Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, when the stakes are highest, that is when upstate New Yorkers' grit and toughness shows the most.

Just look at our Averill Park Golden Knights, who brought home both the baseball and softball State championships this year.

The baseball team went into the championship game as underdogs, facing an undefeated opponent on a 28-game winning streak. Coach George Brooks told his team to keep it simple, stay focused, stay disciplined, and that is what they did.

Fred Bornn locked in and threw a complete game shutout, and Jeg Sansone drove in two runs to bring home the title.

Speaking of great coaching, Maria Roberts led the Averill Park softball team to the championship in her very first year on the job.

The Golden Knights built an early lead off Emily Aiossa's three-run homer, but the game was on the line in the top of the 6th, with the bases loaded, nobody out, and the opponent's top-of-the-order coming up to bat.

Pitcher Abigail Colwill and the Golden Knights defense did what upstate New Yorkers do under pressure: They dug in and got to work. They retired three straight, the last of which was an amazing catch by centerfielder Mady Charron.

Congratulations to the Averill Park Golden Knights. We are so proud of them. I am honored to enter their full roster into the Congressional Record.

Averill Park High School Boys Varsity Baseball 2025-2026

Ethan Archambeault

Roman Badia

Griffin Baker

Nicholas Bendetti

Joseph Biette

Frederick Bornn

Kevin Daley

Luke Davidson

Anthony Decker

Austin Fabiano

Shea Gibson

August Hencke Jr

Gavin Herald

Brady Heritage

Maximus Impellizzeri

Braeden Kilgallon

Max Kilgallon

David Lang

Steven Matheke

Bryce Rokjer

Dylan Rouleau

Jeg Sansone

Mason Sansone

Devin Slmiele

Kody Thompson

Averill Park High School Girls Varsity Softball 2025-2026

Emily Aiossa

Isabella Alvarez

Madison Bayer

Lily Biette

Kaleina Bowen

Madelyn Charron

Abigail Colwill

Audrey Coon

Anna Cronin

Anna Fedorowicz

Alexis Gibson

Elizabeth Lindow

Natalia Mancino

Quinn O'Brien

Dianna Parker

Julia Ratigan

Lila Ratigan

Victoria Sanchez

Piper Tobey

Sage Yakuboski

Mr. Speaker, when the stakes are highest, that is when upstate New Yorkers' grit and toughness shows the most. Just look at our Averill Park Golden Knights, who brought home both the baseball and softball State championships this year.

The baseball team went into the championship game as underdogs facing an undefeated opponent on a 28-game winning streak, but Coach George Brooks told his team to keep it simple, stay focused, stay disciplined, and that is what they did.

Fred Bornn locked in and threw a complete game shutout, and Jeg Sansone drove in two runs to bring home the title.

Speaking of great coaching, Maria Roberts led the Averill Park softball team to the championship in her very first year on the job. The Golden Knights built an early lead off of Emily Aiossa's three-run homer, but the game was on the line at the top of the sixth with the bases loaded and nobody out and the opponent's top of the order coming up to bat.

Pitcher Abigail Colwill and the Golden Knights defense did what upstate New Yorkers do under pressure: they dug in and got to work. They retired three straight, the last of which was an amazing catch by center fielder Mady Charron.

I congratulate the Averill Park Golden Knights. We are so proud of them, and I am honored to enter their roster into the Congressional Record.

Mr. Speaker, this is a speech that I am not supposed to give. That is because Mr. Salati would say: Don't make a fuss about me, you have more important things to do.

However, today, there is nothing more important than telling Mr. Salati how much we love him and how much we will miss him. Mario Salati was the son of immigrants from Italy who came to Endicott to seek the American Dream, and he found it.

Mr. Salati was not just our elementary school principal, he was in a lot of ways the village dad. We all looked up to him because of his quick wit, his commitment to service, and his genuine love for our community, and most of all, his pure kindness.

A proud U-E Tiger, Mr. Salati spent his career teaching and leading our public schools because he cared so much about our futures. Outside the classroom, you could find him at Saint Anthony's or the Sons of Italy, where his smile filled every room.

For his children, Brian, Colleen, and David, his grandchildren, Aubrey, Lucy, and Charlie, and his brothers Roz and Don, and all of Tiger Nation, I know there is a big hole in your hearts right now.

However, as Mr. Salati's favorite, Connie Francis, sang:

You're safe in the glow of His love,

Sent from the heavens above,

Until the day that you're together once more,

You'll live in these memories,

Until the day that you're together once more.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, my kids are little. The other day they asked why daddy has to go back to D.C. I said that it is for work. They seemed sad about that. My wife chimed in, and she said that it is really important work. It is work that is going to help make people's lives better.

Now here we are, back at work. The first thing on the agenda in 2026 is not to lower the soaring utility bills. It is not to lower the insurance premiums. It is not to make housing more affordable. It is showerheads. We are out here talking about showerheads.

Not a single person in upstate New York has ever told me they want Congress focused on showerheads. The owner of the tattoo shop in Ithaca told me she will go uninsured this year because she can't afford the premiums.

There is a grandma in Endicott who is cutting back on the groceries because NYSEG is jacking up the rates and sending all her money to Spain.

There is a couple in their twenties. They are both young nurses. They can't save up for a home because Wall Street is gobbling up all the inventory.

Here we are, talking about showerheads. We wonder why people look at this place and see it as a self-serving, out of touch, dysfunctional mess. We don't need new ballrooms. We don't need new showerheads. We don't need a new name for the Kennedy Center. We need lower costs, better jobs, and a square deal.

At the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If the House rules had allowed it, I would have offered a motion with an amendment to lower costs for hardworking families in upstate New York.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to recommit. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New York? There was no objection.

Mr. Speaker, I just introduced bipartisan legislation to stop utility companies from paying bonuses to their CEOs.

This bipartisan bill is for folks in upstate New York working hard to pay their bills and raise their families. They are good, honest people who are sick and tired of being screwed over, ripped off, and left behind in an economy that is rigged against them.

There is a retired nurse in Endicott raising her grandkids on a fixed income, and right now she is trying to decide between the NYSEG bill and the toys on the kids' Santa list. There is a senior in Cochecton who stopped taking her prescriptions because she can't afford the meds and the NYSEG bill. There is a public schoolteacher in Ithaca who had to pick up a second job to make ends meet and still worries about losing her home this winter.

While these families are scraping by, the foreign-owned utility monopolies are jacking up rates again and doling out millions of dollars to CEOs sitting in boardrooms halfway around the world.

Enough is enough.

My bipartisan bill says we are not going to take it anymore. We are not going to let you take money out of our pockets to line the pockets of corporate executives in Spain.

Mr. Speaker, New York's 19th Congressional District is home to not one but two championship field hockey teams.

The Whitney Point Eagles just won their fifth straight State title. That is 10 championships in the last 11 years.

The Eagles earned this one with a perfectly executed corner in overtime. That is the kind of composure under pressure that you only get from hard work, discipline, and a great coach like Nicole Huston.

The Windsor Black Knights just brought home their first State championship.

The thing I love about this team is how tight-knit they are. During a post-game interview, Abby Guarino said the things she will remember the most wasn't raising the trophy after the game; it was the bonds she built with her teammates.

We are so proud of these young women from Whitney Point and Windsor. They represent the very best of our rural communities, and they have set an example for the next generation of what you can accomplish when you give it your all.

Go Eagles, and go Black Knights.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record the names of each player on these championship teams.

Mr. Speaker, in Binghamton, we call our baseball team the Rumble Ponies, and you probably want to know why.

Rumble Pony is another name for a carousel horse, and the Triple Cities is the carousel capital of the world. We have more carousels per capita than any place in the entire world. It is true.

When the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Factory built the Triple Cities, it employed tens of thousands of people, built homes and parks, and the parks had carousels. The carousels are free to ride. They always have been. They always will be. It is part of the Square Deal.

We are very proud of our Rumble Ponies, and these days we call them something else, too: Eastern League champions.

Trailing 2-1 on the road in the bottom of the sixth in an elimination game, the Ponies did what we do in upstate New York: They picked themselves up, they fought back, and they won.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Manager Reid Brignac; Jett Williams; Pitcher of the Year Jonah Tong; Ryan Clifford; KJ and David Sobatka; and, of course, Rowdy and Ruby on a 90-win season and an Eastern League championship.

Go Ponies.

Mr. Speaker, utility bills are crushing upstate New Yorkers. I have seniors on fixed incomes who are cutting back on groceries and working parents who are cutting back on school clothes for their kids just to keep the lights on.

Now the utility monopolies, which are owned by foreign corporations, are raising rates again. They are taking more and more money out of our pockets, and they are sending it to foreign corporations to pad their profits. They have been getting away with it for years because they work the refs, hire lobbyists, and grease the politicians with corporate PAC checks.

When I say that the system is rigged against the working class and in favor of special interests, this is what I am talking about, and it ends today. My Keep the Lights Local Act will ban foreign corporations from owning our utilities.

Upstate New Yorkers, who are already struggling to get by, shouldn't be forced to pay dividends to corporate executives sitting in board rooms halfway around the world.

Keep the lights local. We are going to take our power back.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent in the House chamber today to accompany my son for his first day of school. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 219 and YEA on Roll Call No. 220.

Mr. Speaker, in upstate New York, we make things. This past weekend, we made history when Amphenol Aerospace celebrated its 100th anniversary in Sidney.

