Press Releases
With New York Grads Saddled By Over $60 Billion in Federal Student Loan Debt, Gillibrand Continues Push for Legislation Allowing Grads to Refinance Loans, Boost Economy
Washington, DC - While New York graduates are saddled with an estimated $60 billion in student loan debt, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is continuing her push for legislation that would help tens of millions of graduates refinance their federal student loans. National student loan debt is now approximately $1.2 trillion, surpassing auto loan and credit card debt, and New Yorker's hold a sky-high average of more than $27,000 per graduate. Senator Gillibrand's proposal to allow graduates to … Continue Reading
May 12, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Announce ‘Brand USA’ Is Ramping Up Its Efforts to Promote Tourism In Niagara Falls & Buffalo – New Push Will Bring More Foreign Visitors & Tourism Dollars to WNY
U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that Brand USA, a federally-funded entity that promotes U.S. tourist destinations to foreign travelers, has increased its efforts to promote the Niagara Falls/Buffalo region. Brand USA recently published comprehensive travel journals specifically targeted to travelers from the United Kingdom and Germany that included extensive information about the Niagara Falls/Buffalo region. In addition, Brand USA is also paying for 15 … Continue Reading
May 09, 2014
Gillibrand Joins Senate Colleagues Urging FCC to Promote Net Neutrality, Reverse Proposal to Create Internet Toll Lanes
Washington, D.C. -In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, along with nine of her Senate colleagues, called for the FCC to protect net neutrality and reject efforts by big cable companies to extort businesses for the right to provide content at the fastest Internet speeds. Net neutrality - the principle that all Internet traffic travels at the same speed, regardless of its source - governed the Internet for decades, to the benefit … Continue Reading
May 09, 2014
With Gillibrand’s Push, Ithaca Homeless Youth Center Awarded Nearly $200,000 HHS Grant
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced a $184,010 grant for The Learning Web, a youth development agency in Ithaca. This federal funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children & Families' Transitional Living Program through the Family and Youth Service Bureau and will be used to expand housing and support services to accommodate more homeless youth. In February, Senator Gillibrand sent a letter to HHS … Continue Reading
May 09, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Announce Nearly $500,000 Manufacturing Technology Grant for SEMATECH in Albany
U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced a $498,825 grant from the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for SEMATECH in Albany. This funding will support SEMATECH's Semiconductor Supply Chain Roadmapping initiative as part of NIST's new Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) program, which creates manufacturing roadmaps to help the nation's manufacturers become more globally competitive. "There are hundreds of … Continue Reading
May 09, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Announce More Than $200,000 for Finger Lakes Fire Departments
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $212,420 in federal funding for Finger Lakes Fire Departments. The money was allocated through the Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG). "These much-needed federal funds will enable Finger Lakes fire departments to purchase critical firefighting equipment like oxygen tanks, high-performance masks and state-of-the-art radios. First responders safeguard our … Continue Reading
May 09, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Introduce Bill That Preserves And Improves the Delaware River Watershed
U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced they introduced legislation that would improve and preserve the overall wellness of the Delaware River watershed. The Delaware River Basin Conservation Act of 2014, cosponsored by Sens. Tom Carper, Chris Coons (both D-Del.), Cory Booker and Robert Menendez (both D-N.J.), and Robert Casey (D-Penn.), strengthens the environmental health of the watershed while also spurring the Delaware River watershed region's economy. "The … Continue Reading
May 09, 2014
Gillibrand Announces $1.5 Million Grant for Stony Brook University to Improve Response to Coastal Hazards
Long Island, NY - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced a $1,576,133 grant for Stony Brook University's Research Foundation, which is part of the National Sea Grant College Program network. This funding is provided by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) and will be used to carry out research and education training for issues critical to New York's coastal communities, including flooding due to storm surges, hazard resilience, fisheries, and water … Continue Reading
May 08, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Announce More Than $1.5 Million for Building Renovations, Improved Health Services in Niagara County
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced a $1,523,000 loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for Palliative Home Care of Niagara Inc., a subsidiary of Niagara Hospice in Niagara County. This federal funding will be used to purchase and renovate the former Shipman Printing plant into a storefront that will be used to provide health care equipment and services for the chronically ill, elderly and disabled. "We must do everything we … Continue Reading
May 08, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Announce More Than $280,000 for Central New York Fire Departments
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $288,963 in federal funding for Central New York Fire Departments. The money was allocated through the Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG). "These much-needed federal funds will provide the assistance that our Central New York fire departments need to replace critical firefighting equipment like the oxygen tanks and masks they use when running into a … Continue Reading
May 08, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Announce University of Rochester Awarded Nearly $500,000 Manufacturing Technology Grant
