Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a remarkable public servant and close friend in New York's 22nd District, Mr. James Zecca, of Utica, New York.

At the end of May, Jim will retire from his position as the director of the Madison County Department of Solid Waste and Sanitation, a position he started and created in 1988. A few years ago, a colleague of Jim's said that his ``forward thinking attitude and determination has made Madison County a leader in recycling in New York State.'' He ensured the county was open and transparent to everyone, always including the community as a whole in every process.

Even though he works in Madison County during the day, Jim has served his community, his own community in Utica, the city of Utica, for many years. He served as a city councilman representing the Second District, and also a councilman-at-large during his time on the Utica Common Council.

Jim has always been a champion of the little guy, the small-business owner, and the citizens who have been hurt by government incompetence, overreach, and yes, even corruption.

It is my honor to congratulate Jim on 30 years of exceptional service to Madison County and our entire community. His hard work, courage, and compassion will be missed by all.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in congratulating Jim on his retirement, and best wishes for the future, and also, for his tireless effort in making America great again.

Congratulations, Jim.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize, along with my colleague Congressman John Faso, an outstanding group of young women from Delaware Academy in Delhi, New York. The Delaware Academy Girls' Varsity Basketball team won this year's New York State Class D Basketball Championship. It was an intense game with a last 3-point shot from Logan Bruce that carried the team into overtime.

The game finally ended in the first overtime with Delaware defeating Franklinville with a score of 54-51. This is Delaware Academy's first basketball State title and the first State title in any of the women's and girls' sports. The Delaware team, known as the Bulldogs, has 14 superior talented athletes:

First, the three-point shot, which was made by Logan Bruce, Olivia Wakin, Kaitlyn Finch, Brenna Gioffe, Julia Burns, Aileen Nealis, Hannah Baxter, Anna Post, Reagan Bracchy, Meredith Mable, Caroline Grace, Cella Schnabel, Sophia Wakin, and eighth grader Sylvia Liddle.

Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to have my colleagues join me in congratulating this outstanding, talented group of women and their coaches: Todd Bruce, A.J. Mucciaro, and Tom Gliddon, on becoming New York State champions for the first time.

As a former starting center for my high school girls' basketball team, I am just so proud to say: Go, Bulldogs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 125th anniversary of the incredible Masonic Care Community of New York, located in the city of Utica.

The Masonic Care Community of New York opened its doors on May 1, 1893, as the Masonic Home, started by the Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York. Their goal was to provide high-quality care to elderly masons and families living in the Mohawk Valley region.

Within 30 years, the location expanded to include a building for 360 adults, a hospital, several dormitories for children, and a 200-acre working farm that supplied food for those living on the campus.

Today, the Masonic Care Community of New York offers top-of-the-line healthcare options to all. It also offers high-quality senior care, rehabilitation services, and child care, while also making house calls for those patients who are unable to leave their home.

Masonic Care Community of New York has supported, nurtured, and educated the community by providing exceptional care and services with compassion and pride guided by the Masonic principles of brotherly love, relief, truth, and integrity. Currently, more than 500 seniors call the Masonic Care Community of New York and their independent living center home.

I want to extend my congratulations to the staff at the Masonic Care Community of New York for their hard work in continuing to make the Masonic Care Community of New York a first-class facility. I wish them 125 more years of exceptional service.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Ann Wagner for yielding. She is a wonderful inspiration to me as a new Member.

I also want to thank Congressman McGovern for his comments.

This is really important that she is hosting tonight's Special Order on genocide awareness and prevention.

During the month of April, we joined together to honor victims and survivors to educate the public about genocide--it is hard to believe it is happening in our time--and to advocate for the prevention of future atrocities.

In the past 150 years, tens of millions of men, women, and children have lost their lives during brutal genocides and mass atrocities. Millions have been tortured, raped, and forced from their homes. Some of the darkest moments in world history have occurred, oddly enough, in the month of April.

In April 1933, the Nazi Party began its boycott of Jewish-owned businesses. This marked the beginning of a campaign of hatred that led to the murder of 6 million Jews.

My district is home to thousands of refugees from the former Yugoslavia. I have a long history with Yugoslavia. I began my study of the country of Yugoslavia in 1981 when I first participated as a student, a college student from Colgate University, in a semester abroad, and we traveled throughout the entire Yugoslavia and all the different principalities and republics. It was a spectacular and beautiful country, and it sparked a lifelong interest for me in this region.

