Gillibrand

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will be the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the President_s Council of Cornell Women, Friday, March 2, at 5:45 p.m. in Statler Auditorium. Open to the Cornell community, the talk is free but preregistration by emailing cornell@gillibrand.senate.gov is required. Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. All names will be checked at the door; organizers recommend those planning to attend arrive early.

Gillibrand was sworn in as senator from New York in January 2009, filling the seat of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In November 2010, Gillibrand won election to the seat with 63 percent of the vote. Prior to her service in the Senate, Gillibrand served in the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 20th Congressional District, which spans across 10 counties in upstate New York. Born and raised in upstate New York, Gillibrand lives in Brunswick with her husband and their two young sons.

Throughout her time in Congress, Sen. Gillibrand has been committed to open and honest government. When she was first elected, she pledged to bring unprecedented transparency and access to her office. She became the first member of Congress to post her official public schedule, personal financial disclosure and federal earmark requests online.

In the U.S. Senate, Gillibrand helped lead the fight to repeal the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy banning gays from serving openly in the military. She provided health care and compensation to 9/11 first responders and survivors who are sick with diseases caused by toxins at Ground Zero. Sen. Gillibrand worked to bring Democrats and Republicans together to win both legislative victories, leading Newsweek and The Daily Beast to name her one of 150 women who shake the world.