Amphenol's is a century-old story of resilience, a community that rebuilt after floods, coming back stronger than before.

It is a century-old story of American innovation, with the world's most cutting-edge technologies rolling off our factory floor.

It is a decades-old story of the power of labor, a true partnership between Amphenol and the Machinists Union, with good jobs, good wages, and a strong middle class.

It is a century-old story of American strength. Amphenol's work defends our homeland.

Above all, though, we are celebrating 100 years of a close-knit manufacturing town of less than 5,000 people where the thing that matters most is not whether you have got an R or a D next to your name, but whether you show up for your shift, do your job with pride, treat each other right, take care of your family, and love this country.

My family and I were honored to celebrate 100 years with everyone at Amphenol this weekend, and we are all in for the next 100.

Mr. Speaker, where I come from, we make things. Generations woke up before the crack of dawn, went off to the factory, punched a clock, worked their hands to the bone, and came home and counted nickels to make sure they could keep a roof over the kids' heads and keep food on the tables.

We have kept our heads down. We have kept our sleeves rolled up. We have kept our shoulder to the wheel. All we have asked for is a fair shot and for this place to stop screwing us over, but you can't help yourselves.

You got us into terrible trade deals that made Wall Street rich and shipped all of our jobs overseas. You bail out the banks while neglecting rural America. You have rigged the economy so the corporate PACs that are funding your campaigns make huge profits, jacking up costs on folks who can't afford it, and now this.

This bill will kill good, blue-collar manufacturing jobs that we need to rebuild the economy in this country, close rural hospitals, and defund healthcare, all to give trillions of dollars in tax cuts to your cronies.

Don't tell me you give a shit about the middle class when all you are doing is shitting on the middle class.

Mr. Speaker, I am new here, but this bill confirms what I suspected: This place is corrupt as hell.

My amendment would have used this opportunity to negotiate prescription drug prices. It would have saved us billions of dollars that we could have used for tax cuts for the middle class.

However, Mr. Speaker, you know what happened. The drug companies sent their armies of lobbyists here to kill it. That is because you all are fine taking food off the tables of kids, Mr. Speaker, but God forbid you would do anything to rein in the profits of the drug companies.

We could have used this opportunity to close the carried interest loophole and make Wall Street finally pay its fair share. That is common sense.

We know where all that super-PAC cash comes from. Mr. Speaker, you would rather close rural hospitals than close tax loopholes. Then you wonder why the American people hate this place, Mr. Speaker.

If you really want to drain the swamp, Mr. Speaker, start by killing

this bill and working across the aisle to deliver real tax cuts for the middle class instead of your handlers.

Mr. Speaker, during National Police Week, I rise to honor Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Bernard Roberts. He was a marine, a husband, a father, and a member of the CCSO for 18 years.

I was so honored to see Deputy Roberts' name added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall this afternoon.

Bernard is survived by his wife, Fulgencia, and their six children: Jayden, Tristin, Tristina, Adriana, Niya, and Hillary. Speaking with them today, it is clear Deputy Roberts was an exceptional man, a dedicated officer, and a loving father.

He had a playful side. His friends called him Cupcake B. He was also a very serious student, which is a trait that he has passed along to his daughters.

His legacy of service and love endures through his family.

Mr. Speaker, as we honor all of our law enforcement heroes this week, let us especially remember Deputy Bernard Roberts. We are forever grateful for his service, his sacrifice, and his beautiful family.

Mr. Speaker, the Binghamton Patriots boys' basketball team are New York State champions.

Just like the city they represent, this team was all about grit and determination. Down in the fourth quarter of the championship game, the Patriots didn't fold. They fought and took the

game into overtime. Down in overtime, the Patriots didn't fold. They fought and took the game into double overtime.

That is when they finished the job, because no matter how long the odds, do not ever count out Binghamton.

I congratulate Coach Paddick and his coaching staff, Binghamton teachers, staff, and administrators, and, of course, the students and players.

I thank them for bringing some joy to our community at a time when we really need it.

I will always be a proud Union-Endicott Tiger, but today we are all Binghamton Patriots because there is nothing more unifying than bringing home a State championship.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to read the Patriot's roster into the Congressional Record as follows:

Kamal Abdul-Aziz, Derek Abu Jr., Jah-lon Cook, Cashawn Fleming Jr., Zubayr Griffin, Elijah Johnson, Isaiah Joseph Selby, Vaughn Labor, Zahir Marshall, Michael Constantine, Ilyas Morgan, Elliot Nelson, Corien Noble, Benjamin Ondrusek, Connor Ondrusek, Duncan Paddick, Yusri Razzaq, Jayden Remplet, Shawn Remplet, Vince Saraceno, Devonte Santiago, Milo Wilson.