Category: New York
Immigration Reform Faces an Uncertain Future
IMMIGRATION
WENY-TV
Lindsay Perna
Boston University Washington News Service
April 22, 2009
WASHINGTON—Roger Hugo is leaving the literacy program in Schuyler County that he has coordinated for the past two years, and the foreign-born dairy workers who participate in the program are upset.
They are among the 1.9 million non-English-proficient people five and older in New York and the 19.7 million nationwide who are enrolled in a federally financed literacy program like Hugo’s, according to the Migration Policy Institute’s latest figures for 2007.
In fact, the number of foreign-born persons who are not proficient in English increased by 12 percent in New York from 2000 to 2007, according to the institute.
Hugo’s dairy workers are a minority within a minority. Nearly three in five immigrants nationally are on a waiting list for these types of English literacy programs. In cities like New York, program coordinators have resorrted to a lottery system to select participants, Pang Houa Moua, the director of community education outreach for the Asian American Justice Center said.
Money allotted to literacy programs “hasn’t kept up pace with the large demand of immigrants coming to these programs,” Moua said.
Of the 39 million immigrants nationwide, 4.2 million live in New York state, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Pro-immigrant organizations complain that despite these numbers, the New York congressional delegation is taking its time in regaining its footing on comprehensive immigration reform. After last year’s bitter debate over immigration, they say that lawmakers are opting for less controversial steps in reforming the system, making it seem that immigration policy is not a priority at a time when workers need it the most.
Defenseless in an Economic Crisis
Foreign-born workers, legal and illegal, are finding an increasing need to improve their language skills during a recession that makes them more susceptible to losing a job and more vulnerable after the fact.
“Immigration waxes and wanes with economic tides,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, who teaches immigration law at Cornell University Law School. “The social safety net that U.S. workers have does not exist for them.”
Though New York lawmakers have restored some state-based support, immigrants are still stranded in dire situations. Schuyler County, for example, had an unemployment rate of 10.4 percent in February, well above the statewide rate of 7.8 percent but below Elmira’s 11.9 percent.
Many legal immigrants who are not citizens and have been in the United States for fewer than five years cannot access major federal public benefit programs, such as cash welfare and food stamps, according to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996.
“Congress has a lot of important issues on its plate right now,” Yale-Loehr said, adding that he does not see Washington doing anything to change that anytime soon.
Reform Forecast
Instead, lawmakers are paving the way for piecemeal legislation in immigration reform, making the easy decisions first.
Muzaffar Chishti, the director of the Migration Policy Institute’s office at New York University School of Law, said that since 2007, when Congress actively debated a comprehensive package of reform, the Republican caucus could not come close to agreeing on terms for its passage.
The Democratic majority, meanwhile, has not taken a strong, cohesive stand on immigration either, Chishti said.
The Dream Act, of which Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is a co-sponsor, is intended to create a pathway for citizenship and to make college more affordable for immigrant students. The bill got nowhere in the last two sessions of Congress.
Gillibrand’s spokesman, Matt Cantor, said that she supports providing opportunities for students “who lived virtually their entire lives here in the United States” while insisting on “strict accountability” for undocumented workers. She also backs tax breaks to businesses that provide English education.
She will work with President Obama on comprehensive reform, Cantor said. But she is “not working for foreign-born workers.”
Laws like these at least “show you have good intentions,” Chishti said.
He suggested that because Gillibrand has moved from a conservative House district to the entire diverse state, she is “going to be as pro-immigrant as any New York politician tends to be.”
But even on these softer issues, some New York Democrats are divided. Freshman Rep. Eric Massa, for example, who represents the state’s Southern Tier, does not support the Dream Act.
“American citizens are being asked to sacrifice too much,” he said in a phone interview. It is “not right to use federal money to create educational benefits for non-U.S. citizens.”
Massa added: “We will see what the president presents, but if it involves those slots of amnesty and federal programs for illegal immigrants, I will not support it.”
Nor can much support be expected from Republicans.