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced a $497,852 grant for the University of Rochester's New York Photonics Manufacturing Initiative from the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This Initiative will strengthen the nation's optics, photonics and imaging manufacturers to become more globally competitive. In November, Senator Gillibrand sent a letter to NIST requesting the University of Rochester's … Continue Reading
May 07, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Announce Major New Marine One Contract For Lockheed Martin In Owego – Expected To Create Or Sustain Roughly 200 Jobs In Owego
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today announced Lockheed Martin in Owego, who is partnered with Sikorsky, will receive a new Navy contract worth $1.26 billion in total to build a new fleet of Marine One helicopters that are used to transport the President. The Navy contract is expected to create or sustain approximately 200 new high-skilled jobs in Owego. In 2009, Schumer secured a continuance of … Continue Reading
May 07, 2014
Gillibrand Applauds Dot Important First Step to Address Oil Shipments, Calls on Administration to Finalize Permanent Rules
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today praised U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx's announcement of a new safety alert that energy companies and oil shippers should no longer use DOT-111 rail cars, and that those companies will be required to make public the routes that Bakken crude is being shipped on, and alert first responders along those routes. While this is a welcome and important first step, Senator Gillibrand also cautioned that we cannot … Continue Reading
May 06, 2014
Gillibrand Joins All Twenty Bipartisan Senate Women Condemning Abduction and Mistreatment of Girls in Nigeria by Boko Haram
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today joined all twenty Senate women in sending a bipartisan letter led by U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) to President Obama condemning the abduction and mistreatment of more than 200 girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria and calling for additional international sanctions against the organization. This comes after the U.S. Senate today unanimously passed a resolution condemning the group's … Continue Reading
May 06, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand Secure $465,000 Grant For Wellsville to Build New Water Infrastructure
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced a $465,000 grant for the Town of Wellsville from the U.S. Economic Development Administration's (EDA) Economic Development Assistance Programs. This federal funding will be used to update and expand the town's water infrastructure. In September, Senator Gillibrand sent a letter to the regional director of the EDA requesting funding for Wellsville. "Access to water is critical to economic growth, public … Continue Reading
May 06, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand, Lowey & Maloney Announce Nearly $3.8 Million in Federal Funds to Elevate Flood-Prone Roads in Orange and Rockland Counties
U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and U.S. Representatives Nita Lowey and Sean Patrick Maloney today announced nearly $3.8 million in federal funds to elevate four locations along interstate 87 in the towns of Tuxedo and Ramapo in Orange and Rockland Counties to minimize the risk of future flooding. Project sites are between mile posts 39.77 and 39.53, between mile posts 37.92 and 37.76, between mile posts 32.2 and 32.1, and between mile posts 30.68 and 31.1. This grant, … Continue Reading
May 06, 2014
Senator Gillibrand Joins with Colleagues to Introduce Legislation Giving Students a Fair Shot At an Affordable Education
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today joined 15 of her colleagues in co-sponsoring Senator Elizabeth Warren's Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, which includes Gillibrand's proposal to allow those with outstanding federal student loan debt to refinance at lower interest rates. Many borrowers with outstanding student loans have interest rates of nearly 7 percent or higher for undergraduate loans, while students taking out new undergraduate loans pay a rate of … Continue Reading
May 05, 2014
Schumer, Gillibrand, Nadler, Jeffries Announce Army Corps Project to Protect Coney Island Shoreline Clears Important Hurdle
Brooklyn, NY - U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Congress members Jerrold Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries today announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved a Project Partnership Agreement to move forward with critical repairs and emergency beach restoration for the Coney Island shoreline. This is a longstanding U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' project to construct a series of T-Groin rock jetties to protect the peninsula and prevent further erosion that dates … Continue Reading
May 05, 2014
Gillibrand, Mangano Announce Plan to Improve Pedestrian Safety on Long Island Roadways, Reduce Fatalities and Injuries
East Meadow, NY - Standing at Eisenhower Park near Hempstead Turnpike, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, joined by Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, "Safe Kids" Nassau Coordinator Catherine Blotiau, and Vision Long Island Director Eric Alexander today announced a plan to improve pedestrian safety on Long Island roadways at a time when 80 fatalities and nearly 1,600 injuries involving pedestrians occurred on Long Island's main thoroughfares. In an … Continue Reading
May 05, 2014
Gillibrand, Hein Announce Plan to Improve Pedestrian Safety on Hudson Valley Roadways, Reduce Fatalities and Injuries
Saugerties, NY - Standing at L.M Cahill Elementary School on Main Street, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Ulster County Executive Mike Hein, joined by Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra and Cahill Elementary School students, today announced her plan to improve pedestrian safety on Hudson Valley roadways at a time when 23 fatalities and nearly 990 injuries involving pedestrians occurred on Hudson Valley thoroughfares. In an effort to reduce the number of pedestrian injuries and … Continue Reading
