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        <title><![CDATA[Chuck Schumer - Senator:New York/Minority Leader]]></title>
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By Nancy Oganovich
     (Bloomberg Government) -- Democrat Chuck Schumer, who after
four decades in Congress became the first Senate majority leader
from New York, is responsible for guiding President Joe Biden’s
ambitious agenda through an equally divided Senate.
     Schumer promised aggressive action even though he’ll be
operating under a negotiated power sharing agreement between the
parties. Democrats clinched control of the chamber with the
election of two Georgia Democrats and the tie-breaking vote of
Vice President Kamala Harris.
     “We have to get big bold things done, both to deal with
Covid and to deal with the underlying crises in America, such as
climate, such as economic and racial inequality, such as making
our democracy more perfect,” Schumer said after becoming
majority leader.
     Schumer has been anxious to jump-start legislation that got
little traction during Donald Trump’s presidency. He was a
leading critic of Trump’s policies, from the early travel ban
that affected his Muslim constituents in Brooklyn to tax changes
that hit New York homeowners hard. He was critical of Trump’s
handling of the coronavirus, which early on cost thousands of
New Yorkers’ lives.
     At other times, Schumer sought unsuccessfully to make deals
with Trump, with their shared history in New York, from trying
to provide a path to citizenship for young undocumented
immigrants to trying to provide a large investment in
infrastructure.
     Schumer now sees better prospects for immigration and
infrastructure plans with Biden, whom he knew as a congressional
colleague.
     Schumer said Trump should be held accountable for inciting
the rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and defended the Senate’s
holding a second impeachment trial of Trump even after he left
office. Schumer recalled during the mob attack “within 45
minutes, a police officer in a big flak jacket and a big
automatic machine gun across his waist grabs me nicely by the
collar, and says “Senator, we got to get out of here, you’re in
danger.”
     But he also said it’s important to move on, arguing voters
will be less receptive to divisive attacks if they see results
by government.
     “The antidote is constructive strong action,” Schumer said.
     Over the years, Schumer has gained a reputation for
relishing media attention, with a saying on Capitol Hill that
“the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer
and a TV camera.”

               Committee and Legislative History


* During his early House service, Schumer served of the House
Judiciary Committee and was heavily involved in crime and
immigration issues. He was the chief sponsor of the 1993 Brady
Law, which required background checks before a person could buy
a gun. He also played a key role in a major anti-crime bill that
authorized 100,000 new police officers and banned assault
weapons. He joined Biden and other lawmakers in writing the 1994
act to prevent and prosecute violence against women.
* As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee he also was
chairman of the panel that oversaw immigration matters. He was a
member of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” that developed the
framework for comprehensive immigration legislation that the
Senate passed in 2013, but the House never took up.
* Schumer also served on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs Committee where he could look out for issues important
to his hometown industry. He sometimes was called the “senator
from Wall Street” due to his prodigious fundraising from the
financial services sector and his defense of the industry. He
was a major player in the bailout given the banking industry
amid the 2008 fiscal crisis. But he also broke with Wall Street
at times, voting for the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulation
act.
* Schumer was in line to be ranking member on the Banking
Committee in 2015 but passed up the chance to focus more on
leadership responsibilities. He left the panel when he succeeded
Democratic Leader Harry Reid. He also gave up a coveted slot on
the Finance Committee. He still is a member of the Intelligence
and Rules panels.
 


                    Politics and Personality


* Schumer is a staunch defender of Democratic views. His ratings
from interest groups tell the tale: Ninety percent-plus from
abortion rights groups, AFL-CIO, and League of Conservation
Voters; 4% from the Club for Growth; 5% from the American
Conservative Union; and grades of “F” from the National
Taxpayers Union and the National Rifle Association.
* Schumer pays close attention to issues that concern middle-
class voters, such as increasing the tax-deductibility threshold
for college tuition. In his 2007 book “Positively American:
Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time,” he
argued that his party’s only path to lasting dominance lay in
appealing to such voters.
* He even created a fictional middle-class couple from Long
Island, Joe and Eileen Bailey, earning about $70,000 annually
and raising two kids. He said he’d been using the Baileys in
vetting policy ideas and testing messages for 20 years, and
joked that his aides accused him of having imaginary friends.
* Schumer also is one of his party’s most energetic fundraisers
and raised large sums for the Senate Majority PAC. SMP raised
more than $344 million for the 2020 election – or more than
double what it raised in 2018 and nearly four times what it
raised in 2016.
 


                         Road to Office

     Schumer grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. His
father was an exterminator and his mother was a homemaker.
Schumer went to the same high school that produced Supreme Court
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
     Schumer graduated from Harvard and got his taste for
politics working on Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 antiwar presidential
bid. After also getting a law degree at Harvard, Schumer
rejected job offers from law firms and instead decided to run
for the New York State Assembly in 1974. He was 23.
     “I love politics,” Schumer said. “My parents wanted me to
go to this law firm. I hated it. And I ran for the assembly
against the Democratic machine. No one thought I’d win.”
     After six years in Albany, Schumer ran for the House seat
that opened up when Democrat Elizabeth Holtzman ran for the
Senate. He got 77% of the vote and ended up serving in the House
from 1981 to 1999. He never fell below 70% in any House
election.
     Schumer then moved to the Senate after mounting a challenge
to the formidable three-term Republican Alfonse D’Amato. Schumer
bested D’Amato by more than 10 percentage points. He’s been
overwhelmingly re-elected three times and in 2016 received 70%
of the vote.
     Schumer began working his way up the Senate leadership
ranks when he was named chair of the Democratic Senatorial
Campaign Committee in 2005. He was architect of the drive to win
control of the Senate in 2006 and then greatly expanded the
Democrats’ majority in 2008.
     Schumer was a member of Reid’s leadership team and when the
Nevadan announced his retirement in 2015 Schumer quickly said he
would run for the Democratic leader’s job. Within a short time,
Schumer secured Reid’s endorsement, as well as the backing of
his expected rival for the post, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the
party’s whip. He became minority leader in 2017.

                         Personal Note

     Schumer is married to Iris Weinshall, the chief operating
officer of the New York Public Library. Previously she was vice
chancellor at the City University of New York and commissioner
of the city’s Department of Transportation. They have two
daughters.
     Schumer still calls Brooklyn home but for more than three
decades roomed in a Capitol Hill row house with Durbin and
former California Representative George Miller when Congress was
in session. The three were known for their messiness. “It’s now
been more than 7,000 days that Chuck hasn’t made his bed,”
Miller told the Washington Post. They also were the inspiration
for an Amazon television series called “Alpha House.” Miller
retired at the end of the 113th Congress and sold the house.
     Updated Jan. 27, 2021
     To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Ognanovich in
Washington at nognanov@bgov.com
     To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bennett
Roth at broth@bgov.com

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            <title><![CDATA[Improving Visa Rules for Skilled Workers]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Norman Matloff'sÂ op-ed article,Â ``Stop Blaming Indian Companies for Visa Abuse,''Â claims that Â a Senate reformÂ bill scapegoats India for visa abus. ItÂ is important to clarify that the legislationÂ neither targets companies nor immigrants from India or any other countries in its reform of the H-1B visa system.]]></description>
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            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chuck Schumer]]></dc:creator>
            <pubDate>Wed, 28 Aug 2013 20:31:23 GMT</pubDate>
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