Congresswoman Elise Stefanik proudly represents New York's 21st District in the House of Representatives in her fourth term in office.
In May 2021, Congresswoman Stefanik was elected by her colleagues to serve in House Leadership as Chair of the House Republican Conference.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking ranked her in the top 10 most effective Republican members, and the #1 most effective for commerce policy impacting small businesses and workers.
Agriculture is the backbone of the North Country’s economy, and supporting local farms, farmers, and agribusinesses remains one of Congresswoman Stefanik’s top priorities. New York’s 21st District is home to more than 35,000 dairy farms, apple orchards, maple operations, and craft breweries. Family farms are some of the largest employers in the district and have a significant direct economic impact on other local agribusinesses. Congresswoman Stefanik works closely with North Country farmers, producers, agribusinesses, county fairs, farm credit agencies, agriculture program students and teachers, and stakeholders to deliver innovative legislative solutions in support of the region’s diverse and robust agricultural industry. Every summer, Congresswoman Stefanik proudly attends many of the North Country's beloved county fairs. Congresswoman Stefanik has been awarded "Friend of the New York Farm Bureau" every year in Congress because of her strong legislative voting record and leadership standing up for New York agriculture.
New York’s 21st Congressional District shares hundreds of miles of border with Canada, and the economic partnership between the U.S. and Canada is vital to North Country small businesses, manufacturers, tourism, and communities.
As Co-Chair of the bipartisan Northern Border Caucus, Congresswoman Stefanik has consistently worked with Canadian officials, state and local stakeholders, trade organizations, manufacturers, Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and the United States Border Patrol to improve immigration, trade, and economic relations and partnerships across the Northern Border. She helped pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA), which President Trump signed into law in 2018; and she led the effort to pass the Promoting Travel, Commerce, and National Security Act, to increase commerce and border security between Canada and the United States. Congresswoman Stefanik has led and participated in numerous bilateral delegations and events highlighting the vital importance of Northern Border issues.
Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol Agents protect the American people and the national security of the United States, as well as ensure strong economic commerce, tourism, and trade across the Northern Border. Congresswoman Stefanik continues to deliver important resources and funds to support them in this critical mission.
Congresswoman Stefanik is strongly against amnesty and has continually voted in favor of measures to strengthen America’s security on both the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders. On behalf of North Country farmers, Congresswoman Stefanik continues to strongly advocate for reforms to the broken H-2A program for agricultural labor.
Congresswoman Stefanik grew up working in a small business family in Upstate New York where she learned firsthand the values of hard work and determination that are vital to building and growing small businesses. Congresswoman Stefanik works closely with local small businesses, manufacturers, Chambers of Commerce, and entrepreneurs to champion policies that support small businesses, empower entrepreneurs, encourage economic growth, and create good-paying local jobs. In 2021, the Center for Effective Lawmaking named Congresswoman Stefanik the most effective Republican lawmaker in the entire House of Representatives for Commerce Policy impacting small businesses, workers, and entrepreneurs. She has also been awarded numerous accolades from local Chambers of Commerce and North Country businesses, including the Spirit of Enterprise Award from the US Chamber of Commerce and the Guardian of Small Business Award from the National Federation for Independent Businesses (NFIB).
Due to decades of failed Democrat policies, New York State has among the highest taxes for families and small businesses and one of the highest costs of living in the country. Congresswoman Stefanik continues to advocate for lowering taxes and fundamental tax reform in Washington and Albany to create a flatter, fairer system to increase opportunity for families, business owners, workers, and entrepreneurs. When she first ran for office, she promised to never vote for a tax hike and she has proudly kept her promise to hardworking North Country families.
Congresswoman Stefanik knows that in order for small businesses to thrive, the government needs to step out of the way. She has worked tirelessly to slash burdensome, needless government regulations and mandates that have proven to stifle growth and job creation.
