% anti-tobacco and supportive of FDA tobacco regulations]. Regarding firearms, she points out that 90% of the guns used in New York crimes come from out of state, and 85% of guns seized during crimes have been obtained illegally. Gillibrand has met with New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and has spoken to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly with an eye toward introducing an anti-gun trafficking bill. “It’s the Number One thing to do to combat gun violence.” She says she remains supportive of the Second Amendment and the right of citizens to legally own a gun for hunting purposes.

At 42, Gillibrand is the youngest member of the U.S. Senate. She has ties to politicians on both sides of the aisle—she interned for Senator Alfonse D’Amato during college; served as a law clerk on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for Judge Roger Miner; served as Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development, Andrew Cuomo; and has been a recipient of an Upper East Side fundraiser headlined by former President Clinton. Considered a centrist Democrat, Gillibrand is settling into her new position with the help of New York’s senior Senator Charles Schumer.

Serving in The House
A member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a fiscally conservative, policy oriented group of about 50 moderate-to-conservative members of Congress, Gillibrand slated economic development and job creation as top priorities after her election in 2006. Demonstrating her commitment to open government, she was one of the first members of Congress to post her schedule online and among the first to post her earmark requests online. Her current website, www.gillibrand.senate.gov carries her “Sunlight Report.”
Gillibrand served on the House Armed Services Committee and was a leading sponsor of legislation to strengthen national security and emergency preparedness. She authored legislation to help veterans, backing the greatest investment in veterans’ benefits since WWII. In addition, she served on the House Agriculture Committee where she advocated for New York farmers and promoted new markets for New York products.

Moving to the Senate
“The purpose of public service is to impact public policy in a way that helps regular people,” says Gillibrand, and she adds that being in the Senate gives her “the opportunity to influence policy for all New York State.” She notes that, in contrast to the House of Representatives, senators can propose legislation on any issue at any time. Her interests include making sure baby products are free of carcinogens, providing safe drinking water, and protecting renters when a homeowner’s property goes into foreclosure.

Concern about veterans “came up when I was on Long Island,” says Gillibrand, who notes that unemployment among veterans is double the national rate. In speaking with a veteran in Nassau County she found out that 100 local veterans didn’t have jobs, and “It hit home.” Gillibrand notes that the federal stimulus package includes a tax credit so that people can hire veterans coming back from Iran and Afghanistan; however, “the IRS hasn’t issued the forms.” Committed to this population, she intends to sponsor a bill encouraging chambers of commerce to hire veterans.

Gillibrand is keenly aware of Long Island’s challenges to its infrastructure and pledges to work with local communities to get funds for investments in roads and railways. She sees, too, the need to protect Long Island’s drinking water and expand its sewer system. Recognizing Long Island’s “legacy of pollution,” she says there’s money in the stimulus package for cleanup of brownfields and Superfund sites. “We are making tax credits, tax deduction and grants available to do that.”

Gillibrand expects “to get to work on a nutrition bill this year to combat childhood obesity and bring healthy foods into our schools; more fruits and vegetables and wholesome foods.” While No Child Left Behind has good goals, she believes the program has not been effective in its implementation and was not the best approach for children with special needs and language issues.” She adds, “To meet the NCLB mandates, schools had to raise property taxes. I want to work to lower property taxes and I’m against unfunded mandates.”

Some of Gillibrand’s Senate assignments go to the heart of Long Island business and economy. As a member of the Green Jobs and the New Economy Subcommittee, she is advancing policies that will help New York take advantage of the alternative energy revolution—growing green jobs and creating long-term economic opportunities. She is supportive of “green building” and alerts school districts wanting to lower energy costs that “state and federal money is available, if school districts are making structural changes to install solar panels, energy efficient lighting and the like.”

A graduate of Dartmouth College, Gillibrand earned a degree in Asian Studies and learned to speak and write Mandarin Chinese before spending a semester in China. She hopes her educational background can be helpful in her service as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. She views China as a very important partner with the United States in the areas of global warming and the economy. “China is a major owner of our debt,” she says. “We need to work together to create new markets for their products.”

Thoughts on women in politics
“It’s an extraordinary honor to serve the whole state,” remarks Gillibrand, adding that “Secretary Hillary Clinton’s legacy was honored by appointing a woman. She names Secretary Clinton as an inspiration, recalling [First Lady] Clinton’s landmark speech in Beijing China at the 1995 United Nations Women’s Conference in which Clinton said, “Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.”

“I was struck by her words, and the message was so powerful to be delivered at that time and place,” says Gillibrand. As a result, she asked herself: “What am I doing with my life; I’m just a lawyer in a big law firm.” Spurred to act, she joined, and later became chair, of the Women’s Leadership Forum, where she says she “worked for the next 10 years raising funds for national candidates and conducting speaker training for women so they could become more articulate and be persuasive advocates on issues they cared about.”

“That’s the way I dipped my toe into politics in New York,” adds Gillibrand, who points out that the Senate has only 17 women members and Congress is only 17% female. “Woefully low numbers.” She hopes that more women will consider running for office and says, “Secretary Clinton’s presidential race was very important and inspired many women across America to imagine themselves serving in public office.”

Politics in her blood
While Gillibrand’s father was the Public Defender in Albany for 25 years before becoming a lobbyist when she was in college, and her mom was a lawyer. The person who most influenced her desire to enter public service was her maternal grandmother. “As a young secretary in the State Legislature, my grandmother wanted to organize women to get more involved in the legislature and government. Grandmother was a real community organizer; it was grassroots activism,” she says. Her grandmother started the Women’s Democratic Club in Albany County, and served as its president. Gillibrand recalls, “Every fall, she gathered all the grandkids and set up tables. We’d have food and fun and stuff envelopes. It gave me an extraordinary appreciation for public service and the democratic process. I always had an aspiration to be involved like my grandmother was.”

Balancing home and work
A resident of Greenport near Hudson in Upstate, New York, Gillibrand and her husband, Jonathan, a British national working in finance and engineering, have two boys, Theodore, 5, and Henry Nelson, 1. While balancing home and work is “always a challenge,” she says she receives support and help from the grandparents, and is most thankful that she and her husband have flexible schedules. Gillibrand adds, ‘Whenever possible, we take the kids to school together, come home and make dinner, give baths and read a story before bedtime.”