Newsroom

US Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $5 million under the 2005 Defense Department spending bill for to support the work of Rochesters National Center for Excellence in Infotonics. The bill must now be approved by the full Senate before being sent to a House and Senate Conference Committee and eventually being signed into law. The federal funding would go toward supporting the work at the stateoftheart... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today joined US and Canadian officials in Fort Erie, Ontario to unveil the design of the Buffalo & Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority's (PBA's) new Canadian Gateway. The announcement is the first step in a plan to move toll operations from the US to the Canadian side of the Peace Bridge. Schumer said that the move, which should begin as early as May 2004, would allow for more Customs inspection booths on the US side to ease traffic while reducing the... Read More

US Senator Chuck Schumer today asked President George W. Bush to fully fund Army Corps of Engineers projects on Long Island in the 2005 Federal Budget that he is scheduled to send to Congress next week. Schumer has heard from local officials on Long Island and across New York State that Army Corps in the state may face draconian budget cuts in the forthcoming budget proposal. These cuts could delay or terminate plans to fight beach erosion along Long Island's South Shore and help commercial... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today revealed that New Yorkers could quickly and easily comparisonshop for the best prices for prescription drugs at various neighborhood pharmacies on a website without leaving their homes, if only government Medicaid data already being collected were compiled and put online. The State of Maryland already has a website like this up and running, and a new Schumer analysis finds a similar program could save New Yorkers millions, with individuals and families saving... Read More

US Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that a key Senate panel has approved $24 million for Schweizer Aircraft to help support the development of the Fire Scout RQ8 Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) to be used by the US Navy and Marine Corps. The bill must now be approved by the full Senate before being sent to a House and Senate Conference Committee and eventually being signed into law. Specifically, today's funding will... Read More

Joined by representatives of the Center for Economic Growth, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today hosted a demonstration of the Technology Roadmap online community. Schumer helped secured $315,000 in the Fiscal Year 2003 budget for the hightech centralized data source for businesses and communities that provides a detailed view of the Region's tech companies and assets. "When Kelly Lovell presented the idea of the Technology Roadmap to me three years ago, I thought it was a great... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer presented Jan Maloff a WTVH nominee from Syracuse, with a prestigious Jefferson Award for community and public service late Tuesday afternoon. Maloff has for the past 8 years, taken used, donated and abandoned bikes and reconditioned them to give away at his annual Christmas Bike Giveaway. Over one thousand families participated in last years giveaway and nearly 7000 children have received free bicycles since Jan started his initiative. Jan also makes available low... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today warned that 6,400 upstate families spanning nearly every county could lose their housing under the Administrations proposal to cut funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Developments (HUD) Section 8 housing voucher program by $1.6 billion in FY05. To avert this from happening, Schumer said the program, which provides 53,000 families in upstate New York with vouchers to cover the cost of private rental housing, must be fully funded. "This... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today asked President George W. Bush to nominate former Richmond County District Attorney William Murphy to a new vacancy on the federal bench that will occur when Judge Denis R. Hurley retires. "D.A. Murphy is an excellent lawyer, a dedicated public servant, and a profoundly good man. I have no doubt that he will be an outstanding jurist, committed to interpreting law, not making law. He will serve the court honorably and handle cases fairly," Schumer... Read More

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins today urged the Postmaster General of the United States to accept the recommendation from the local postmaster to build a new postal facility in Lackawanna. Constructing a new, first class retail location is a top priority for the city and officials believe the best chance of accomplishing this is if an entire new facility is constructed. After a second analysis of how the postal service can best adjust to the population shifts... Read More

US Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that Congress approved $2 million in the 2005 Defense Department spending bill for Central New York defense projects. Projects to be funded under the bill include $1 million for the Rome Air Force Research Laboratorys Joint Battlespace Infosphere project and $1 million for Cortland Cables synthetic material arresting cable development project. The bill must now be sent to the President and eventually signed into... Read More

US Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today that Congress has approved $8.3 million in funding for the Hancock Field base, including $6 million for a Military Entrance Processing Station for the Army and $2.3 million to replace the Mobility Processing Center for the Air National Guard. The news came as the House and Senate approved the FY 2005 Department of Defense Military Construction Appropriations Bill. The bill will now go to the President for his... Read More

Standing alongside frustrated drivers at the foot of the Peace Bridge, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today urged the Bureau of Customs & Border Protection to increase staffing levels at bridge check points to meet peak traffic demands. Traffic problems on the bridge have become more than an inconvenience, and local businesses are starting to feel the pinch of less customers and more expensive deliveries. Anyone who's driven along the Peace Bridge during peak times knows that this is a... Read More

US Senators Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Senate and House Conference on the Defense Authorization Act of 2005 has agreed to an amendment that will provide Western New Yorkers with the support that they need and deserve to effectively navigate the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. A measure introduced by Senator Schumer will establish a new resource center in Western New York that would help sick nuclear workers with their compensation applications.... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the Senate last night voted to authorize the nations first Signal Corps style program and said that New York is likely to be selected for one of two pilot programs which would drastically improve communications between the citys first responders at a terror site. The model programs funded by Federal Homeland Security Funding would create a specialized demonstration project of police, firefighters, EMTs, and other emergency personnel whose only... Read More

US Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that the joint House and Senate Conference Committee approved $16.8 million for Schweizer Aircraft to help support the development of the Fire Scout RQ8 Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) to be used by the US Navy and Marine Corps. The bill must now be approved by the Congress before being sent to the President and eventually signed into law. Specifically, today's funding will allow... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today revealed that he has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign to keep Boscov's department store in Binghamton. Schumer today sent a letter to the company's CEO Al Boscov and urged him to keep the store from closing. The city owns the property and leased it to Boscov's for a 20 year term which has now expired. "I told Mr. Boscov that keeping his store in Binghamton would be a winwin situation: good for the region and good for him, too,"... Read More

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced over $858,000 in federal funds awarded to local fire departments and organizations across New York State to help the department reduce the effects of fire and fire related incidents. The funds are being awarded through the Assistance to Firefighters program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This is a great day for local fire departments and organizations across New York, said Schumer. In the brave new post9/11 world, our... Read More

US Senator Charles Schumer today announced that at his request the Senate has passed a tax bill by a 6917 margin that includes green bonds for the DestiNY resort in Syracuse. The bill includes a measure that Schumer requested to secure taxexempt "green bonds" that would help finance the project. With the House having passed the measure earlier this week, it has now passed Congress and awaits the President's signature. "Obviously, this is very good news for DestiNY,"... Read More

US Senator Charles Schumer today charged the Federal government with being woefully unprepared to deal with this weeks news of drastic flu vaccine shortages and called for the immediate importation of emergency supplies from Canada, Europe, and Japan. With just two drug makers producing the flu vaccine for use in the US and no back up system in place, Schumer faulted the federal government for leaving thousands of high risk New Yorkers in the cold this flu season. To ensure the high risk are... Read More