Kirsten Gillibrand Quotes

By running, you're making that commitment that says, 'I'm dedicating myself to public service.' Win or lose, you're making that statement, and you actually are taking a step in that direction.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I was new at my job, and I needed to address my inexperience and weaknesses head-on.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Empowering women in the workforce is a key to growing the economy and having a thriving middle class.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Put a lawn sign on your lawn; go door to door for your candidate. Register people to vote. There's so much we can do through our voices and time. That's what flips elections.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

If one of my colleagues wants to block a bill, they should stand up in front of the American people and explain why.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

If everyone in America can easily see who and what their lawmakers are requesting taxpayer money for, we can keep elected officials honest, end the days of political, special interest favors, and reduce wasteful spending.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Nurses are on the front lines of our care. And they need to be at the foundation of health care reform. Let's get health care done - and done right - by ensuring the amount of nurses we need to provide quality care for all.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Use your voice on the local level where it has the potential to be more widely heard.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I believe transparency in government is key to restoring our nation's faith in its elected leaders.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

The men and women who lived through and came to our rescue on 9/11 were not Democrats or Republicans or Independents. They were Americans first and foremost, and so were the people they saved.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Health care should be a right; it should never be a privilege. We should have Medicare for all in this country.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

One of the primary reasons I first ran for Congress was to be a voice for our troops, veterans and military families.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I love celebrating Mother's Day. Since I was a kid, it was a special day to tell my mother and grandmother how much I love them. Now that I'm a mom, it is a special day to spend with my children.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

When mothers earn their fair share, young children have greater access to quality health care, educational opportunities, and safe communities. By ending the wage gap, we will help ensure that every child can achieve his or her God-given potential.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I went to the Women's Campaign School at Yale; I went to Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Training, women's campaign fund training. I got to know the district really well by talking to the county chair, getting to know politics, working on some local races.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Communities in every corner of America struggle to fill nursing vacancies to provide care for everyone who needs it.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

It's time to focus on real solutions that will create jobs and build our economy for real strength and stability - not just for the fortunate few, but for every American.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Sexism is alive and well in politics, as it is in all industries.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

We can work with anybody. I mean, we passed the 9/11 health bill with Tom Cotton. Most people would assume I wouldn't be able to work with Tom Cotton and Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

We must do everything we can to help our service members and veterans transition into civilian life once they return home, and that means preparing them for the tough job market.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

For many of the brave men and women who have fought on the front lines, returning home means trying to navigate a complicated and bureaucratic Veterans Administration benefits system.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

If we expect our children to thrive at our colleges and universities, and succeed in our economy once they graduate - first we must make quality, affordable early childhood education accessible to all.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

The brave men and women who have served - and those who continue to serve - our armed forces have selflessly sacrificed for our nation, and we owe it to them to provide the best services and protections available when they're overseas and after they return home.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

When they return home from serving our country, our National Guard and Reserve members shouldn't have to be confronted with red tape in order to access the benefits they've earned fighting for our country.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

America is the only high income nation without a paid family leave program. This means that if you or a family member gets sick, there is no guarantee that you can take the time you need to take care of yourself or your loved one, leaving already vulnerable families in the position of making hard decisions in cases of illness.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Hardworking men and women deserve not only job security, but also a paycheck when they need to take time off to care for a loved one.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Obesity puts our children at risk of developing serious diseases - such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression. It keeps our children from performing their best at school.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I'm fighting to make childcare more affordable for working parents so they can continue working and advancing their careers, closing wage gaps that for too long have held women back from the fair economic opportunities they need.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

When we do our legislation, we're not trying to figure out, 'How can I use this to run against you?' We say, 'How can we pass this bill to help both of our constituents?'

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I didn't know how to pass a major piece of legislation; I didn't know how to get colleagues to support my views. It took a lot of asking for advice and learning. One of the lessons is that you have to be able to tell people why you care, and you're only going to be able to do that if you talk to someone whom an issue is affecting.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

For me, getting off the sidelines means women making a difference by letting their voices be heard on the issues they care about.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

When I was first elected to the House in 2006, it was important to me to send a clear message to the people of NY-20: I wanted to be a representative for the people and shed some light on their government, so I became the first member of Congress to post my schedule, my financial disclosures and my earmark requests all online.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I find that when you open the door toward openness and transparency, a lot of people will follow you through.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

