Ms. Gillibrand walks along the Senate halls

Ms. Gillibrand speaks at a news conference about the 9/11 Responders bill

In an article published on the front page of the New York Times on Thursday, author Drew Angerer highlights Sen. Gillibrand rise in notoriety over the past couple of weeks. As an outspoken advocate of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the 9/11 First Responders bills, Ms. Gillibrand emerged as a fearless leader after their passage on Wednesday. When both of the bills were stalled in the Senate. the mother of two, would give rousing speeches and news conferences demanding for their passage. And with that people began to notice – the opening of the article reads….

The spotlight was shining on her at last, and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, the oft-overshadowed junior senator from New York, did not hold back. Pounding the lectern on the Senate floor, raising her voice almost to a shout, Ms. Gillibrand hectored, reasoned with and sought to shame her colleagues into ending the 17-year-old ban on gays’ serving openly in the military. “If you care about national security, if you care about our military readiness,” she demanded, “then you will repeal this corrosive policy.” – The New York Times