Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize 18 incredible individuals from my community in honor of Black History Month.

The 17th Congressional District and New York State are home to much of this rich history. The Hudson River was once one of the main arteries of the Underground Railroad, illuminating a pathway to freedom for enslaved people. In Hillburn, we saw the precursor to one of the Supreme Court's landmark cases, Brown vs. Board of Education, which paved the way for the fall of segregation and a full bill of civil rights to be passed at the federal level.

Last week, I held a ceremony to honor Vedeta Hanley, Jennifer Ogilvie, Pastor Jean Claude Dorcely, Roxanne Watson, Joyce

Sharrock Cole, Cassandra Dobson, Virginia Norfleet, Sonia Tracey, Pastor Greg Merriweather, Quacy Evelyn, Pastor Everett Newton, Alice Roker, Dr. Edmund Gordon, Jacqueline Baker, Dr. Winsome Downie, Dr. Philip Ozuah, Mel Johnson, and Nzhinga Milanes, who are continuing the history of black excellence in the Hudson Valley.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the joint resolution that would help protect the citizens of Washington, D.C., and prevent violent criminals from being let free to terrorize folks and reoffend.

Even Mayor Bowser, by no means a conservative or moderate, was adamantly opposed to the Revised Criminal Code Act. She vetoed it. It is no wonder why she vetoed this measure. So far, year to date, according to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C., has seen a 90 percent increase in auto theft, a 143 percent increase in sex abuse, and a 29 percent increase in homicides. On the whole, year to date, property crime is up 31 percent and overall crime is up 23 percent.

That doesn't sound like a recipe for doing away with mandatory minimums, lowering maximum sentences, and increasing rehearings for violent criminals.

In New York State, we have seen the impacts of these soft-on-crime policies. In New York City, total crimes were up 22 percent in 2022 from 2021 and over 47 percent from 2020, the year that cashless bail took effect.

It is alarming; it is startling; and it is a preview of what is to come in Washington, D.C., if we do not stop this radical measure that was passed from going into effect.

Cashless bail in New York was the single stupidest policy that has ever been enacted anywhere. Forty percent of those who have been released on nonmonetary bail for felony offenses have been rearrested. Judges do not have judicial discretion.

New York State is the only State in the country that does not have a dangerousness standard. There is nonenforcement of petty crimes in New York City. There has been elimination of the anticrime unit, which is primarily responsible for getting illegal guns off the streets. They have raised the age where 16- and 17-year-olds are tried in family court rather than criminal court, yet using guns in the commission of a crime, they are being released. Is it any wonder why gangs would use them?

Unrepentant cop killers, child rapists, and murderers are being released by an out-of-control parole board. There is a radical defund the police movement. This has happened in New York City, and it will happen in Washington, D.C., if this law is allowed to go into effect.

The greatest responsibility of any government is to ensure the safety and security of its citizenry. Cities like New York and now Washington, D.C., and Chicago are failing in their responsibility.

We are putting our citizens and law enforcement at risk. It needs to stop. This law should not be allowed to go into effect, and Congress has an obligation--an obligation--to act.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to recognize a fallen hero from New York's 17th District, Yorktown Police Captain Kenneth Sgroi. Captain Sgroi passed away suddenly on January 2 after fighting a brief illness.

He was a model police officer and a humble family man. He graduated from the police academy in 2007, serving as a deputy sheriff in Dutchess County. He then served as a member of the Yorktown Police Department with dignity, honor, and a compelling sense of duty for almost 13 years.

His loss has been a profound one felt by the Yorktown community, his fellow officers, and his family.

The town of Yorktown recently renamed their police department after him in honor of his service and sacrifice on behalf of the people of Yorktown.

Captain Sgroi is survived by his wife, Anne, a classmate of mine at Manhattan College, and two young children. My prayers are with them as they grieve his loss, and my office stands ready to assist them in any way we can.

Mr. Speaker, as Margaret Thatcher said, the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.

My wife is an immigrant from Eastern Europe, from Moldova, a former Soviet satellite state. She came to this country in search of economic opportunity and freedom and a better life for her and her family. She left a former Communist country that is still dealing with the grips of communism and socialist policies.

Let's be very clear. Communism and socialism have limited freedoms, stymied economic innovation and opportunity, limited prosperity, and left the very people it claims to help in a permanent state of poverty and government dependence.

Conversely, capitalism has lifted people from poverty to prosperity within a generation and made America the envy of the world.

To be clear, this resolution is not about Social Security or Medicare, two programs with broad bipartisan support. It is about a sick ideology that has destroyed nations, ruined lives, and resulted in death and destruction around the world.

