Thomas Suozzi

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Glen Cove Hospital on the occasion of its centennial anniversary of serving the residents of Glen Cove and the surrounding communities. Glen Cove is my hometown. We all took Glen Cove Hospital for granted until a few years ago, when there was a possibility it would be gone. This year, as we celebrate its 100th anniversary we are grateful to everyone who has rallied to ensure that the hospital not only survives, but thrives. It is a central part of our existence and our long-term sustainability. My mom was a operating nurse in the Glen Cove Hospital. My dad served on the Glen Cove Community Hospital Board. I was born in Glen Cove Hospital. Helene and I had our three children in the Glen Cove Hospital. We have been to the emergency room for stitches and breaks, or high fevers, or to visit loved ones who are sick, or . . . . to pay our last respects to our closest friends and family. The hospital is woven into the very fabric of our lives. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of this indispensable and vital asset, I am recommitting myself to doing everything I can to ensure that the Glen Cove Hospital continues to be a warm, inviting, community-centered, beacon of excellence. I thank the hospital leadership both in Glen Cove and at Northwell Health, especially Executive Director Kerri Scanlon, Medical Director Dr. Brad Sherman and Northwell's President and CEO Michael Dowling. I thank the doctors, nurses, laboratory staff, maintenance workers, kitchen crew, social workers, volunteers, accountants, receptionists, security workers and everyone else who makes Glen Cove Hospital such a special part of our lives. I would like to make special mention of one Glen Cove resident--Saul Katz. Mr. Katz is one of the visionaries that proposed the first merger between the North Shore hospital system and Glen Cove Hospital, despite the objection of other Glen Cover's, . . . like my dad. That vision, and his decades to devotion, has given us the premier Northwell Health system of today. And, not only due to Saul's vision, but also his and his wife, Iris's overwhelming and consistent decades of generosity, the Glen Cove Hospital will continue to grow as one of the jewels in the Northwell crown. The Katzs are special people, and we are fortunate that they are from Glen Cove. As Glen Cove Hospital enters its second century, I am grateful to the hospital and its staff for being such a special part of our community and look forward to its continued growth. Here's to the next 100 years.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable man, a living legend, and a champion of civil rights. Although Edward Stack is not being inducted today, and it has been said by his high school coach that he couldn't ``catch a baseball with a bushel basket'', this man is the heart and soul of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Born in Sea Cliff, and a longtime resident of Glen Head, New York, Ed served as Chairman of the Board from 1977 to 2000, and as an officer from 1961 to 1977. Due to his tireless efforts, the Hall of Fame saw tremendous growth and multi-million-dollar expansions. Even more significant, were the historical milestones which took place under Ed's leadership. The most notable being the inclusion of former Negro League players, who had been excluded from Major League baseball prior to Jackie Robinson. The inclusion of the Negro League superstars was a moment of lasting pride, according to Ed. It was a victory for civil rights and the correction of an injustice which, Ed says, took way too long to be corrected. With Ed's efforts, players such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, Cool Papa Bell, Buck Leonard, and Martin Dihigo, those whose groundbreaking accomplishments had been overlooked simply due their color, were finally given the recognition they deserved. In order to protect the integrity of baseball, Ed fought to prohibit players who broke the rules, specifically those who used performance enhancing drugs. Ed is well known to many acclaimed baseball celebrities who adore him. Babe Ruth's widow, Claire, considered him a close friend. Yogi Berra and his wife affectionately called Ed ``blue eyes.'' Ed has also visited numerous presidents in the Oval Office and had a special bond with Ronald Reagan. As impressive as Ed's professional accomplishments is his generosity. In his retirement, Ed serves as an officer or director for 19 different charitable and cultural organizations, including the Bassett Medical Center, the Farmers' Museum, the New York State Trooper Foundation, the Salvation Army, and the Mental Health Association of Nassau County. He is a frequent donor to his alma mater, Pace University, where he once served as student council president. Ed invests in education because he hopes to give others the same opportunity for success that he had. In 1991, Pace recognized his outstanding contribution by awarding him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. In tribute to Ed's constant support, the University named the Edward W. Stack ``56 Suite'' at Alumni Hall, in his honor. Today, Ed and his wife, Christina, have used their financial success to support those in need. They are significant donors to multiple philanthropic causes. The SCO Family of Services describe the couple's compassion by saying, ``Ed Stack and his wife Chris are in a league of their own when it comes to helping others.'' Ed and his wife raised three beautiful daughters named Amy, Kim, and Suzanne. Ed is also a beloved ``Opa,'' or grandfather, to Kara, Lucy, and McGill. Ed's daughters describe their father as hardworking and resilient. As a child, Ed had overcome Polio. He was told he would never walk again, but Ed persevered and proved the doctors wrong. Although walking was difficult, Ed would commute an hour and a half to work every day. Ed's daughter Amy describes Ed's dedication as such that sometimes he'd fall down the train stairs because his legs would give out, but she never remembers him ever complaining about his commute. Amy says that it always amazes her that her father could drink a cup of black coffee at 11pm before going to bed, have no problem sleeping, and then wake up at 5am to catch the train. Ed's whole life was about helping others. During the rare moments when Ed was not in meetings, he would spend his time walking his dogs at Tappen Beach, baking gluten free bread for Kim, and helping his children with their homework. Ed also loved to care for the elderly. On weekends Ed would take his family with him to different elderly friends' houses, and Ed's family would help them with their taxes or finances. Now, as a grandfather, Ed can be found doting on his grandchildren and giving them scooter rides around the hallways of the Harborside Community in Port Washington. As the famous poet from our district, Walt Whitman, once said, ``I see great things in baseball.'' Baseball is more than a game; it is a thread which has tied Americans of all backgrounds together since the beginning of our nation's history. During the Civil War, baseball was used to boost morale on the battlefield. During World War Two, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated in his famous green light letter that, even in these trying times, ``I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.'' Today we proudly recognize and thank Ed for his trailblazing contributions to our national pastime, his contributions to social justice, and his immense philanthropy.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, as I near the end of my Congressional public service, I rise today to recognize my constituent Dr. Shetal Shah, MD, FAAP of Syosset, New York for his sustained and expert advocacy in support of children's health. During my tenure representing New York's third Congressional District, Dr. Shah has been an indispensable resource to my office--and the entire Long Island Congressional Delegation, on issues related to children. As former Legislative Chairman of the Long Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and an expert in the intricacies of children's health insurance, Dr. Shah worked with my office to staunchly defend the gains in children's health insurance coverage made as a result of passage of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. His vigorous advocacy, in partnership with several national medical organizations, assisted our office and other members of New York State's Congressional Delegation in preserving core provisions of this landmark legislation, including the expansion of Medicaid and pediatric-specific tenets of the essential health care benefits package. He has also worked to ensure reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program, which in New York insures almost 750,000 of our state's children. Dr. Shah has been a vocal supporter of the need to reauthorize this program since its inception and worked with myself and fellow members of Congress to reauthorize this incredibly successful program again in 2018, safeguarding health coverage and access for all children covered by Child Health Plus. A national pediatric leader in advocacy and child health policy. He has articulated the importance of providing robust federal funding for major programs which impact children across Long Island and the nation. These include the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program, the PREEMIE Act, and the Emergency Medical Services for Children Act. His worked has been a supporter of legislation to increase access to pediatric subspecialty care and provide loan repayment to pediatric subspecialty physicians who care for patients from medically underserved areas in those branches of medicine. Through lectures and scholarly articles in the medical literature, Dr. Shah also outlined the need to modernize the Vaccines for Children Program, advocating for legislation that would create incentives for more physicians to participate and provide routine childhood immunizations. This work closely aligned with his work to increase Medicaid payments to those of Medicare, creating more equity for children throughout our federal healthcare system. Throughout the COVID pandemic, Dr. Shah had served as a leader in the state on the pediatric implications of the pandemic. At the pandemic's onset, Dr. Shah--now serving as President of New York Chapter 2 of the American Academy of Pediatrics, helped support pediatric immunization efforts by allaying fears about COVID vaccines, combatted the omnipresent vaccine misinformation that appeared across social media, reinforced the importance of wearing a facemask to prevent virus transmission, provided timely updates on changes to COVID protocols to over 1500 pediatricians across Long Island. Though fighting the pandemic as frontline physician, Dr. Shah hand-delivered over 10,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to pediatricians across Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. At a time when these resources were extremely scarce, these deliveries helped over 200 physicians across New York City and Long Island. In several cases, these deliveries allowed pediatric offices to stay open, so they could continue to care for children with chronic medical issues throughout the early months of the pandemic. Upon creation of the Paycheck Protection Program, he assisted practices representing over 100 physicians in applying, often working in their backyards so they could navigate the process of securing financial assistance and forestall layoffs or furloughs of office staff. I was extremely proud to partner with Dr. Shah, who noticed that an initial draft of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, did not provide for payment of telehealth services for certain Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and high deductible health plans. As these plans cover a large proportion of my constituents across New York State, my office served as an agent for New Yorkers, working to certify they could use telehealth to access healthcare during the stay-at-home period of 2020. We should take special note that all of this work is done as a volunteer, and independent of Dr. Shah's work as a specialist in neonatal-perinatal medicine, providing care for the most critically-ill and premature infants in our state at a Regional Perinatal Center, New York's highest designation for a neonatal intensive care unit. This work, made harder by the challenges of the pandemic, is among the most emotionally and physically demanding specialties in medicine, and we are fortunate that we have dedicated newborn specialists like Dr. Shah caring for our most fragile New Yorkers. For this work with my office, his leadership, dedication and service to the members and children of the Long Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the chapter received the coveted 2020 Outstanding Chapter Award during his presidency, their first such award in over 57 years. Madam Speaker, as I prepare to leave Congress, I wish to thank constituents like Dr. Shah for volunteering his time, passion and energy to provide advice on children's health issues. He serves as an example of how strong partnerships between engaged representatives and local experts in their districts can achieve better health for children. He has been among my most trusted advisors over the past 6 years on Medicaid, vaccinations and all aspects of child health policy. I take this opportunity to congratulate him, and the Long Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics for their dutiful work on behalf of our children.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to honor the life of Alexander Aurrichio, a talented young Australian Rules Footballer who touched the lives of his family, friends, and community. Alexander's teammates describe him as a compassionate soul with a smile that would light up the room. Alexander's father, Lou Aurrichio, remembers his son as ``a leader of men, a teacher of children and a true motivator.'' Alexander Aurrichio grew up playing basketball at Half Hollow Hills West High School, in Suffolk County, Long Island and went on to play collegiate soccer and baseball at Columbia University. This June, Alexander will surely be missed when his Columbia University team and classmates come together for their 10- year reunion. Nicknamed ``Rooch'' Alexander stood tall at 6'6'' and 220 pounds, Alexander is described as a big young man with an even bigger personality. According to his mother, Jill, he was born an incredible 14 lbs. and called Alexander the Great by all the nurses at the hospital. Not only was Alexander loved by his community, he had many close friends worldwide, especially in Australia where he had been playing football since 2014, with a dream to one day play for the AFL. He later played for South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) before moving north to join Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) club Waratah in Darwin. Alexander's ``Australian brother'' Tom Fields remembered Alexander by saying ``Alex had the gift to enter into someone's life for a brief moment and instantly make them feel happier, safe, and better about themselves, to me that is the mark of an exceptional human being'' NBA star Tobias Harris played high school basketball with Alexander and tweeted, ``Alex was seriously one of the greatest human beings I've come across. I've lost a friend that I will forever miss.'' Alexander Aurrichio was riding a bicycle in Howard Springs on June 8, 2020, when he was involved in a fatal crash with a car. He was 30 years old. Alexander Aurrichio is survived by his mother Jill, father Lou and siblings John, Michael, Jillian, and Christopher. As we honor him today, we keep his family and friends in our thoughts and prayers, with the hope that all those he inspired will flourish as they keep his memory alive eternally in their hearts.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022. Everyone can agree that the American Dream should be achievable for anyone willing to work hard. The American Dream is the ability for families to one day own a home, provide an education for their children, and retire with dignity. The SECURE Act 2.0 does several things to help make retirement security easier for millions of hardworking Americans. I rise today not only in support of the bill, but to advocate for the inclusion of another bipartisan bill, the ABLE Employment Flexibility Act, as SECURE 2.0 progresses through the legislative process. Along with my colleague Mr. Wenstrup, I introduced another practical solution that will allow more hardworking Americans the ability to participate in the labor force more fully by providing them access to benefits tailored to their needs. My bill permits employers to make tax-exempt contributions to ABLE (Achieving Better Life Experience) accounts in lieu of making contributions to existing tax-exempt defined contribution retirement plans. An ABLE account is established to pay expenses such as food, education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, and health care expenses of a designated beneficiary who is disabled. In other words, it will allow millions of Americans with disabilities to receive, and their employers the ability to provide, similar tax-preferred benefits as their fellow employees. The ABLE Employment Flexibility Act would allow ABLE-eligible workers to permit an employer to make contributions to a 529A account in lieu of contributions to the employer's defined contribution plan. The legislation is needed because, under current law, an employer that offers employees with a disability the choice to have employer contributions that would be made to the retirement plan instead contributed to a 529A account would jeopardize the tax-qualified status of the retirement plan. Many defined contribution plans permit an eligible employee to defer compensation into that defined contribution plan, with the employer sponsoring the plan providing for a matching contribution on such deferrals. The plan may also have nonelective employer contributions that are automatically made. Unfortunately, assets in these plans could adversely impact the availability of means-tested benefits. By eliminating this barrier, employers will be able to provide equitable opportunities to their employees to save for critical services while allowing them to retain critical government support and services. Through the leadership of Chairman Neal and Ranking Member Brady, we are passing SECURE 2.0, a bill with overwhelming support. The bill has support from every stakeholder, from advocates for seniors to the retirement industry, and the practical solutions contained have garnered bipartisan support. Both things the American people are clamoring for in these hyper-partisan times. Like SECURE 2.0, the ABLE Employment Flexibility Act has received support from an array of stakeholders from disability advocates to associations representing the retirement industry. I want to thank the Chairman, Ranking Member, their staffs, and the Joint Committee on Taxation for their willingness to work with myself and Mr. Wenstrup to address technical issues with the legislative text of the ABLE Employment Flexibility Act to achieve the underlying policy goal--help more Americans save effectively and efficiently to live and retire in dignity. I look forward to our continued efforts and hope that we can resolve outstanding issues as we advance the SECURE Act 2.0 to the President for his signature.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the 52 hostages of the Iran hostage crisis that were released, after 444 days of captivity, 41 years ago today. On November 4, 1979, Iranian student militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took Embassy employees captive. Despite mock firing squads, beatings, solitary confinement, lack of food, and psychological torture, the American hostages maintained their strength and resilience. Back at home, Americans remained united in their support for the hostages, many tying yellow ribbons around trees as a sign of solidarity. The former hostages have never received proper recognition from their government for their sacrifices. This bipartisan bill is a symbol of our Nation's ability to come together to honor these American heroes. As of today, the bill has over 166 cosponsors. Special thanks to Commission 52 and Chairman Brock Pierce for helping to gather support for the bill. It is a true public service.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and everyone who has worked so hard on this, including Chairman McGovern. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you as chair of the Congressional Uyghur Caucus and as a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to support passage of the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. We need to wake up from our torpor. It has been reported for years, but I don't think most Americans realize exactly what is going on in China. It was almost 50 years ago that Nixon went to China, and we have always believed that the more the Chinese Government and the people were exposed to the United States and the West, our way of life, our democracy, and our economic system, the more they would become like us, the more they would adopt concepts of freedom of expression, free markets, and minority rights. Well, that simply hasn't happened. Everyone in this body has seen reliable reports and clear documentation of crimes against humanity: forced labor, forced sterilization, mass surveillance, government-run detention camps, mass detention, sexual violence, and torture against the Uyghur people. The Chinese Communist Party is even forcing people to eat pork during Ramadan, even though it violates people's religion. It is hard to imagine that in today's world, that forced labor camps are happening, and we know about it. And today, we are standing up to do something about it. The Chinese Communist Party must be held accountable. We have rules in place now that say you can't use forced labor. But this bill is a major step forward in mandating that everything that comes out of Xinjiang in China will be presumed to be using forced labor and, therefore, ineligible to be sold into the U.S. supply chain. This is going to have a tremendous impact. An overwhelming amount of cotton in the world comes from China, for example. Mr. Speaker, 84 percent of that cotton that comes from China comes from the Xinjiang region. Some people are going to say, Oh, my gosh, if we don't do business with Xinjiang, then the cost of products are going to go up. Well, that is too damn bad. This should shock everyone's conscience.

Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, we have to do everything we can to stand up for our values. The world is watching us, and it starts with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act becoming law. Let's do this, and let's do it together. We recognize here in our country that we went through a period of slavery. That is why it is so offensive to us now to see slavery actually happening in the world as we speak, where both administrations, the prior administration and this administration, have both said this is genocide. Standing up together in a bipartisan way is so important.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Janis Schachter, a dedicated and passionate educator at Northport High School. Janis Schachter is a leader and innovator in the academic discipline of News and Media Literacy. As a journalist and Social Studies teacher, Janis uses her talent and professional knowledge to engage young people in learning about the essential role of journalism in protecting our freedoms, and their shared civic responsibility to be active and informed participants in our democracy with civility and mutual respect. Through her affiliation with the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University, the Law Youth and Citizenship Program of the New York State Bar Association, and Project PATCH, the Law and Civic Education Program of the Northport--East Northport Union Free School District, Ms. Schachter has provided training in News and Media Literacy to hundreds of teachers in the United States and around the world. On September 15, 2021, Janis Schachter was recognized with a prestigious international teaching award by Global Youth & News Media which awarded her their Silver Prize for excellence and leadership in the field of News and Media Literacy. Her excellence as a teacher is also evident in her recognition as ``Distinguished Social Studies Educator'' by the New York State Council for the Social Studies. I am proud to recognize Janis Schachter for her invaluable contribution toward education as she continues to empower young people and fellow teachers with the knowledge, skills, and values that sustain and support our democracy.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Levin for yielding and for organizing this special order. We are so grateful to you for making sure we take this time to stop and honor the great legacy of Rich Trumka. I first came to Congress in 2017, and one of the first things I did was request a meeting with Rich Trumka, and he took me to breakfast. I have always been a prolabor person through my time as mayor and county executive of Nassau County. And I talked to him, and he made it very clear that what he was looking for and what the labor movement is looking for are champions that will be with you no matter what; not with you on some issues and not on other issues, but with you 100 percent. Everything he said to me that morning really resonated with me. And I decided from that moment on that I would make it clear that I would be a true friend of labor because of the instruction of Rich Trumka. The country has changed so much from the time from when he served as president of the United Mine Workers Union in the 1980s. And since the 1980s, we have seen tremendous growth in wealth in America. We have seen the Dow Jones go up 1,900 percent. We have seen the GDP go up 900 percent. But workers' wages during that same period of time have gone up less than 20 percent. So we have created enormous wealth in our country, but we are not sharing it with the men and women who go to work every day. Rich Trumka has reminded us how important it is that for this great system of capitalism to survive in our country, the best system that has ever been in human history, which has created more wealth, more innovation, has lifted more people out of poverty, for it to survive for the long-term future, we have to learn how capitalism and our economic system can share the great production of wealth with the people who go to work every day. Because the American Dream is based upon a very simple concept: if I go to work, I will make enough money. And with that money I can buy a home; I can educate my children; I can have health insurance; and I can retire one day in security without being scared. Rich Trumka reminded us of that every day of his life, that we need to recreate the American Dream for people in this country; that hard work will be rewarded with sufficient wealth so that you can live the American Dream. So my condolences to the Trumka family. Thank you to my colleague for setting this up. And thank you to Rich Trumka, a good and faithful servant, who has made our country a better place. And let's honor him by making sure we do everything we can to support the labor movement in this country.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I have two unrelated topics that really got me going this morning. The first is vaccinations. Over 40 percent of Americans are still not vaccinated. I mean, come on, what is going on? We need to wake up, America. We need to get vaccinated. People are saying, ``I want to live free or die.'' Well, people are living free and other people are dying. We need to get everyone vaccinated. Cases are rising every day. It is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Madam Speaker, 97 percent of hospitalizations are unvaccinated; 99 percent of the COVID deaths are unvaccinated. We need to wake up. There are people using social media poisoning the American people's minds and jeopardizing their health in the process. We need to work together to convince people that vaccinations are safe and that it makes sense to get vaccinated. I want to applaud Steve Scalise and Mitch McConnell for getting vaccinated and promoting it to the American people. We need everyone in this body to please do the same. You need to get vaccinated, not only for yourself, not only for your family, do it for other families, do it for the country, do it so the economy can stay strong. Please, get vaccinated. DACA Program

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, the second topic I would bring up is the Dreamers; the DACA program. So many families are living every day with so much stress and anxiety because of their immigration status. Last week, a Federal judge ruled that DACA must end, causing more anxiety and stress for these families. Congress should fix this. Give a pathway to legalization and citizenship, for Dreamers, for TPS recipients, and for the farm workers and other essential workers that make our country work. This is personal for me. Madam Speaker, 100 years ago, August 22 of 1921, my father was born in a small medieval village on the mountains of Southern Italy. He immigrated to the United States as a young boy. He was the first kid from the neighborhood to go to college. He fought in World War II as a navigator on a B-24 and got the Distinguished Flying Cross. He came home and went to Harvard Law School on the GI Bill. My father would always say, ``What a country.'' He went on to live a great American success story. So, like I said, this is personal for me. Twenty-seven years ago, I served as the young mayor of my hometown, the city of Glen Cove, New York. I addressed the growing issue of new immigrants from Central and South America who were gathering on street corners looking for work by creating the first day-workers site anywhere on the East Coast of the United States of America in 1994. I relied on a fundamental American principle: All men and women are created equal. It is not that all men and women with a passport are created equal, or all men and women with a green card are created equal. Every human being should be treated with human respect and dignity, and we have failed to address this problem for 30 years. Those same men who gathered on the street corners 27 years ago now have their own businesses, own their own homes, and their children went to school with my children. One Dreamer graduated high school with my daughter, went on to graduate from college with a degree in biomedical engineering, got a master's degree in biomedical engineering, and is now pursuing a doctorate in the same subject. But, now, he is suffering every day, worrying about his immigration status, worried about how this court ruling will affect him and his family. Dreamers have been shaken yet again. Let's fix this. Let's do it. Dreamers are ready to live the same American success story that my father lived. Let's give Dreamers, TPS recipients, farmworkers, and other essential workers a path to citizenship, and let's do it now.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. And you talk about President Lincoln when the Federal Tax Code was first adopted, and the idea was that we didn't want the Federal Government stopping local governments and State governments from being the laboratories of democracy.

Mr. SUOZZI. And so they put a deduction in place for State and local taxes so that State and local governments could govern the way they wish.

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I know that the gentleman has always been a strong proponent for law enforcement, for the firefighters, and public safety officials, and they are very dramatically negatively affected by this. Is that right?

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Pascrell very much for his comments. I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo), a good friend and a leader, not just on this issue but in Congress.

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership on this and for being such a fierce advocate for the middle class. I now introduce a good friend of mine from California, who really had a district that was devastated by COVID. People lost their jobs at one of the greatest entertainment facilities in the country, and now he wants to tell us about how SALT is affecting his district. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Carbajal).

Mr. SUOZZI. I thank the gentleman for being such a fierce advocate. Madam Speaker, I want to travel across the country from California now to New Jersey, to another fierce advocate; someone who served in the U.S. military as a Navy helicopter pilot for 5 years both in the Middle East and in Europe; someone who has been one of the fiercest advocates for the reinstatement of the SALT deduction. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Ms. Sherrill).

Mr. SUOZZI. Congresswoman, you have been an amazing advocate. You mentioned in your remarks at the end there about this being a double tax. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Mr. SUOZZI. So you are getting taxed on the taxes you have already paid.

Mr. SUOZZI. So if a family makes $100,000 in your State, and they have to pay $20,000 in taxes, between their property taxes and their income taxes, that leaves them with $80,000 of that income. However, if they are in a low tax State where they don't have as good services, they start with $100,000, but they only pay $5,000 in State and local taxes, they have got $95,000 left in income.

Mr. SUOZZI. But they are being taxed the same at the Federal level.

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, now I want to go across the aisle again to Congresswoman Michelle Steel from California, who is also being accosted by her constituents. They are talking to her about the fact that they need the SALT deduction back. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Steel).

Mr. SUOZZI. Congressman Gottheimer, thank you so much for pointing out all of those important points. I want to go back to one thing that you have mentioned here tonight. We have heard from Senator McConnell and from others the concept of a blue State bailout, the idea that the SALT deduction is some sort of advantage for blue States. But you talked about how your State is actually a net donor to the Federal Government. Could you tell us a little bit more about that? Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman for a colloquy.

Mr. SUOZZI

Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.