As a member of the Education and Labor Committee, Congresswoman Stefanik has fought hard to encourage and improve vocational education programs, workforce development, and apprenticeships. She has supported legislation and offered amendments to modernize these programs to meet the demands of the 21st century workplace and encourage both employers and workers to participate.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a passionate and effective advocate for North Country students, parents, and teachers. She believes that every student deserves the highest quality educational opportunities to achieve their limitless potential. Through her work on the Education and Labor Committee and as Co-Chair of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Caucus, Congresswoman Stefanik has supported bipartisan legislation to improve the public education system. In her first term, Congresswoman Stefanik worked to have the Every Student Succeeds Act signed into law, legislation that rewrote and significantly reformed the fundamentally flawed top down federal policies that harmed North Country students. Congresswoman Stefanik was recently awarded the Legislator Leadership Award from the Educational Theatre Association for her commitment to supporting public education, arts, and theatre, and she has also been recognized by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) for her outstanding contributions to the Impact Aid Program.
Congresswoman Stefanik has delivered tens of millions of federal dollars back to North Country colleges and universities, rural public schools, Head Start Programs, and vocational schools and workforce development programs. Higher education affordability is a key issue for North Country families and Congresswoman Stefanik successfully led the effort to expand Pell Grant eligibility year-round. This helps our students graduate on time and on budget.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a strong advocate for expanding vocational and technical educational programs and improving relationships between local businesses and schools to provide job opportunities for young people in the North Country. Most recently, she introduced the Modern Worker Empowerment Act to protect independent contractors from onerous state regulation. She also recently introduced the Success for Rural Students and Communities Act that would provide greater opportunity for rural students to receive their college degree while encouraging jobs and innovation in the North Country’s rural communities.
The Chinese Communist Party is actively censoring free speech, recruiting American students for espionage, and influencing academia through Confucius Institute partnerships with American colleges and universities. Congresswoman Stefanik is one of the strongest voices standing up to China in Congress, and recently introduced legislation to demand American institutions cut ties with these threatening partnerships once and for all.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, where she has been praised for her support of the North Country’s private, nonprofit colleges that provide a range of postsecondary opportunities for students. She is also Co-Chair of the Congressional STEAM Caucus.
The North Country is home to the largest and most diverse ecosystem in New York State, and Congresswoman Stefanik is committed to protecting its six million-acre Adirondack Park, multiple lakes and river systems, and thousands of miles of trails. She is a leading voice in Congress for common-sense, economically viable measures that address the environmental challenges our nation faces. Her strong bipartisan record on environmental stewardship and conservation has been recognized by the Adirondack Garden Club, The Nature Conservancy, and Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions.
Congresswoman Stefanik supports energy policy and investments that increase American-made energy, reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, reduce costs for North Country residents, create local jobs, and conserve our natural resources. The North Country is home to a vast supply of energy ranging from wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and conventional sources, giving the region a competitive advantage and making it a leader in new energy technologies. Fort Drum is the only energy independent domestic military installation due to their utilization of renewable biomass resources, and Congresswoman Stefanik has proudly highlighted them as a model for the rest of the country on the House Armed Services Committee.
Congresswoman Stefanik successfully delivered the highest levels of funding for the Lake Champlain Basin Program and helped lead the effort to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. She also proudly helped pass the Great American Outdoors Act, signed into law by President Trump in 2020, and has long supported the permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which provides support for several local environmental projects throughout the North Country. As Co-Chair of the Invasive Species Caucus, Congresswoman Stefanik has introduced and cosponsored legislation to promote and protect species of plants and animals that are native to the North Country, while also combating the threat that invasive species pose to our ecosystems.
In addition to serving as Co-Chair of the Invasive Species Caucus, Congresswoman Stefanik is a member of the Congressional Biomass Caucus, the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, and the Roosevelt Conservation Caucus.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a tireless advocate for delivering high quality rural healthcare for North Country families and seniors by fighting to lower costs, improve quality, and strengthen accessibility. In order to tackle these challenges, Congresswoman Stefanik has supported bipartisan legislation to protect those with pre-existing conditions, allow families and businesses to shop for health insurance across state lines, reform torts, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and strengthen protections against fraud and abuse that cost the healthcare system billions each year. Most notably, Congresswoman Stefanik personally wrote the largest fix to Obamacare – the repeal of the auto-enrollment mandate – that was signed into law by President Obama.