Now, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are twisting themselves

into knots trying to explain why they oppose this resolution. The sad truth is, it is because their party has been taken over by a radical, socialist ideology that they are held hostage to. They can't even muster the courage to denounce it.

We are Americans. We should speak with one voice and denounce socialism, communism, dictators, and despots at every turn.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this resolution, denounce socialism, and proudly embrace capitalism, American innovation and ingenuity, and the role it has played in promoting freedom and democracy throughout the rest of the world.

I ask all of my colleagues to join me. It is very simple. This is not about Social Security or Medicare. This is about denouncing socialism. If you can't muster the strength to do that, that speaks volumes about your party.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of H. Res. 76. This is not about vengeance or retribution; it is about accountability.

I represent New York's 17th Congressional District, home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the country. Between Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Dutchess counties, I represent almost 100,000 constituents that practice the Jewish faith.

I take the scourge of anti-Semitism very seriously. It is something that must be rooted out in our society, as well as in the Halls of Congress.

No one who peddles in anti-Semitic activity, behavior, or language should have any right to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has an incredibly important role to play in partnering with our strongest ally, the State of Israel.

Two of my predecessors, Ben Gilman and Eliot Engel, served as chairs of this important committee. Israel's continued existence as a beacon of liberty, democracy, and peace in the Middle East serves as a model for other nations in the region and is something we should be celebrating, not demeaning.

Comments made by Members of this body about support for Israel being ``all about the Benjamins,'' or that the State of Israel is engaging in apartheid are appalling, wrong, and disqualifying.

Additionally, those who dismiss 9/11 as some people who did something, are you kidding me? It was a terrorist attack. It wasn't some people doing something. Or to equate the United States and Israel, both democratic nations, to the Taliban and Hamas, and those who promote the anti-Semitic BDS movement--you are damn right they need to be held accountable.

As a Member that represents a district that suffered greatly due to 9/11, and still has constituents grappling with the effects of that horrific, tragic day, dying of 9/11 health-related situations, I find those remarks jarring, alarming, and insulting.

To be clear, the Representative can say whatever the heck she wants, but we don't have to accept it or embrace it. Individuals who hold such hateful views should rightly be barred from that type of committee. We cannot let the poisonous ideology of anti-Semitism permeate into policy decisions that impact the lives of millions of Jews around the world.

I will stand up to anti-Semitism and defend Israel's right to exist and the right of Jews everywhere to practice their faith peacefully and safely. This is not about silencing anyone. The rise in anti-Semitism is significant, and these hate crimes have not been prosecuted.

Madam Speaker, words matter. Rhetoric matters. It leads to harm. The Congresswoman is being held accountable for her words and her actions, and that is why I support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the House for passing the Pandemic is Over Act, the Freedom For Health Care Workers Act, the SHOW UP Act, and for ending the national emergency.

I was in the New York State Assembly when the COVID vaccine mandate was passed, and I argued vociferously against it. Even then we knew it would cause irreparable damage to our healthcare facilities, forcing thousands of healthcare workers out of their jobs, and we were right. That is why it is so important for Congress to take this step and right that wrong.

Another refrain I hear over and over again from my constituents is that we need to end the national emergency declaration. We get calls every day in my office from small business owners, teachers, carpenters, and other constituents who simply don't understand why we haven't fully reopened our State and country.

COVID cases have dropped dramatically across the country, and the number of cases today compared to the same date last year are down over 600,000 cases. The fact is that this no longer constitutes a national emergency, and we should absolutely end the declaration.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the Senate to pass these important pieces of legislation and encourage the administration to accelerate their timeline on this important matter.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 500, the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2023. I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from Missouri, for introducing this legislation.

Too often, our offices receive desperate calls from seniors who have been exploited by scammers who coerced them into making bad or risky investments and cost them all or most of their life savings. These calls are especially heartbreaking as our seniors are the ones who have sacrificed so much to build our country into the incredible Nation that it is today.

That is why the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act codifies a process by which seniors and vulnerable adults in our country are given a tool they can use to fight back: time.

By delaying the transfer of funds and verifying that the true will of the accountholder is being exercised, we can, hopefully, prevent more of these tragic calls and circumstances from happening in the first place--as my colleague pointed out, $2.9 billion a year in fraud perpetrated upon our seniors.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the Senate to join us in passing this commonsense legislation into law to protect our seniors and our most vulnerable residents across our country.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to bring this body's attention to the urgent need to provide tax relief for families in districts like mine.

