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U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is fighting hard on behalf of New Yorkers every day in the U.S. Senate. Over the past several months, Senator Gillibrand has been working to give victims of sexual assault in the military a voice so they can receive the justice they deserve, pushing to restore funding to the SNAP food stamp program in the Farm Bill, and traveling throughout New York, meeting with local businesses and manufacturers to discuss efforts to bring Made In America back to New York.
| | Economy & Jobs
Rebuilding American Manufacturing
New York is poised to lead the way toward rebuilding a thriving manufacturing base so we can have "Made In America" again. To this end, the first bill Senator Gillibrand introduced this Congress was the Made In America Manufacturing Act, which would create a federal funding competition to encourage states and regional public-private partnerships to design and implement comprehensive strategies in order to spur growth for local manufacturing industries, particularly in the growing fields of clean-tech and high-tech manufacturing. Through these partnerships, workers would be trained with the skills that businesses need. In addition, our entrepreneurs and manufacturers would receive the funding necessary to carry out their innovative ideas and expand operations that would in turn spark more growth in high-tech manufacturing sectors and create good-paying jobs. Senator Gillibrand has toured businesses across New York discussing this bill with local officials and leaders. Read more about the Made In America Manufacturing Act here.
 | | Senator Gillibrand touring D'Addario Headquarters in Farmingdale |
Superstorm Sandy Update Many New York communities are continuing to recover and rebuild from the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy. Earlier this summer, Senators Gillibrand and Schumer secured a commitment that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will increase the share the federal government is paying for repairs to public property damage caused by Superstorm Sandy from 75% to 90%. Considering the enormous costs associated with the cleanup of a storm of this magnitude, Senator Gillibrand is working hard to ensure our communities are not shouldering this burden alone. When communities are devastated by natural disasters, the federal government is instrumental in helping pay for the rebuilding. Senator Gillibrand will continue to fight for all New Yorkers impacted by Superstorm Sandy until our communities are fully recovered. You can read more here.
| | The Gillibrand Agenda Lowering Student Debt A higher education remains the clearest path to the middle class and beyond, yet we're pricing our students out of college. Federal student debt has reached an astounding $1 trillion nationwide for the first time ever. Senator Gillibrand has introduced a bill that would allow student borrowers to refinance their student debt at a lower interest rate just as home-owners and business-owners are able to do. Click here to learn more about Senator Gillibrand's bill to reduce the student loan debt for our student borrowers. Fighting For Our Farmers As the first U.S. Senator from New York to serve on the Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand helped shape the 2013 Farm Bill, which passed the U.S. Senate in June. Senator Gillibrand introduced an amendment to fully restore the $4 billion in SNAP food stamp funding that was cut from the bill, but it failed to get enough votes to pass. Other provisions contained within the Senate Farm Bill that Senator Gillibrand championed include expanding markets for our local farmers, increasing access to rural broadband, and making nutritious healthy food available to consumers. Senator Gillibrand has been an outspoken opponent of the House Farm Bill, which first sought to cut $20 billion from SNAP, but has since passed without the nutrition programs included at all. Senator Gillibrand will continue to fight for a Farm Bill that helps our farmers and includes the funding necessary to ensure food security for our families. Watch Senator Gillibrand advocating for full funding of the SNAP food stamp program here.
 | | Senator Gillibrand Speaking with an upstate New York Farmer |
| | News You Need to Know Fighting To Make Sure The Voices of Victims of Sexual Assault In The Military Are Heard Senator Gillibrand has been working hard to pass her bipartisan Military Justice Improvement Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act when it goes to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Senator Gillibrand has been tireless in her efforts to ensure the voices of the victims are heard in this debate. Survivors of sexual assault in the military tell us time and time again that the reason they don't report sexual assaults is because the sole decision-making authority over whether cases are prosecuted remains within their chain of command. Senator Gillibrand's bill addresses these concerns by removing this authority from the military chain of command and placing it in the hands of independent trained military prosecutors. Only then will victims feel they can come forward and get the justice they deserve. Click here to watch Senator Gillibrand fighting for the Military Justice Improvement Act alongside members of the bipartisan coalition of Senators supporting her bill.
 | | Assault Survivor, Jennifer Norris Speaks at Senator Gillibrand's Press Conference on Military Sexual Assault |
Supreme Court Decisions The end of June marked the end of the Supreme Court session, and with it came several major decisions on crucial issues including marriage equality and voting rights. The Court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which means all legally married LGBT couples are now recognized by the federal government as equal to heterosexual couples and eligible for federal benefits. Unfortunately, Section 2 of DOMA remains, which allows states that do not recognize same sex marriage to continue to discriminate against legal marriages of same sex couples from other states. That's why Senator Gillibrand is committed to passing The Respect For Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA in full and send it to the dustbin of history.
However, the Supreme Court also overturned Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), essentially gutting this seminal civil rights legislation that has provided protections for minority voters around the country for decades. The Supreme Court ruled that Congress must pass a new pre-clearance formula that would dictate which areas of the country with a history of race-based voting disenfranchisement, must seek permission from the Department of Justice before changing voting laws. Until that happens, however, the VRA provides no protections for minority voters anywhere in the country, allowing new state-based voter disenfranchisement schemes, previously blocked by the VRA, to go forward. Senator Gillibrand will be working with her colleagues to develop new voting rights legislation to protect minorities and encourage voting.
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