Congresswoman Stefanik has been recognized for her exceptional work supporting hospitals and community health centers throughout the 21st Congressional District, particularly in securing funding throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. She was awarded the Distinguished Community Health Center Champion Award for her national leadership fighting for long-term funding for community health centers, and was recently awarded the 2021 Lyme Champion Award for her work to increase federal funding for Lyme Disease research, diagnostics, and treatment.
Congresswoman Stefanik has delivered many bipartisan solutions to address the needs of rural healthcare centers and hospitals across the country, including the Access to Rural Care Act, protections for the 340B prescription drug program, the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act, the School-Based Health Center Reauthorization Act, and most recently, the Protecting Rural Access to Care Act to support Critical Access Hospitals across the region. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Congresswoman Stefanik successfully delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in federal resources for North Country rural hospitals and healthcare centers so they could continue providing quality care to North Country families. Congresswoman Stefanik has also been a champion for expanding telehealth access to ensure rural families and seniors in the North Country have access to the care they need, recently securing more than $50,000 dollars in funding for the Northern New York Rural Behavioral Health Institute.
Congresswoman Stefanik is committed to finding innovative solutions to lower the costs of prescription drugs by increasing transparency and consumer purchasing power. She supported the passage of the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act and the Know Lowest Price Act, and was an original cosponsor of the Lower Costs, More Cures Act, a bipartisan policy solution comprised of more than 40 provisions to lower-out-of-pocket spending, ensure new medicines and cures are not heavily taxed, strengthen transparency and accountability, and champion competition in the medical community.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a member of the Bipartisan Opioid Task Force and continues to be fiercely passionate about ending the drug epidemic in the North Country. She has led and supported many pieces of legislation to tackle the four pillars of addiction – prevention, addiction, treatment, and recovery. Congresswoman Stefanik helped pass the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act which reformed the federal mental health system and is helping Americans across the country. She also led the Opioid Workforce Act to provide Medicare support for additional graduate medical school residency positions, and this framework was included in a COVID relief package to address the shortage of physicians in rural communities. She has also supported the Opioid Abuse Reduction Act, the John S. McCain Opioid Addiction Prevention Act, The Fentanyl Sanctions Act, The Community Re-Entry through Addiction Treatment to Enhance Opportunities Act, the Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction Act, The Suspicious Order Identification Act, the Block, Report, and Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act, and many other pieces of meaningful legislation.
Congresswoman Stefanik recognizes that every family she represents has unique healthcare needs, and she often communicates directly with constituents who are struggling with different health issues. Working with local advocacy groups, Congresswoman Stefanik has found innovative solutions to tackle these unique healthcare needs by advocating for more research and funding at the federal level. She helped passed the 21st Century Cures Act to accelerate the discovery, development, and treatments for diseases from Alzheimer’s to Lyme. Congresswoman Stefanik also co-led the Younger Onset Alzheimer’s Act to include services for younger individuals diagnosed with onset Alzheimer’s in the Older Americans Act.
Congresswoman Stefanik is the Co-Chair of the Congressional Community Health Center Caucus, a member of the Rural Health Care Coalition, and a member of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic.
The North Country is home to rural communities with vibrant local economies. Given the rural nature of the area, the need for reliable methods of transportation is in high demand. Congresswoman Stefanik has fought to deliver significant grand funding for North Country airports, bridges, ports, roads, waterways, and local sewer systems. She helped pass the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, signed into law by President Obama, to provide long-term certainty for surface infrastructure planning and investment. She is a strong advocate for many North Country local businesses in the transportation parts manufacturing sector that distribute products across the United States and around the world.
