Newsroom

With dams across the Hudson Valley in a dangerous state of disrepair, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007. Schumer, an original cosponsor of the bill authored by Senators Akaka (DHI) and Voinovich (ROH), said that many dams are more than 100 years old and some have been without attentive ownership and upkeep for decades. After periods of heavy rain, these dilapidated dams could breach, leading to flooding in major residential communities.... Read More

Four days after visiting the Indian Lake Health Center to see firsthand the current health care crunch that is affecting residents across the North Country, today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he personally called the CEO of HealthNow New York to press the health care insurance company to continue negotiations that will protect the health coverage of 5,000 individuals across the region. Hudson Headwaters has expressed concerns that a lack of relief might force it to close its... Read More

Standing with Denise Materazzo, a Huntington homeowner who is one of thousands of Long Islanders recently left in the lurch by their longtime home insurers, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer today blasted major insurance companies for dropping Long Island customers citing bogus hurricane and flood concerns and backed new legislation designed to prevent premiums from skyrocketing. Schumer also released a new report showing that the number of New Yorkers forced to take out "extreme" insurance after... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today called on a Senate Committee to restore full funding for a key antiacid rain monitoring program that the Bush Administration seeks to cut. The program, the Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET), is a critical federal program that works to combat acid rain across New York State and the country by establishing monitoring stations that provide scientists and legislators with detailed information regarding acid rain deposition. While the program has been... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that during a Senate Judiciary Hearing which featured testimony given by Susan Falkouski, the widow of the fallen Rensselaer City Assistant Fire Chief Mike Falkouski, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had issued a new directive defining what is considered a nonroutine activity.  Included in this new directive is the statement that "all responses to emergency call will be considered presumptively nonroutine." Falkouski's family to... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Delhi Fire Department in Delaware County has received a federal grant totaling $145,635 from the 2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).   The grant will be used to improve operations and safety. The grant is part of the eleventh round of DHS FY07 AFG program awards to several fire departments throughout the country.   "This funding will go a long way in... Read More

WASHINGTON , DC -Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced he was in the process of seeking assurances from Google, Inc., on privacy concerns related to the internet pioneer's proposed merger with the online advertising firm, DoubleClick. Appearing at a hearing of a Senate Judiciary panel on antitrust matters, Schumer revealed that he had met with Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently to raise issues related to user privacy and that Schmidt had responded, in writing, by describing measures the... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed that thousands of Upstate New Yorkers are at risk of receiving annoying and burdensome telemarketing phone calls, despite having added their phone numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry.  The Do Not Call Registry, created in 2003, is a database of phone numbers managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  When a person adds his or her phone number to the list via the tollfree hotline or FTC website, telemarketers are prohibited from... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced he will convene the first ever meeting with officials from the Federal Aviation Administration, major Long Island and New York City helicopter operators, and airport managers from Nassau and Suffolk in order to craft solutions designed to reduce helicopter noise plaguing countless communities across Nassau and Suffolk counties. This summer was one of the worst summers ever with thousands of private helicopters buzzing over neighborhoods and... Read More

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer demanded that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) adequately address concerns raised by Rockland and Westchester county residents on how the new Airspace Redesign Plan will affect the region's quality of life. While the plan is designed to reduce plane congestion in the Tristate area, it creates new flight paths for aircrafts over Rockland and Westchester counties which are expected to usher in a spike in noise and pollution over residential... Read More

With new numbers released today showing that Staten Island foreclosures have surged over the past year, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today revealed that major mortgage lenders, some of whom are in bankruptcy themselves, are still constantly advertising and pushing on consumers the very same loans that have brought on the current crisis . Schumer said that banks should not be offering these loans and sucking more Staten Island homebuyers and homeowners in to taking on more debt attached to a... Read More

With thousands of Americans going missing every year, today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Congresswoman Kristin Gillibrand called on President Bush to immediately declare April 6th "National Missing Persons Day." This ratchetsup their efforts to shine light on this tragic problem, and comes after both representatives successfully spearheaded resolutions in the Senate and House of Representatives to bring greater awareness to the issue of missing persons. The Capital Region... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Cincinnatus Fire Department, in Cortland County will receive a federal grant of $9,500 from the 2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).   The grant will be used to improve operations and safety. The grant is part of the tenth round of DHS FY07 AFG program awards to several fire departments throughout the country.    "This funding will go a long way in... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Lyons Fire Department, in Wayne County will receive a federal grant of $14,860 from the 2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).   The grant will be used to improve operations and safety. The grant is part of the tenth round of DHS FY07 AFG program awards to several fire departments throughout the country.    "This funding will go a long way in supporting the... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that four fire departments in the Southern Tier will receive federal grants totaling $493,575 from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). From the ninth round of the DHS FY07 AFG awards, the Pinders Corner Fire Department in Oneonta will receive $185,250, the Conventry Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. in Greene will receive $135,850, and the City of Norwich Fire Department will... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that $220,155 has been awarded to the New York Tactical Officers Association in Middletown by the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) from the FY 07 Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program, under their Category III Enhancing Local Law Enforcement Funding.  The federal funds will be used to provide standardized training to all tactical law enforcement teams in New York State.   "This is great news for... Read More

Washington, DC - Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomed approval by the Senate Appropriations Committee of the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, which includes $12 million for the Capital Region's Watervliet Arsenal, Arsenal Support Program Initiative (ASPI). The bill will now proceed to the Senate floor for consideration. Following consideration and passage on the Senate floor, the bill will head into a Conference Committee where the House and... Read More

In a letter to Department of Veterans' Affairs Secretary Nicholson, Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on the VA to act on a previously agreedupon genebank program at the University at Albany's Center for Functional Genomics. The program, originally delineated in a contract signed by University of Albany and the VA in December of 2003, would establish a biorepository of blood samples for genomic and proteomic analyses. Since the 2003 agreement, despite several... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced today that a $24,750 grant has been awarded to the Hartford Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. in Washington County by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Development program as a Community Facility Grant.  The fire department will use these funds to purchase a new rescue vehicle.   "This is great news for Washington County," Schumer said. "We can never truly repay our first responder s for their heroic efforts and... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced today that over $180,000 in federal grants and loans has been awarded to two Franklin County fire departments by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Development program as a Community Facility Grant.  Dickinson Volunteer Fire Department in Dickinson will receive a grant of $25,530 for the purchase of a new tanker truck. Hogansburg Akwasasne Volunteer Fire Department in Akwassasne will receive a federal grant of $7,680 and a... Read More