WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand is back in Washington for another term, and she’s planning to push for a number of key priorities while serving in the minority.
Gillibrand, D-N.Y., won reelection to another six-year term in November, but her party lost control of the U.S. Senate, limiting her influence beyond what her time in the majority provided. But her reelection and the new term bring a new set of committee appointments and opportunities to push for her priorities in D.C.
Gillibrand was selected to serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls legislation related to spending and has a large hand in the federal budget.
FAMILY Act
“This role is an extraordinary opportunity to make sure federal dollars help improve American lives, supporting hardworking families and addressing our nation’s most important challenges,” she said in a press conference this week. “It also allows me to make sure New York is well represented in all negotiations.”
From that vantage point, Gillibrand is hoping to push forward her FAMILY Act, which would require 12 weeks of universal paid family leave for all U.S. workers, regardless of their employer or job title, and also expand the definition of what relations qualify for leave.
Gillibrand will also take a new role as the ranking member on the Senate Aging Committee, a position that puts her at the forefront of bipartisan negotiations on any bills related to older Americans, including Social Security, Medicare, and pensions.
AGE DISCRIMINATION
She will push to protect entitlements for older Americans and also on a measure to end age discrimination in workplace settings.
“Building on our successful effort to ban forced arbitration in cases of workplace sexual harassment and assault, I partnered with Senator Lindsey Graham on legislation that would do the same for age discrimination,” she said.
Under that bill, even employees or former employees who signed forced arbitration clauses with their employers can take those employers to court for allegations of age discrimination in the workplace.
Gillibrand is also pushing for a bill to provide long-term coverage to those experiencing illness as a result of the September 11, 2001 terror attack and the response, a decades-long push by her and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., that continues to require Congressional debate.
“In the coming weeks, I’ll be reintroducing the 9/11 responder and survivor health funding correction act with members of our bipartisan New York delegation, to provide permanent and mandatory funding for the World Trade Center Health Program,” she said. “By making funding for this program mandatory and permanent, we can let these responders and survivors know that health will always be available to them when they need it.”
CYBERSECURITY
Gillibrand will serve another term as a member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, where she will have influence over military spending and will receive classified intelligence information gathered by the U.S. government.
“I’m going to continue my work on cybersecurity, which has serious implications for our national security,” Gillibrand said.
In 2022, the Senator established the Cyber-Service Academy Scholarship program, which provides free education to students interested in pursuing information technology-related fields and committing to serving at least the start of their post-college career working with one of the U.S. Department of Defense cyber programs or intelligence agencies.
“My goal is to create a brick-and-mortar Cyber Academy that would help train the new generation of cyber professionals and help keep our democracy safe,” Gillibrand said.
She said she also wants to introduce legislation to address unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, operated by private entities or foreign countries that pose a threat to U.S. security as well.
Gillibrand will no longer serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee, but she said she will still keep the interests of farmers in mind while legislating. She also intends to introduce a bill to bar stock trading by members of Congress, a long-discussed bipartisan priority in Congress that has seen some renewed discussion in recent sessions.