Recognizing 100th Anniversary of Long Island Association

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, I am so happy to be joining with my colleagues in the spirit of bipartisanship to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Long Island Association.

It has been a long journey, where over 100 years, a few name changes, under different leadership, and over a transition from farmland to suburbia to one of the densest, most productive regions in the Nation, the Long Island Association has brought together the best minds in business, labor, education, government, and the not-for-profit community to lay out a vision to move our community forward.

The Long Island Association has helped lead the way to make Long Island one of the most powerful regional economies in the United States of America.

Now, the Long Island Association has not done everything right. In preparing for this speech, I learned that the Long Island Association, along with none other than Robert Moses, proposed a bridge from Connecticut to Long Island. It might have been a good idea for business and traffic, but it would have ruined my beaches.

I have been in public life for over 30 years, first elected as mayor in 1993. As a result, I had the opportunity to be friendly with each leader of the Long Island Association during that time, from Jim Larocca to Matt Crosson to Kevin Law to Matt Cohen, and now the extraordinary Stacey Sikes.

I worked together with Stacey when I was Nassau County Executive. I saw firsthand her intelligence, work ethic, integrity, and her ability to bring people together. She, together with our chairman, Larry Waldman, and so many other good people on the board, we realize the Long Island Association is in very good hands.

For a century, the Long Island Association has been in the room for nearly every major conversation about our region's future. It helped advocate for the creation of Jones Beach State Park. It advocated for the Long Island Expressway and the Grand Central Parkway.

It was there for the growth of Levittown and the merger of North Shore University Hospital and the Glen Cove Hospital, which laid the foundation for what is now Northwell Health.

The Long Island Association has supported the growth of research and innovation and has brought together leaders to address the workforce development, housing, clean water, energy, and the stewardship of our natural resources like the Long Island Sound.

The association knows what businesses and workers need. It knows where Long Island commerce is pulling ahead and where it is falling behind. It understands the challenges we are facing when it comes to housing, transportation, workforce shortages, and energy reliability. It knows who needs to be in the room to ensure Long Island stays competitive in a rapidly changing economy.

We need the Long Island Association now more than ever. In our contemporary world, with the division between Democrats and Republicans and a fractured media environment, it is hard to know who to trust. We need the Long Island Association to continue to bring us together in search of a common vision to make Long Island the best place to live, work, and enjoy our lives.

The challenges we face today are different than they were 100 years ago, but the need for people to work together to cross party lines, to cross from business to labor, from elected officials to the not-for- profit community and education is the same need we have always had.

We must work together to build upon the progress that has been made to increase the SALT deduction and make life more affordable for Long Islanders.

We must work together to build more housing in downtowns so that we can expand the tax base and create an environment that is attractive and affordable to young people, and thereby expand our workforce and create cool downtowns.

We must work together to ensure that our energy is sustainable, reliable, and affordable. We must work together to improve our infrastructure, reduce traffic, and hasten our commutes.

We must work together to protect the environment and to keep our communities safe so that we can maintain one of the greatest qualities of life of any region in the Nation.

Working together, Democrats and Republicans, in league with our partners represented by the Long Island Association, we know that Long Island's best days are ahead.

Congratulations on an extraordinary first century, and here is to the next 100 years.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source