Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator for New York

Kirsten E. Gillibrand was sworn in as New York's Senator in January 2009, filling the seat of the current Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Prior to her appointment to the United States Senate, Gillibrand served in the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 20th Congressional District, which spans across ten counties in upstate New York.

Throughout her time in Congress, Senator Gillibrand has been committed to open and honest government. When she was first elected, she pledged to bring unprecedented transparency and access to her post. And she did, becoming the first Member of Congress to post her official public schedule, personal financial disclosure, and federal earmark requests online. For more information, visit Senator Gillibrand's Sunlight Report at http://gillibrand.senate.gov/sunlight/

As the mother of two young children, Senator Gillibrand knows exactly what working families are facing in this difficult economy. In the Senate, she has worked to rebuild the American economy, by creating good-paying jobs, helping small businesses get loans, and partnering with the private sector to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.  Senator Gillibrand's legislative agenda also aims to help middle class and working families by making quality child care more affordable, improving education and health care for children, and keeping our neighborhoods safe. She has written legislation to address the country's nursing shortage, make quality autism treatment more affordable, improve asthma treatment for children, and ensure that drinking water and baby products are safe for consumers.

Job creation and economic development have always been Senator Gillibrand's top legislative priorities. Using her seat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Gillibrand has worked to increase investment in infrastructure, including drinking water and sewer systems, rural broadband, health care information technology, and renewable energy, working closely with the Obama Administration and Senator Charles Schumer to ensure that New York gets its fair share of federal dollars.

As the first New York Senator to sit on the Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, Senator Gillibrand is giving New York families the seat at the table they deserve as Congress debates food policy. She is taking a leading role to improve child nutrition and combat child obesity by giving children and families more access to fresh fruits and vegetables grown right here in New York. She is also fighting hard to protect New York's farmers, especially those who need help in the current economic crisis. Senator Gillibrand is leading the fight to make sure dairy farmers get a fair price for the milk they produce.

From her seat on the Aging Committee, Senator Gillibrand is committed to fighting on behalf of seniors, working to lower the cost of prescription drugs, make long-term care more affordable so seniors can remain independent for as long as they are able, and protecting seniors from financial fraud. Senator Gillibrand is also working to lower property taxes, co-sponsoring legislation that would give New York residents a full federal tax deduction for their property taxes.

Senator Gillibrand also serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, where she is continuing her work on national security matters, focusing on cybersecurity, empowerment of women worldwide, and supporting the United States-Israel relationship.

After attending Albany's Academy of Holy Names, Senator Gillibrand graduated in 1984 from Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, the first all women's high school in the United States. A magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College in 1988, Gillibrand went on to receive her law degree from the UCLA School of Law in 1991 and served as a law clerk on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

After working as an attorney in New York City for more than a decade, Senator Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Andrew Cuomo during the Clinton Administration. She then worked as an attorney in Upstate New York before becoming a member of Congress.

Born and raised in Upstate New York, Senator Gillibrand now lives in Hudson, New York, with her husband, Jonathan Gillibrand, and their two young sons, six year old Theodore and two year old Henry.