Throughout her time in Congress, Congresswoman Stefanik has secured tens of millions of dollars in grant funding to support infrastructure projects including local sewer and drinking water systems, airport runway improvements, and repairs for roads and bridges. She has also been a consistent advocate for funding for the Essential Air Service (EIS) through the Department of Transportation, which services Massena, Ogdensburg, Watertown, Saranac Lake/Lake Placid and Plattsburgh Airports and boosts North Country tourism and travel.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a leading voice in Congress advocating for the need to boost rural access to broadband for families, students, and small businesses. She fought to ensure New York was eligible for federal support from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and recently announced the FCC awarded more than $99 million in contracts to upstate New York for the deployment of broadband in previously unserved locations across the region. She also recently cosponsored the BOOST Act to provide tax incentives to families and households who rely on hotspots and supplemental technologies in order to improve broadband connectivity and speeds.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a member of the Congressional Rural Broadband Caucus.
Congresswoman Stefanik is honored to serve as the Chief Advocate for Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division on the House Armed Services Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intel. As America continues to face serious, complex, and growing national security challenges around the world, in space, and in cyberspace; New York’s 21st district plays an integral role in protecting the United States against these threats.
Fort Drum is home to the 10th Mountain Division, the most deployed division in the U.S. Army, and Congresswoman Stefanik is committed to ensuring our soldiers at Fort Drum have the training and resources necessary to complete their mission. As the Chief Advocate for Fort Drum, she recently secured it as the East Coast Missile Defense Site and has consistently delivered on her promise to award troops with the pay raise they deserve.
America’s adversaries are constantly trying to undermine our institutions and threaten our security. Congresswoman Stefanik has been one of the most vocal members of Congress against Russia, North Korea, Iran, and especially, China. She has introduced numerous pieces of legislation to combat China’s active engagement in American institutions and has been a strong critic of their genocide and human rights abuses.
Cyberspace is a critical front on the 21st Century Battlefield. America’s adversaries and terrorist organizations have exercised an increased use of cyber capabilities to support their objectives and undermine the United States. Countries such as North Korea, China, Iran, and Russia are actively investing in the development of their offensive and defensive cyber capabilities—working to close the capability gap and overcome the United States in cyberspace. It is critical the United States continue to modernize and develop our cyber capabilities, deepen international partnerships, and enhance congressional oversight of sensitive cyber operations and the technical and operational capabilities needed to conduct them. Congresswoman Stefanik is committed to finding ways to integrate the advances in private industry into the military to maintain our technological edge.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a proud Constitutional conservative and deeply understands that her foremost oath of office serving in Congress is to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. She has earned a sterling record of fighting for the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, as protected by the Second Amendment. Her work to protect the Second Amendment has earned her an A+ Rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA), the highest rating in the New York State Congressional Delegation.
Congresswoman Stefanik worked to pass the Concealed-Carry Reciprocity Act, the Fix NICS Act, and has supported legislation aimed at promoting protections for law-abiding citizens while increasing mental health resources and keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals.
Congresswoman Stefanik is proud to stand with and support the North Country’s men and women in blue. New York’s 21st Congressional District is home to tens of thousands of local, county, state, federal, and retired law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to protect the safety and security of our communities.
Congresswoman Stefanik is absolutely opposed to any and all calls to defund the police. She has advocated for increased federal funding for law enforcement mental health, training, equipment, technology, and school resources officers. Congresswoman Stefanik co-sponsored the JUSTICE Act introduced by Senator Tim Scott and Congressman Pete Stauber, legislation to protect police, improve police-community relations and officer training, and increase transparency and accountability.
Congresswoman Stefanik also has been a staunch supporter of the North Country’s correctional officers. She strongly opposed Governor Cuomo’s decision to shut down and eliminate jobs at North Country prisons. During the COVID pandemic, Congresswoman Stefanik successfully ensured correction officers received the compensation they rightfully earned.
For her efforts to unequivocally stand by law enforcement, Congresswoman Stefanik has been recognized by Law Enforcement Officers Weekend, the Civil Air Patrol, and the Lake Placid Fire and Rescue.
