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With an Amtrak fiscal crisis threatening to shut down the company's rail service this year, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today unveiled a proposal to inject Amtrak with the $1.8 billion the company needs to maintain and improve its service in New York State. Schumer's proposal comes on the heels of proposed cuts to the Amtrak budget that would shut down Amtrak completely this year and President David Gunn's visit to the area Saturday to detail the dire situation. "If you shut... Read More

Schumer details cuts each NY county faces; Capital Region fire departments could lose $2.5 million; Central NY $1.5 m; Rochester/Finger Lakes $2 m; Hudson Valley $2.9 m; North Country $2.2 m; Southern Tier $2.6 m; Western NY $3.9 m New York fire departments could lose out on over $18 million for equipment, training, and fire trucks next year under the Administration's new federal budget proposal, US Senator Charles E. Schumer warned today. Schumer released a new report showing that the... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer announced today that he has received assurances from Kraft Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mark Firestone that the Cool Whip plant in Avon is not a priority for closure. After Kraft announced last week that it will be making significant unspecified cuts to its workforce, there were concerns that the Livingston County plant was in jeopardy, leading Schumer to lobby the company to keep them. "The good news is that the Cool Whip plant is not likely to... Read More

US Senator Charles Schumer, author of the 1994 Crime Bill, today announced that several New York school districts will receive federal grants under the bills Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. The money will be used to hire community police officers to be placed within the citys school system. Schumer said that grants worth $125,000 will go to Cortland, the Village of East Aurora and Ogdensburg to hire one officer each and $214,896 will go to Chenango County to hire two... Read More

US Senator Charles Schumer today pressed the General Services Administration (GSA) to keep its commitment and retain Buffalo's 1,200 federal employees in the city's downtown core. GSA recently announced that it would expand its search area for a new Buffalo location to outside of downtown for employees being relocated from the Dulski Federal Building. Schumer said that keeping the jobs in downtown is vital for building the area into a thriving economic center for growth. "Downtown... Read More

With the April 15 deadline to file federal income taxes fast approaching, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today released a report projecting that almost 3.4 million New York households still have not yet filed their federal income taxes. To make tax season easier for New Yorkers and to help them get their maximum tax benefit, Schumer issued a new series of helpful hints for New Yorkers now available on Schumer's website at www.schumer.senate.gov. "Mention the date April 15 and almost any... Read More

Standing at the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal on the West Side of Manhattan, US Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed today that while Federal officials are pushing to close Madison Square Garden and the James A. Farley Post Office during the summer's Republican National Convention, they refuse to install their highlytouted new "fingerscanners" at Manhattan's Passenger Ship Terminal to check foreign visitors against terrorist watch lists, even though the Terminal is jut... Read More

The letter was signed by Senators Olympia Snowe, Charles Schumer, Barbara Mikulski, Ted Kennedy, Joseph Lieberman, Carl Levin, Jon Corzine, Mark Pryor, Paul Sarbanes, Harry Reid, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Patrick Leahy, Barbara Boxer, Frank Lautenberg, Herb Kohl, Debbie Stabenow, Ron Wyden, Mark Dayton, Tim Johnson, Bill Nelson, Tom Harkin, Richard Durbin, Jack Reed, Russ Feingold, Ben Nelson, Byron Dorgan, and Maria Cantwell. On Wednesday, OPEC will meet in Vienna to decide... Read More

As methamphetamine use begins to skyrocket in New York, US Senator Charles E. Schumer was joined by the Special Agent in Charge of the US Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) New York Field Division, Anthony P. Placido, at DEA headquarters today to unveil a new plan to nip the problem in the bud and prevent a repeat of 1980sera mistakes that missed the early warning signs of the crack epidemic. Schumer's plan would sharply increase penalties for dealing the drug to make them... Read More