I completely fell in love with the country and was fascinated by the people who were there who survived conquests, whether it was from the Ottoman Empire to being part of so many other parts of human history. They were also victims during the Nazi invasion, as well, during World War II.

I had the lucky opportunity to graduate from college and work as a foreign correspondent in the Press and Cultural Office of the former Yugoslav Consulate in New York. I also worked, at that time, alongside with ABC Sports during the Winter Olympics held in Sarajevo in 1984.

The war in Yugoslavia was a tragic saga in the history of human experience, especially for me, with my long history and love of the country and the people who inhabited this part of world.

I worked with people from the consulate, from all the republics and autonomous provinces from the former Yugoslavia. It just seemed unthinkable to me that this human genocide could occur in a region of the world which had experienced many occupying forces due to its very unique, very important geopolitical, strategic location in the world.

Yugoslavia was always known as the gateway between East and West, the place where you could get from Europe through Yugoslavia to, eventually, the Middle East along the Mediterranean. This region had diverse culture, religion, and people from all parts of Europe and the Middle East, and the world all united together for centuries, actually, living alongside each other with different values. Certainly, they had their differences.

But sadly, unfortunately, after all this history of unrest, the war in Yugoslavia eventually elicited the worst in humankind and was witness to one of the most horrific genocides in our generation against Bosnian citizens.

To the Bosnian community, April, again, marks 26 years since the beginning of the siege in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The horrific period of violence lasted for over 3\1/2\ years and was the longest siege in modern warfare. All told, over 10,000 people, including 1,500 children, were killed in Sarajevo during the siege.

In 1995, the worst massacre within Europe since World War II took place. The Srebrenica massacre killed more than 8,000 Bosnian boys and men during the Bosnian War.

In addition to these horrific killings, more than 20,000 civilians were expelled from the area. Many of these Bosnian refugees immigrated to my region. We are thrilled to have them.

It is just worth noting that my son was actually a student in the afterschool program at the Jewish Community Center in my area. The Jewish Community Center was actually instrumental in helping to find safe refuge in our community for these Bosnian Muslims who were suffering from this unconscionable genocide and atrocities against them.

I think it was the solidarity and the sympathy and the understanding, the true understanding of genocide that our Jewish citizens recognized in our region, and we are grateful to them. And we are also grateful to the Bosnian community for the decision to have so many wonderful Bosnian families visit our city and now remain as citizens. They provided the same ingenuity and the entrepreneurship and the vibrancy and the creativity that I remembered during my days of studying this very special part of the world.

I am especially grateful to them for enabling me to sustain the bond that developed between me, my family, who have all traveled to that part of the world, and this amazing group of people for the past 37 years of my life. It has become almost a vocation for me, just my study of Serbo-Croatian and my study of this region.

As we mark these tragedies of the past, we must not overlook what is taking place in the present. I just want to mention a little bit about my city, Utica, New York.

It has been recognized as one of the friendly cities to refugees. The Utica City School District now has over 42 languages spoken, and so we have a number of people coming from war-torn areas where, very graciously and also very generously, our communities have accepted them and provided them a home.

I want to just highlight one of the communities that is in our region as well, and those are the people from Myanmar, where over 700,000 Rohingya people have fled the Rakhine State in the face of expulsions and violent persecution at the hands of government forces.

In Syria, Bashar al-Assad's military butchers its own citizens and uses chemical weapons without regard for international law.

Under this dark cloud of atrocities and massive human rights violations, both present and past, I just want to join with my colleagues today in remembering these and remembering to ensure that these lessons are never forgotten, but more important, if we could only make sure they are never repeated.

I sincerely thank my colleague, Congresswoman Ann Wagner, for her great leadership on this issue, her tenacity and her courage and her continued fight to try to help these people who are the most needy, who have just been victimized in our society and across our country and our world. I thank her for including me tonight.

It is very special for me to especially recognize the Bosnians. It has been such a long part of my history, and my heart and my sympathy go to these wonderful people who suffered unfairly.

I just want to say thank you again to Mrs. Wagner for her great leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a dear friend, Jennifer O'Brien, of Binghamton, New York. She was recently designated as the 2018 New York Mother of the Year. Jennifer has dedicated her life to helping others and especially those who have been less fortunate.

