Kirsten Gillibrand was sworn in as New York’s Junior Senator on January 27th, 2009, replacing current Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Prior to her appointment to the U.S. Senate, Gillibrand served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing New York’s 20th Congressional District, which spans across ten counties in Upstate New York.

Throughout her time in Congress, Senator Gillibrand has made job creation a top priority. From traditional infrastructure investment to health information technologies and renewable energy production, Senator Gillibrand has fought to create jobs now and ensure a growing economy for future generations.

Senator Gillibrand has always fought hard to cut taxes for the middle class by doubling the childcare tax credit and increasing the college tuition deduction to $10,000 per family. She has also fought hard for property tax relief by sponsoring legislation that would give all New York residents a federal tax deduction for their property taxes.

Senator Gillibrand is a voice for the people of New York because she fights for their priorities and listens to their concerns. Some of Gillibrand’s best legislative ideas come directly from her constituents at town hall meetings held in grocery stores, book stores and coffee shops. Because she believes that citizens must have access to their government, Senator Gillibrand has shown a steadfast commitment to open-government – becoming one of the first members of Congress ever to post her schedule online and among the first to post her earmark requests and financial disclosures online.

Honoring veterans in her district in upstate New York and across the country has been a hallmark of Senator Gillibrand’s time in Congress. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, she authored legislation to help veterans receive the benefits they earned and fought for the greatest investment in veteran’s benefits since World War II. From her post on the committee, Gillibrand was also a leading sponsor of legislation to strengthen our nation’s security and emergency preparedness.

Gillibrand also served on the House Agriculture Committee where she was a leading advocate for New York’s farmers, promoting open-space conservation programs, supporting deployment of alternative energy systems in rural areas, and promoting New York products to be sold in new markets.

In the Senate, Gillibrand serves on the Environment & Public Works Committee; Foreign Relations Committee; Agriculture Committee; and Special Committee on Aging. On the Environment & Public Works Committee, Gillibrand serves of the Subcommittees on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health; Oversight; and Green Jobs and the New Economy. On the Foreign Relations Committee, Gillibrand serves on the Subcommittees on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotic Affairs; International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues; International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection; and East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Prior to serving in the Congress, Senator Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo during the administration of President Clinton. At HUD Gillibrand played a key role in furthering HUD's Labor Initiative and New Markets initiative, working to strengthen enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act and drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure to revitalize lower income areas across the nation. Following federal service, Congresswoman Gillibrand re-entered the private sector, joining one of the country's premiere law firm’s branch in New York City and later in Albany.

After attending Albany's Academy of Holy Names, she graduated in 1984 from Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, the first all women's high school in the United States.

A magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College in 1988, Gillibrand went on to receive her law degree from the UCLA School of Law in 1991 and served as a law clerk on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

She lives in Greenport, New York with her husband, Jonathan Gillibrand, and their sons, Theodore, who is 5 years old and Henry who was born in May of 2008. Senator Gillibrand is the sixth woman to have given birth to a child while serving as a Member of Congress.