Career & Accomplishments | 1998 - 2004
Fighting for All New Yorkers in the Senate

In 1998, Chuck ran for the United States Senate and, after a hard fought primary and general campaign, defeated a three-term incumbent.  When the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan retired in 2000, Chuck became the state's senior Senator.  As a candidate for Senate in 1998, Chuck promised that if elected, he would visit each one of New York’s 62 counties within his first term. He kept that promise, and has since visited every county in New York State every year. 

As Senator, he has made improving New York’s economy his top priority, bringing low- cost air carriers like Jet Blue and Southwest to Upstate New York and the Hudson Valley, preserving vital markets and support programs for New York State agriculture, and supporting massive investments in New York highways, subways and infrastructure.  Chuck has also been a leader in:

• Making generic drugs more accessible, saving consumers $70 billion over ten years;
• Creating a college tuition tax deduction for middle class families;
• Passing new laws to protect our children from sex offenders;
• Keeping our veterans’ hospitals open and providing adequate care to our returning troops;
• Holding down property taxes by delivering vital federal aid for localities struggling under back-breaking Medicaid and education costs; and
• Increasing the efficiency requirements for SUVs and minivans.

In addition, Chuck has successfully fought budget cuts to New York hospitals; convinced President Clinton to bring down gas prices by releasing oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve; authored and passed the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act to help fight terrorism; and protected the environment by preventing the weakening of tough anti-pollution standards.

After the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Chuck worked tirelessly to help New York recover and rebuild, including delivering $20 billion in Federal aid to spark New York City’s revival.

Career & Accomplishments | 2004 - Present
Delivering Results as a Senate Leader

In 2004, Chuck was re-elected to office with an historic 71% of the vote, winning 61 of New York’s 62 counties after which he was awarded a seat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee which handles Social Security, healthcare and the U.S. tax code.

Chuck was also appointed Chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC).  Working with then-Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), he soon produced a stunning net gain of six seats in 2006, giving the Democrats a 51-49 seat majority. 

Following the success of this election, Majority Leader Reid appointed Chuck to the Democratic Leadership team by naming him Vice Chairman of the Democratic Conference.  In that role, Chuck has been a leader in protecting consumers, preserving integrity in our judicial process and defending the interests of middle-class families. 

Chuck’s colleagues also reappointed him to a rare second term as Chairman of the DSCC, tasking him with expanding their slim, one-vote majority.  Working with his colleagues, Chuck led the party to an additional gain of eight seats in the 2008 elections. Under Chuck’s leadership of the DSCC, Democratic membership in the Senate went from 45 to 59 seats, losing no incumbents in the process.

During 2007 and 2008, Chuck served as Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, which oversees America’s economic policies.  In that position, Chuck chaired the first hearings in Congress that investigated the root causes of the mortgage and financial crisis and its impact on American families and communities.  Chuck was also instrumental in securing much needed resources for foreclosure prevention and offered the first tough legislation to ban predatory subprime mortgage lending and hold unethical brokers responsible. 

Throughout his second term, Chuck has been instrumental in:

• Passing the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act to protect consumers from hazardous or harmful products in the wake of a year of nearly daily recalls of products ranging from toys to cribs to car tires;
• Creating a $2,500 college tuition tax credit for middle class families;
• Developing and passing an economic recovery package that sends tax rebates to all American filing a tax return, including senior citizens and disabled veterans;
• Protecting children from online sexual predators with the passage of his bill to help keep convicted sex offenders off popular social networking sites;
• Substantially increasing funding for state and local task forces dealing with internet crimes against children;
• Stopping the reckless outsourcing of security operations at American ports to foreign countries;
• Strengthening the national criminal background check system in response to the Virginia Tech tragedy;
• Raising the minimum wage; and
• Preserving the independence of U.S. Attorneys and removing politics from the courts by leading an investigation into the mass firings of U.S. Attorneys for political reasons.

Most recently, Chuck was appointed Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees campaign finance, voter registration and election law.  In addition, he currently serves as Vice Chair of the Joint Economic Committee; and sits on the Finance Committee; the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and the Judiciary Committee, where he is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration.