Charles Schumer

Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer, a Democrat, has represented the state of New York in the Senate since 1999.

Iraq War
Schumer voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq in Oct. 2002.

Views on Iraq hiring
In September 2006, Schumer joined Sen. Dick Durbin and other Senate Democrats in calling for a probe into hiring practices for the reconstruction of Iraq. The group alleged rampant Republican cronyism was leading to reconstruction workers too inexperienced to do their jobs properly. 

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Former Staffers
A small controversy erupted in September 2005, when two staff employees of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) illegally obtained a copy of the credit report of the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, Michael 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. The staffers resigned shortly after their suspension and 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." 

A March 8, 2006 letter indicated that federal prosecutors would bring charges against Lauren Weiner, the researcher who illegally obtained Steele's credit report. Weiner was charged "with accessing a computer without authorization and thereby obtaining information contained in a file from a consumer reporting agency on a consumer." On March 24, 2006 Weiner reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that would allow the misdemeanor charge to be waived after she completes 150 hours of community service.

Calls for A.G. Gonzales to step down
In March 2007, Sen. Schumer called for the resignation of Attorney General Gonzales. Among his reasons that he cited were lack a respect for the "the rule of law and the Constitution", specifically, the Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy, and the recent scandals surrounding "FBI's illegal snooping into people's private lives".

Anti-Gun Trafficking Penalties Enhancement Act of 2007
The Anti-Gun Trafficking Penalties Enhancement Act of 2007 (S.77) is a gun control measure introduced in the Senate by Sen. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on January 4, 2007. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Approval of Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey
After the retirement of the unpopular Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the White House scrambled to find a "confirmable" nominee. After Democrats in the Senate, including Schumer and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) disapproved of former Solicitor General Ted Olson as a possibility, the White House appeared to be preparing to nominate former federal judge Michael Mukasey, who had been nominated to the bench by Ronald Reagan.

A Republican official commented, "the White House seems like they don't want a confirmation fight. They think this guy is bulletproof from the left."

Senator Schumer appeared to approve of the choice, telling the White House that Mukasey was acceptable, and that he was "a lot better than some of the other names mentioned."

Push for bill to lift caps on GSEs
On October 11, 2007, Schumer took a second attempt to introduce legislation to temporarily lift the portfolio caps on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He said that the repeatedly rejected measure would allow the mortgage giants to help borrowers trapped in mortgages they can’t afford. This bill would lift the caps for only six months with 85 percent of the increase required to fund refinancing of sub-prime borrowers. “The interest rates on 2 million home loans are due to increase radically, but the president won’t adjust his radical ideology,” Schumer said in a statement. “That doesn’t have to be the last word now that Democrats in Congress are coming together to take steps the administration won’t.”

Background
Schumer was born November 23, 1950 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, where he still lives today. He attended public schools in Brooklyn, scoring a 1600 on the SAT, and graduating as the valedictorian from James Madison High School in 1967.

He continued his education at Harvard College, where he became interested in politics and campaigned for Eugene McCarthy in 1968. After graduating he went to Harvard Law School and graduated in 1974.

Schumer passed the New York State Bar Exam in early 1975, but never practiced law. Instead he would enter elective politics.

Soon after graduating from Harvard Law, 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. In the decades since, he has never lost an election, and has never held any job outside of elected office.

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. 

Senate Career
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 seat and won.

He was reelected eight times from the Brooklyn and Queens-based district, which changed numbers three times in his tenure (it was numbered the 16th from 1981-1983, the 10th from 1983-1993 and the 9th from 1993).

In 1998, he won the Democratic Senate primary against Mark Green and Geraldine Ferraro. He then defeated three-term incumbent Republican Al D'Amato, who had defeated Holtzman in 1980. In 2004, Schumer handily won re-election against Republican Assemblyman Howard Mills of Middletown and Conservative Marilyn O'Grady. Schumer outpolled 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. Schumer won every county in the state except one, Hamilton County in the Adirondacks, the least populated and most Republican county in the state.

He and his wife, Iris Weinshall, have two daughters. Weinshall is the New York City Commissioner of Transportation.

Positions and Views
While serving in the House of Representatives, Schumer coauthored the federal 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 law and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act Federal Firearms License Reform Act of 1993 despite intense lobbying from opponents. The assault weapons law expired in September, 2004 despite attempts by Senator Schumer to extend it.

In addition to gun restriction, Schumer has focused on banking and consumer issues, counter-terrorism, and debate over confirmation of federal judges, as well as economic development in New York.

On foreign policy, Schumer was and remains a supporter of the Iraq War Resolution, although he has since become a critic of President Bush's strategy in the Iraq War suggesting that a commission of ex-generals be appointed to review it. 

In May 2006, after the Canadian National Post published a false story alleging that the Iranian government had passed a law requiring Iranian Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians to wear badges identifying themselves, Schumer issued a news release calling the Iranian regime “lunatic” and “pernicious”. 

DSCC
Between 2005 and 2008, Schumer was the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Part of the Democratic Senate Leadership, the DSCC chairman has primary responsibility for raising funds and recruiting candidates for the Democrats in the Senate elections. 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.

Schumer brought his prolific fundraising talents to the DSCC and produced record numbers for Democrats. Before he came to head the DSCC the committee was in debt. He quickly erased the debt and at the beginning of 2006 had $22 million in the bank compared with $9 million for the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The 2006 Senate elections were highly successful for Democrats, as they regained a majority in the body. Schumer was rewarded for his fundraising and recruitment successes by being named to a newly created leadership position within the Democratic caucus. As vice-chairman of the caucus, he became the No. 3 Democrat in the body. As a condition of this appointment, Schumer agreed to stay on as chairman of the DSCC through the 2008 elections. 

