Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney

First elected to Congress in 1992, Carolyn B. Maloney is a recognized national leader with extensive accomplishments on financial services, national security, the economy, and women’s issues. She is currently Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the first woman to hold this position. 

Maloney has authored and passed more than 74 measures, either as stand-alone bills or as measures incorporated into larger legislation packages. Twelve of these bills were signed into law at formal (and rare) Presidential Signing Ceremonies.  She has authored landmark legislation including the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act and its reauthorization to make sure all those suffering health aliments associated with 9/11 get the medical care and compensation they need and deserve; the Debbie Smith Act, which increases funding for law enforcement to process DNA rape kits and has been called ‘the most important anti-rape legislation in history;’ and the Credit CARD Act, also known as the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights, which according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has saved consumers more than $16 billion annually since it was signed into law in 2009. Her legislative achievements have been featured in three films: the documentary The Card Game, the documentary Overdrawn!, and the movie A Life Interrupted.

Rep. Maloney’s career has been a series of firsts. She is the first woman to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District; the first woman to represent New York City’s 7th Councilmanic district (where she was the first woman to give birth while in office); and was the first woman to Chair the Joint Economic Committee, a House and Senate panel that examines and addresses the nation’s most pressing economic issues. Only 18 women in history have chaired Congressional committees. Maloney is the author of Rumors of our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: Why Women’s Lives Aren’t Getting any Easier and how we can Make Real Progress for Ourselves and Our Daughters, which has been used as a textbook in women’s studies courses.

In addition to serving as Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Maloney is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and the Joint Economic Committee. In the House Democratic Caucus, she has served as a Regional Whip and as Vice-Chair of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

On the House Financial Services Committee she has worked to modernize financial services laws and regulations, strengthen consumer protections, and institute more vigilant oversight of the safety and soundness of our nation’s banking industry. In the 114th Congress, she was selected by her Committee colleagues to be Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises and continued in this position in the 115th Congress. She continues her membership on the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit (which she chaired in the 109th and 110th Congresses, and where she served as Ranking Member in the 112th Congress), and also serves on the newly created Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance.

Maloney served on the historic conference committee for the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, which also created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Her Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights (the Credit CARD Act) was signed into law by President Obama in Spring of 2009. She is currently working to curb the use of anonymous shell companies that finance illicit drugs, human trafficking, and terrorism.

As a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Maloney’s legislation has helped government work more efficiently and has saved hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. 

As co-founder of the House 9/11 Commission Caucus, Maloney helped author and pass legislation which created the 9/11 Commission and, later, to implement all of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations for improving intelligence gathering—described as the most influential intelligence bill in decades. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health Care and Compensation Act, her bill to provide health care and compensation for 9/11 first responders, residents and workers near Ground Zero passed Congress in late 2010 was signed into law by President Obama on January 2, 2011. The Zadroga Act's World Trade Center Health Program was permanently extended, and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was fully funded by the bill’s reauthorization with an allocation of $8 billion in December 2015.

A champion for domestic and international women’s issues, Rep. Maloney has authored and helped pass legislation that targets sex trafficking, including the first bill that focused on the ‘demand’ side of human trafficking to punish the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. She is co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking, and co-chair of the Trafficking Task Force of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues.

During her first term in Congress, Rep. Maloney passed legislation that provides annual mammograms for women on Medicare. Her legislation to create Women’s Health Offices in five Federal agencies was part of the landmark health care reform legislation, the Affordable Care Act, signed by President Obama.

New York City has no stronger advocate in Congress than Maloney. She has delivered more than $10 billion in federal aid to New York City, including billions of dollars for the two largest transit construction projects in the nation, the Second Avenue Subway and the East Side Access project, both of which run through her district, and have helped create thousands of jobs in New York. Among other projects she has secured federal funding for are: $670 million for replacing the Kosciuszko Bridge, $37.9 million for the Floating Hospital, $4.4 million for new ferries, $20 million for Dutch Kills Green, $27 million for Queensbridge roof repairs, and more than $300 million in federal grants for high-speed rail improvement projects in the Sunnyside Rail Yards.

During her time on the New York City Council, then Councilmember Maloney led the effort to implement Vendex and ensure city contracts were bidded and awarded responsibly. She has introduced similar legislation at the federal level.

Maloney has received numerous awards and honors during her time in office, including the TMG-eMedia Thought Leaders in Business Award; the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Service Award; the CUNY Women’s Leadership Award; the Eleanor’s Legacy Eleanor Roosevelt Trailblazer of Democracy Award; the Humane Society of the United States Humane Advocate Award; the Business and Professional Women’s Club of New York State Outstanding Legislator Award; the Center for Women’s Policy Studies Jessie Bernard Wise Women’s Award; and the Planned Parenthood Responsible Choices Award. In 2003, she was the only legislator selected as part of the Ms. Magazine “Fifty Women Who Made a Difference” list. Maloney was recently named one of Women’s eNews 21 Leaders for the 21st Century in May 2017.In March of 2020, Rep. Maloney was named the first-ever honorary member of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) for her work on behalf of federal employees and her paid parental leave legislation.

Rep. Maloney has been recognized not only by her peers in Congress but also by outside groups for her ability to elicit change. GovTrack awarded her the top spot among House Democrats in their “Leadership Score” category – indicating her great ability to get cosponsors on her bills.

Maloney is currently a member of Women’s Forum Inc., the Council on Foreign Relations, Women’s City Club, Alice Paul Institute, Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy, Financial Women’s Association, National Organization for Women, National Association of Business and Professional Women, New York Landmarks Conservancy, and CIVITAS.

She is an Eleanor Roosevelt Distinguished Member of the NY Junior League.

She is the founder and Co-Chair of the House Caucus on Hellenic Issues.

Maloney attained a first-degree black belt in Taekwondo in January 2007.