[edit] Education

• Educational Training
  • With a vote of 416-0 the House of Representative approved the Green Energy Education Act of 2007 (H.R. 1716) in June of 2007. The bill will allow the Secretary of Energy to contribute research and development funds to the National Science Foundation for the purpose of supporting graduate education that is related to energy technology. It also authorizes the Secretary to provide funds for the improvement of undergraduate and graduate engineering and architecture curriculum on the design and construction of "high performance buildings." Senator Gillibrand voted for this bill. H.R. 1716 was ultimately integrated into the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 2272) which is now law, but was not fully funded in the budget.
• Educational Funding
  • Senator Gillibrand voted for the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act (H.R. 362). The legislation will require the National Science Foundation to increase its funding of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program with the goal of increasing the number of math and science teachers by up to 10,000 per year. The Noyce program provides scholarships to math, science, technology, and engineering students who commit to becoming teachers upon graduation. The legislation passed with a vote of 389-22.
• Teaching Evolution/Intelligent Design
  • Nothing posted to date

[edit] Energy

• Fuel Economy Standards
  • See discussion of CLEAN Energy Act under Renewable Energy section.
• Nuclear Power
  • Template:Vote-EnergyDeptAppropriations2010Senate
• Renewable Energy
  • See stimulus discussion under Innovation section.
  • In January of 2007, the House of Representatives passed the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007 (H.R. 6). This legislation is intended to address a royalties oversight that occurred when the Department of the Interior issued leases for off-shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from 1998 to 1999. The bill would also deny income tax deductions for oil and gas companies. Revenues generated from these provisions would be used for the development of alternative fuels and renewable energy sources. Opponents of the bill claimed that the legislation would raise costs for the domestic production of oil and could increase foreign oil imports. Senator Gillibrand voted for this legislation, which passed with a vote of 264-163.
    
    During consideration of H.R. 6 in June of 2007, the Senate changed the focus of the legislation into developing a more comprehensive energy bill that focused on the development of renewable fuels, energy conservation, and increased Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. In the face of a veto threat from President Bush, the House passed the Senate version of H.R. 6 with amendments by a vote of 235-181 on December 6, 2007. Senator Gillibrand voted for this bill. The final Senate rendering of the bill, which passed with a vote of 86-8, still included language raising CAFE standards to 35 mpg by 2020. The final version of the bill passed in the House with a vote of 314-100 and was signed into law by President Bush on December 19, 2007.
  • In August 2007, Senator Gillibrand voted for the final passage of the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 (H.R. 3221). The legislation would provide tax incentives to promote the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency, including guaranteeing up to $1 billion in loans for the development of biorefineries and biofuel production facilities. The measure also would repeal tax deductions to income attributed to the domestic production of oil and natural gas. It passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 241-172 and was sent to the Senate.
    
    A controversial amendment to the bill was H. Amdt. 748 sponsored by Representative Udall. This amendment would require retail electric suppliers to provide 15% of their electricity through a renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) by 2020. Senator Gillibrand voted for the amendment, which was adopted with a vote of 220 to 190.
  • In February 2008, Gillibrand voted yes on the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008. This act extended taxes to fund alternative energy sources such as solar and wind.^[1]
• Off Shore Drilling
  • On September 16, 2008 the House passed H.R. 6899, the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act. This act allows oil and gas leasing in areas of the Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area that are more than 50 miles from the coastline and establishes a Strategic Energy Efficiency and Renewable Reserve. Senator Gillibrand voted for this legislation. This legislation was passed with a vote of 236 to 189.

[edit] Press Releases on Energy

• On February 19, 2007, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand issued a press release announcing her participation in a town hall regarding energy independence and stating her support for HR 6, the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007, which repeals federal subsidies for oil companies and reinvests the funds in the research and development of renewable energy.
• On February 27, 2008, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand issued a press release announcing her vote of support for Hr. 5351, the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008, which would end federal subsidies for oil companies and reinvest the funding in the research and development of renewable energy.
• On June 27, 2007, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand issued a press release announcing a speaking engagement at the Second Annual New Energy New York Symposium and Hydrogen Expo in Albany, where she will speak on energy independence, clean energy policy and the expansion of innovative technologies.
• On September 21, 2007, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand issued a press release announcing $310,148 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Program for the purchase of an anaerobic digester, manure renewable energy system at Fort Ann Farm.
• On November 8, 2007, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand issued a press release announcing her opposition to federal eminent domain laws used for the designation of National Interest Electric Corridors.

