Congresswoman Carolyn B. MaloneyNew York Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney is a national leader with extensive accomplishments on security, financial services, the economy and women’s issues. She also has been a force representing the interests of the City of New York in Congress from the time she entered, in 1993.
In the 111th Congress, Maloney became Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, a House and Senate panel that examines and addresses the nation’s most pressing economic issues. In addition, Maloney remained a senior member of of the House Financial Service Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
9/11
Maloney has worked tirelessly to ensure that New York’s recovery from 9/11 is completed and that our national security is strengthened. A strong supporter of the 9/11 Commission, Maloney and her former colleague Rep. Christopher Shays (CT) formed the bipartisan 9/11 Commission Caucus upon the release of the commission’s final report.
Beginning in July 2004 and working closely with family members of 9/11 victims on the Family Steering Committee, Maloney and Shays attempted to pass a bipartisan security reform bill in the House. They introduced companion bills to the Senate’s McCain-Lieberman and Collins-Lieberman legislation. They kept up the pressure for a final bill, even as the House-Senate negotiations appeared on the brink of collapse. Finally, in December 2004, Congress was called back to Washington to pass a landmark bill born out of key 9/11 Commission recommendations – a tremendous victory for the nation.
Maloney’s 9/11 Commission Caucus accomplished another major victory in 2007, when more of the Commission’s recommendations were enacted into law. Maloney is also the author of a proposal to reorganize Congress for better oversight of Homeland Security and Intelligence, one of the commission’s chief concerns.
Much of Maloney’s 9/11 recovery efforts center around obtaining federal health monitoring and medical treatment for the heroes who volunteered or worked at Ground Zero after 9/11 and have since developed medical conditions. Since 2002, Maloney has worked to obtain over $405 million for medical screening, monitoring and treatment for 9/11-related health conditions. In February 2009, Reps. Maloney, Nadler, King and McMahon along with a bipartisan group of House Members introduced H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, a bipartisan bill that would provide the heroes and heroines of 9/11 with the security and assistance they desperately need and deserve. By building on the Centers of Excellence that currently provide expert medical treatment for the unique WTC exposures, the bill would provide medical monitoring and treatment to WTC responders and community members (area workers, residents, students and others) who were exposed to toxins released at Ground Zero. The bill would also reopen the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to provide compensation for economic losses and harm as an alternative to the current litigation system. Providing health care and compensation to the heroes of 9/11 is the least we can do as a grateful nation.
Back to top
Economy/Financial Services Rep. Maloney is senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and the former Chair of the Financial Institution and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee. She continues to serve as a member of this Subcommittee and is also a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises and the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology.
Since being elected to Congress, Maloney has worked to modernize financial services laws and regulations while strongly advocating for consumer protections.
Maloney is the author of the “Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights”, which levels the playing field between consumers and credit card companies and provide consumers with increased notification over changes in terms on their accounts. H.R. 626 was signed into law by President Obama on May 22, 2009, after passing Congress with overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
In the 110th Congress, Rep. Maloney was the author of the National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-49). This legislation strengthens and reforms the process by which the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reviews foreign direct investment for national security issues.
In the 108th Congress, Rep. Maloney worked to include groundbreaking identity theft protections in legislation updating the nation's credit reporting system (FACT Act, P.L. 108-159). She was a leader of the fight to preserve the rule-making authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board over corporations’ public filings. Rep. Maloney also cosponsored legislation that enhances consumer protections needed to combat mutual fund abuses that were exposed in New York State.
From 2003-2007, Rep. Maloney served as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology of the Financial Services Committee.
A vigorous advocate for the New York financial services community, Maloney has played a major role in legislation to modernize the deposit insurance system which passed the House, coauthoring an amendment to ensure fairness for banks that helped recapitalize the insurance fund during past crises. A long- time supporter of credit unions, she introduced the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (H.R. 3579) which would improve the safety and soundness of credit unions.