Jennifer is the mother of two beautiful children, both of whom have cerebral palsy. Along with her full-time job at Health Processes, Jennifer serves as the executive director of Life Is Washable and as the executive director of the American Special Hockey Association.

Through Life is Washable, Jennifer has implemented innovative programs which have allowed children with special needs to play sports and participate in community events with their families. In addition to serving over 50,000 people with these programs, Jennifer serves over 3,000 members of the American Special Hockey Association.

She is also responsible for the construction of the largest accessible playground in New York State, known as OurSpace at Rec Park in Binghamton, New York.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing Jennifer O'Brien's outstanding accomplishments as a wife, a mother, and an advocate. Jennifer is one of those rare individuals who possesses endless energy, integrity, courage, tenacity, and compassion.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the members from the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate, otherwise known as Rome Lab.

Rome Lab has been recognized by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for its superiority in technology transfer work. Technology transfer work is a process by which existing knowledge or capabilities developed under Federal funding are used to fulfill public and private needs.

The winners of this year's FLC high-profile award are Ralph Kohler, Frank Hoke, Sean Patten, Joseph Mancini, David Canestrare, Daniel Carpenter, Joshua Sterling, Richard Newkirk, Sam Davis, and Mark Linderman.

This group of brilliant minds created the Android Team Awareness Kit, or ATAK. This is a profoundly useful software collaboration that runs on an android mobile operating system. It can

connect multiple people on the go, giving them a common operation picture right on their handheld phone. It currently has 40,000 Department of Defense users and 32,000 non-Federal users. The winners from Rome Lab created an easy access portal that allows the government to provide ATAK to citizens, enabling better communication and information sharing.

This technology transfer benefits Rome Lab, its mission, the government, and all users. A great example of how ATAK was extraordinarily beneficial was during the 2017 hurricanes. Because of Rome Lab's work, civilian, State, and military teams were able to communicate to rescue people and save lives.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate this group of brilliant young people and thank them for continuing to make the Air Force Research Lab, otherwise known as Rome Lab, a world leader in advanced technology.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the legacy of Harold ``Hal'' Snopek of Binghamton, New York. Mr. Hal Snopek was the beloved Chenango town supervisor and, sadly, passed away last month. Hal graduated from Chenango Forks High School, where he was a multiyear letterman, setting several school records, one which still stands today. He was inducted into the New York State Public High School Hall of Fame Athletic Association in 1991.

Hal was also a devoted car salesman at JW Greene for over 25 years. He was appointed to the Chenango town board in 2004, and served as the town's current supervisor.

Hal was deeply devoted to his family, leaving behind his loving wife and high school sweetheart, Donna, his daughters, Tami and Tina, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Along with being a dedicated public servant, Hal was a loving husband, dad, grandfather, and ``Pop Pop.'' He was a parishioner at the former St. Christopher's Church, where he and Donna were married 57 years ago, and he was currently active at Most Holy Rosary.

In his later years, Hal enjoyed driving all over town with his wife, Donna, in his 1932 Chevy. He was known as a Mr. Fix-It and loved to work on cars.

Hal was also known for his warm heart and great sense of humor.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing Hal's contributions to the town of Chenango over the past two decades. Our deepest condolences to Hal's family on the loss of an honored and beloved member of our community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Whitesboro Police Officer Kevin Crossley. Officer Crossley tragically lost his life on Wednesday night in a car accident while on patrol in his hometown in the village of Whitesboro in Oneida County, New York.

He was a 7-year member of the Whitesboro Police Department, after being hired full time in 2011, while first serving there as an intern. He also worked part time as an officer for the Whitestown Police Department, and previously served in the Whitestown Fire Department.

Growing up in Whitesboro, Officer Crossley knew almost everyone in the village. The community loved and trusted him. His whole life's dream was to protect and serve the community and its residents. He arrived at work every day with a smile on his face and a positive attitude.

Through numerous local and county police salutes, community processions, and testimonials from friends and family, it is clear how much Officer Crossley was beloved by his colleagues and our entire community. Officer Crossley's service, dedication, and love for our community was unparalleled, and we cannot thank him enough for his honorable service.

Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to ensure the safety of our families and our communities. We are eternally grateful for their dedication and service to our Nation.

Officer Kevin Crossley is a hero, and the village of Whitesboro and all of us were blessed by his honorable service to us. We offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends and colleagues on the loss of a dear friend and a wonderful community servant.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin) for hosting tonight's really important Special Order.

