Chuck Schumer
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| Charles Schumer | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 6, 1999 Serving with Hillary Rodham Clinton |
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| Preceded by | Al D'Amato |
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| In office January 5, 1981 – January 3, 1999 |
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| Preceded by | Elizabeth Holtzman |
| Succeeded by | Anthony D. Weiner |
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| Born | November 23, 1950 Brooklyn, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Iris Weinshall |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Religion | Jewish |
Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer (born November 23, 1950) is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of New York, serving since 1999. A Democrat, in 2005, he became chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In November 2006, he was elected to the new post of Vice Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.[1] In this position, he is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the Senate, behind President pro tempore Robert Byrd, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin.
In January 2007, he published a book called Positively American about how Democrats could reclaim middle-class voters.[2]
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[edit] Personal life
Schumer was born in Brooklyn to a Jewish family. His parents were Selma Rosen and Abraham Schumer.[3] He attended public schools in Brooklyn, scoring a 1600 on the SAT, and graduated as the valedictorian from James Madison High School in 1967.[4] Schumer competed for Madison on the It's Academic television quiz show.[5]
He attended Harvard College, where he became interested in politics and campaigned for Eugene McCarthy in 1968. After completing his undergraduate degree, he continued to Harvard Law School, earning his Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1974. Schumer passed the New York State Bar Exam in early 1975 but never practiced law, entering politics instead.
Schumer and his wife, Iris Weinshall, were married September 21, 1980. The ceremony took place at Windows on the World at the top of the north tower of the World Trade Center.[6] Weinshall was the New York City Commissioner of Transportation.[7] The Schumers have two daughters, Jessica and Alison. They live in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
While Congress is in session, Senator Schumer lives in a rented house with fellow Democratic politicians George Miller, Dick Durbin, and Bill Delahunt.[8]
[edit] State Assemblyman and Congressman
The same year he graduated from Harvard Law, 1974, he ran for and was elected to the New York State Assembly, becoming at age 23 the youngest member of the New York legislature since Theodore Roosevelt. He served three terms, from 1975-1980.[9][10][11] He has never lost an election, and has never held a job outside of politics.
In 1980, 16th District Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat of Republican Jacob Javits. Schumer ran for Holtzman's vacated House seat and won.
He was reelected eight times from the Brooklyn and Queens-based district, which changed numbers twice in his tenure (it was numbered the 16th from 1981 to 1983, the 10th from 1983 to 1993 and the 9th from 1993). The 9th is one of the most Democratic districts in New York City, and Schumer never faced a serious or well-funded Republican opponent during this period.
[edit] United States Senator
In 1998, he won the Democratic Senate primary with 51% of the votes against Geraldine Ferraro (21%) and Mark Green (19%). He then received 55% of the vote in the general election[12], defeating three-term incumbent Republican Al D'Amato (44%).
In 2004, Schumer handily won re-election against Republican Assemblyman Howard Mills of Middletown and Conservative Marilyn O'Grady. Many New York Republicans were dismayed by the selection of Mills over the conservative Michael Benjamin, who held significant advantages over Mills in both fundraising and organization.[13] Benjamin publicly accused GOP Chairman Sandy Treadwell and Governor George Pataki of trying to muscle him out of the senate race and undermine the democratic process.[13] Schumer defeated Mills, the second-place finisher, by 2.8 million votes and won reelection with 71% of the vote, the most lopsided margin ever for a statewide election in New York.[14] Schumer won every county in the state except one, Hamilton County in the Adirondacks, the least populated and most Republican county in the state.[14] Mills conceded defeat minutes after the polls closed, before returns had come in.[14]
His approval rating as of 11-20-2007 is 57%, with 37% disapproving.[15]
[edit] Committee Assignments
Sen. Schumer currently serves on the following Senate Committees in the 110th United States Congress:
- Committee on Finance
- Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Committee on Rules and Administration
- Joint Committee on the Library
- Joint Economic Committee (Chairman)
[edit] Legislative record
While serving in the House of Representatives, Schumer authored the Assault Weapons Ban in 1994 with California Senator Dianne Feinstein, which expired in 2004. The National Rifle Association and other gun groups (see gun politics) have criticized him for allegedly not knowing much about guns, pointing to various errors regarding the subject. Supporters of gun control legislation, however, give him much of the credit for passage of both the Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act despite intense lobbying from opponents. The AWB, which restricted certain cosmetic features on semi-automatic rifles, expired in September, 2004 despite attempts by Schumer to extend it. He was one of 16 Senators to vote against the Vitter Amendment, which prohibited funding for the confiscation of legally owned firearms during a disaster.
Schumer is strongly pro-choice, and has been give a 100% rating by NARAL.[16] He voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.[17]
Schumer has recently been criticized by video game players for siding with Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-Connecticut), promoting regulation of video games. He is known to attack Eidos Interactive for the game 25 to Life, urging Sony Computer Entertainment and Microsoft to end their license agreements with Eidos Interactive.