Freshman Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania, for example, represents a rural district much like Schuyler County. Saying that he was not familiar with the Dream Act, he supports another relatively small immigration reform step: the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act. This legislation, not yet introduced in this session, enables many undocumented farm workers and those admitted under the guest workers program to earn temporary “blue cards,” giving them the opportunity of permanent residence by continuing to work in agriculture.
Thompson said he supported a “temporary worker program that is well-designed” for jobs in the farm industry, which he said “pay pretty decent wages, but it’s hard to find local citizens who are interested in that kind of work.”
Thompson is adamant about sealing the borders, but will “have to see what proposals come on the table,” he said. “If they are here illegally, it may be a good time for them to go home.”
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) chairs the Senate Immigration, Refugees and Border Security Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.
The immigration issue must be solved even in these difficult economic times, Schumer said.
“I believe there is a real chance of passing comprehensive reform this year that achieves border security, tough workplace enforcement and a rational system for the flow of future legal immigration — and the Senate panel on immigration will be holding a hearing next week designed to obtain a clearer picture on the feasibility of reform this year,” the senator said.
He is a Dream Act co-sponsor, and there will be “a lot of attention on how Sen. Schumer will approach this assignment,” Chishti said.
Making Things Worse
While Schuyler County’s literacy program may be in jeopardy, Chemung, Broome and Tioga Counties represent a different demographic of foreign-born inhabitants of the Southern Tier.
The most recent image of immigrant unrest came to a head on April 3 when a Vietnamese immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen killed 14 people at an American Civic Association English language learning session in Binghamton.
James Harris, the executive director of the Literacy Volunteers program in Broome and Tioga Counties, has overseen about 60 to 70 English language learning clients each year. They are largely students and skilled workers on temporary H-1B visas.
Though the program “operates on shoestrings” from state education funds, his students, who come from Eastern Europe, South Korea and Southeast Asia, all do well and look to improve, Harris said.
Denise Holland, coordinator of the Chemung program, has been helping a similar set of skilled and educated immigrants for the past 20 years.
Holland said that “99 percent, if not 100 percent, of our ESL [English-as a-second-language students] are dependable, are striving for success and really want to go for a better life.”
The latest issue on the H-1B front is a provision in the stimulus bill that requires recipients of federal money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to go to greater lengths to hire a foreign worker.
Anastasia Tonello, a partner in the New York City firm of Laura Devine Attorneys and member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, blames that requirement, as well as the economy, for the decline in H-1B hiring.
David Santos, the northeast spokesmen for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said that though there were spikes in H-1B applications in the past two years, it was an “anomaly that we would get all of the applications [this year] in the first two hours.”
Immigration Services processes visas, facilitates immigration law and appropriates funds for community-based organizations.
“As far as immigration reform is concerned, we aren’t doing anything right now in anticipation of that,” Santos said.
He said that “the U.S. is extremely generous,” with the immigration laws that “make sense.”
To Santos, “the idea that this is a new hot topic is a fallacy—this has been a hot topic since the birth of the nation.”
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Elmira Lobbyist on Capitol Hill Works for Veterans and Their Families
Cary Profile
Lindsay Perna
Boston University Washington News Service
WENY-TV
14 April 2009
WASHINGTON—His briefcase stacked with mission statements and budget proposals, Matthew Cary looks like most of the other lobbyists who labor in the power corridors of Washington.
He even dresses like most of them, except for his red, white and blue patriotically colored pin, inscribed “Leave No Veteran Behind.”
Matt Cary is a volunteer lobbyist for and president of Veterans and Military Families for Progress, a non-profit organization whose announced goal is to ensure the rights and needs of veterans, active-duty service members and their families.
The Elmira native is driven by the vivid memories he brought back with him from Vietnam.
Fifty hours a week, the 61-year-old “can hardly breathe,” he said, as he hustles between numerous negotiations with Senate and House members in their offices and committee meetings.
When he is working at his consulting firm, Cary & Associates, he begs for health care, employment aid and assistance to homeless veterans.