As Congress focuses on comprehensive health care reform, one thing needs to be clear: We cannot fix health care if we do not address America's nursing shortage.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

The American people deserve to know that their elected leaders play by the exact same rules that they play by and that their lawmakers' only interest is what's best for the country, not their own financial gain.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

The attack on the transgender troops - disgusting, disgraceful, outrageous. It's just endless. And then you try to do your day job of finding good bipartisan work across the aisle... You're doing both all the time. I guess I would describe it as intense. Everything is very intense.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

In addition to being an economic security issue, the failure to pay women a salary that's equal to men for equal work is also a women's health issue. The fact is that the salary women are paid directly impacts the type of health care services they are able to access for both themselves and their families.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Just telling women: If you don't speak up, things aren't gonna change. If you don't become an advocate, it's not gonna change. If you don't vote, it's not gonna change. If you don't run, it's not gonna change.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I look at each nominee. If they suck, I vote against them. If they're worthy, I vote for them.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Discriminatory wage practices undermine women's ability to provide for their families and survive on a decent retirement income.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

The silver lining of the Trump presidency is it is an era of activism, and one where women really want to be heard.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I was a tennis player in high school and college.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

While we can never truly repay the debt we owe our heroes, the least we should do for our brave veterans is to ensure that the government takes a proactive approach to delivering the services and benefits they have earned, so they can access the care they need and so richly deserve.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

While we can't begin to repay the debt we owe our veterans for their brave service, we can certainly take steps to ease the physical, psychological and financial hardships they may be experiencing.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

A strong and dedicated mentor can help a young woman get her foot in the door, get a promotion and get a raise.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

A strong mentor can help a young woman find and advance in the career of her dreams that otherwise may have seemed impossible.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

For American families, Universal pre-K is an essential piece of the puzzle that not only allows their kids to get a good start, but it also allows mothers to remain on the job earning a paycheck and helping our economy grow.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

A lot of members of Congress are isolated. They tend to be affluent. They tend to have a lot of people doing things for them. So sometimes they don't understand what their constituents are feeling.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Instead of marginalizing women, Congress must get to work on policies that can foster job creation and fuel economic growth.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

The horrific damage of 9/11 did not end when those buildings came down.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I can't tell you how many 30-year-old dudes believe they should be senator or president. Women, we're like, 'Well, maybe after ten years of working...' No. Just run for the office you want to run for and run on the issue you want to fix.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

As we all know, there is no harder or more rewarding job than being a mom.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Like all Americans, I will never forget where I was the morning of the 9/11 attacks.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

The press pool was taking bets on how many months I would last. There was nobody in the state who thought I had any shot at being a good senator.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

There is no greater call to service than that of our brave men and women who serve our country in combat across the globe.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I think the wall is stupid; it's a waste of the taxpayer's money. We need the money for job growth, infrastructure, 100 other things... it sends a bad message.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

We'd certainly have paid leave already by now, we'd have equal pay, we'd have a living minimum wage - a lot of things would change having that diversity of opinion in Washington. We certainly wouldn't be debating whether women should have access to birth control.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Along with a livable wage, many parents are desperate for quality affordable child care.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

The government can take smart steps to give all kids the healthy start they need to reach their full potential.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I'm grateful that President Trump is willing to talk about paid leave, but his policy, unfortunately, is woefully inadequate.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

My hope is that in the future, women stop referring to themselves as 'the only woman' in their physics lab or 'only one of two' in their computer science jobs.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I really love my job, and I feel like I can make a huge difference for New Yorkers, fighting for them.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

When we create hope and opportunity in the lives of others, we allow love, decency and promise to triumph over cowardice and hate.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

It's a heavy feeling being in Washington. There are so many important issues at risk. You're in a fighting stance every day.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I've never lived through a moment in history where people are using their voices and becoming strong advocates for what they believe in.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

When women earn more, families are stronger, and children have better access to quality health care and education.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

If we're going to be able to provide access to quality, affordable health care to every American - we need to have the trained health care professionals inside hospitals to provide that care.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

Sometimes you're going to run because you want to elevate an issue. Sometimes you're going to run because you want to do public service, and it's a way to not only tell the community what you care about what you want to achieve, but you're making a commitment.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

I have not been in Washington very long, but I've been there long enough to be shocked by how antiquated some of our laws have become.

- Kirsten Gillibrand

To change Washington, you need to change the women's player list.

- Kirsten Gillibrand