The North Country is home to one of the largest constituencies of older Americans, and their valuable contributions are part of the fabric of our communities. Congresswoman Stefanik is committed to delivering resources to protect our seniors, including protecting and preserving Medicare and Social Security.
Congresswoman Stefanik successfully led the reauthorization of the bipartisan Older Americans Act, legislation that improves services for aging Americans so they can remain in their communities with the support of their families. This legislation included the Supporting Family Caregivers Act, which encourages a tailored approach to addressing the needs of family caregivers and allows services to ensure the best possible health outcomes, and the Younger Onset Alzheimer’s Act to provide protections for individuals under the age of 60 who are diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Congresswoman Stefanik has delivered millions of dollars of Social Security and Medicare benefits to North Country seniors. She has a strong record of protecting these critical programs for seniors now and in the future. She has worked to expand access to rural healthcare and at home care for our seniors and support for caregivers. Additionally, Congresswoman Stefanik has delivered significant funding for programs like Meals on Wheels that provide critical services and support for North Country seniors.
Congresswoman Stefanik has delivered billions of dollars in COVID-19 federal relief to the North Country and has ensured seniors and the most vulnerable North Country residents are protected. She has advocated against Governor Cuomo’s dangerous policies, including his vicious attempt to unlawfully take ventilators the North Country and his fatal nursing home executive order that tragically led to the loss of over 15,000 vulnerable New Yorkers. She will continue to be an outspoken critic of Governor Cuomo for putting New Yorkers at risk and will not stop fighting until he is held accountable and New Yorkers receive the truth and justice they deserve.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a member of the Assisting Caregivers Today Caucus.
As the proud home to Fort Drum, the Navy Nuclear Kesselring Training Site, the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base, and more veterans and retirees than any other Congressional District in New York State, the North Country understands the special pride, tradition, and history of the United States Military. Congresswoman Stefanik is honored to represent tens thousands of constituents who have honorably served our country, and she has worked diligently to deliver more than $4M in VA benefits to North Country veterans. She is proudly a regular participant at North Country Honor Flight ceremonies, and her office is well known as one of the most effective Congressional offices for helping selfless veterans claim their well-deserved VA benefits.
Congresswoman Stefanik has helped pass meaningful reforms to the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure veterans receive the benefits they need and deserve, including the Wingman Act, which eliminates burdensome red tape at the VA, and the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to protect veterans that speak out about the injustices and unacceptable care they have experienced. She also helped pass legislation that allows the VA to provide financial assistance for support services to low-income families and cosponsored a letter creating a pilot program to expand therapy services for veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Congresswoman Stefanik has championed many pieces of legislation to expand mental health services, analyze and boost our current suicide prevention resources, increase compensation for disabled veterans and survivors of disabled veterans, and empower veterans with economic opportunities in their civilian lives. Notably, she helped pass the Protecting Veterans Health Act and the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act which expands benefits for veterans suffering diseases they developed during their service.
Congresswoman Stefanik is known to take swift action to address quality of life issues affecting North Country veterans. Recently, she sent a letter to the Acting Under Secretary for Health identifying unacceptable service unavailability and backlogs with beneficiary travel pay, and another to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs requesting they increase the use of community pharmacies for non-active duty service members and veterans using TRICARE.
Congresswoman Stefanik has delivered many innovative solutions to address the unique challenges that military families face, ensuring they have adequate access to health care and counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, and other service-related ailments, employment opportunities and job-training, post-service career and transition resources. She helped pass the Military Residency Choice Act to allow military spouses to establish the same state of residency as their servicemember for voting and tax purposes, and introduced the Military Family Stability Act to provide military families with the flexibility they need to make a successful transition to their new jobs, schools, and communities. Congresswoman Stefanik also cosponsored the Jobs and Childcare for Military Families Act, bipartisan legislation to incentivize the hiring of veterans and military spouses in local communities.
Congresswoman Stefanik is a member of the Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus, Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus, Military Families Caucus, and the Veterans Jobs Caucus.