Carolyn McCarthy

Carolyn McCarthy (born January 5, 1944) is an American politician and has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 4th congressional district (map), since 1997. The district is located in central Long Island and includes Mineola, the Five Towns, East Rockaway, Rockville Centre, Oceanside, Garden City, Hempstead, Uniondale, East Meadow, Roosevelt, Franklin Square, Valley Stream, and Elmont.

History
Born in Brooklyn, McCarthy worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse and lived with her family in Mineola, a suburban area about twenty miles outside New York City on Long Island. On December 7, 1993, her husband was killed and her son, Kevin, was severely injured on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train at the Merillon Avenue station, when a mass murderer, Colin Ferguson, opened fire on random passengers. Ferguson killed six and wounded 19 others.

Political career
McCarthy responded to the crime by launching a campaign for additional gun control measures that eventually propelled her to Congress in 1996 on the Democratic ticket. With the support of the local and national Democratic parties, and the endorsement of the local daily newspaper Newsday, McCarthy defeated Republican one-term incumbent Dan Frisa by almost seventeen points (16.98%). Frisa had voted to repeal the federal Assault Weapons Ban, an attempt that was ultimately unsuccessful. The ban expired in September, 2004. McCarthy introduced a bill in February, 2007 to replace the expired ban on semi-automatic firearms. Congresswoman McCarthy's new version would ban 65 models of firearms, as opposed to the previous ban's 19 models. In addition, McCarthy's law would also ban any semiautomatic rifle, shotgun or handgun that was "originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General." In Slate magazine, a journalist asserted that the bill has little chance of passage and criticized it as a "fund-raising" bill.

The Fourth District had been in Republican hands since 1953, but has supported Democrats for president since 1992. She faced a close fight for reelection in 1998 against state assemblyman Gregory Becker, but has not faced serious opposition since then.

McCarthy is a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

McCarthy voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution.

McCarthy serves as the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities of the Education and Labor Committee, and on the Financial Services Committee. She is also one of the most vocal advocates in the nation for gun control, including reinstating the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms. McCarthy frames the reintroduction of the ban as law enforcement protection. In addition to her gun control and ban efforts, McCarthy is especially active in issues relating to education and public health.

McCarthy has been widely speculated as a possible choice for the US Senate seat held by Hillary Rodham Clinton should she win the Presidency in 2008. Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer would appoint a replacement should Clinton resign.

McCarthy is the focus of the 1998 television movie The Long Island Incident, in which she is portrayed by Laurie Metcalf.

McCarthy was a lifelong registered Republican until 2003 — six years after first taking office as a Democrat — when she officially changed her registration to Democrat.

Virginia Tech massacre
On Monday, April 16, 2007, after the shootings at Virgina Tech, and after President Bush's press secretary Dana Perino said, "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," McCarthy issued a press release calling for "legislation to prevent further acts of gun violence."

On the April 18, 2007 showing of MSNBC's program, Tucker, the conservative pundit Tucker Carlson interviewed McCarthy concerning the Virginia Tech massacre and her proposed Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007 to reauthorize the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. He asked her to explain the need to regulate barrel shrouds, one of the many provisions of the Act. She responded that more importantly the legislation would ban "large capacity" magazines used in the Virginia Tech massacre and that the class of guns chosen were those used by gangs and police killers. After admitting that she did not know what a barrel shroud was, she ventured a guess, "I believe it is a shoulder thing that goes up."

McCarthy then went on to highlight the importance of restricting access to guns by the mentally ill. Two months later, the House of Representatives passed legislation cosponsored by McCarthy, with the support of the National Rifle Association, to enhance the mental health information collected in the national database used by gun dealers.

Ratings
McCarthy received a rating of 8% from the American Conservative Union in 2005, and holds a lifetime ACU rating of 20%. She received a "Liberal Quotient" of 90 out a possible 100 in 2005 from Americans for Democratic Action. McCarthy received a "C" on the progressive Drum Major Institute's 2005 on middle-class issues. In 2003, The firearm-rights advocacy organization, the National Rifle Association, rated McCarthy with an "F", indicating a pro-gun control voting record.