Veterans and Military Families for Progress was formed in 2005 at a meeting of veterans and military family members from across the country. According to the organization’s Web site, the intention, is to address veterans’ “coming home” issues.
Or, as Cary put it in an interview, it was an “opportunity to get veterans out of the closet.”
Cary’s work with the veterans’ organization, however, did not ignite his career. His war-ridden past did.
Cary was born in Waverly into the Commerford Theater business. His father owned the second-largest independent movie theater business in the country, with 180 cinemas stretching from Waverly, Binghamton and Elmira to Scranton, Pa.
Cary’s father would commission his three sons to produce variety shows in their back yard. His first job, when he was 6 years old, was behind the scenes, dealing with patrons at the make-shift family event.
While his two older brothers would headline the shows in hula skirts for their rendition of “South Pacific,” Cary would dole out tickets, candy and popcorn to neighborhood kids.
“That was kind of a disaster,” he recalled with a grin as he sat at the bar in the Democratic National Committee building.
“Matt was naturally outgoing, very much of an extrovert,” said Brian O’Donnell, Cary’s childhood friend since 1958.
O’Donnell met Cary at St. Patrick’s Grammar School in Elmira. He’s seen Cary through trombone and trumpet lessons and played baseball with him at Notre Dame High School.
“In life, you maybe have hundreds of acquaintances and handfuls of good friends – Matt qualifies as a good friend,” the Watkins Glen resident said.
Cary’s baseball pitching skills carried over to his active-duty days in Vietnam.
He received a medal for his skill in throwing hand grenades, Cary said. “A lot of that had to do with baseball,” he said. “I was throwing a grenade and it was landing where it should.”
On graduation from St. Bonaventure University, Cary, then 22, was drafted and put himself on the reserve list.
“I said, ‘Well, my fate is doomed—my two brothers are already in the Air Force,’ ” he recalled, saying that he later requested an assignment instead of waiting out his reserve status.
He reached the rank of corporal by the time he returned from eight months of active duty in 1969.
Bill Dooling, who has known Cary for six years while working as vice president of Veterans and Military Families for Progress, said Cary came back from Vietnam with a sense of obligation.
“I wouldn’t say he was traumatized, I would say he is impassioned,” said Dooling, who is also a Vietnam veteran.
Cary moved to Washington immediately after his return and circulated his resume through the New York congressional delegation. “I knocked on all the doors,” he said.
He finally landed a job as legislative director for then-Rep. James Hastings (R-N.Y.) of his home district.
“I was part of all of it, and that was exciting,” he said.
Though he unsuccessfully made a stab at running for the same congressional seat years later, Cary eventually shifted to legislative lobbying. Building on his three years at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities, Cary advised on legislation as a Washington representative for six cities, including Buffalo, N.Y., and Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
In 1986, he started a consulting firm, Cary & Associates.
Even with his busy schedule, Cary finds time to play in a senior baseball league, traveling all over the country in tournaments. He also chairs the board of dcbaseball.org, a non-profit whose mission is to encourage young people’s participation in the sport.
“He mixes both his political interests and his personal interests quite a bit,” said Robert Doyle, who
has known Cary since 1976, when they met in a government-sponsored baseball game. “We're both of the same political stripe—Democrat.”
“He’s a big organizer—whether it comes to work or social events,” said Philip Amoruso, a fellow Army reservist who has known Cary since they met 40 years ago at their reserve unit in suburban Maryland.
When Dana Serafin met Cary at the bar of the Mayflower Hotel in 1996, she thought “he was really fun interesting guy–pretty cute, too.”
Cary proved his “impeccable character” and “commitment” when her father died just before they married in 1997, she said.
“If somebody needs help, he will help them out,” the 51-year-old said of her husband.
Now, Cary is looking to recruit philanthropists, members of the corporate world and the entertainment community for the Veterans and Military Families for Progress.
But his next “big battle to fight,” he said, is at a District of Columbia City Council hearing that will consider moving the city’s veterans’ affairs unit from the mayor’s office to another city agency.
