she had an "a" rating from the nra. she said she wanted to make english the official language of the united states. she opposed amnesty for undocumented immigrants. she used the phrase illegal aliens when she talked about that issue. that conservative congresswoman was kirsten gillibrand, now senator gillibrand, who was not seen as a conservative at all. senator gillibrand has had a transformation. she has changed a great deal on policy in the decades since she was a card-carrying member of the blue dog democrats from an upstate conservative district. after she was first appointed to the senate in 2009 to fill hillary clinton's senate seat when hillary clinton went on to become secretary of state, senator gillibrand very quickly became not a blue dog upstate new yorker anymore. she quickly became a progressive hero. she became the driving force, for example, behind efforts in the senate to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." she became a very outspoken advocate for women, starting with victims of sexual assault in the military with an approach