[edit] Environment

• After the House failed to pass S. 22 under suspension of the rules (which requires 2/3 to vote for a provision, but does not allow any amendments), the Senate called an unrelated bill, (HR 146), to carry the omnibus land bill. The bill is a combination of over 150 public land bills and will designate over 2 million acres of land as wilderness, improve the management of currently protected land, establish new water projects, and more. Swapping the original legislation in HR 146 for the land bill was designed to make finalizing the bill in the House easy.
  
  When HR 146 was brought to the Senate, Sen. Coburn (R-OK) introduced several amendments, though only one passed:
  • Amendment 682: to make it less likely that casual stone collectors would run afoul of the criminal restrictions on taking paleontological fossils from federal land (passed)
  • Amendment 679: to strike provisions that would block renewable-energy development on public land
  • Amendment 680: to bar new construction in national parks until the Interior secretary certifies that current sites are up to date
  • Amendment 675: to stop federal officials from using the power of eminent domain to take land from citizens. Critics say this amendment was unnecessary as eminent domain would not be used in any lands included in the bill.
  • Amendment 683: to eliminate what Coburn considers to be "frivolous" projects and
  • Amendment 677: to require an annual report on the total size and cost of federal property.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 77-20 on March 19, 2009. Senator Gillibrand voted for this bill. It passed the House on March 25 and was signed into law by President Obama on March 30, 2009.

[edit] Press Releases on the Environment

• On March 9, 2007, Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand issued a press release announcing her support for H.R. 720, the Reauthorizing the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which provides funding for the construction of wastewater treatment facilities and other water pollution abatement projects.

[edit] Climate Change

• Since December 2008, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has maintained the stance that farmers ought not to be liable for foul smelling tax: tax on methane gases produced from farms.^[2]

[edit] Health

• See stimulus discussion under Innovation section.
• Healthcare
  • Template:Vote-FamilyPreventionTobaccoControlAct2009
  • After being vetoed twice by President Bush in 2007, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) (H.R. 2) bill was reintroduced in the 111th Congress on January 13, 2009. SCHIP provides a subsidy for children’s insurance for families that cannot afford private insurance yet earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. The cost of the program is funded by an increase in cigarette taxes of 62 cents per pack. The House of Representatives voted 289-139 to pass the bill on January 14, 2009. Senator Gillibrand voted for this bill. The Senate also passed SCHIP, and it was signed into law by President Obama on February 4, 2009.
  • On January 23, 2008, the House once again failed with a vote of 260-152 to pass H.R. 3963 to override President Bush’s veto of SCHIP. Senator Gillibrand voted for this legislation.
  • On October 3, 2007, President Bush vetoed H.R. 976, citing that the bill moved too many children towards federally funded healthcare. The House attempted to override the President’s veto, but the measure failed to pass with a vote count of 273-156. Senator Gillibrand voted for the veto override. On December 29, 2007, President Bush signed the Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (S. 2499) which extends funding for SCHIP through March of 2009, but does not significantly increase the program.
  • On September 25, 2007, the House passed the final version of the “Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act” (H.R. 976) with a vote of 265-169. This bill would have increased funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $50 billion dollars over five years. Opponents saw the bill as too costly and were critical of the funding methods for the program, including a cigarette tax increase (read the floor debate). Senator Gillibrand voted for this legislation.
  • In April of 2007, the House of Representatives passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 (H.R. 493) with a vote of 420-3. Senator Gillibrand voted for this bill. If enacted, GINA will prevent health insurance companies from adjusting premiums on the basis of genetic information and forbid requiring individuals to undergo genetic tests. The bill will also prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of genetic information. This legislation was passed by the Senate in a vote of 95-0. The House passed the Senate amended version of the bill on May 1, 2008, by a vote of 415-1. Rep Ron Paul was the only representative to vote against the bill. President Bush signed GINA into law on May 21, 2008.
  • On July 15, 2008, both Houses of Congress voted to override President Bush’s veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 6331), a bill to put off an almost 11% cut of payments to doctors who care for Medicare patients. The legislation offset putting off the payment cuts for doctors by reducing reimbursements to insurance companies that include Medicare patients in their managed-care programs.[1] The House voted 383 to 41 in favor of a veto override. Senator Gillibrand voted for this legislation.
• Would like to combat the 60% obesity rate in NY by banning trans fats in school cafeterias and replace junk foods with fruits and vegetables. She stated, "We want to make sure that all kids achieve their full potential...and all the studies show that kids who are obese do worse in math and science and their ability to concentrate and they also have low self-esteem."^[3]
• In Oct. 2009, Sen. Gillibrand introduced the E. coli Eradication Act of 2009, which would require meat processing companies to improve their testing procedures for the presence of the deadly E. coli variant O157:H7 in beef. Producers who grind beef from trimmings would be required to test the trimmings for E. coli as they arrived at the factory, as opposed to waiting to test the finished and ground product. The New York Times reported that Gillibrand acted partially in response to their Oct. 4th article on the devastating effects of O157:H7 on health; Gillibrand was quoted as saying "It really brought home the terrible cost of a system in America that hasn’t been updated in 100 years, a system that doesn’t protect the American people...it really alarmed me and got me working with staff on what we can do now” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/health/19beef.html).

