Schumer makes it 24 straight years of visiting all 62 counties

Photos by Tom Rivers: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer was at Baxter International in Medina on Aug. 11, touting federal legislation to boost microchip manufacturing in the United States. He is holding part of a Baxter infusion pump which requires 70 microchips.

Stopped in Medina on Aug. 11 to highlight microchip shortage

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer was in all 62 counties in New York State in the past year, making it 24 straight years he has been to all counties in the state.

He was in Orleans County on Aug. 11 when he went to Baxter International in Medina to highlight federal legislation to boost microchip manufacturing in the United States.

Baxter has nearly 300 workers in Medina but was forced to put employees on paid furloughs due to a supply chain shortage, where Baxter International didn’t have all 20 components for their medical infusion pumps.

Baxter International produces about 100,000 pumps a year and each one needs 70 microchips.

Schumer said there will be a long-term answer to the microchip crisis with the signing of the bipartisan CHIPS & Science Bill. That will provide $50 billion in incentives to increase microchip manufacturing in the United States and ease the supply chain problems.

(On Nov. 2, Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Edwards Vacuum, a British-based manufacturer of vacuum and abatement equipment in the semiconductor industry, chose the STAMP site in Alabama, Genesee County, as the location for their new $319 million, U.S. dry pump manufacturing facility.)

Schumer was re-elected to a fifth term in November. He also is the Senate Majority Leader. His office said he made 118 county visits to Upstate New York and Long Island in 2022.

“When I made the promise to visit every county in New York every year after my first election, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine doing it as Majority Leader, or that I would be doing so while simultaneously passing some of the most important legislation in generations: from the largest investment ever in fighting climate change, to lowering the cost of prescription drugs, to bringing manufacturing jobs back from overseas to Upstate New York,” Schumer said in a statement.

“At the close of 24 years, my beliefs are as clear as ever: ‘Senators who stay in Washington and never return home are simply not doing their job,’” he said. “Whether I’m eating ice cream at the State Fair in Syracuse or riding my bike in Brooklyn, New York is always on my mind, and I’m always learning directly from my constituents. To the New Yorkers who’d lost faith that Congress can do big things, this year was for you, and I will never stop fighting to deliver for New York.”

Schumer said he keeps New York in mind when he pushes for legislation in the Senate.

He highlighted the American Rescue Plan which he said delivered over $100 billion in relief to New York’s state and local governments, workers, small businesses, and health centers so they could recover from the impacts of Covid.

The Inflation Reduction Act provides the largest investment in fighting climate change in our nation’s history, all while also lowering prescription drug costs and making sure corporations pay their fair share, Schumer said.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer walks into the production floor at Baxter International in Medina with company CEO and President José (Joe) E. Almeida on Aug. 11. Schumer said he and the federal Health and Human Services have pushed to make Baxter designated as a “critical need” for micro chips to manufacture infusion pumps.

In recent years some of Schumer’s stop in Orleans County included:

• Aug. 16, 2021, Schumer held a news conference in Holley’s Public Square with local elected officials to highlight $8 million in American Rescue Plan funds going to Orleans and Niagara counties to close high-speed internet gaps.
• On Nov. 19, 2020, Schumer held a press conference at Medina Memorial Hospital to highlight his push for federal funds to be released for more Covid testing sites, especially in rural communities like Orleans.
• On Nov. 27, 2019, Schumer visited Miller’s Organic Hemp Farm on Route 98 in Carlton to discuss the emerging hemp industry and the need for federal government to improve regulations for sampling and testing hemp. Terry and Gina Miller hosted Schumer’s visit to their farm.
• Schumer was at the Village of Holley Police Department on Aug. 24, 2018 when he was in Orleans County. He launched a push to pass the “Providing Officers with Electronic Resources (POWER) Act” as part of a package of bills to address the opioids crisis across Upstate New York and the United States.
• The senator stopped in Kendall on Oct. 9, 2017 at the Eagle Creek Marina to highlight a push for federal funds for infrastructure updates that will improve Great Lakes fisheries and restore habitats through the Great Lakes Aquatic Connectivity and Infrastructure Program Act.
• On Nov. 11, 2016, Schumer joined Nelson Leenhouts, chairman and CEO of Home Leasing, to discuss the importance of keeping federal tax incentives for redeveloping historic sites, including the former Holley High School. Those tax credits were an importance piece in allowing Home Leasing to complete the $17 million renovation. Schumer also observed Veterans Day at the Holley VFW earlier that day.
• Anthony Piedimonte Farms in Hulberton hosted Schumer on June 29, 2015 to discuss a June 9 computer crash of the federal system that processes temporary farm-working visas. Schumer joined local farmers and urged the U.S. Department of State to fix the computer glitch. That computer crash created a backlog of stalled applications and prevented farms across the state from accessing legal temporary workers to harvest their crops.
• Aug. 14, 2014, Schumer was in Holley at the former Diaz Chemical, where he pressed the federal EPA to continue a Superfund cleanup.