Lawmaker Profile

Rep. Carolyn Maloney

[D, NY-12]
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.

Maloney has authored and passed more than 70 measures, either as stand-alone bills or as measures incorporated into larger legislation packages. Ten of these bills were signed into law at formal (and rare) Presidential Signing Ceremonies. 

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. 

Maloney is currently a senior member of both the House Financial Services Committee (where she serves as Chair of the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets) and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the Vice Chair of 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.

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. 

As a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, 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.

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.

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 the founder and Chair of the House Caucus on Hellenic Issues.

Maloney has a first-degree black belt in Taekwondo.

Maloney has received the Military Order of the Purple Heart, For Meritorious and Conspicuous Service for Veterans, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association's (NFPRHA) Distinguished Public Service Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Hadassah Myrtle Wreath Award, Peace Action's Global Peace Award, the Queens Women's Political Caucus's Queens Women of Distinction Award and the Healthy Mothers, Health Babies's 2000 Special Impact Award. Maloney was the Grand Marshal of New York's Greek Independence Day Parade in 1996 and 2001.

After graduating from Greensboro College, Maloney worked for several years as a teacher and an administrator for the New York City Board of Education. In 1977, she went to work for the New York State legislature and held senior staff positions in both the State Assembly and the State Senate. In 1982, Maloney ran for public office for the first time and defeated an incumbent to win a seat on the New York City Council.

In her ten years on the Council, Maloney fought to eliminate waste and fraud in government. 

Congresswoman Maloney lives in New York City. She has two grown daughters, Christina and Virginia. 

Maloney lost her beloved husband, Clifton H.W. Maloney, in 2009 when he passed away after summiting Cho Oyu Mountain in China, the world's seventh largest peak.  They had been married for 26 years.