• Embryonic Stem Cell Research
  • In April of 2007, Congress passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (S. 5), which would have overturned President Bush's ban on the use of federal funding for research on embryonic stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001. Senator Gillibrand voted for the legislation. The bill passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 247-176 and the Senate with a vote of 63-34. President Bush vetoed both this legislation and an identical bill that was passed by Congress in 2006.
• Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Research
  • In December 2005, Congress passed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (H.R. 2520), which President Bush signed on December 20, 2005. The law "creates a new Federal program to collect and store cord blood, and expands the current bone marrow registry program to also include cord blood." Senator Gillibrand was not in office and did not vote for this bill. The legislation passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 431-1 and passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

[edit] Innovation

• Stimulus
  • On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1). This stimulus bill contains over $30 billion for energy initiatives including the Smart Grid Investment Program and advanced battery systems; $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy for both businesses and homes; over $8 billion for augmenting energy efficiency in federal buildings and housing programs; and $7 billion to extend broadband service to underserved communities. The Act also gives the National Science Foundation $3 billion for research; the National Institutes of Health over $10 billion for research and renovations; NASA $1 billion, a portion of which to employ more scientists; and the Department Of Energy’s Office of Science $1.6 billion for energy research. Finally, it provides $19 billion for a modernized Health Information Technology (HIT) system; $87 billion to help fund Medicaid programs; $1 billion for health prevention programs; subsidies for temporary insurance; and $19 billion for clean water and environmental restoration programs. For a more complete listing of the bill’s provisions, click here.
    
    H.R. 1 passed the House of Representatives on February 13th and the Senate by a vote of 60-38 on February 13th. Senator Gillibrand voted for this bill.
• COMPETES Act
  • On August 9, 2007, President Bush signed the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act (H.R. 2272) into law. The law authorizes the increased funding of the National Science Foundation putting it on track to double funding over the next seven years, increased funding for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and competitive grants for teachers and schools with the goal of strengthening the quality of education in science, math, and critical foreign languages. The bill was passed with unanimous consent in the Senate and was agreed to by a vote of 367-57 by the House after being reconciled in a conference committee. Senator Gillibrand voted for this legislation. The America COMPETES Act was not fully funded in 2008.

[edit] Research and Research Management

• Funding
  • See stimulus discussion under Innovation section.
  • In May of 2007, Senator Gillibrand voted for the final passage of the National Science Foundation Funding Authorization Act of 2007 (H.R. 1867), which authorizes appropriations for the National Science Foundation for the fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010. The final vote count was 399 to 17.
    
