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US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Central New York Regional Transportation Authority (Centro) has received an $8,171,944 grant from the United States Department of Transportation. These funds will allow Centro to purchase 42 new compressed natural gas (CNG) transit buses. Centro's yearly ridership is approximately twelve million. The new buses will be rotated throughout the system and will be used on a majority of Centro's routes. All buses are expected to be... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Nita M. Lowey today revealed new data showing that New York State communities stand to lose millions of dollars in education, housing and police aid as a result of Republican's proposed appropriations cuts. In a plan that is gathering steam, the GOP recently proposed cutting discretionary spending across the board in order to meet self imposed spending caps. Schumer and Lowey's analysis of cuts to New York State is based on Congressional Budget... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today hosted a discussion of rail shipping problems with Surface Transportation Board Chair Linda Morgan, representatives of Norfolk Southern and CSX, local businesses and manufacturers who rely on rail service, US Representatives Jack Quinn and Tom Reynolds and Erie County Executive Dennis Gorski. Area businesses have been experiencing major delays in service since June, when Conrail was broken up by Norfolk Southern and CSX Corporation. The rail delays have proved... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that Linda Morgan will come to visit Buffalo on October 18. In an additional development, Schumer met today with John Snow, the CEO and President of CSX Corporation, who promised the Senator that he will establish a hotline to address consumer complaints and work with Norfolk Southern on the CP Draw bridge issue and other operational issues affecting Western New York shippers and businesses. "Two weeks ago, I asked Linda Morgan, the Chair of the... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that sent a personal letter to the President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Power Authority (NYPA), Richard Kessel, urging him to craft a longer term energy agreement with the Western New York based company, Steuben Foods. Currently, NYPA has offered them a 7  year contract, which could hinder their plans for a major expansion. Schumer said that Steuben Foods meets all the criteria put forth by NYPA for a longer term contract, and... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer (DNY) today joined Sen. Jeff Sessions (RAL) to introduce the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 1999. The SessionsSchumer Bill, which is also cosponsored by Senators Thurmond (RSC), Biden (DDE), Feinstein (DCA), Helms (RNC) and Cleland (DGA), seeks to reform federal civil asset forfeiture laws while preserving forfeiture as a valuable law enforcement tool. "I'm proud to stand here today with my colleagues to discuss our new civil forfeiture reform bill... Read More

The New York City and Long Island congressional delegation today joined Deputy Secretary of Transportation Mort Downey to award the first installment of federal funds for the East Side Access Project. The $43 million check, which will fund the final design and initial construction phases of the project, was presented to E. Virgil Conway, New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman and CEO. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan stood with Representatives Greg... Read More

Calling the New York City encephalitis outbreak a dry run for a biological terrorist assault on a major urban area, US Senator Charles Schumer today called on the General Accounting Office to conduct an audit of the federal response to the West Nilelike encephalitis virus outbreak in order to better prepare for a biological terrorist attack against the United States. Schumer also called on the White House to appoint a national director to coordinate and evaluate domestic response plans, as well... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today brought his statewide Economic Development Initiative (EDI) to Rochester with a Business Roundtable. The purpose of Schumer's EDI is to help attract new businesses, financial resources, and jobs to the Finger Lakes region and other parts of the state. In a meeting cohosted by the Greater Rochester Metro Chamber of Commerce, Schumer met with local business, political and education leaders to develop a plan to spur growth in Rochester. "The economy in... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC- Today,U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (DNY), Michael Bennet (DCO), Al Franken (DMN) and Mark Begich (DAK) urged Facebook, the online socialnetworking giant, to fix its private policy to block users' personal information from being accessed by third parties without the users' consent. The senators announced they have sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg urging the company to revisit its decision, made last week, to provide select third party websites with personal... Read More

New York City - In recognition of the 40 th anniversary of Earth Day and the increasing demand for quality park lands in New York City, Senator Charles Schumer (D - NY) and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D - Brooklyn and Queens) announced the formation of the Floyd Bennett Field Blue Ribbon Panel, a task force that will establish a shared vision for the future of the park and make recommendations about how to improve the country's third mostvisited national recreation area.   Floyd Bennett Field, located... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer introduced legislation to make the State University of New York (SUNY) a member of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), a partnership of several organizations meant to enhance the emergency preparedness of federal, state, local, and nongovernmental emergency responders and counterterrorism teams.  The NDPC is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Preparedness... Read More

WASHINGTON, DC-U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.), Robert Menendez (DN.J.), Ben Cardin (DMD), Frank Lautenberg (DNJ), Blanche Lincoln (DAR), Amy Klobuchar (DMN) and Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.) announced new legislation Wednesday to confront airlines that are socking travelers with new fees for carryon luggage.   The legislation comes after Spirit Airlines announced last week that it would begin charging customers a whopping $45 for carryon luggage. The policy could spur other airlines to follow... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he is introducing new legislation to help small businesses across New York cross what has become known as the "valley of death" - the time between the research and development phase of a product and its commercialization.   Schumer said that New York has hundreds of businesses that, given the chance, could produce successful products and grow into major industries, but because they don't have the means to commercialize a development, they... Read More

United States Senator Charles E. Schumer is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to the Fire Department of New York for the Juvenile Fire Setters Intervention Program in the wake of several deadly fires started by children in recent weeks. Joined by FDNY Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano, Schumer made a direct appeal to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to deliver the much needed funding to continue and expand the... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer has announced that he has written a personal letter to the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Patrick Corvington, urging him to accept the New York City Coalition Against Hunger's application to the AmeriCorps program. The application, if accepted, would send 9 AmeriCorps members to the Rochester region to work with local residents to address the need for increased food and nutrition programs. The AmeriCorps members would also use... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. Today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he has personally called the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to press him to release all the necessary funds that would allow TriCounty Memorial Hospital to relocate and rebuild the hospital that was wiped out in 2009 by severe flooding. Schumer and Fugate had a positive conversation during which Fugate pledged to give serious and full consideration to TriCounty's proposal, and agreed to meet with Schumer in... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called for an immediate federal probe by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Inspector General into the background checks conducted on new and transferred employees at U.S. nuclear plants and the Commission's procedures for monitoring current employees. Schumer announced his push at Nine Mile Plants, an Oswego based energy facility. Schumer's call followed reports that a man, Sharif Mobley, found to have ties to alQaeda, worked at a number of different... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he is pushing new legislation to vigorously address China's currency manipulation that unfairly and negatively impacts U.S. trade. If passed, the legislation would provide less flexibility to the Treasury Department when it comes to citing countries for currency manipulation. It would also impose stiff new penalties on countries that manipulate their currency, including possible tariffs on the countries' exports and a ban on any companies... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he is pushing new legislation to vigorously address China's currency manipulation that unfairly and negatively impacts U.S. trade. If passed, the legislation would provide less flexibility to the Treasury Department when it comes to citing countries for currency manipulation. It would also impose stiff new penalties on countries that manipulate their currency, including possible tariffs on the countries' exports and a ban on any companies... Read More