Folks in the Hudson Valley are facing an affordability crisis due to record inflation, skyrocketing energy costs, and the arbitrary cap on State and local taxes, otherwise known as SALT, placed on residents of States like New York in 2017.

It effectively leads to double taxation in a part of our country which already pays among the highest taxes in the Nation. In Rockland and Westchester Counties, for instance, we pay the highest property taxes in the country, averaging well over $10,000.

That is why I have introduced legislation, with bipartisan support of my colleagues Representatives D'Esposito and Sherrill, to begin to address this. The SALT Marriage Penalty Elimination Act would correct the flaw created by the original SALT cap that penalizes married couples filing jointly by lifting their deduction to $20,000 rather than $10,000. This small change would significantly help families in my district and across the country.

Ultimately, we need to repeal this arbitrary cap in full, but in the meantime, we can take concrete steps to provide hardworking taxpayers in New York and across the country real tax relief.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Together, we must all honor the millions of lives that were lost to the unspeakable atrocities committed by the Nazi regime.

The Holocaust claimed the lives of over 6 million Jews and millions of other residents of Europe. It was one of the most horrific genocides to ever occur on our planet, perpetrated by an evil and twisted group of fanatics.

The horrific violence and campaign of death that the Nazis waged on all fronts is a stark reminder of the fragility of human life and the importance of defending it.

My district, New York's 17th District, is home to one of the largest per capita Jewish populations in the United States. On this day, in particular, my heart and thoughts are with them as we remember those in our own community who have lost loved ones during the Holocaust.

We must all recommit ourselves to confronting anti-Semitism wherever it rears its ugly head and continue to work toward a safer and brighter future for all.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Louisiana for the kind words and gracious introduction.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk with respect to School Choice Week here in the United States and to address the dire need for education reform across our country.

As a child, I attended public schools. In New York, we have some truly phenomenal public schools. When I was in second grade, I was among the youngest people in my class with a September birthday, and my teacher, an immigrant from Russia, said to my parents that she felt it was important for me to be left back because I needed time to mature and grow.

My parents were open to the idea so long as she was my teacher again, and at the time, that was not the program. They would give you another teacher within the grade.

So, my parents pushed until the school acquiesced and allowed her to teach me a second time. It was the best thing that ever happened to me because it gave me the opportunity to grow, to mature, to develop. I went from being one of the youngest in my class to the oldest in my class, and that had a profound impact on me.

As my colleague pointed out, when I graduated college, I graduated as the valedictorian of my class. I don't say that as a bragging point; I say it as the result, the direct impact, that that moment had on my life from an education standpoint.

As I think about education and the impact that it has on our communities and our children, I believe in school choice. I believe not only in the right of parents to choose what education is best for their child but in the right of a child to get the education that will put them on a path to success in their careers, an education that will accentuate their skills and their talents.

Whether that is a public school education or a private school education, a charter school or a vocational school, those options must be available to every child. No child should ever be victim to a poor education because of their parent's wealth or their ZIP Code.

Too often, we see that children are left in substandard schools because of politics, and it is wrong. As I mentioned, I am a product of public schools. My sister-in-law is a special education teacher in the very district that I graduated from. She is part of the teachers union. I respect and admire our teachers across America who provide a valuable education to our children, but we must ensure, number one, that every child has access to a quality education and, number two, that parents, not bureaucrats, certainly not the teachers union, have a say over their child's education.

As we recognize School Choice Week, I think it is important to recognize the quality education that is provided in our public schools, yes, but also in our private schools, our religious schools, our parochial schools, and yeshivas. They provide an important education, not just with respect to the basics of math, science, English, and history, but a religious foundation that plays such a pivotal role in a child's life.

We must recognize the role vocational schools play. At a young age, we should be helping children identify what their skills are, what their talents are, what their interests are so that they have a path to success.

Not everyone is meant to go to college. College is a great thing. As somebody who graduated at the top of my class, I believe in a college education, but it is not necessary for everyone.

In this country, some of our most successful people don't have college degrees. They went the route of a vocational school. They own and operate their own business within the trades. They employ hundreds, if not thousands, of people. They contribute greatly to our economy and communities.

For me, as we move forward, we need to continue to invest critical resources in education at the Federal level, at the State level, and at the local level. We need to protect local control of schools, and we need to protect the rights of parents when it comes to their child's education.

All of this is so critical as we move forward to ensure that our children have a bright future and that they are productive and contributing members of our society.

Education is the civil rights issue of our generation. It is so critical to ensure that every child receives the quality education they are entitled to.