I might just add, as a side note, that Mr. Zeldin and I are very aware of corruption firsthand; I, as a former member of the Assembly, and him as a former member of the New York State Senate. Today is actually the day of former speaker Sheldon Silver's second trial. He is being tried for corruption in New York, so we know what it is like to fight the good fight on that.

But I want to just highlight why it is so important and why I agreed to sign on to Mr. Zeldin's letter appointing a second special counsel. Recent evidence has emerged raising serious concerns about decisions and activities at the Department of Justice, the DOJ, and the FBI regarding FISA abuse.

I keep saying FISA, but for everyone, so they should know, it is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and it is why the Clinton probe ended and why the Trump Russia probe began. It appears that, for political gain, key Federal employees at the FBI and the Department of Justice deliberately misled our FISA courts and pursued a partisan political agenda.

The FISA memo detailing these abuses of power stated: ``Top Obama administration officials knowingly used unverified information paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign, some of which came from Russian intelligence, in a secret court document to justify a counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign during the 2016 Presidential election. This corrupt process was later the basis for a campaign to sabotage the incoming Trump administration and to fuel a witch hunt against the President.''

The American people deserve to know if our government is misusing powerful surveillance methods to exact political revenge, especially if it is before a FISA court. This behavior by those entrusted to impartially serve the public threatens to the core the integrity and vibrancy of our constitutional republic.

The American people are starting to get it. A recent Harvard CAPS- Harris Poll survey concluded that 67 percent of Americans support a second special counsel; 75 percent of those are Republicans, 60 percent are Democrats, and 69 percent are independents. This is a significant majority of Americans ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.

Tonight, Mr. Speaker, I stand alongside my distinguished colleagues to encourage Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint a second special counsel. Simply appointing Attorney John Huber to lead an internal Justice Department review of Special Counsel Robert Mueller is a step in the right direction, but I don't believe it is far enough.

The American people deserve nothing less than full transparency. Working alongside congressional leaders, I will continue to fight to ensure these serious matters are investigated, and encourage investigations where necessary to restore the public trust.

We must demand accountability across the board. It is the only way we are going to restore public trust in our institutions of government and to restore the rule of law and order in our communities.

I thank the gentleman for his leadership on this issue as a member of the Financial Services Committee, but also, importantly, as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and also serving honorably as a distinguished member of our Armed Forces in the Army.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Joe Wilson. He has been a terrific mentor for me, and I am grateful for his allowing me to recognize this really important experience.

As we are remembering, there is a really important person in my life who has inspired me in many of the things that I do, and her name was Helen Sperling. She was born in 1920. She is a Holocaust survivor. She survived a Nazi death camp.

She was actually liberated on April 18, 1945--just a couple of days away from that anniversary date. She had to be hospitalized in Germany for 3 years before she was finally able to immigrate to the United States with, eventually, her husband, who was also a Nazi survivor.

But Helen was a special person, and she was someone whom I got to know. As Congressman Gohmert just mentioned, as a student in New Hartford, New York, she was a resident of our town, and a very tiny woman, wonderfully positive and very excitable and really just a warm person.

I was a seventh grade student, and she came and spoke to our class about the Holocaust and explained to us the horrors of what happened to her and her family in Nazi Germany, and it was just so impactful. Helen basically spent her life telling this story.

As Congressman Gohmert alluded to a moment ago, this wonderful person--one day, my son, 30 years later, came back from seventh grade and said: Mom, I met this incredible woman. She spoke in my class, and she told us all about the Holocaust and the horrors that occurred there, where the Jewish people were annihilated and killed and murdered in millions, and she told us her story. And at the end of the story, I asked her if I could hug her, and she said of course.

He said he was so moved by her as well. And I just turned to him, and I said: Oh, my God, Helen Sperling is back. She is still talking about it.

Helen, sadly, died a couple of years ago, and we gave honor and tribute to her as my constituent when I was a member of the New York State Assembly.

But also, I got to meet Helen on a number of occasions afterwards. She was wonderful in speaking to Boys State, you know, the American Legion's hosted events.

I just want to read a little bit from Helen's obituary, because I think it is really important to understand this woman who survived this and really devoted her entire life to educating children and people. I just want to read a little bit from this, and here is where it started from her obituary from 2 years ago.

