Childhood & Early Life
Carolyn Bosher Maloney was born Carolyn Jane Bosher, in Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S., on February 19, 1946, to Ralph George Bosher and Christine Elizabeth. She completed her early education in her hometown. Following her high-school graduation, she joined the ‘Greensboro College,’ located in Greensboro, North Carolina.
After graduating in 1970, she moved to New York City in search of better career opportunities. She soon began working as a government teacher, affiliated with the ‘New York City Board of Education.’ She also served as an administrator on the board.
She knew that true reforms in any department begin at the top. Hence, she began working for the ‘New York State Legislature’ in 1977. She was later appointed at many senior positions in the ‘State Assembly’ and the ‘State Senate.’
She later joined the ‘Joint Economic Committee,’ a panel formed to address the most pressing issues the country’s economy was facing back then. She was the first woman to chair the committee. Around that time, she also gave birth to a child and became the first representative of New York City’s ‘7th Council’ to give birth while serving at the position.
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Political Career
The year 1982 marked her true arrival in electoral politics. That year, she contested for the ‘New York City Council’ from the 8th District. She had defeated the incumbent, seasoned politician Robert Rodriguez. It was a predominantly Spanish-speaking area, with Robert being the ultimate favorite. However, Carolyn managed to win the elections and thus became a council member.
In the 10 years that she worked at the council, she introduced many new reforms, which made her popularity soar. She brought a package of legislations that made day care affordable for everyone. She was also directly involved in the creation of the ‘Vendex Program,’ which was a huge step toward modernizing the city, using the latest IT developments.
In 1993, she contested for a position in the lower house of the ‘U.S. Congress,’ as a representative from New York’s 14th District. Over time, she became the most popular New York representative in the ‘U.S. House of Representatives.’ She later contested as the U.S. representative for the 12th District and won again in 2013.
She managed to deliver more than $10 billion in an attempt to fund two huge construction projects that serve New Yorkers directly, namely, the ‘East Side Access Project’ and the ‘Second Avenue Subway.’ Both the projects run through her congressional district. Together, both the projects have managed to secure thousands of jobs for New Yorkers. There were many other multimillion-dollar projects that were given the green signal while she was in office. Some of them were the ‘Floating Hospital,’ ‘Dutch Kills Green,’ and the ‘Queensbridge Roof Repairs.’
She had also been a strong supporter of the ‘9/11 Commission.’ The commission was established to ensure that the people who directly suffered from the terrorist attacks could lead a peaceful life. The ‘Family Steering Committee’ was established in 2004, and Carolyn worked closely with the affected family members. She was also directly involved in the passing of the ‘9/11 Commission Caucus’ bill.
Ever since she has been elected into the ‘Congress,’ she is working to strengthen the financial institutions in New York. She has worked toward modernizing the financial services and laws and regulations of the city. She has also become a strong advocate of consumer protection.
She authored the ‘Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act.’ Also known as the ‘Credit Card Act,’ it made transactions between credit-card companies and consumers more transparent. According to the new act, consumers were to be notified even after a small change in their accounts.
She passed the ‘National Security Foreign Investment Reform,’ which further strengthened the nation’s security by reviewing all foreign direct investments. In addition, she also co-authored the ‘Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act,’ which offered the credit unions a sense of safety and security.
In 2009, during the 111th ‘Congress’ session, she served as the chairperson of the ‘Joint Economic Committee.’ She was hence the first woman to serve in the position.
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When she took over as the chairperson, the U.S. economy was in shambles, owing to the great recession that had struck America hard in 2008. Many senators said that the financial implications of the recession were greater than the Great Depression of the early 20th century. Hence, Carolyn had a difficult task ahead of her.
Her first priority was to create more jobs and reduce unemployment. The committee held more than 50 meetings within a month to discuss the issue. The reports mentioned many techniques and ways of job creation, along with the ways to give a push to the emerging sectors of the economy.
She knew that the working class had been hit the hardest. She thus introduced many policies and plans to make sure that they were among the first group of people to recover.
Along with that, she also assessed to what extent the women of the country had been affected by the recession. She also discussed the ways of utilizing the power of women in order to make sure they contributed equally to the growing economic scenario, particularly in the state of New York.
She has also been a vocal supporter of women’s rights and family rights. She stressed on the facilities for women’s reproduction, women’s reproductive freedom, and international family planning. In the ‘Fourth World Conference on Women,’ held in Beijing, she was part of the U.S. delegation. She was also a strong supporter of the ‘Debbie Smith Act,’ and she had focused on it during many congressional sessions.
She has also spoken about the growing incidents of rape in the military. She brought about a policy that ensured the supply of more rape-testing kids to the military. In addition, she also understood the growing difference in wages between men and women workers in different sectors and raised a strong voice against it.
She also brought a legislation that opened ways for the construction of a high school in New York’s East Side.
Her service to the U.S. war veterans earned her a ‘Military Order of the Purple Heart.’ Additionally, she has been honored with many other awards, such as the ‘Ellis Island Medal of Honor,’ the ‘Distinguished Public Service Award,’ and the ‘Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Service Award.’