When we look at what has happened over the last few years, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, where so many schools were shut down and children were forced to learn remotely, we

saw devastating impacts and irreparable harm put upon our children. Nine-year-olds lost ground in math for the first time since the 1970s. Scores in reading fell by the largest margin in more than 30 years.

The damage was not felt equally across all demographics. Schools that remained open, or were closed for a shorter duration, did not see the same decline in student performance. Unfortunately, high-poverty districts that went remote for a majority of the pandemic will need to spend nearly all of their Federal education aid just to recover from these losses.

Such disparities are not new, and the COVID-19 pandemic has shone new light on issues that have been plaguing many communities for a long time.

Students in poor communities, whether they are urban or rural, tend to have lower test scores, literacy rates, and graduation rates than their peers. Meanwhile, the presence of alternatives to underperforming schools has been able to improve student outcomes substantially, slashing the achievement gap.

In the two decades since school choice programs were enacted in Florida, fourth grade reading performance rose 26 percent among African-American students, 27 percent among Hispanic students, and 29 percent among students from low-income households. Similarly, math performance rose 27 points among African-American students, 19 points among Hispanic students, and 21 points among low-income students.

In my State of New York, charter schools have made a big difference in some of the same students that struggle. According to 2019 test scores, 63 percent of charter school students in grades three through eight passed the State math exam compared to 46 percent for traditional public school students. Additionally, 57 percent of charter school students in the same grade levels were proficient in English language arts while the percentage for traditional public school students was 47 percent.

Any discussion on education reform must include school choice and support for it and support for our vocational schools, parochial schools, traditional private schools, and charter schools. We have to have an all-of-the-above approach. We need to empower communities, parents, and students, as well as our educators, to ensure that every child gets the education they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to oppose New York State's disastrous congestion pricing tax, which is nothing more than a tax grab hurting middle-class and working-class families in my district, especially those first responders who are forced to commute into New York City by car. It would cost them an additional $5,000 a year to commute to work, $23 a day, just to get into Midtown Manhattan.

Rockland County, where I live, faces a $40 million value gap. We pay $40 million more in taxes to the MTA system than services we receive. We have no one-seat ride option from Rockland County, and express rail service has been cut. In Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties, commuters have received a 10 percent cut in express rail service.

Many folks choose not to take the subway anymore because of the rise in crime. Violent felonies are up over 40 percent on the subways in New York City.

That is why I joined Congressman Gottheimer from New Jersey in cosponsoring the Anti-Congestion Tax Act. We will hold the MTA accountable and end this program, stopping it dead in its tracks.

Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is America needs to be energy independent. We should not be relying on foreign governments. We should not be relying on China, least of all.

Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of New Yorkers, for instance, rely on natural gas. We need to expand our energy portfolio. We need to increase domestic production of energy. We need to protect our reserves.

We should not be engaging in the type of behavior that the administration has with respect to China, and we should continue to do everything we

can to reduce the cost of energy here in America and increase our production.

That has to be the goal at all times.

Madam Speaker, earlier this week the Biden administration announced plans to ban gas stoves. The Governor of New York embraced the same plan.

The problem is that 60 percent of New Yorkers rely on natural gas, and 70 percent of our electricity is generated by natural gas.

While we absolutely embrace the move to reduce carbon emissions, the reality is natural gas has reduced carbon emissions far greater than renewables over the last two decades.

We need a comprehensive energy plan and portfolio that is an all-of- the-above approach. We need clean, cheap, reliable energy. Natural gas plays a critical role in doing that. To try and ban natural gas and force homeowners to convert their home from gas to electric, the average homeowner will pay $35,000 to do that.

The question for the President and the Governor of New York is: Who will pay for that?

Mr. Speaker, only in Washington can one defend doubling the size of the IRS and spending $80 billion to hire 87,000 new IRS agents.

According to my friends across the aisle, that is a good thing because the billionaires and the millionaires don't pay their fair share. Yet, according to the IRS, the top 25 percent of income earners pay 89 percent of all income taxes.

Does anyone really believe that the 87,000 new IRS agents and employees are going to really stop there? Of course not.

How else will the Democrats fund their out-of-control and reckless spending? There aren't enough billionaires and millionaires in the United States to pay for it.

My friends on the other side will do what they always do. They will target hardworking taxpayers, families, and small businesses that are the lifeblood of our economy. It has to stop.

Coming from a State like New York, we need to cut taxes. We need to reduce the cost of living and make it more affordable for our hardworking families.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly support this legislation and urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and end the 87,000 new IRS agents that are going to terrorize hardworking Americans.