“We figure it will get lost in the shuffle over there,” Cary said, and he warned that the move would strip the VA office of its ability to seek federal money.
“If we can bring everyone together as one family, we can fix these problems,” he said before heading off for another day on the Hill.
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Obama Promotes Budget, Lobbies Democratic Senators
NY MEETING
WENY-TV
Lindsay Perna
Boston University Washington News Service
March 25, 2009
WASHINGTON – President Obama played lobbyist on Capitol Hill Wednesday, outlining for Democratic senators his priorities in his budget.
Obama asked the senators to preserve education, health care, energy and middle-class tax relief as they strip down the hefty budget, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). He said the Senate would vote on the budget next week.
After the meeting, senators streamed through the hallways of the Senate side of the Capitol discussing major slashes to Obama's $3.6 trillion budgetary blueprint.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said the President understood immediately that Conrad “would have to make adjustments” to the budget.
“I know it's a new concept to insist that things be paid for,” Conrad said. “I make no apologies—we have to pay for things.”
Conrad said he would extend all middle-class tax cuts—though the costs would have to be offset in a long-term deficit.
Overall discretionary spending has only increased by 5.3 percent in his version of the budget, Conrad said.
“We’re going to sink or swim together,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said after exiting the Mansfield Room where senators met with Obama.
Schumer said there was broad support for Obama’s requests to Congress.
The New York senior senator said Making Work Pay, a tax cut for working families in Obama’s budget, is important.
“Everyone has to give a little bit,” he said.
As the members-only elevators shut, Schumer emphasized that “it was a very friendly meeting.”
The junior senator for New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, exited the meeting without answering questions.
Lingering after the Democratic senators dispersed, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa..) commented on whether he thinks the bill to recoup executive bonuses would go to a vote in the Senate before the congressional recess that starts April 6.
“I doubt it,” Specter said. “If it was on life support, it would be healthier.”
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As Outrage Grows, Demands in Congress Call for Full Refund of AIG Bonuses
NY AIG
WENY-TV
Lindsay Perna
Boston University Washington News Service
March 18, 2009
WASHINGTON – As public outrage grew this week, congressional leaders and government officials made demands for a refund of executive bonuses from the insurance giant American International Group Inc.
Trying to calm the quake on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday that he plans to subtract the $165 million of executive bonus money from the final installment of $30 billion to AIG.
Edward Liddy, the chief executive of AIG, testified before a House subcommittee Wednesday telling the angry representatives that the executives have been asked to return the bonuses at least by half.
Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), a defender of the federal piggy bank since he voted against the first bailout, said his fears came true when news broke about the bonuses.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) removed an amendment from the stimulus bill when it went through the Senate that would have prevented the bonus debacle, according to Patrick Creighton, a spokesman for Thompson.
“They got money they shouldn’t have—they need to give it up,” Thompson said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Geithner’s punishment is nothing more than a slap on the wrist and an easy way out, said Creighton.
“I think this is sort of a warning sound,” Thompson said. “If you are going to come to the public trough for bailout we expect and we demand that if it is approved …that you better be prepared to be very transparent with how you are using this money.”
With his fellow freshmen Republicans in the House, Thompson co-sponsored legislation on Tuesday that would require the Department of the Treasury to get a full refund of AIG bonus money within the next two weeks and to approve any future bonus payments or contractual obligations.
Though Thompson’s proposal was not allowed to be introduced on the House floor, he said he is opposed to taxing the bonuses.
Some House members want to reach directly into the wallets of these executives and do just that.
Rep. Eric J.J. Massa (D-N.Y.), was one of 94 House members who co-sponsored a bill Monday that would recoup government money by taxing executive bonuses of more than $100,000 from companies that received TARP funds at a rate of 100 percent.
“I stand firm with the leaders in the House who want to see these bonuses recouped,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday, unsatisfied with the proposal by the secretary of the treasury to regain the cash in the next AIG installment.
