Biography

United States Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy is currently serving her 8th term representing Long Island's 4th Congressional District. First elected in 1996, the Congresswoman has served Long Island for over 14 years.
 
Carolyn McCarthy is the first Congresswoman from Long Island and is included in Newsday's 100 Long Island Influentials, Long Island Business News's Long Island Top 50, Congressional Quarterly's 50 Most Effective Legislators, Redbook Magazine's Mothers and Shakers and the Ladies' Home Journal 100 Most Important Women.

Congresswoman McCarthy serves as a senior member of the Committee on Education and Workforce. In this role, she works to provide our schools with the resources they need to educate our children and make college more affordable.  She is a member of the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee and the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee.

Congresswoman McCarthy is also on the Financial Services Committee, where she oversees the way our financial system operates while protecting the identity of Long Islanders.  She is a member of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, and is the ranking member of the International Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee.  The Congresswoman was instrumental in the passage of the monumental Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which was signed into law on July 21, 2010. This legislation creates common sense reforms to ensure accountability, and transparency of the financial system, while protecting consumers from abuses and fraud. 

In 2007 the Congresswoman became the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities, where she played a key role in reauthorizing and drafting legislation to protect Long Island's children and improve the 4th Congressional District. Congresswoman McCarthy has held congressional hearings on topics such as improving childhood nutrition and reducing cyber-bullying amongst our youth.  The Congresswoman is committed to working in the best interest of families and children.

In January of 2008, President Bush signed Congresswoman McCarthy’s National Instant Criminal Background Check Database (NICS) Improvement Amendments Act into law. NICS is the most significant gun legislation passed in over 16 years.  It is designed to provide grants to states to upgrade information and identification technologies for firearms eligibility determinations and require all Federal agencies that have records on persons for whom it is illegal to purchase a firearm to provide that information to the Attorney General for inclusion in NICS.  

On April 21, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.   The bill answered the President’s call to usher in a new era of public service and volunteerism in America.  The Serve America Act will create a national infrastructure for service volunteerism programs, providing opportunities for those who wish to serve and improve their communities.  As one of the lead House authors, Congresswoman McCarthy was proud to have been invited to the White House for the bill signing.

On March 12, 2009 the President signed into law the Civil Rights Oral History Project, legislation that Congresswoman McCarthy introduced.  The House and Senate have also passed her bill to create the Civil Rights Oral History Project.  The bill, H. R. 586, will establish a joint effort between the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Library of Congress to collect oral histories of the people that were involved in the civil rights movement and preserve their stories for future generations.  

A lifelong resident of Mineola, Congresswoman McCarthy has over 30 years experience as a nurse. Congresswoman McCarthy married Dennis McCarthy in 1967 and they raised one son, Kevin. Carolyn has two grandchildren, Denis and Grace, by Kevin and his wife Leslie.