MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2025 3:15 P.M.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE HOUSE WILL

COME TO ORDER. GOOD AFTERNOON, COLLEAGUES.

IN THE ABSENCE OF CLERGY, LET US PAUSE FOR A MOMENT OF

SILENCE.

(WHEREUPON, A MOMENT OF SILENCE WAS OBSERVED.)

VISITORS ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE MEMBERS IN THE PLEDGE

OF ALLEGIANCE.

(WHEREUPON, ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER LED VISITORS AND

MEMBERS IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.)

A QUORUM BEING PRESENT, THE CLERK WILL READ THE

JOURNAL OF FRIDAY, JANUARY 24TH.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES: MADAM SPEAKER, I MOVE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

TO DISPENSE WITH THE FURTHER READING OF THE JOURNAL OF JANUARY --

FRIDAY, JANUARY THE 24TH AND THAT THE SAME STAND APPROVED.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: WITHOUT OBJECTION,

SO ORDERED.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES: THANK YOU. MADAM

SPEAKER, COLLEAGUES AND GUESTS THAT ARE IN THE CHAMBERS, I WOULD LIKE

TO SHARE A QUOTE WITH YOU ALL TODAY FROM JAMES BALDWIN. JAMES WAS

AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WRITER AND A CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST WHO GOT A LOT OF

ACCLAIM AROUND HIS WRITING OF ESSAYS AND NOVELS AND PLAYS, AS WELL AS

POEMS. IN 1953 HE WROTE A NOVEL, GO TELL IT TO [SIC] THE MOUNTAIN,

THAT HAS BEEN RANKED BY TIME MAGAZINE AS ONE OF THE TOP ENGLISH

LANGUAGE NOVELS. HIS WORDS FOR US TODAY: "NOT EVERYTHING THAT IS

FACED CAN BE CHANGED, BUT NOTHING CAN BE CHANGED UNTIL IT IS FACED."

AGAIN, THESE WORDS ARE FROM THE LATE JAMES BALDWIN.

MADAM SPEAKER, MEMBERS HAVE ON THEIR DESKS A MAIN

CALENDAR. WE'RE GONNA BEGIN OUR FLOOR WORK TODAY BY TAKING UP

CALENDAR RESOLUTIONS ON PAGE 3, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO CONSENT THE

NEW BILLS THAT WERE ADDED TO THE CALENDAR LAST WEEK. THEY'RE ON

CALENDAR NO. 1. WE WILL THEN CONTINUE CONSENT WHERE WE LEFT OFF LAST

WEEK, BEGINNING WITH RULES REPORT NO. 30 ON PAGE 6. MAJORITY

COLLEAGUES SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THERE WILL BE A NEED FOR A CONFERENCE

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING OUR FLOOR WORK. AND AS ALWAYS, MADAM

SPEAKER, WE WILL CHECK WITH OUR COLLEAGUES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE

AISLE TO DETERMINE WHAT THEIR CONFERENCE NEEDS MAY BE. THERE MAY BE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

A NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FLOOR ACTIVITY TO BE ANNOUNCED. SHOULD THAT BE

THE CASE, MADAM SPEAKER, I WILL BE PLEASED TO DO SO AT THAT MOMENT.

NOW, THAT'S THE GENERAL OUTLINE OF WHERE WE'RE GOING

TODAY. LET US BEGIN WITH HOUSEKEEPING AND/OR INTRODUCTIONS.

(PAUSE)

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MRS.

PEOPLES-STOKES. WE HAVE NO HOUSEKEEPING, BUT YOU HAVE AN

INTRODUCTION, PLEASE.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES: THANK YOU, MADAM

SPEAKER. ON BEHALF OF OUR COLLEAGUE CARRIE WOERNER, SHE HAS GUESTS

IN THE CHAMBERS THAT I WOULD BE VERY PLEASED IF YOU WOULD WELCOME

THEM TO OUR CHAMBERS. THEY ARE ALL FROM THE AMERICAN RED CROSS,

WHICH IS A VITAL INSTITUTION THAT DOES -- DELIVERS A LOT OF SERVICE

THROUGHOUT ALL OF OUR CONSTITUENCIES. TODAY WE HAVE WITH US

CHRISTOPHER DESANY. HE IS A REGIONAL VOLUNTEER FOR BIOMEDICAL

SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIR -- AND THE BIOMEDICAL SERVICES COMMITTEE

CHAIR; DAN BERRYANN, HE -- HE'S ALSO WITH THE -- A VOLUNTEER WITH THE

BIOMEDICAL SERVICES COMMITTEE. CHRISTINA STRUBE, BLOOD DRIVE

VOLUNTEER; JESSICA PECK, BLOOD DRIVE VOLUNTEER; LISA COOPER, A

VOLUNTEER BOARD CHAIR OF THE METRO NEW YORK CHAPTER; AND LAURENE

WALSH, VOLUNTEER BOARD MEMBER FOR THE METRO NEW YORK CHAPTER AS

WELL.

