Approximately 200 residents and public officials packed the VFW on Excelsior Avenue Jan. 29, to hear newly elected Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, outline her first 100 hours in Congress, as well as what is upcoming for the region.
It’s been an incredible first month in Washington, said Gillibrand, who defeated four-term Republican incumbent John Sweeney at the polls in November.
For the past month, Gillibrand said she has been focused on ethics reform, increasing security at airports, increasing minimum wage and working to improve education by cutting interest on student loans in half.
`I will be your voice. I will advocate for your issues,` Gillibrand told the assemblage in her first public visit to Saratoga Springs since election night. The meeting is designed to be the first in a series of monthly, town-hall style dialogues.
In her first month in Congress, Gillibrand was named to both the House Agricultural and the Armed Services committees. She said the war in Iraq and a comprehensive homeland security package are her top issues for the 20th District
`We need to be independent from Middle East oil in the next 10 years to be secure as a nation,` she said, citing America’s consumption of $800 million of foreign oil a day from the Middle East and other oil producing countries.
`There is grave concern that the president’s strategy of adding 20,000 troops is not in the best strategy,` Gillibrand said.
`There was no new direction at all, and my concern is the president is not focused on the right solutions. Many of us believe the solutions reside in the political and economic arena. We need a new direction in Iraq to be effective and Congressman (John) Murtha (D-Pa.) is working on something for us to vote on,` said Gillibrand, noting that the difficulty in putting such a plan together is not hurting the troops in the process.
One of those troops was in attendance. First Lt. Matt McLoughlin, a National Guardsman from Malta who spent a year in Iraq from 2004 to 2005, told Gillibrand that he is worried Congress might exacerbate the situation by passing a non-binding resolution against the troop surge.
`I can tell you if you want to make changes, please do not support this non-binding resolution,` he said.
Gillibrand thanked McLoughlin for his service but reiterated that she did not think the president’s plan was prudent, and that the troops were not being used to their best ability. `I don’t want you having to police the streets. That’s not the job you were trained to do,` she said. `But I respect your voice, and I will bring your voice with me.`
In the region, Gillibrand vowed to focus her attention on the district’s water issues and said she was in favor of Advanced Micro Devices coming to the area, which she said she thinks will be beneficial to the community.
As for local security, Gillibrand proposed tighter scrutiny on containers coming into the Port of Albany.
`That is something that matters to us here in this region,` she said. `We’ll check every container that comes into us for radioactive materials.`
Local officials touted Gillibrand’s openness and her commitment to the platform she ran on.
`It is a wonderful turnout and great for open government,` said city Mayor Valerie Keehn.
`All the issues she has been working on in the first 100 hours in Congress are the issues she ran on,` said Saratoga County Supervisor Joanne Yepsen.
`It’s been an incredible first month in Washington,` Gillibrand said before leaving. `I hope to do a good job for you every day.`
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