Newsroom

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and FEMA Federal Regional Administrator Lynn Canton toured Putnam County to get a firsthand look at the damage and devastation caused by tropical storm Irene. Schumer visited Philipstown in order to receive an update on FEMA's efforts to help the Hudson Valley rebuild and recover from the storm, and to receive a briefing from local leaders on their current needs from the federal government. Following the storm, Schumer is pushing for a boost in funding for... Read More

Today, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand wrote to Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew, urging the Obama administration to seek sufficient funding for the Disaster Relief Fund to cover the cost of damage to New York communities in the wake of Irene. Governor Cuomo has estimated that the damage costs in New York alone would exceed $1 billion, but the federal disaster relief fund currently only has $792 million available. The funds in this account are meant to... Read More

Today, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced that the Port of Oswego Authority is set to receive $160,400 through the Port Security Grant Program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This funding will be used to build and install a 17 camera Integrated Surveillance System at the Port of Oswego Authority. This surveillance system will be accessible to all levels of law enforcement involving the Oswego Harbor, and will help the U.S. port prepare for... Read More

Today, United States Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the Town of Carlton is set to receive a $1,534,000 Water and Waste Disposal Loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. Specifically, the Town of Carlton will use this loan to expand drinking water service to 87 new customers in three locations in the Town of Carlton. Carlton has a townwide water district serving 1,300 residences.  "Our rural communities are the heart and soul of New York," said Schumer.... Read More

U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand and Representative Steve Israel today announced $2,440,000 in federal funding for infrastructure improvements to the Maple Avenue Dock in Bay Shore in the Town of Islip as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Ferry Boat Discretionary Program. With the funding, the Town of Islip will improve the dock by replacing the existing timber bulkhead with new steel sheeting and timber piles. The new steel sheeting will be anchored... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he is pushing Acting Secretary of Commerce Blank and Secretary of State Clinton to resolve the current ambiguity in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to protect hundreds of local jobs at IEC Electronics. Schumer seeks to ensure that nationally sensitive security components are only manufactured by trusted ITARcompliant manufacturers like IEC, in order to protect both national security and provide greater security to the 600... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer sent a personal letter to the leaders of CSX, Amtrak, the New York State Department of Transportation and the Federal Railway Administration, urging them to work together and reach the necessary agreements to move forward with rail projects across the state. From Fiscal Year 2009 and 2010 and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), Senator Schumer has helped New York secure $250 million in rail funding, but only $6.5 has been obligated for... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced a major step in his push to clean up Lake Ontario's waters near Rochester's shore. Currently the New York Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking to create a "nodischarge zone" (NDZ) that would prohibit boats from dumping sewage and other potentially harmful chemicals into the waters offshore, a practice which can add pathogens and other toxins to the water. In response to Schumer's urging, the Environmental Protection Agency has... Read More

Today, on the one year anniversary of the passage of landmark legislation to improve air safety after the Continental Air Flight 3407 crash, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called on the FAA to finalize strong pilot fatigue regulations that are required by law as quickly as possible. The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Extension Act of 2010 requires the FAA to issue a final rule on pilot fatigue no later than today but the rule has not been published. In a personal letter to Administrator... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer addressed the potential consequences for Upstate New York if the debt ceiling is not raised in time. If there is no agreement and the revenue coming into the federal government fails to cover all of the government's obligations, the Administration will have to decide which programs to fund, and which will not be funded. In order to prevent the Administration from having to choose between funding for our troops in the field, paying off our debt, or paying... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced legislation to improve the tax credit for fuel cellpowered industrial vehicles, which will greatly benefit companies, like Plug Power Inc., that build fuel cells designed for forklifts and other heavy machinery. An existing tax credit provides significant incentives to buyers of fuel cells for cars and trucks and a separate credit for power generation, but neither credit specifically targets fuel cells designed for heavy machinery and offhighway... Read More

United States Senator Charles E. Schumer today called on the Department of Commerce (DOC) to provide firstever seed funding for  Accelerate Long Island, a biotechnologyfocused regional innovation cluster (RIC) on Long Island, by approving a grant application the cluster submitted for the federal Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge. The funds, if granted, would go to the Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University and be used to commercialize new, cuttingedge bioscience technologies... Read More

Today, in a personal letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called on the Department of Transportation to approve a $1.5 million grant to the Albany International Airport, to help attract a new lowcost carrier and expand existing service. Airline consolidation, high gas prices, and the slow economy have all led to air service and passenger volume decrease, resulting in higher airline ticket costs at the airport. In order to boost service, provide more... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today, at a Senate Banking Committee hearing, secured an agreement from leaders of the major business and consumer groups to support his drive for concise, easytoread checking fee disclosure statements on all checking account applications, similar to the 'Schumer Box' disclose statement now found on credit card applications. During the hearing today, Schumer secured unanimous agreement from the Center for Responsible Lending, the Truliant Federal Credit Union and... Read More

United States Senator Charles E. Schumer today called on JetBlue to pick Long Island's MacArthur Airport as a new destination as part of its planned Northeast expansion in 2013. In a personal letter to JetBlue's CEO Dave Barger, Schumer emphasized that MacArthur would make an ideal new location for JetBlue as a "trafficfree and hasslefree" alternative for Long Island passengers. He also highlighted that JetBlue could immediately take advantage of the rapidly expanding customer market... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he is instituting a fullcourt press to secure federal funding to aid in the redevelopment of Rochester's Midtown Plaza. In a personal letter to the head of the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Schumer argued that the over $2 million federal grant that the project is seeking will help leverage additional private funds to help finance the new world headquarters for Paetec Communication, as well as the redevelopment of the 17story... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he is calling on both the Canadian Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to create a plan to prescreen fishing tournament participants that would allow them to fish freely on both sides of the border. In the wake of a recent incident in which a Baldwinsville, NY man's boat was seized for drifting into Canadian waters, the New York Bass Chapter Federation has already had to make Canadian waters off limits to anglers,... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced his support for a proposal to prescreen incoming trucks on the Canadian side of the Peace Bridge plaza, which could pave the way for a new, comprehensive approach to this critical border crossing including a smaller, less disruptive plaza. Under the proposal that Schumer supports, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would conduct primary screening of U.S. bound trucks on the Canadian side of the border. Moving the screening of incoming trucks onto... Read More

Today, Senator Charles E. Schumer announced the President of the Canada Border Services Agency has agreed to review a recent incident in which Thousand Island Park resident Roy Anderson was fishing in the Gananoque Narrows when his boat was boarded and seized by the Agency. According to reports, Mr. Anderson had entered Canadian waters, and found out contrary to his understanding of Canadian law, that he was in violation of the duties and obligations of New York fishermen in Canadian waters,... Read More

Today, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced that Chemung County Transit System is set to receive $500,000 in Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration funding. With these funds, Chemung County plans to purchase new revenue collection equipment for their transit system, which consists of 32 vehicles. This equipment will include fareboxes for the system's buses, as well as the hardware and software needed to operate such fareboxes. Schumer and... Read More