Schumer has also focused on banking and consumer issues, counter-terrorism, and debate over confirmation of federal judges, as well as economic development in New York.
Schumer received a "B" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.[18]
Schumer voted to recommend Judge Mukasey for confirmation, despite the Judge's assertion that the president is not bound by laws and the Judge's unwillingness to assert the illegality of an iconic form of torture (waterboarding). Schumer, along with Sen. Feinstein, allowed the confirmation to move on to the full Senate.
[edit] Foreign policy
Schumer was and remains a supporter of the Iraq War Resolution, AIPAC member, and a strident Pro-Israel member of Congress although he has since become very critical of President George W. Bush's strategy in the Iraq War suggesting that a commission of ex-generals be appointed to review it.[19] Nat Hentoff of the Village Voice has criticized Schumer for being too indifferent on the issue of torture.[20]
In 2006, Schumer led a bipartisan effort, with the help of Republicans like Congressman Peter T. King (NY), to stop a deal approved by the Bush administration to transfer control of six United States ports to a corporation owned by the government of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai Ports World. (See Dubai Ports World controversy.) The 9/11 Commission reported that despite recent alliances with the U.S., the UAE had strong ties to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks on World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The measure in the House was H.R 4807, and in the Senate, S. 2333; these were introduced to require a 45 day review of this transfer of ownership. On March 9, 2006, Dubai Ports World withdrew its application to operate the ports.
[edit] Political style
Schumer's propensity for publicity is the subject of a running joke amongst many commentators, leading Bob Dole to quip that "the most dangerous place in Washington is between Charles Schumer and a television camera." Schumer frequently schedules media appearances on Sundays, a slow day for news, in the hope of getting television coverage, typically on subjects other than legislative matters. His use of media has been cited by some as a successful way to raise a politician's profile nationally and amongst his constituents.[21]
[edit] Clinton Impeachment
Schumer has the distinction of voting "no" on the impeachment charges of President Bill Clinton in both houses of Congress. Schumer was a member of the House of Representatives (and Judiciary Committee member) during a December 1998 lame-duck session of Congress, voting "no" on all counts in Committee and on the floor of the House. In January 1999, Schumer, as a newly elected member of the Senate, also voted "no" on the two impeachment charges.
[edit] U.S. Attorney controversy
- See also: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
| Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy |
As chair of the Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts , Schumer has taken a lead role in the investigation of the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy.[22][23] Although he was at one point criticized for being a lead investigator of the affair while also chairing the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, such criticism was not sustained after the full dimensions of the controversy became apparent.[24][25]
On March 11, 2007; Schumer became the first lawmaker in either chamber to call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign for the firing of eight United States Attorneys. In an interview on CBS News' Face the Nation, Schumer said that Gonzales "doesn't accept or doesn't understand that he is no longer just the president's lawyer."[26] When Gonzales' chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, resigned on March 13, Schumer said during a press conference that Gonzales was "carrying out the political wishes of the president" and declared that Sampson would "not be the next Scooter Libby," meaning that he did not accept that Sampson had sole responsibility for the attorney's controversy.[27]
Schumer, like other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee from both parties, was angered when during testimony on April 19, 2007; Gonzales answered many times that he didn't know or couldn't recall details about the controversy. When Schumer's turn came to ask his last round of questions, he instead repeated his call for Gonzales to resign, saying that there was no point to further questioning since he had stated "over a hundred times" that he didn't know or couldn't recall important details concerning the firings (most press reports counted 71 instances) and didn't seem to know about the inner workings of his own department. Gonzales responded that the onus was on the committee to prove whether anything improper occurred. Schumer replied that Gonzales faced a higher standard, and that under this standard he had to give "a full, complete and convincing explanation" for why the eight attorneys were fired.[28]
[edit] Mukasey nomination
Gonzales resigned on September 17, and Schumer personally introduced Bush's choice to replace Gonzales, former federal judge Michael Mukasey.
Despite appearing troubled by Mukasey's refusal to declare in public that waterboarding was illegal torture, Schumer announced on November 2 that he would vote to confirm Mukasey.[29] Schumer said that Mukasey assured him in a private meeting that he would enforce any law declaring waterboarding illegal. Schumer also said that Mukasey told him Bush would have "no legal authority" to ignore such a law.[30]
[edit] Government bailout of subprime mortgages
- See also: United States housing bubble
Following the meltdown of the subprime mortgage industry in March 2007, Schumer proposed a federal government bailout of subprime borrowers in order to save homeowners from losing their residences.[31] Others are quick to point out that such a "bailout" would primarily benefit lenders and Wall Street bankers, who make large campaign contributions to congressmen;[32] Schumer's top nine campaign contributors are all financial institutions who have contributed over $2.5 million to the senator.[33]
Schumer also proposed that the OFHEO raise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's conforming loan ("affordable") limits from $417,000 to $625,000, thereby allowing these GSEs to back mortgages on homes prices up to $780,000 with a 20% down payment.[34]
[edit] Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Schumer is currently the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, part of the Democratic Senate Leadership, with primary responsibility for raising funds and recruiting candidates for the Democrats in the 2006 Senate election. When he took this post, he announced that he would not run for Governor of New York in 2006, as many had speculated he would. This step avoided a potentially divisive gubernatorial primary election in 2006 between Schumer and Eliot Spitzer, then New York's attorney general.
