Newsroom

U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that the Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee has approved the FY2011 Appropriations Bill which includes $300,000 for the Monroe County Department of Public Safety. The funding will help law enforcement officials monitor high risk sex offenders through the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The updated protections will allow law enforcement to alert probation officers immediately whenever... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, joined by antidrunk driving law enforcement, elected officials and advocates for increased road safety, pushed Schumer cosponsored legislation to foster research and development of incar technology to fight the scourge of drunk driving.  Schumer's cosponsored legislation was originally introduced by Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico and would create a consortium to drastically curb drunk driving by funding a partnership between antidrunk driving advocates,... Read More

Today, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced that a key Senate committee has approved their request for funding for the Midtown Plaza.  The Midtown Rising is expected to attract hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment and create or maintain 1,500 jobs, and will play a huge role in the future of Rochester. The request was approved by the Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee and will be inlucded in the FY11... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee has approved the FY11 Appropriations Bill which includes $1,000,000 for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. The funding will be used to make improvements to the campus's physical infrastructure, including traffic reduction, pedestrian access and public safety features. Schumer worked closely with members of the Appropriations Committee to include funding for... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer requested that Attorney General Eric Holder open a criminal investigation into allegations that oil giant BP may have engaged in an illegal deal to secure the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset alMegrahi in exchange for access to Libyan oil fields. Schumer said that mounting evidence indicates a possible link between the release of alMegrahi and the completion of long stalled negotiations between BP and the Libyan government. If BP engaged in such a... Read More

WASHINGTON - At a news conference today, U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (DNJ), Charles Schumer (DNY), Frank Lautenberg (DNJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (DNY) called on BP to suspend its oil drilling plans in Libya until its role in the freeing of the Pan Am Flight 103 bomber is fully known. Before BP makes money off of drilling there, the senators want to know to what extent BP helped to facilitate the release of Abdelbaset alMegrahi from a Scottish prison in order to finalize and expedite a $900... Read More

Today, United States Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that Nubian Directions II, Inc. in Poughkeepsie will receive $283,500 in YouthBuild Grant funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and FY 2009 funding. The funding will be used to provide education and training to disadvantaged young people. This training will include the education and employment skills necessary to achieve economic selfsufficiency in occupations in high demand and postsecondary education... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed that current laws restricting sex offenders' access to children does not restrict pedophiles from working with children in jobs which are not funded by the government. These glaring gaps in federal law allow pedophiles to work as coaches, carnival ride operators, dance and music teachers, and many other occupations that by their nature allow sex offenders to have direct contact with children. Schumer is introducing legislation, which would... Read More

United States Senator Charles E. Schumer called on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today to immediately begin selling off unauthorized purchases it made with Asset Forfeiture Fund (AFF) money and return the proceeds to the fund and fishermen who committed no wrong or were excessively fined. A bombshell report issued by the Commerce Department's inspector general's office revealed that over the course of the last four years, forfeiture funds, obtained through fines levied... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the Town of Pamelia will receive $1.7 million, the Town of Henderson will receive $2 million, the Village of Philadelphia will receive $256,010 and the Village of Cape Vincent will receive $2 million in federal grant funding from the New York Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) for clean water infrastructure projects. The grant funding is coming to cities, towns and villages all across New York because of a provision secured by Schumer... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the Village of Belmont will receive $2 million in federal grant funding from the New York Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) for clean water infrastructure projects. The grant funding is coming to cities, towns and villages all across New York because of a provision secured by Schumer in the Congressional Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill.   "These funds will go to work right away improving infrastructure, creating jobs and... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that Nassau and Suffolk County have been chosen to receive federal funding to create an incentive for college students to sign up as volunteer firefighters across Long Island and is urging FEMA to recommend full funding of $4 million for the program.  Both Nassau and Suffolk Counties have qualified and been chosen for FEMA's SAFER grant award for volunteer firefighter recruitment, Schumer said.  Schumer urged Administrator Fugate to fund each... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced he is introducing legislation to rename the Lynbrook Post Office, located at 100 Broadway in Lynbrook, New York, the Navy Corpsman Jeffrey L. Wiener Post Office.  The post office renaming is in honor of Jeffrey L. Wiener, a deceased Lynbrook resident who gave his life in service to his country. Wiener had served his community as a volunteer firefighter starting at the age of 14. In 2003, Wiener enlisted in the Navy and was sent to Iraq, where he... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he has written personal letters to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lisa Jackson, and the Secretary of the United State Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging them to help New York fight the emerald ash borer (EAB) by approving several applications that would provide critical resources to New York communities to prevent the invasive species' advance. Without drastic and immediate intervention, industries... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he has written a personal letter to the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Tom Vilsack, urging him to address a new rule that makes at least 15 communities across New York ineligible for a vital rural development grant program, the Water and Waste Disposal Grant Program, that works to reduce costs for New Yorkers and local governments in rural communities. Schumer's office has been contacted by several... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer led a ceremony to install the longawaited plaque formally recognizing the contributions that enslaved AfricanAmericans made to the construction of the U.S. Capitol. The new plaque was mounted atop original stone used to build the Capitol and is located in the Senate wing of the building, which is open to the public. Schumer, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, was an original cosponsor of the resolution honoring enslaved... Read More

Today, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Paul Tonko announced that they have sent a personal letter to the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Shaun Donavan, urging him to reexamine the Amsterdam Housing Authority's (AHA) grant application.  AHA's grant application was denied based on a technicality after HUD mistakenly sent applicants the wrong due date and failed to properly notify applicants of the new date. The loss of this... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the Veterans Outreach Center, Inc. in Rochester has received a federal grant totaling $270,000 as part of the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) Program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. The funding will be used for Veterans employment and training services in the clean energy sector. "This grant ensures that veterans in the Rochester Region will have the opportunity to receive the educational training and resources... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to immediately address recent reports suggesting a possible link between skin cancer and a common chemical found in sunscreens. Studies from the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) have suggested a possible link between skin cancer and retinyl palmitate, a common ingredient found in sunscreen products. While the research has been completed since July... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer   announced that $1 billion in summer youth jobs funding is set to pass the Senate this week as part of the Americans Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. This critical funding will begin to address the incredible rate of unemployment among youth in New York and across the country. The current   youth unemployment rate of 21.5% is a threat to our nation's broader economic recovery as an entire generation of young women and men see their talents wasted.... Read More