``The anguish of the Holocaust scarred Helen for life, and she tried to turn her pain into a positive instrument for education. In March 1967, the Annual Holocaust Lecture series was begun, and it was later named for Helen and Leon,'' her late husband. ``This annual program, endowed by the Sperlings, will continue to provide Holocaust education for many generations to come.''

That was a dream of Helen's.

``From 1968 until her death, Helen had shared her life and her Holocaust experiences with tens of thousands of people, lecturing tirelessly at schools, colleges, churches, prisons, and clubs, in the fervent hope that both young people and adults would remember, learn, and build a better, more peaceful world. She will always be remembered by her challenge to `Never Be A Bystander.'

``Helen believed that the worst part of being in the concentration camps was the feeling of being powerless. She tried to teach people never to abuse power and to protect those who could not protect themselves.

``As a result of the mutual love and respect between Helen and the generations of audiences that have heard her, Clinton and New Hartford Senior High Schools,'' in my district--and New Hartford Senior High School, which is my alma mater--``have each developed scholarship awards in her name to honor those seniors who exhibit the character that Helen believed would help make a better, more humane, and peaceful world.

``These scholarships, as well as the many other tangible gifts given by `her schools,' in her honor, touched Helen deeply. She was moved and grateful for the hundreds of lilacs planted by her friends and students in memory of her father.''

The lilacs were her symbol.

But I also want to mention something really important about Helen. I got to meet her, and actually one of the last times I got to speak with her was we were speaking together at Boys State in my district in 2012 and she got a little modern. One of the things she was handing out to the young men who were at Boys State learning how to potentially be serving our Nation as members of our military or in government, she handed out these lovely little, as you can see, one of these wristbands that are so common today. And on this wristband--this is the very wristband that was handed to me by Helen back in 2012. It says: ``Thou shall not be a bystander.''

Helen handed these out to everyone she spoke with, to remember, and to remember to stand up and not let these horrors of events like the Holocaust happen again in our time.

I just wanted to pay tribute to her tonight.

I thank Congressman Wilson for this great honor to be able to speak and to mention an outstanding member of my district and what she stood for, and that we shall not be bystanders and that we shall always remember and not let this very horrific part of human history be forgotten and make sure that it never gets repeated again.

I just want to say thank you, and may God rest her soul, Helen Sperling, an amazing inspiration to me and so many thousands of others in my community. I just want to thank you for giving me a moment to recognize the great Helen Sperling from New Hartford, New York.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4293, the Stress Test Improvement Act, bipartisan legislation by my great colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin).

We keep hearing about megabanks, but all banks affect industries, small businesses, and large businesses. So every time we adjust the marketplace and we make more regulations, you also impact small businesses as well, and our ability to survive. As the owner of a small business, this affects me as well.

But stress testing is an important tool that can encourage the safety and soundness of an individual depository institution and the overall health of the banking system, including all banks, across all sizes and sectors. However, the Federal Reserve has implemented its stress testing in a manner that imposes unnecessary burdens without providing proportionate benefits. This is especially true for smaller institutions for which the cost of this exercise is disproportionately burdensome. It can also affect larger banks.

H.R. 4293 would fix the tests so they can properly show smarter ways to strengthen a financial institution's planning. This legislation improves the Federal Reserve's stress testing processes mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act by requiring a select group of banks, or bank holding companies, to conduct internal, company-run stress tests once a year rather than semiannually.

I want to thank Mr. Zeldin again for sponsoring this, as always, a bipartisan piece of legislation. And it is important to note that, if we are going to reduce regulations and burdensome fees and procedures on companies, it has to be across all sectors, not just one. And I think this legislation shows that and shows the sponsor's willingness to do that.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize six high school seniors who were selected as finalists for the Oneida County Good Citizens Award, presented by the Oneida County Chapter of the DAR, the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The 2018 finalists were Rachael Powles, Elizabeth Militillo, Crystal Lin, Madden Barnes, Abigail Hall, and William Thomas. Rachael Powles from Sauquoit Valley Central School was the first prize winner and will go on to represent Oneida County at the State level.

These six outstanding individuals were chosen based on their academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and an essay contest. These students clearly have a great future ahead of them, and it is great to see such strong youth leadership coming from Oneida County.

I wish the first prize winner, Rachael Powles, the best of luck as she continues in the New York State competition, and, hopefully, we will be seeing her in Washington, D.C., as a national finalist.