With OPEC deciding on Wednesday to move forward with its plan to cut oil production by 1 million barrels a day, a group of US Senators led by Charles Schumer is urging the White House to reconsider its position to keep filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR). The letter was signed by Senators Schumer, Mikulski, Stabenow, Dodd, Corzine, Boxer, Kennedy, Pryor, Leahy, Wyden, Reid, Edwards, Reed, Kohl, Rockefeller, Harkin, Dayton, Jeffords, Levin, Lieberman, Feinstein, Feingold, Clinton and... Read More

With New York State education funds mired in uncertainty, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today called for the federal government to deliver on its commitment to fully fund its education budget for the Mohawk Valley. Schumer today released a new analysis showing that under the Administration's proposed federal budget, schools in Herkimer, Madison and Oneida counties would be shortchanged approximately $14.9 million for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that funds special... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today praised the City, County, and Federal law enforcement officers who helped capture Robin Valent�n who was one of the NYPD's Most Wanted Criminals for allegedly murdering Jos� Guti�rrez, an auxiliary police officer in the 44th Precinct in The Bronx, in August 2001 and delivered him to back to New York today. Valent�n fled to the Dominican Republic shortly after the killing and was captured in Belgium in November. At Schumer's urging, the US... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today pressed VA Secretary Anthony Principi about his unexpected delay in announcing the fate of the Canandaigua VA hospital. Principi, who was expected to decide earlier this month whether to approve a plan to keep the hospital open and move 50 psychiatric beds to the Batavia and/or Buffalo VA facilities, assured Schumer last night that the delay does not indicate a change in the plan to keep the facility open and said a final announcement was likely to come within... Read More

Schumer: With New York State education money already in doubt, feds must come through with money it promised schools in Rochester/Finger Lakes area; New bipartisan plan would restore full funding for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) With New York State education funds mired in uncertainty, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today called for the federal government to deliver on its commitment to fully fund its education budget for the Rochester/Finger Lakes area. Schumer today... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today asked America Online to find a solution to ensure that a Staten Island 9/11 father can continue to use his AOL account to send emails to other 9/11 families. Because he was sending emails to so many 9/11 families that have asked to be placed on his distribution lists, AOL computers automatically flagged him as a spammer. Schumer, the leading antispam advocate in Congress, said that AOL should be commended for their strong policies and procedures to fight spam,... Read More

With New York State education funds mired in uncertainty, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today called for the federal government to deliver on its commitment to fully fund its education budget for the Syracuse/Central New York area. Schumer today released a new analysis showing that under the Administration's proposed federal budget, schools in Central New York would be shortchanged approximately $43 million for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that funds special... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today detailed a comprehensive plan to bolster law enforcement efforts in Plattsburgh. The Senator outlined plans to locate a new law enforcement center at the former Air Force base that will house federal, local, and state agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). In addition, Schumer announced a commitment from the DEA to bring three additional agents to Plattsburgh for better defense against a potential... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today asked US Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton to reopen the Statue of Liberty's Crown to visitors and sightseers, not just the base of the statue. In an interview on NBC's Today show this morning, the Secretary promised that the public will be allowed to climb the 354 steps to the statue's crown. But Secretary Norton did not repeat that promise in her official remarks at the Statue. Schumer today asked the Secretary to reconfirm her commitment to... Read More

US Senator Charles Schumer Friday will host a delegation of Buffalo elected and economic development officials at Battery Park City in Manhattan on Friday to discuss how the Battery Park City project can serve as a model for Buffalo's outer harbor redevelopment efforts. Schumer and the Buffalo officials will meet with the Battery Park City authority and tour the site of the Battery Park City project. "A Buffalo version of Battery Park City would have this area buzzing with... Read More

In the war on terrorism, John Ashcroft has frequently gone overboard when dealing with liberties, but hasnt even gotten the ship out of port when it comes to administration, coordination, technology, and funding, Schumer said. Thirtyone months after 9/11, the FBIs computer system is still an unmitigated disaster, were woefully short on appropriately trained analysts and translators, and the Administration steadfastly refuses to adequately fund the war on terror. Its simply indefensible that the... Read More