In the 107th Congress, Maloney remained steadfast to her commitment of modernizing financial service laws while strongly advocating for consumer protections and privacy. She passed legislation to cut fees on securities transactions by $14 billion over ten years. In April 2003, the House passed a bill introduced by Maloney and Sue Kelly (R-NY). H.R. 758, the Business Checking Freedom Act, allows banks to pay interest on business checking accounts.
In the 106th Congress, Maloney served as a conferee on the historic Gramm-Leach-Bliley financial modernization bill, where she fought to redraft Depression-era separations between banking, securities, and insurance firms while at the same time providing new consumer privacy protections for personal financial information. Maloney was the lead Democrat on the Investor and Capital Markets Relief Act, legislation which allowed the SEC to increase salaries of its employees so it can recruit and retain the most qualified professionals to oversee the markets.
Back to top
JEC
Rep. Maloney is the Vice Chair of the Joint Economic Committee
(JEC), a post she was named to at the beginning of the 110th Congress.
The JEC is a bicameral Congressional Committee that was established by
the Employment Act of 1946, the same legislation that created the
President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
As Vice Chair of the JEC, Congresswoman Maloney plays a key role in
helping to review economic conditions and analyze economic policy for
the United States Congress. Along with the JEC’s Chairman, New York
Senator Charles Schumer, Maloney has drawn attention to the failed
economic policies of the Bush Administration that have contributed to
our current economic woes: the mortgage and credit crisis, the enormous
cost of the war in Iraq, skyrocketing gas and food prices, rising
unemployment, record-setting public debt, and widening income
disparities.
At the request of Congresswoman Maloney, the JEC undertook a study of
the cost of the war in Iraq. The JEC report estimates that through the
close of FY 2008 the full economic costs of the Iraq war will be about
$1.3 trillion, or about double the immense federal budget costs that
have been reported to the American people. Based on Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) budget forecasts, the JEC report estimates that the
total economic costs of the war in Iraq could rise to $3 trillion or
more over the next decade if the occupation of Iraq continues.
Congresswoman Maloney has spearheaded the return of committee hearings
with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to review the
monthly employment situation, which includes an examination of trends
in unemployment, job creation, wage growth and other labor market
conditions. Labor market conditions have deteriorated precipitously
since the beginning of the year, leaving working families vulnerable in
the current economic downturn. At the Vice Chair’s request, JEC
continually provides economic analysis – including issuing reports and
holding hearings – that has informed policy discussions relating to
economic stimulus and help for working families, such as the Recovery
Rebates and the extension of unemployment insurance.
A preeminent women’s rights supporter, Congresswoman Maloney is
currently conducting a series of JEC hearings and reports aimed at
examining women’s contributions to the economy and the changing needs
of workers in balancing their family care responsibilities.
Congresswoman Maloney’s Paid Leave for Federal Workers bill (H.R.
5781), which recently passed the House of Representatives, is an
important first step toward providing paid leave for all working
families for the birth or adoption of a child. The congresswoman held
a hearing entitled, “Investing in the Future of the Federal Workforce:
Paid Parental Leave to Improve Recruitment and Retention,” which
highlighted the benefits of providing all federal employees paid leave
for the birth or adoption of a child. Currently, the federal government
only provides employees with access to 12 weeks of unpaid leave through
the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which many workers cannot afford
to take. As a guide for policymakers, the JEC asked Fortune 100
companies about the length of paid leave that they provide for new
parents and found that that 75 percent provide paid leave to new
mothers, typically lasting six to eight weeks.
A statutory requirement of the committee is managing part of the House
floor debate on the Federal Budget for the time reserved in the Budget
Act for a discussion of economic goals and policies. Since assuming the
Vice Chair post, the congresswoman has led this floor effort to put the
budget discussion in the larger framework of the overall economy and
the policies that should be pursued to maintain a healthy economy.
In addition, the Vice Chair’s staff made critical contributions to the
JEC’s Annual Report to Congress on the economic conditions facing the
nation. The committee report contains majority and minority views in
response to (or as a companion to) the Economic Report of the
President.
Back to top
Oversight and Government Reform
As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Maloney serves on the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives.
