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.
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.