Schumer's tenure as DSCC chair has been successful so far; in the 2006 elections, the Democratic Party gained six seats in the Senate, defeating incumbents in each of those races and regaining control of the Senate for the first time since 2002. Of the closely contested races in the Senate in 2006, the Democrats lost only one, in Tennessee. Senate Majority Leader-to-be Harry Reid persuaded Schumer to serve another term as DSCC chair.
In September 2005, two staff employees of the DSCC illegally obtained a copy of the credit report of the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, Michael S. Steele, a Republican senatorial candidate, posing as him and using his social security number. Upon learning this, the committee's executive director notified the U.S. attorney's office, and suspended the involved staffers. They are currently under investigation by the FBI. Schumer has not been implicated in the incident, and a spokesperson for the DSCC has said, "Chuck's only involvement was to report this matter to the authorities immediately after first learning about it."[35]
[edit] Electoral history
1998 New York Democratic United States Senatorial Primary Election
| Chuck Schumer 51% |
| Geraldine Ferraro 21% |
| Mark J. Green 19% |
1998 New York United States Senatorial Election
| Chuck Schumer (D) 55% |
| Al D'Amato (R) (inc.) 44% |
2004 New York United States Senatorial Election
| Chuck Schumer (D) (inc.) 70.6% |
| Howard Mills III (Republican) 24.6% |
| Marilyn F. O'Grady (Conservative) 3.4% |
| David McReynolds (Green) 0.5% |
| Donald Silberger (Lib.) 0.3% |
| Abraham Hirschfeld (Builders Party) 0.2% |
| Martin Koppel (Socialist Workers) 0.2% |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ HillNews.com[dead link]
- ^ PositivelyAmericanBook.com
- ^ schumer
- ^ Blaine Harden, Washington Post, Battle of the Mean Machines: Can Schumer Beat D'Amato at His Own Game?, October 5, 1998. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
- ^ Sam Roberts, The New York Times, For Schumer, a Chance to Relive a 1960s Quiz Show, March 5, 2007. Retrieved March 6, 2007.
- ^ Photo from Senate bio. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
- ^ Biography of Commissioner Weinshall at the Internet Archive
- ^ New York Times — Taking Power, Sharing Cereal, January 18, 2007
- ^ Chuck Schumer. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
- ^ Schumer, Charles Ellis (Chuck). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
- ^ About Chuck: Timeline. Senator Chuck Schumer. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
- ^ Federal Elections 98: U.S. Senate Results by State
- ^ a b Senate hopeful claims GOP bosses snubbed him. Albany Times-Union, February 25, 2004.
- ^ a b c Major Parties to Anoint their Senate Combatants. Humbert, Mark. Associated Press, May 15, 2004.
- ^ Survey USA
- ^ Chuck Schumer NARAL
- ^ U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 108th Congress - 1st Session
- ^ drummajorinstitute.com
- ^ Let ex-generals rate war, W told at the Internet Archive
- ^ Nat Hentoff, the Village Voice, What the Democrats Must Do, November 26, 2006. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
- ^ Schumer routs Senate foes, news.neilrogers.com, The Hardest Job In New York Goes To...
- ^ Brune, Tom. "Schumer again takes aim on White House", Newsday, 2007-03-31. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.[dead link]
- ^ "MTP Transcript for Mar. 18, 2007", MSNBC.com, 2007-03-18. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ "Transcript: Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter on 'FNS'", Fox News, 2007-03-19. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ "Transcript: Newt Gingrich, Senator Charles Schumer on 'FNS'", Fox News, 2007-04--08. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ March 11: Schumer calls on Gonzales to resign - The Talk
- ^ YouTube - Schumer Calls For Gonzales' Resignation
- ^ YouTube - Schumer 4
- ^ Bush attorney general nominee gets key Democratic support - CNN.com
- ^ A Vote for Justice - New York Times
- ^ Poirier, John. "Top five US subprime lenders asked to testify-Dodd", Reuters, 2007-03-19. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
- ^ "Mortgage tightrope: Congress faces a delicate balancing act: helping homeowners without bailing out irresponsible borrowers.", Los Angeles Times, 6 September 2007.
- ^ Charles E. Schumer: Campaign Finance/Money - Contributions - 1989-2006
- ^ Latest News
- ^ They're not a credit to Schumer at the Internet Archive
[edit] External links
- United States Senator Charles E. Schumer official Senate site
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- New York Times — Charles E. Schumer News collected news and commentary
- Senator Chuck Schumer interview from NPR, Fresh Air from WHYY, January 30, 2007
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