Madam Speaker, I ask that Members join me in congratulating these students on displaying qualities of service, leadership, and patriotism. The Daughters of the American Revolution is a highly respected organization that is devoted to our community, our children, and our Nation. Being a finalist in this wonderful organization is an honor, indeed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Antonio Pagliaro. Antonio recently lost his battle to cancer, leaving behind his wife, Nicole, their children, Alexis, Antonio, and Kylie, as well as his parents, Tony and Richetta, and his brothers, Peter and Michael Pagliaro.

As a graduate of the T.R. Proctor High School class of 1999, Antonio began his professional destiny and purpose in life to help people in need by serving in the emergency medical services industry. His passion was to provide critical help and comfort to those in need, especially in his hometown in the city of Utica, New York.

Antonio was a paramedic supervisor with Kunkel Ambulance for 15 years. He was also a 10-year volunteer with the Schuyler Volunteer Fire Department.

Antonio was a courageous public servant who served our community selflessly. He put his life on the line every single day for the betterment of all of us.

Along with being a dedicated public servant, Antonio was a passionate cook, number one dance dad, a gardener, and a parishioner of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, and so much more.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing Antonio Pagliaro, a true hometown hero. Our community is lucky to have had such a selfless, loving person as Antonio, and we wish his family prayers and positive thoughts to the entire family from all of us and my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague from California and her hard work on this really important issue.

Taxes are, of course, extremely important in New York State as being one of the highest taxed States in the Nation, along with California, an undistinguished honor that we don't want to have.

But I rise today to actually recognize the thousands of hardworking families across the 22nd District of New York, and throughout upstate, who have felt the real impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, our Tax Code was broken. It was riddled with loopholes that penalized success and hurt hardworking families and hardworking taxpayers. Our middle-income families were the ones who suffered as the economy and wages remained stagnant.

As I traveled from Sandy Creek to Vestal, Little Falls to Cortland, I heard real stories from families, small-business owners, single parents, veterans, and seniors detailing the damage of our oppressive Tax Code. It held our small businesses back, crippled our family farms, and left our families feeling hopeless and overwhelmed.

That is why we stepped up to the plate, took our constituents' concerns and stories to Washington, and passed legislation that reflected the values of fairness and hard work. No longer is our economy stagnant. No longer will American businesses and families suffer under an unfair and oppressive Tax Code from Washington.

Here in New York, tax reform has provided once-in-a-generation relief from the failed status quo, a status quo that was created in part and mostly by Albany politicians whose seemingly only intent is to tax and spend, and I dare say, waste our hard-earned money.

Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the typical middle class family of four in New York's 22nd District, which I represent, will see a tax cut of $2,439. Imagine what kind of money that could do for a family of four.

Now, families will have the opportunity and means to save for college, plan for the future, invest in their retirement, and provide their children with increased educational opportunities.

Families know how to spend their resources much better than the Federal Government. That is why we are putting real money back into the pockets of hardworking families, money they earned, and money they deserve to keep.

Throughout the debate on tax reform, I, along with my fellow colleagues from New York, fought an uphill battle to include provisions facing elimination that are vital to seniors, single parents, struggling families, and overly burdened job creators.

One of the key provisions that we New Yorkers fought tirelessly to include is the State and local tax deduction or, as you heard often, the SALT deduction. I would like to thank Chairman Brady and everyone on the Ways and Means Committee for understanding the importance of this deduction and what it means to my constituents. As a result of our advocacy, nearly all of my constituents in the 22nd District will be able to continue to claim a SALT deduction.

It is also flexible, which means it can be used for property sales or income tax, and not just restricted to local tax.

In the 22nd District, 99 percent of itemizers deduct less than $10,000 in property taxes. This provision will cover the overwhelming number of property owners who own homes of less than $450,000 in value, which is a very nice home in my district, a little different than in the coastal areas and sometimes you will see in the southern tier of New York.

The reason the SALT deduction matters stems from Albany politicians who have no regard for the taxpayers they represent. For example, all eight of the counties that I represent are in the top 36 highest property tax rates compared to home value nationwide per county.

This bill provides relief on the Federal level, while finally taking a step to encourage fiscal responsibility from Albany. I have always put the taxpayers I represent first, and it is long past time for politicians in Albany to do the same, and we are hoping that this bill will incentivize them to do that to help our taxpayers.

