Kirsten Gillibrand People Quotations

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

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.

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.

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

I had an amazing advantage: a grandmother [Polly Noonan, an influential confidante of the mayor of Albany] who loved politics. She taught me not to listen to negative press or people. I grew up knowing politics was rough-and-tumble.

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.