“We should not be abandoning the goal of integrity,” Massa said. “We’ve been burned more times than we can remember—I can’t believe we want to go back to the well again.”
Massa said he appreciated Liddy’s request of the executives to return their million-dollar bonuses, but the congressman does not think the company will go through with a substantial return.
“No more money for Wall Street banks period,” Massa said.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) played the blame game on the Senate floor Tuesday when he said President Obama and Geithner failed American taxpayers.
“What is particularly troubling is that AIG’s intention to pay these bonuses had been no secret, and the administration was completely aware of these payments,” he said.
Schumer co-sponsored with Dodd a bill Tuesday that would identify and mend failing banks and return them to the private sector.
“Let's use the expertise and clean up rather than flooding these zombies with more dollars,” Schumer said.
The situation boggles his mind, he said.
“Well, Mr. Liddy, I urge you to fix this mess because, let me tell you something: We are all fed up,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “If you don't fix it, we will.”
“For those of you getting these bonuses, be forewarned: You will not be getting to keep them,” he said.
#####
Members of Congress React to President Obama’s Speech
NY SPEECH REACTION
WENY-TV
Lindsay Perna
Boston University Washington News Service
February 25, 2009
WASHINGTON –Contemplation and outright glee were painted on the faces in the
House chamber as President Obama addressed the House and Senate in a state-of-the-
union-style speech on Tuesday night.
“I know there are some in this chamber and watching at home who are skeptical of
whether this plan will work. I understand that skepticism,” Obama said.
As the nation faces overwhelming numbers of jobs lost and debt gained, lawmakers of
the twin tiers of Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New York shared mixed emotions
on the President’s remarks one week after he signed the near trillion dollar stimulus bill
into law.
The state’s members of Congress were paying close attention to each phrase and it
showed—either during the multiple occasions when Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.)
sprung to his feet in generous ovations, encouraging others to follow his lead, or while
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) wrote copious notes in her program.
Gillibrand, who left her seat amid the other senators to give her predecessor, Secretary of
State Hilary Clinton, a quick hug and kiss before Obama took the podium, was noticeably
enthusiastic as she followed the cues of praise throughout the 54-minute speech.
“We all must stay focused on solutions,” she said. “I am so pleased that we have a
President that will work with Congress and work with both parties to forge solutions.”
Traveling across New York State for the past few weeks, Gillibrand said she has seen
firsthand the issues plaguing her constituents and is pleased that the President has made
them a priority.
“We can create jobs by fostering new industry through renewable energy and
infrastructure, investing in health care and education to ensure long-term economic
growth, and cutting taxes for the middle class and small businesses to help them grow,”
Gillibrand said in a statement.
A strong opponent of deficit spending, Rep. Eric J.J. Massa (D-N.Y.) said he found the
commitment that President Obama made in his speech to halve the federal deficit
encouraging.
“Now as a member of Congress, I look forward to holding him to his pledge and helping
him obtain it,” Massa said in a statement.
“The investments that the Reinvestment and Recovery Act include are essential for re-
establishing liquidity to our nation's economy, rebuilding our struggling schools,
strengthening our infrastructure and restoring vitality to American businesses,” Massa
said.
For Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), the nation had seen too many Presidential addresses
where “the rhetoric didn’t match the subsequent actions.”
“Having seen President Obama follow through on his pre-inaugural pledge to quickly
enact a major job-creating economic recovery bill upon taking office, I am extremely
confident that the ambitious agenda he set forth this evening will be addressed in a
forthright and effective manner,” Hinchey said in a statement.
In particular, he said he was pleased the Obama’s nods to renewable energy, health care,
and education.
“Challenging times call for bold action and I look forward to working with President
Obama to enact the policies he laid out in his address tonight,” said Hinchey.
Rep. Christopher P. Carney (D-Pa.) said he appreciated the President’s optimism and
candor, but remains concerned with the President’s housing plan.
“I represent a district where over 98 percent of people pay their mortgages on time.
Northeast and central Pennsylvania is made up of hardworking, responsible people who
did not fall prey to the greed and corruption we have seen dismantling our financial
institutions on Wall Street,” he said in a statement.
“We need to make sure that the economic plans we devise truly keep Main Street at the
heart of the debate, particularly those who have been following the rules each step of the
way,” said Carney.
Standing in a sea of cameras in Statuary Hall outside the House floor, Rep. Glenn
Thompson (R-Pa.) said his optimism grew as the President identified the crises before the
country, such as Medicare and Social Security.
“I mean those are the things that are really looming on the horizon that we should have
been dealing with earlier in this term,” said Thompson.
“On those things where we can agree—I think we are going to be the President’s best
ally,” Thompson said of his Republican colleagues.
A health care professional for 30 years, Thompson said the current system is defunct and
was pleased that Obama is looking to unite health care providers and members of
Congress “to come up with the best possible health care reform for our country.”
“We need to improve accessibility. We need to improve affordability and we need to
maintain the quality that we are used to in this country. So that was affirming for me,”
Thompson said.
The congressman said he agreed with the President in terms of the country’s dependence
on foreign energy.
“That is dangerous to our economy and to our foreign defense,” he said.
Thompson said he was concerned with the President’s approach to climate change and
the tremendous tax burden it facilitates.
“You take small businesses in the 5th Congressional District that are very challenged—
and you pile a bunch of…carbon tax on top of them …that’s enough for those businesses
to go out of business—people will lose jobs and families will have no way to support
themselves,” he said.
Thompson said he does not know how the Obama administration plans on distributing the
claimed 7,500 jobs that will go to the 5th district of Pennsylvania, but he is keeping an
eye on the potential backfire of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.
“I’m concerned the stimulus may wind up worsening the recession—may result in
inflation as a result of deficit spending. That’s a heck of a legacy to pass along to your
children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Thompson said.
“Tonight were some good sound bites—but we really have to take a look at what he gets
us,” Thompson said.
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Congressman Massa Takes on Capitol Hill
Massa
WENY-TV
Lindsay Perna
Boston University Washington News Service
Feb. 4, 2009
WASHINGTON – Fighting for his district since his swearing in one month ago, Rep. Eric J.J. Massa (D-N.Y.) is already making use of his military background.
“I’ve been shot at in a lot of places. It’s very hard to intimidate me,” the 24-year retired Navy commander said of the ease of working with other House members.
His orders come from more than 650,000 Southern Tier New Yorkers from the 29th District who deployed him to Washington in November, Rep. Massa said during an interview in his Capitol Hill office.
“I’m not here to rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America. I’m not here to have the next big national issue,” said the Corning resident, who drives 10 hours roundtrip to visit his district on weekends. “I’m here for constituent services.”
His veteran status may give him pull on the House floor when it comes to military bills, but for the congressman, “troop movements in Iraq…that’s not why the people sent me here.”
This New Yorker is a survivor of more than Operation Desert Storm. His fight with cancer fostered an offensive strategy when dealing with any issue.
From his first day as a “custodian” within the 29th District office walls, Rep. Massa has been working on the main concerns of his constituents. The congressman said he elbowed his way into committee assignments on Agriculture, Armed Services and Homeland Security.
His work on the three committees will merge this spring. Rep. Massa said he will tour the shipyards of America, meet with farmers at the New York State Fair and create a legal agricultural work visa program with Homeland Security.
“I’m not here to tell farmers how to do their job. I’m here for the farmers to tell me how to do mine,” he said about working in an area not of his specialty.
“The economy is not a one dimensional issue. The flipside of economy is healthcare. You flip it again and you have a responsible withdrawal from Iraq. You flip it again and you have the stimulus plan,” Massa said. “So, it’s not how you prioritize them. It’s how you do it all at the same time.”
With $300 million in bailout money being directed to the 29th District, Massa voted for the economic recovery package despite its deficit spending, which he said makes him queasy.
“I don’t like the stimulus bill. In fact I haven’t met anybody who does—including the speaker of the House,” the congressman said. “I don’t believe that government should solve all our problems. I think government should create a country of which we can solve our own.”
At the end of the day, Massa said he is satisfied with the pending Senate bill that would delegate funds to veteran affairs, three broadband initiatives, and investment in domestic consumer spending.
The bailout bill is estimated to dish out $7 million to Elmira schools alone.
He challenges Republican lawmakers who are unhappy with meager infrastructure initiatives in the package, claiming that investing in education and construction jobs caters to both female and male constituents.
Rep. Massa said he is working to find what works across party lines.
“The Democratic Party does not have a copyright on smart, nor does the Republican Party have a copyright on dumb,” he said.
#####
How Would the Stimulus Package Benefit New York?
NY- White House
WENY-TV
Lindsay Perna
Boston University Washington News Service
Feb. 4, 2009
WASHINGTON -- As the Senate prepares to vote on the pending economic recovery package, White House advisers and New York members of Congress are trying to dissect what the near-trillion dollar price tag will mean for the taxpayers who are investing in it.
The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is an “important down payment on rebuilding our economy,” National Economic Council Director Larry Summers said in a press briefing Tuesday.
As the point person in charge of coordinating President Obama’s policies, Summers simplified the context of the bill that would create or save 3 million to 4 million jobs over the two-year period of the plan.
Summers estimated an employment impact of 218,000 jobs for New York.
“We want to do infrastructure investment wherever possible, but we also want to prevent the economic implosion of our communities,” he said. “These funds will help us do that.”
Other New York initiatives in the plan include the modernization of at least 867 schools in New York, a work pay tax cut of up to $1,000 for 7 million workers and $100 per month increase in unemployment insurance benefits to 1 million workers in New York who have lost their jobs.
In a press release, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y) announced that the bill will send nearly $1.6 billion over two years to Upstate New York, $737 million in federal Medicaid relief and a minimum of $860 million in education aid. Counties in the Southern Tier will receive approximately $27 million in budget relief through the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage.
Rep. Eric J.J. Massa (D-N.Y.) said he voted for the legislation despite its deficit spending and supported the bill because he was “very pleased with what is going on with education.”
The Elmira district is receiving more than $7.5 million in funding in a two-year period.
He said he also fought for three rural broadband initiatives for the district of which “without we’re done.”
Though the congressman made his demands as the bill passed the House, now that it is out of his hands, Rep. Massa must stand-by as the Senate takes its turn.
One program he is not willing to sacrifice is the “Buy American” provision, which requires stimulus-funded projects to use only U.S. made iron and steel.
The House version may be modified in the Senate.
“The President has been very clear that he wants this to be a bill that supports the American economy, but at the same time this bill is not going to be an excuse for America breaking its international commitments,” Summers said.
As an advocate for the industries and people in his district, the congressman said using stimulus money in America is “kind of the concept.”
“Why would we spend borrowed tax money to buy things made in China. That’s what the Bush administration did…that didn’t stimulate our economy,” said the congressman.
Some House members opposed the bill.
A spokesperson for Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Penn.) said the congressman, who voted against the spending package, found the legislation “a wish list of the liberal, socialist agenda.”
He said that the congressman recognized “worthy programs in the stimulus package,” but not enough in the way of infrastructure.
“Make no mistake though,” Summers said. “These problems were not created in a day or a month or a year and will not be solved in a day or a month or a year.”
New York’s New Senator Sworn in by Vice President Biden
Photos by Caroline Bridges
Gillibrand
WENY-TV
Lindsay Perna
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 27, 2009
WASHINGTON – With a confident “yes” and two quick signatures, U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand was sworn in Tuesday on the floor of the Senate chamber by Vice President Joe Biden as New York’s junior senator.
Gillibrand spent her last moments as a representative with family in her House office after meeting with members of the press and before making her way to the Senate chamber on the other side of the Capitol.
“My goal for the next two weeks is to travel as far and wide as I can,” Gillibrand said. Speaking in the Cannon House Office Building corridor, she said she plans to meet with media throughout the state.
Gillibrand addressed issues close to her constituent’s hearts and pocket books.
“In times like this we do need to spend,” she said, but “spend carefully.”
After voting twice against the bailout bill, Gillibrand spoke of quickly involving herself in efforts to stimulate the economy and create jobs for citizens of New York.
Gillibrand talked about other problems facing her state after taking the oath on the Senate floor. She said she wants to work toward energy independence within 10 years, to fix decrepit sewer systems and to cut taxes.
“It’s reached the point where we have to get to work,” the senator said. “We don’t want to have a 10-year-long recession. We want to rein it in.”
It was a busy day on Capitol Hill as President Barack Obama shared the same hallways on the Senate side of the Capitol to speak of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan after meeting with Republicans in the House and the Senate.
“The American people expect action,” President Obama said. “I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people’s business right now.”
Greenport native Sen. Gillibrand was the first woman ever elected to Congress from New York’s 20th District. She was also the first Democrat in 30 years to win the Upstate seat.
“It’s just an honor to get to serve,” said the freshest face of the Senate.
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Feds Halt Major Housing Sale
Story published on ABC News.com
By Brittany Oat
March 2, 2007
The federal housing secretary halted the proposed $1.3 billion sale of Brooklyn's Starrett City -- the nation's largest federally subsidized apartment complex -- to a firm with a history of housing violations.
Alphonso Jackson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments, said the purchase of the 5,881-unit complex by Clipper Equity would have put its mainly low- and middle-income residents at risk of losing their homes and way of life. HUD could block the purchase because about 90 percent of Starrett City's residents receive federal rent subsidies.
"This is one of the model housing programs in the country," Jackson said. "We cannot stand by and watch the story dissipate, watch as churches and synagogues are razed, replaced by new high-rise buildings."
The proposed sale comes during a historic residential real estate boom in New York City that has made it difficult for many to afford the rising costs of low- and middle-income housing. Last year Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village -- two subsidized housing complexes in Manhattan -- sold for $5.4 billion. Some residents there now face rent increases of more than 30 percent.
Even though it is half as large as those complexes, Starrett City has its own shopping center, schools, churches, synagogues, power plant and armed security force. Most tenants pay between $200 and $400 a month for the federally subsidized apartments and live on annual gross incomes of about $20,000 to $40,000.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Attorney General Andrew Cuomo -- a former HUD secretary -- and Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) pressured Jackson to void the sale to Clipper, because they feared the lofty sale price would drive up unit costs.
Clipper Equity, led by New York landlord David Bistricer, agreed to purchase Starrett City for $500 million more than the next lowest bidder, which could have raised the average unit cost from $90,000 to $200,000, according to Schumer.
Schumer said he is concerned that transactions like the proposed purchase of Starrett City will make New York City a place for the very rich and the very poor.
"New York has always provided ladders for people to climb their way up," Schumer said. "And Starrett is one of those ladders."
Cuomo said they also had serious concerns about Bistricer's record as a landlord. Bistricer had at least 8,792 uncorrected housing violations and in 1998 was barred from selling real estate securities in New York state.
"My office has been arguing strenuously that the proposed purchaser, who has a 6-inch file in this office of complaints and court orders for abuse … of tenants, was not a bona fide purchaser," Cuomo said.
Jackson said Starrett could still be sold, and a new proposal from Clipper would be entertained if it preserved the affordability and quality of life of the development's residents.
"I'll listen to that proposal,'' he said.
And all future bidding for Starrett is going to be clean, clear and fair, assured Schumer. He said this past bidding was unfair because the sellers -- Starrett City Associates -- charged $200,000 just to bid, which left out many community groups that could not afford the fee.
"They are not the only ones involved in this sale," Schumer said. "The goal cannot be just about how much money the owners make."
2006 Green Festival
2006 Green Festival: WENY Newschannel 36, Elmira, NY.
A committment to sustainable living brought over 100 exhibitors to the D.C.
Convention Center -- including one colorful company from the Finger Lakes.
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