Congresswoman Sue Kelly is in her sixth term representing the 19th Congressional District of New York, which includes all of Putnam County and portions of Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Westchester counties. The district is home to the United States Military Academy at West Point, two veterans hospitals—Castle Point and Montrose, and the Delaware and Hudson Rivers. 
 
Rep. Kelly’s diverse professional career as a teacher, small business owner, patient advocate, rape counselor, PTA president, and biomedical researcher helped prepare her for the challenges associated with being an effective representative in Congress.

 

Since she began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995, Rep. Kelly has maintained a steadfast commitment to strengthening Hudson Valley communities, promoting economic growth, and making the federal government more responsive to the needs of her constituents. She remains committed to a common sense agenda in Congress that includes reducing taxes, strengthening national security, improving veterans’ benefits, making health care more accessible and affordable, and improving our children’s education.

 

Dedicated to her own background as a small business owner and her recognition that small businesses are America’s primary engine for economic growth, Rep. Kelly has been a leading advocate in Congress for small business owners and their employees. She consistently has spearheaded efforts to reduce regulatory and tax burdens that hinder the growth of small businesses, and was a chief author of the Truth-in-Regulating Act, which created a new way for the government to assess the impact of new federal regulations on small businesses before they are implemented.

 

In January 2001, Rep. Kelly was appointed to the chairmanship of the House Financial Services Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee. As chair, she has been an active proponent for corporate reform and increased federal oversight of corporate affairs. Rep. Kelly held the first Congressional hearings on the Enron and Global Crossing bankruptcies as well as on the WorldCom accounting fraud. Following these hearings, Rep. Kelly was an author of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform bill that has helped ensure corporate responsibility and restore investor confidence.

 

Rep. Kelly also has made her subcommittee a leading force in Congress to improve the federal government’s ability to track and disrupt terrorist financing activities. In 2004, Rep. Kelly founded the bipartisan Congressional Anti-Terrorist Financing Task Force to bolster efforts to shut down terrorist funding networks. She has held hearings to examine the implementation of anti-terrorist money-laundering provisions of the PATRIOT Act, and held the first congressional hearing on the effort to track and freeze Saddam Hussein’s hidden assets. Rep. Kelly also has made the reduction of identity theft a top subcommittee priority, holding numerous hearings to examine identity theft issues. She was an outspoken advocate for the inclusion of new anti-identity theft provisions in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

 

Through her senior position on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Kelly has worked to obtain millions of federal dollars for transportation improvements in the Hudson Valley. She helped write the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) in 1998, which directed more than $11 billion to New York for highway and transit programs. As the lead sponsor of the Clean Water Infrastructure Financing Act, Rep. Kelly has taken a leadership role in advocating a stronger federal commitment to environmental infrastructure. Through her position on the House Aviation Subcommittee, she has promoted Stewart International Airport as a catalyst for regional economic growth.

 

Among Rep. Kelly’s other accomplishments for the 19th District, she led the efforts to enact the Hudson River Habitat Restoration Act. She also was a chief House sponsor of the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act enacted in 1998 that guarantees women reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy. Additionally, Rep. Kelly consistently has succeeded in directing federal resources to important Hudson Valley initiatives. For example, Rep. Kelly spearheaded the push to bring home $27 million in federal funds for a new veterans nursing home in Montrose as well as $6.7 million needed to design and construct a new air traffic control tower at Stewart International Airport.

 

Rep. Kelly is very involved in her local community. Among the many honors and distinctions that Rep. Kelly has recently received are the Guardian of Seniors' Rights Award; Hero of the Taxpayer award; NFIB Guardian of Small Business Award, American Farm Bureau’s Friend of the Farm award, and Sgt. Charles Valenti Legislator of the Year Award presented by the Enlisted Association of the N.Y. National Guard.

 

She resides with her husband Edward in Katonah, N.Y. They have four children and eight grandchildren.