Schumer's success at the helm of the DSCC continued in 2008, when the Democrats picked up an additional 7 seats. Up for re-election in New York in 2010, Schumer resigned his position as DSCC chairman on November 25, 2008. At the time of his resignation, and additional two Senate seats remained undecided:
 * A recount was underway in the Minnesota race between Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and Democratic nominee Al Franken.
 * A runoff was mandatory in Georgia when none of the candidates received a majority (50.1 percent) of votes. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) and challenger Jim Martin (D) will be on the Dec. 2 ballot.

Schumer will retain his position as vice-chair of the Democratic Caucus in the Senate, a role that was created for him in 2006. His successor at the DSCC will be New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez.

Dubai Ports World Deal
In February of 2006 newspapers reported that Dubai Ports World, a global ports company owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was poised to take over the operations of at least 6 major U.S. ports after their purchase of the British-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. The UAE is known to have been a point of departure for both the September 11th terrorists and the nuclear weapons technologies illegally sold by Pakistan's atomic inventor Abdul Qadeer Khan. The UAE was also one of only three countries that had recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan from their seizure of power in the 1990s up to their overthrow in the wake of the 9/11|September 11th terror attacks. Schumer led the public outcry against the UAE taking control of U.S. port operations. He initially stated, "America's busiest ports are vital to our economy and to the international economy, and that is why they remain top terrorist targets. Just as we would not outsource military operations or law enforcement duties, we should be very careful before we outsource such sensitive homeland security duties."

Schumer was eventually joined by members of both parties, including conservative stalwarts Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), in opposition to the DP World deal, which was being touted and aggressively pushed by the Bush Administration. On February 22, 2006 Schumer and King collaberated in an op-ed in USA Today titled "Where's Common Sense?" They wrote, "In a post-9/11 world, common sense would dictate that the proposed Dubai Ports World deal would trigger intense scrutiny on the part of our government. Yet common sense clearly did not prevail."

A small controversy erupted over the DP World deal when Schumer attempted to attach an amendment to proposed lobbying and ethics reform legislation that would have blocked any country that recognized the Taliban government from operating business within the United States. The reform bills were quickly pulled from the floor and temporarily shelved until Schumer removed his amendments. On March 9th DP World withdrew their stakes in the U.S. ports ending the controversy.

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * Joint Economic Committee - Chairman
 * Senate Committee on Finance
 * Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
 * Senate Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts
 * Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights
 * Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
 * Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees
 * Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security
 * Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
 * Subcommittee on Financial Institutions
 * Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development - Chairman

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * Joint Committee on the Library of Congress
 * Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Economic Policy - Ranking Minority Member
 * Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation
 * Subcommittee on Securities and Investment
 * Senate Committee on Finance
 * Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
 * Subcommittee on International Trade
 * Senate Committee on the Judiciary
 * Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts - Ranking Minority Member
 * Subcommittee on Antitrust Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
 * Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
 * Subcommittee on Immigration Border Security and Citizenship
 * Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * Chair, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
 * United States House Democratic At-Large Whip

Boards and other Affiliations

 * New York State Bar Association.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Simply Left Behind

External resources

 * Official website
 * Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
 * Technorati Search: Chuck Schumer
 * Google News Search: Chuck Schumer
 * Yahoo! News Search: Chuck Schumer
 * Power Trips: How much did Chuck Schumer travel?
 * GovTrack Statistics: Chuck Schumer
 * Interview with Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, November 3, 2004. (Other Daily Show interviews with members of Congress.)
 * Interview with Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, September 29, 2005. (Other Daily Show interviews with members of Congress.)
 * See how you compare to Chuck Schumer

Articles about Chuck Schumer

 * Brian Faler, "Schumer to Stay Put," Washington Post, November 16, 2004.
 * John J. Miller, "The Inquisitor," The National Review (FindArticles.com), August 8, 2005.
 * Mark Leibovich, "The Senator has the Floor," Washington Post, August 15, 2005.
 * Michael McAuliff, "Chuck the Mighty," New York Daily News, January 3, 2006.
 * John Riley, "More are questioning ports deal," Newsday, February 17, 2006.
 * Ryan Lizza, "The Bush-Cheney Era Ends Here If Schumer Can Achieve a Democratic Senate," New York Magazine, April 10, 2006.
 * Alan Singer, "Just as Hawkish as Hillary, But Nastier. Another Encounter with Chuck Schumer," CounterPunch, July 3, 2006.
 * Richard Cohen, "Senate Democrats want probe of US hiring in Iraq," Reuters, September 19, 2006.
 * Politiko, "Mr. Schumer's Issue 'o the Week," Room Eight, December 4, 2006.
 * "Shortchanging of returning troops goes beyond Walter Reed, says Schumer," MidHudsonNews.com, March 7, 2007. re Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal
 * "Sen. Schumer says Gonzales should go," Associated Press (CNN), March 12, 2007.
 * Paul Kiel, "Schumer: Gonzales Staffer 'Will Not Become The Next Scooter Libby'," TPMmuckraker, March 13, 2007. re Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy and Kyle Sampson

Steele Credit Report Theft

 * S.A. Miller and Amy Fagan, "Theft of Steele Report Probed," Washington Times, September 9, 2005.
 * John Wagner, "Researcher will Face Charges in Steele Case," Washington Post, March 16, 2006.
 * Jennifer Skalka, "Steele Weighs Suing over Effort to get his Credit Report," The Baltimore Sun, March 23, 2006.
 * John Wagner, "Democrat Pleads Guilty in Steele Case," Washington Post, March 25, 2006.

Articles by Chuck Schumer

 * With Peter King, "Where's common sense?" USA Today, February 22, 2006.