U.S. House of Representatives
Elections Lowey ran for the
United States House of Representatives from
New York's 20th congressional district in the
1988 election against
incumbent Joe DioGuardi. Lowey was considered a top contender for appointment to Clinton's Senate seat after Clinton was nominated to be
Secretary of State, but in a December 1, 2008, phone interview with the
Associated Press, she stated that she was not interested in giving up her senior seat on the House Appropriations Committee.
Tenure Lowey was known for her advocacy for women's health, environmental protection, foreign aid to developing nations, and efforts to fight AIDS, as well as her support for Israel. Early in her congressional career, Lowey sponsored an
earmark for the purpose of "dredging the
Mamaroneck Harbor." According to the local newspaper,
The Journal News, the dredging was proposed because "the harbor was becoming too shallow 'to accommodate the larger yachts.'" In 2001–2002, Lowey served as the first female chair of the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Director
David Paulison and Senator
Hillary Clinton, during 2007 floods in New York. In early 2009, Lowey introduced the Transportation Security Workforce Enhancement Act, which calls for collective bargaining rights for federal workers at the TSA and Department of Homeland Security. Lowey was critical of the
Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which placed limits on taxpayer-funded abortions in the context of the
Affordable Health Care for America Act. Because of the rancor and disruptions which marked many of the town hall meetings held in the summer of 2009 to discuss health care reform, Lowey chose to present her point of view on health care reform in a telephone conference call. Some constituents questioned the effectiveness of this approach. In 2015, Lowey expressed her disappointment at Congress's failure to address Puerto Rico's budget problems. Lowey announced her opposition to President
Barack Obama's 2015
nuclear deal with Iran, stating the following: In my judgment, sufficient safeguards are not in place to address the risks associated with the agreement. Relieving UN sanctions on conventional arms and
ballistic missiles and releasing billions of dollars to the Iranian regime could lead to a dangerous regional weapons race and enable Iran to bolster its funding of terrorists. The deal does not explicitly require Iran to fully disclose its previous military work to the
IAEA's satisfaction before sanctions relief is provided, and inspectors will not have immediate access to the most suspicious facilities. There are no clear accountability measures regarding punishment for minor violations, which could encourage Iran to cheat. The Democrats won a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 elections. Subsequently, Lowey became the first Chairwoman of the House Committee on Appropriations. In 2019, Lowey helped negotiate an end to a 35-day government shutdown.
2016 DNC superdelegate Like all Democratic members of Congress, Lowey was a
superdelegate to the
2016 Democratic National Convention. Lowey pledged to support
Hillary Clinton. When asked by the
New York Daily News whether Lowey might switch her support to candidate
Bernie Sanders if Sanders were to win the New York State Democratic presidential primary, Lowey's chief of staff responded, "absolutely not... Hillary Clinton is Congresswoman Lowey's friend, colleague and her constituent, and she is behind her 100%."
Committee assignments (116th Congress) •
Committee on Appropriations (chairwoman) •
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (chairwoman) • As chairwoman of the full committee, Lowey may serve as an
ex officio member of all subcommittees.
Caucus memberships • Congressional Women's Caucus • House Pro-Choice Caucus • Hudson River Caucus •
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus •
Israel Allies Caucus •
Congressional Arts Caucus • National Eating Disorders Awareness Caucus • Congressional Crohn's and Colitis Caucus •
Afterschool Caucuses ==Personal life==