Schumer New Senate Star; Clinton Gets Environ Post
BY JOHN TOSCANO
United States Senator Charles Schumer, fresh from being the

Schumer will also be in a key position in the party's fight to prevent President George W. Bush from stacking the courts with conservative judges.

top strategist and money raiser

that cemented the Democrats' takeover of the Senate, has been rewarded for that effort by being given a second term in that post and also by being elected as the chairman of the Democratic Caucus, a key policy-making post.

The Brooklyn-born lawmaker, a Harvard Law School grad, will also be in a key position in the party's fight to prevent President George W. Bush from stacking the courts with conservative judges. He'll pursue that objective as he becomes chairman of the powerful Subcommittee On Administrative Oversight and the Courts. The first stop for all nominations for federal judgeships, including the United States Supreme Court, is this subcommittee. There are more than 50 federal judgeship vacancies and every candidate must first make it past Schumer's subcommittee before advancing to confirmation.

Meanwhile, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has been named as head of the key Environment and Public Works Committee Subcommittee On Superfund and Environmental Health.

Clinton has been named as head of the key Environment and Public Works Committee Subcommittee On Superfund and Environmental Health.

In announcing the appointment, Clinton said she will be able to focus on improving programs to clean up and redevelop contaminated sites in New York and around the country.

Clinton will also use that post to continue her effort to strengthen laws designed to protect workers from exposure to toxic chemicals, such as those encountered by Ground Zero first responders following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Besides the important Schumer assignments already described, the peppery lawmaker is also setting goals to move forward security, transportation and healthcare programs he feels are vital to New York and the rest of the country.

Last Sunday, after meeting with Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schumer set down the state's priorities for the coming session. They include: continuing the Second Avenue subway project, building the railway link from Lower Manhattan to the JFK Airport and building a new tunnel under the Hudson River to connect Midtown Manhattan to New Jersey.

Schumer said he also has plans to change the Medicare and Medicaid programs and to get more funding for education and affordable housing, as well as increasing tax deductions for college tuition.

Schumer, who started his climb up the political ladder by serving as a state Assemblymember fresh out of college, has become well known for his weekly Sunday press conferences and news releases on the key topics of the moment.

With his new clout and high-ranking position in the Senate's Democratic leadership hierarchy, the energetic lawmaker is likely to be seen on Sunday morning television news interview shows.

Clinton, meanwhile, will hypothetically be busy building her 2008 presidential campaign for the next two years while still, as senator, addressing the key issues that will be emerging. Last week, she was one of a cadre of Democrats that peppered Army General John Abizaid with questions about Iraq strategy. Clinton explored the idea of partitioning Iraq along sectarian lines, giving the various religious groups autonomy over specified areas. Abizaid said he felt partitioning was not the answer.