She also continued her legal career as a partner in a
Law firm.
she led
the American Bar Association's Commission on
women in the Profession, which played a pioneering role in raising awareness of issues like sexual harassment and equal pay. Hillary was twice named
one of the 100 most influential lawyers in
America.
FIRST LADY
When her husband was elected President in 1992, Hillary's work as a
champion for
women was recognized and admired
around the world.
She traveled
the globe speaking out against the degradation and abuse of
Women and standing up for the powerful idea that women's rights are human rights.
In
the White House, Hillary led
efforts to make adoption easier, to expand
early learning and
Child Care, to increase funding for breast cancer research, and to
help veterans suffering from
Gulf War syndrome who had too often been ignored in the past.
She helped
launch a
national campaign to prevent
teen pregnancy and helped create the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which moved children from
foster care to adoption more
quickly. Thanks in part to her efforts, the number of children who have moved out of foster care into adoption has increased dramatically.
As everyone knows, Hillary's fight for
universal health coverage did not succeed. But her commitment to health care for every
American has never wavered.
She was instrumental in designing and championing the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which has provided millions of children with health insurance.
she battled the
big drug companies to
force them to
test their drugs for children and to make
sure all kids get the immunizations they need through the Vaccines for Children Program. Immunization rates dramatically improved after the program launched.
Hillary's 1995 book
It Takes A Village, about the responsibility we all have to
help children succeed, became an
international best seller. Hillary has donated the proceeds -- more than a million dollars -- to children's causes across the
countryHillary's autobiography,
Living History, was also a
best seller. It has been translated into 12 languages and sold over 1.3 million copies.
United STATES SENATOR
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Hillary worked with her colleagues to
secure the funds
New York needed to
recover and rebuild.
She fought to
provide compensation to the families of the victims,
grants for
hard-hit small businesses, and health care for
front line workers at
Ground Zero. And
she continues to work for resources that
enable New
York to grow, to improve
homeland security for New York and other communities, and to protect all Americans from
future attacks.
She is the first
New Yorker ever to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, working to see that
America's military has the necessary resources to protect our
national security.
she has visited troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and at
Fort Drum in
New York,
home of the 10th
Mountain Division and other New
York bases, as well as at
Walter Reed Military Hospital. She has
learned first-hand the challenges facing
American combat forces. Hillary passed legislation to track the health
status of our troops so that conditions like
Gulf War Syndrome would no longer be misdiagnosed. She is an original sponsor of legislation that expanded health benefits to members of the
National Guard and Reserves and has been a
strong critic of the Administration's handling of Iraq.
But Hillary has recognized that we can't ignore our problems
at home while we
face challenges overseas.
She has introduced legislation to tie Congressional salary increases to an increase in the minimum wage, because
she believes if
America's working
people don't deserve a raise, neither does
Congress. She has supported a variety of middle-class tax
cuts, including marriage penalty relief,
property tax relief, and reduction in the
Alternative Minimum Tax, and supports fiscally responsible pay-as-you-go budget rules. She helped pass legislation that encouraged investment to create
jobs in struggling communities through the Renewal Communities program. She has championed legislation to bring broadband Internet access, which is so important in today's information
economy, to rural America.
In the Senate, Hillary has not wavered in her work to expand
quality affordable health care to more Americans.
She worked to strengthen the Children's Health Insurance Program, which increased coverage for children in low income and working families.
she authored legislation that has been enacted to improve quality and lower the cost of prescription drugs and to protect our
food supply from bioterrorism. She sponsored legislation to increase
America's commitment to fighting the
global HIV/AIDS crisis, and is now leading the fight for expanded use of information technology in the health care system to decrease administrative costs, lower premiums, and reduce medical errors.
Her
strong advocacy for children continues in the Senate. Some of Hillary's proudest achievements have been her work to ensure the safety of prescription drugs for children, with legislation now included in the
best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, and her legislation to
help schools address environmental hazards.
She has also proposed expanding access to
Child Care.
she has passed legislation that will bring more qualified
teachers into classrooms and more outstanding principals to
lead our schools.
Hillary has been a powerful
advocate for
women in the Senate. Her commitment to supporting the rights guaranteed in
Roe v.
Wade and to reducing the number of abortions by reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies was hailed by
the New York Times as "
frank talk...(and) a promising
path." Hillary is
one of the original cosponsors of the Prevention First Act to increase access to
family planning. Her fight with the
Bush Administration ensured that
Plan B, an emergency contraceptive, will be available to millions of
American Women and will reduce the need for abortions.
Hillary is strongly committed to making
sure that every
American has the right to vote in
fair, accessible, and credible
elections.
She introduced the Count Every Vote Act of 2005 to ensure better
protection of votes and to ensure that every vote is counted.
In 2006,
New Yorkers reelected Hillary to the Senate with 67 percent of the vote.