In early 1999, Maloney, who co-founded and co-chaired the Census Caucus, was appointed the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Census. She has been leading the fight to ensure that scientists, in spite of the objections of partisan politicians, will finally be able to release all 2000 Census data. The importance of accurate data cannot be minimized. Decennial census data is used to ensure fair representation and the fair distribution of federal funds. In 1990, the census undercounted the City of New York by 244,000, costing the city its fair share of federal funding. Maloney worked hard to ensure that the Census Bureau received adequate funding to continue with its plan to use modern statistical methods (statistical sampling). Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has -delete refused to release the data generated using statistical sampling.
Maloney authored legislation that made available for study thousands of World War II era Nazi War Crime records. The bill established a working group to review and organize documents held by federal agencies, checks for possible breaches in national security, and makes the non-sensitive material available to the public. In early 2005, Maloney and Senator Mike DeWine (OH) questioned CIA officials about the agency's reluctance to comply with the law, pressuring the CIA to finally release all relevant documents. Maloney also successfully worked with partners in the Senate to extend the working group past its original March 2004 sunset date so it could finish its important work. In May 2004, the Interagency Working Group released a report detailing the U.S. government's close ties to former Nazis. The Interagency Working Group released its final report to Congress in September 2007.
In the 110th Congress, Maloney passed key legislation and amendments in the Committee including a resolution commemorating the 85th anniversary of the founding of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, the “Contractors and Federal Spending Accountability Act,” and an amendment to improve the Freedom of Information Act process.
Maloney’s “Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act” (HR 5781) passed the House by a strong bipartisan majority vote of 278-146 in June, 2008.
A staunch supporter of key U.S. allies, Maloney passed legislation cracking down on the Arab Boycott of Israel and has championed the cause of justice in Ireland. She is the co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues and has advocated for peace on Cyprus and enhanced U.S.-Greek relations.
Back to top
Women's Issues
As the former co-chair of the Women’s Caucus, Maloney is a nationally-recognized advocate for women’s and family issues, with special emphasis on funding for women’s health needs, reproductive freedom, and international family planning. She was a member of the U.S. delegations to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) fifth-year review and appraisal at The Hague (Cairo + 5). In 2004, she attended ICPD’s tenth-year review meeting in Puerto Rico.
As the Member of Congress who spearheaded the Debbie Smith Act in numerous sessions of Congress, Maloney took the lead in the effort to erase the backlog of rape DNA testing kits that could put rapists behind bars. In 2004, the Debbie Smith Act was attached to two broader pieces legislation on DNA technology, which each had wide bipartisan support in the House and Senate.
After passing the House and Senate, the Justice for All Act, containing the Debbie Smith legislation, was signed into law in October 2004. Maloney has also been an outspoken authority against the persistent problem of sexual assault in the military. She successfully attached an amendment to the Defense Authorization legislation in 2004 that will ensure the American military has ample rape DNA testing kits and that the use of those kits is properly expedited. Maloney has fought vigorously to restore the Untied States’s contribution to UNFPA, the United Nation’s Population Fund, since the Bush Administration first withheld it in 2002. Maloney succeeded in increasing funding for UNFPA in the FY 2002 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill to $34 million, a $12.5 million increase from the previous fiscal year. Additionally, she introduced the Saving Women's Lives Act of 2002, to try to spur the Bush Administration to release the $34 million budgeted for the United Nations Population Fund. In 2004, Maloney proposed compromise legislation to restore the U.S.’s contribution to combat the horrific condition obstetric fistula. In November 2002, Maloney was recognized for ‘Carrying the Weight of the World’ by United Nations Family Planning and received their Women’s Leadership Award.
Maloney worked to increase public awareness in social inequalities between men and women that still exist in America In January 2002, she released The Dingell-Maloney Report: A New Look through the Glass Ceiling, an alarming report documenting a widening wage gap between men and women managers. Together with her colleague John Dingell of Michigan, she followed the 2002 report up by commissioning another Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, this one examining wages for all women over the past 20 years. The comprehensive report, released in 2004, revealed a persistent wage gap of 20-cents on the dollar that has remained unchanged. In 2007, Maloney reintroduced legislation that would amend the Constitution and guarantee equal rights for women. Over 200 lawmakers have signed onto Maloney’s Women’s Equality Amendment, and key women’s groups have also endorsed it.