    During debate on this legislation, H. Amdt. 128 was offered by Rep. Honda that will allow the NSF to support the creation of K-12 curriculum focused on global warming, climate change, and actions people can take to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Rep. Sullivan of Oklahoma offered a secondary amendment, H. Amdt. 129, that would have required the education materials referenced in Rep. Honda’s amendment to "reflect the diversity of scientific opinion, including the diversity of opinion regarding the impact of human activities on climate change." Congressional Democrats criticized the Sullivan amendment as seeming "to suggest that there is an equal weight of evidence against that perspective [that humans are causing climate change] as there is in favor of it" (read the full debate). The Sullivan amendment failed by a vote of 166 to 250. The Honda Amendment passed by a vote of 252 to 165.
    
    Senator Gillibrand voted against the Sullivan amendment and voted for the Honda Amendment.

[edit] Technology

• On July 10, 2009, Sen. Gillibrand introduced S. 1438 Fostering a Global Response to Cyber Attacks Act, a bill requiring the Secretary of State to cooperate with other nations on cybersecurity "to develop comprehensive norms and cooperative activities for international engagement to improve cybersecurity, to encourage international cooperation in improving cybersecurity on a global basis, and to develop appropriate safeguards for the protection of privacy, freedom of speech, and commercial transactions to be included in any agreements or other activities designed to safeguard cyberspace." The Secretary would also be required to submit a report to Congress within 270 days of the enactment of the legislation detailing progress in realizing these goals. ^[4]
• See stimulus discussion under Innovation section.
• Gillibrand voted for permanently banning the taxation of state and local internet access in the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act of 2007.^[5]
• In the summer of 2008, the House met to consider the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 6304), which would give retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that wiretapped customers’ phones for the Bush administration shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The legislation also allows the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens for up to 7 days before obtaining court approval. The House passed the bill with a vote of 293 to 129, and the legislation was signed by President Bush on July 7, 2008. Senator Gillibrand voted for this legislation.

[edit] Gun Control

• Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who has made her positions against gun control laws well known, surprised many by stating that she would "lead the fight against gun violence as a Senator for all of New York."^[6] Senator Gillibrand qualified this statement by announcing that she still held her beliefs and stances from previous votes, but she would like to see the end of illegal gun trafficking as well. Additionally, she would like to try and create more programs for high school students to allow them options other than joining gangs.^[7] Some feel that Senator Gillibrand is altering her stances to those more popular with the "Democratic mainstream" of New York ^[8] but the Senator denies these claims.

[edit] Endnotes

1. ↑ "Kirsten Gillibrand on the Issues." OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues. 2008. On The Issues. 10 Feb. 2009 <http://www.ontheissues.org/NY/Kirsten_Gillibrand.htm>
2. ↑ The Washington Times. http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/watercooler/2009/jun/12/gillibrand-maintains-anti-tax-view-farms-epa-green/
3. ↑ <http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=10774191 http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=10774191>
4. ↑ Bain, Ben. "Cybersecurity: Senate bill would make international cooperation a priority." Computer Week 14 Jul. 2009. http://fcw.com/Articles/2009/07/14/Web-Senate-bill-cybersecurity-international-cooperation.aspx
5. ↑ "Kirsten Gillibrand on the Issues." OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues. 2008. On The Issues. 10 Feb. 2009 <http://www.ontheissues.org/NY/Kirsten_Gillibrand.htm>.
6. ↑ Halbfinger, David M. "New Senator Vows to New Yorkers to Take Wider View on Gun Issues ." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 9 Feb. 2009. 10 Feb. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/nyregion/10gillibrand.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion>
7. ↑ Halbfinger, David M. "New Senator Vows to New Yorkers to Take Wider View on Gun Issues ." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 9 Feb. 2009. 10 Feb. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/nyregion/10gillibrand.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion>
8. ↑ Halbfinger, David M. "New Senator Vows to New Yorkers to Take Wider View on Gun Issues ." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 9 Feb. 2009. 10 Feb. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/nyregion/10gillibrand.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion>