Kirsten Gillibrand in Interviews during 2017-2019

On Civil Rights: Let ex-cons vote; address racism in criminal justice

On Education: Strongly support education, but one size doesn't fit all

On Energy & Oil: Put a price on carbon: supports Green New Deal

The only idea that's new is net zero carbon emissions within 10 years. When John F. Kennedy said, "I want to put a man on the moon in 10 years," he didn't know if he could do it. Why not do the same here? Why not say, "let's get to net zero carbon emissions in 10 years not because it's easy, but because it's hard, because it will be a measure of our excellence and innovation," and it's a mission we are unwilling to postpone.

On Families & Children: Sexual assault and harassment must be treated seriously

On Families & Children: Shouldn't have to choose between caregiving and job

On Families & Children: Pro-vaccines, not sure if they should be Federally mandated

On Health Care: Transition to Medicare for all through public option

On Immigration: Treat asylum seekers humanely; reform process

I would protect the DREAMers. I would make sure that DREAMers that came to this country would have a pathway to citizenship so they can finish their schooling. So [if] they're serving in the military, they can continue to serve. So they can start families and start businesses. It's really important that we recognize that immigration is a strength. I would make sure we pass comprehensive immigration reform in this country.

On Energy & Oil: Perfect score on "350 Action's 2020 Climate Test"

Three candidates have made firm climate-forward commitments, issuing their support for the Green New Deal, vowing to keep fossil fuels in the ground and banning donations from Big Oil.

• Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT)
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA)

• Sen. Cory Booker (NJ)
• Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI)
• Gov. Jay Inslee (WA)
• Andrew Yang (CA)

• Donald Trump (NY)
• Former Rep. John Delaney (MD)
• Former Gov. John Hickenlooper (CO)

On War & Peace: Withdraw from Yemen; Withdraw from Afghanistan

• Opposing runaway military spending, voting against 47 percent of military spending bills since 2013.
• Her Peace Action voting record is 80 percent, reduced mainly by the same hawkish votes on Iran as Sanders from 2011 to 2013.
• Gillibrand was an early cosponsor of Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill. She has also supported a full withdrawal from Afghanistan since at least 2011, when she worked on a withdrawal bill with then Sen. Barbara Boxer and wrote a letter to State Department Secretaries Robert Gates and Clinton, asking for a firm commitment that U.S. troops would be out "no later than 2014."
• Gillibrand cosponsored the Anti-Israel Boycott Act in 2017 but later withdrew her cosponsorship when pushed by grassroots opponents and the ACLU, and she voted against S.1, which included similar provisions, in January 2019.
• She has spoken favorably of Trump's diplomacy with North Korea.

On Immigration: Reunite families ripped apart at the border

"President Trump has had years to bring this country together, but instead he has chosen to divide the country across every single line he can imagine. If President Trump wants to convince the country that he actually cares about bringing us together, then he can start by no longer using government workers as political pawns, reuniting the families that his Administration ripped apart at the border, and stopping with political wedge issues like telling women they can't make their own health decisions in consultation with their doctor."

On Abortion: Fewer limits on abortion; no 20-week ban

• Social issues: Expand abortion access.
• Gillibrand supports abortion rights, including placing fewer limits on, and expanding access to, abortion.
• She vocally opposed the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, arguing that he could help overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
• She also voted against a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

On Civil Rights: End the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy

• Gay, lesbian and transgender Americans should be allowed to serve in the military and marry whomever they chose.
• Gillibrand pushed to end the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that required members of the military who identified as gay or lesbian to keep their sexual preferences secret.
• She supported same-sex marriage before it was legalized.
• More recently, she opposed the Trump administration's attempt to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military.

On Crime: Advocate for victims of sexual assault

• Sexual assault and harassment: Reform handling of sexual assault in the military and on college campus.
• Gillibrand made a name for herself in the Senate as an advocate for victims of sexual assault.
• The "Campus Accountability and Safety Act" she co-sponsored in 2014 would increase resources and training and set national standards for handling sexual assaults on college campuses.
• She also believes the military must reform how it handles such assaults; she introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act, which would remove decisions about assault cases from the chain of command.
• She was also one of the first Democrats to call for then-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to resign in 2017 after he was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct.

On Education: Make public higher education debt-free

• Gillibrand says she wants to create a path to college for those that can't afford it by creating better education programs for low-income students and creating tax deductions on college tuition.
• She co-sponsored the "Debt-Free College Act of 2018," which offers federal matching funds to states to help students pay for two- and four-year public colleges without taking on debt.
• The bill would help pay for tuition and room and board, but it does not specify how it would fund the plan.

On Energy & Oil: Limit then cap-and-trade carbon emissions

• Climate change: Create a cap-and-trade commodity market for carbon emissions. Ban new drilling on federal lands.
• Writing in the Wall Street Journal in 2009, Gillibrand proposed establishing a cap-and-trade commodity market to mandate a limit on carbon emissions and allow businesses to trade their emissions allowances as commodities.
• In addition, she has proposed the "Keep it in the Ground Act," which would ban any new leases for gas or oil drilling on federal lands.