Back to top
Homeland SecurityIn the wake of September 11th 2001, Rep. Maloney was a national leader on homeland security and was named Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Homeland Security in June 2003. In that position, she organized hearings, national surveys and reports on homeland security and advanced Democratic security policy. In late June 2003, Maloney convened a special task force hearing in Washington on local homeland security needs. First responders and local officials from around the country went to Capitol Hill to testify. Maloney also coordinated a national survey of local responders and officials on hometown security; the results were compiled into the October 2003 report, Federal Homeland Security Assistance to America's Hometowns.
As a New Yorker, Maloney led the charge in Congress to reform federal homeland security assistance distribution, particularly to America's most targeted areas. She fought vehemently for a change in the state funding program that sends disproportionate amounts of security money to low-threat states and for an increase in "high-threat" funding to targeted cities. In January 2004, Maloney and several colleagues requested of President Bush a doubling of high-threat funds in his FY2005 budget. When President Bush’s proposal was released days later, the high-threat program was, indeed, doubled. Maloney has worked to help the New York Fire Department at the federal level, introducing legislation to fix FDNY's radio system and releasing a report on the flaws of the FIRE Act, which shortchanges FDNY.
Back to top
Transportation/EducationMaloney continues to focus attention on issues relating to transportation and education that have a direct impact on her district in New York. A strong supporter of the Second Avenue Subway, Congresswoman Maloney has been instrumental in bringing home millions of dollars in federal funding for the project. Working with Rep. Jose Serrano (NY), Maloney helped secure the largest infusion of federal funding to date for the Second Avenue Subway in the FY08 House Transportation bill. Maloney also spearheaded a coalition of elected officials who persuaded Mayor Bloomberg to reaffirm his commitment to the Second Avenue Subway.
Maloney created and co-chaired the Task Force for an East Side High School which succeeded in obtaining backing from the Board of Education for a new academically rigorous high school on the East Side. The school, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, opened in September 2002. Maloney has worked to support the creation of the Frank Sinatra High School of the Arts in Queens. In addition, Maloney has organized a coalition of local elected officials who are working to address severe overcrowding in Community School District 2.
Back to top
Recognitions
Maloney has received the Military Order of the Purple Heart, For Meritorious and Conspicuous Service for Veterans, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association’s (NFPRHA) Distinguished Public Service Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Hadassah Myrtle Wreath Award, Peace Action’s Global Peace Award, the Queens Women’s Political Caucus’s Queens Women of Distinction Award and the Healthy Mothers, Health Babies’s 2000 Special Impact Award. Maloney was the Grand Marshal of New York’s Greek Independence Day Parade in 1996 and 2001. Her legislative efforts have been featured on NBC Nightly News, NBC’s Today, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other local, national, and international major media outlets.
Back to top
Early Career
After graduating from Greensboro College, Maloney worked for several years as a teacher and an administrator for the New York City Board of Education. In 1977, she went to work for the New York State legislature and held senior staff positions in both the State Assembly and the State Senate. In 1982, Maloney ran for public office for the first time and defeated an incumbent to win a seat on the New York City Council.
In her ten years on the Council, Maloney fought to eliminate waste and fraud in government. In 1986, she founded the Council's committee on city contracts and used this position to write a series of new laws setting up a computerized system to monitor the $7 billion which the city awards each year in contracts. She was also the principal author of the landmark New York City Campaign Finance Act. Maloney also became a champion of women’s, family, and children’s issues.
The first Council member to give birth while in office, Maloney was also the first to offer a comprehensive package of legislation to make day care more available and affordable. Congresswoman Maloney lives in New York City. She has two grown daughters, Christina and Virginia.
Back to top
Updated June 1, 2009
|