The benefits from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act do not stop there. Earlier this year, I heard from Frank Suits. Frank is the president and CEO of Suit-Kote Corporation, a family owned, multigenerational paving company in Cortland, New York. Frank wrote to me to share the impact tax reform has had on his business and nearly 800 employees.

First, in direct response to the new tax law, Suit-Kote announced plans to match the Federal tax cut and provide its employees with a 2 percent retroactive pay increase and has begun to accelerate 401(k) contributions for 2018 by 4 months to provide employees additional funds in their retirement accounts.

Our goal in passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was to deliver this type of relief to hardworking families like those employed by Suit- Kote, and it was an honor for me to actually go to Suit-Kote and meet with the employees and hear from them, firsthand, just how great their benefits were from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

We also heard that NBT Bank, a local bank in my region, with dozens of locations throughout the 22nd District, has used tax reform to invest in its employees. NBT decided to raise the starting hourly rate of pay from $11 to $15 an hour, without a mandate coming from the government, merely because of the benefits from tax reform. Employees earning $50,000 or less will receive a permanent minimum increase of 5 percent this year.

Another great little business in my community, fairly new, started by a young guy, A&P Masters Images, LLC, in Utica, a small printing business, has hired another full-time graphic designer and is now weighing the options of putting on an addition to its building in the city of Utica.

Howard Potter, CEO of A&P Masters, said with everyone's increase in pay he can already see a morale boost coming from his employees. He said the end-of-the-year tax relief for businesses will help them afford to be more aggressive with investing in their growth, to build or buy, or hire more staff, and buy more equipment.

While these companies are based in the 22nd District, there are dozens of other companies with branches in my district that are reaping the benefits of tax reform. For example, CVS is increasing its wages for hourly employees from $9 to $11 an hour.

Home Depot, with a location right next to my New Hartford office, is giving employees a bonus of up to $1,000, with the chairman and CEO of the company stating it was directly made possible by the tax reform bill.

Lowe's and Walmart are also giving back to their employees as a direct result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. All three of these corporations have numerous locations across my district and employ hundreds of hardworking citizens throughout NY's 22nd.

Critics of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have called this law and its benefits crumbs, or Armageddon, as you famously heard. They have also called this law a handout to the 1 percent. Time and again, they have been proven wrong.

Just this past weekend, our very own New York Post declared, and I am paraphrasing: GOP's tax cut isn't actually a gift to the rich. They come to that conclusion from an analysis done by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, who found that the top 20 percent of wage earners will pay 87 percent of all Federal income taxes in 2018, up from 84 percent last year. Additionally, the analysis found that most families earning under $50,000 a year will pay almost no Federal income taxes at all, and many will see a refund.

Mr. Speaker, this does not sound like middle class Armageddon to me. These benefits certainly do not sound like crumbs. This is money that can be used to get ahead on car payments, to pay rent, to pay mortgages, so much more that everyday Americans struggle with in a tough economy.

Businesses like the ones I mentioned are proof that providing desperately needed relief from the Federal side for the failed tax-and- spend status quo that we see in New York is the most effective way to improve the lives of Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for her advocacy on this and for asking us to join.

One added note I would like to say is we found also from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center that New York is going to be one of the gainers. We are actually going to see a growth in our economy and a growth in jobs, in spite of what Albany may or may not do; but we are really grateful for that, and I just want to say it is an honor to support the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and to advocate for the things in that bill that helped our district.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 230th anniversary of the settlement of my hometown, New Hartford, New York.

New Hartford was settled in early 1877 by Jedediah Sanger, who was in search of the American Dream. By 1789, Jedediah had brought his entire family to New Hartford and built a sawmill and gristmill. The village began to flourish with farmers who provided New Hartford and the surrounding communities with fresh produce and a variety of dairy products.

Today, the town of New Hartford strives to maintain Jedediah Sanger's original vision and ideas. It is home to numerous retail stores, restaurants, and churches, while remaining an extremely civic-minded and generous community.

In fact, our own New Hartford Central School District, my alma mater and the same school from which my son graduated from 30 years later, consistently ranks as one of the very best schools in New York State and among the top public schools in the country.

Fun fact: I actually live across the street from the house I grew up in, my childhood home, and I now live in a home that I purchased from our former Congressman, Alexander Pirnie, who once served in this great Chamber.

Please join me in honoring and celebrating the 230th anniversary of New Hartford, New York.