On Families & Children: Make childcare more affordable and accessible

On Free Trade: Renegotiate NAFTA; add environmental protections

On Government Reform: Overturn Citizens United; refuse corporate PAC donations

• Campaign finance: Overturn Citizens United. Refuse corporate PAC donations.
• Gillibrand would reverse the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allowed for nearly unlimited campaign contributions from corporate and non-profit organizations.
• She supports a constitutional amendment to change the law.
• The New York senator is also among several prominent Democrats who have pledged to not accept donations from corporate Political Action Committees, or PACs.

On Gun Control: Ban high-capacity magazines; close gun-show loophole

• Guns: Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Make background checks universal.
• Gillibrand would reinstate a ban on assault weapons as well as ban high-capacity magazines, which enable a weapon to fire dozens of rounds without reloading.
• She opposes the idea of a national concealed carry policy and favors a number of other restrictions, including closing the "gun show loophole," requiring background checks for all gun purchases, and increasing restrictions on domestic abusers.
• As a House member representing a rural upstate district in New York, Gillibrand held different views on gun control and received an A rating from the NRA.
• She has said she was wrong and representing an entire state that includes urban communities with more gun violence pushed her to support more gun control measures.

On Gun Control: 2006: "A" rating from NRA; 2019: apologizes

Gillibrand announced she was running for president. Formerly a U.S. representative in upstate New York before being appointed to the Senate, Gillibrand has established herself as one of the chamber's most liberal members and is forming her campaign in part around her advocacy for women.

However, Maddow didn't let her off the hook for her old views on issues like guns and immigration, discussing what she called Gillibrand's "conservative bona fides" in unseating a GOP congressman in New York in 2006. Gillibrand had an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association.

"Senator Gillibrand has had a transformation. She has changed a great deal on policy in the decade since she was a card-carrying member of the Blue Dog Democrats," Maddow said. "She has been on her own party's right. She has been on her own party's left."

On Health Care: Basic Health Program: offer lower-priced health insurance

• Health care: Move to a universal, government-run health care system within four years.
• Gillibrand was a co-sponsor of the "The Medicare for All Act," a proposal led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., which would ban private health insurance and transition the U.S. to a government-run health system within four years.
• The bill offers a few funding options, including a new tax on the wealthiest 0.1 percent, and a new premium based on income.
• Gillibrand has also proposed expanding the "Basic Health Program," part of the Affordable Care Act, so that states can offer lower-priced health insurance to more people.

On Immigration: Reimagine ICE; support DREAMers

• Immigration and border security: Eliminate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Reform immigration to include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
• Since entering the Senate, Gillibrand has supported comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including so-called Dreamers who were brought to the country illegally as children.
• Gillibrand has also said she would eliminate and "reimagine" ICE. Last year, she proposed a bill that would require ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents to collect more data when they stop individuals and ask about their immigration status.
• Gillibrand's views on immigration represent a departure from her years in the House. Then, Gillibrand opposed what she called "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants, and opposed a plan allowing them to get drivers licenses in New York state.

On Immigration: 2006: anti-illegal alien; 2019: diversity is our strength

Maddow reminded Gillibrand she once said she was "embarrassed" by her previous positions on immigration. "Well, I don't think it was driven from my heart. I was callous to the suffering of families who want to be with their loved ones, people who want to be reunited with their families," Gillibrand said. "I recognize, as we all do, that immigration and diversity is our strength as a country. It's always driven our economy. It's the American story. So looking back, I really regretted that I didn't look beyond my district and talk about why this is an important part of the United States story and why it's an important part of our strength."

On War & Peace: Withdraw from Afghanistan & Syria

• Afghanistan and Syria: Withdraw from Afghanistan. Do not arm Syrian rebels.
• For years, Gillibrand has pushed for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• She has opposed efforts to arm Syrian rebels and she slammed the airstrikes ordered against Syria in the spring of 2018, saying that Trump did not have the authority to order them.
• Gillibrand also argued that President Barack Obama did not have authority to send U.S. troops to Syria.

On War & Peace: End military aid to Saudi Arabia to attack Yemen

• Gillibrand co-sponsored legislation that would end U.S. support for the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen.
• She has written that Saudi Arabia is using American weapons to "terrorize Yemeni civilians."
• In regards to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Gillibrand wrote that the U.S. should hold "the Saudi government to account."
• It is not clear where she stands on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman personally was responsible for the killing.

On Gun Control: Embarrassed at previous NRA "A" rating; now rated "F"

She was confronted with her ideological shift during a 60 Minutes segment last February, explaining how she went from having an "A" rating from the NRA to an "F."

"I went down to Brooklyn to meet with families who had suffered from gun violence in their communities," Gillibrand recounted. "And you immediately experience the feeling that I couldn't have been more wrong--you know, I only had the lens of upstate New York." She went on to say that she was "embarrassed" because she had in fact lived in New York City for a decade.

On Immigration: Blue Dog: opposed sanctuary cities & opposed amnesty

For those just getting acquainted with Gillibrand in the Trump era, in which she has voted with the president's position less than 12% of the time (the lowest among her colleagues), her past views may come as a surprise.

On immigration, the New York Democrat explained her shift: "I came from a district that was 98% white," Gillibrand said. "We have immigrants, but not a lot of immigrants. And I just didn't take the time to understand why these issues mattered because it wasn't right in front of me. And that was my fault. It was something that I'm embarrassed about and I'm ashamed of."