MADAM SPEAKER, WOULD YOU PLEASE WELCOME THESE

DISTINGUISHED GUESTS TO OUR CHAMBERS?

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: ON BEHALF OF MS.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

WOERNER, THE SPEAKER AND ALL THE MEMBERS, WE WELCOME THE AMERICAN

RED CROSS TO THE CHAMBER. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ALL OF THE

LIFESAVING WORK THAT YOU DO. WE EXTEND THE PRIVILEGES OF THE FLOOR AND

HOPE YOU ENJOY OUR PROCEEDINGS TODAY. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

(APPLAUSE)

RESOLUTIONS ON PAGE 3, THE CLERK WILL READ.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION NO. 13, MR. RA.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING GOVERNOR

KATHY HOCHUL TO PROCLAIM JANUARY 9, 2025 AS LAW ENFORCEMENT

APPRECIATION DAY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: MR. REILLY ON THE

RESOLUTION.

MR. REILLY: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. THANK

YOU TO MY COLLEAGUES FOR RECOGNIZING LAW ENFORCEMENT APPRECIATION

DAY. AS A FORMER MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT, I

COULD TELL YOU THAT WHEN WE ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE WHO WEAR THE UNIFORM

AND PATROL OUR STREETS AND KEEP US SAFE, IT IS REALLY EMPOWERING TO THEM

AND IT KEEPS THEM GOING. BUT WHAT WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT IS THE THINGS

THAT THEY MISS: THEIR FAMILY FUNCTIONS, THEIR FIRST BIRTHDAYS, THEIR

CHILD'S COMMUNION. THOSE HOLIDAYS, THOSE THANKSGIVINGS, THOSE

CHRISTMASES. SO WHEN WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE APPRECIATE WHAT THEY

DO FOR US DAY IN AND DAY OUT, WE ARE NOT ONLY SAYING IT TO THEM, WE ARE

THANKING THEIR FAMILIES FOR EVERYTHING THEY MISS AND ALL THE SACRIFICE

THAT THEIR FAMILIES PUT FORWARD FOR US.

SO THANK YOU TO ALL MY COLLEAGUES, AND I VOTE IN THE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

AFFIRMATIVE.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MR.

REILLY.

MR. GANDOLFO ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. GANDOLFO: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

I'M HAPPY TO RISE IN SUPPORT OF THIS RESOLUTION ONCE AGAIN THIS YEAR.

AND IT COMES ON A SPECIAL DAY TODAY AS JUST A FEW HOURS AGO, SUFFOLK

COUNTY POLICE OFFICER BRENDON GALLAGHER WAS RELEASED FROM THE

HOSPITAL WHERE HE HAD BEEN SINCE JANUARY 6TH AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN A

VERY HORRIFIC CRASH IN PURSUIT OF A SUSPECT. THE SUSPECT, ALLEGEDLY

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS, LOST CONTROL OF HIS VEHICLE,

RUNNING POLICE OFFICER GALLAGHER OFF THE ROAD WHERE HE HIT A TREE. THE

WRECK WAS SO BAD THAT IT TOOK FIRST RESPONDERS 30 MINUTES TO GET HIM

OUT OF THE WRECKAGE. IT LEFT HIM IN CRITICAL CONDITION, FIGHTING FOR HIS

LIFE. BUT TODAY, THANKFULLY, HE HAS BEEN RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL,

HE'LL CONTINUE HIS RECOVERY AT HOME. AND WE'RE JUST SO HAPPY AND WE

WANT TO LET HIM KNOW THAT WE APPRECIATE HIM, EVERY SUFFOLK COUNTY

POLICE OFFICER AND EVERY POLICE OFFICER ACROSS THE STATE.

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MR.

GANDOLFO.

MR. O'PHARROW ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. O'PHARROW: YES. GOOD AFTERNOON, MADAM

SPEAKER. COLLEAGUES, IT'S AN HONOR TO ACTUALLY TALK ON THIS MATTER,

BEING A POLICE OFFICER, A DETECTIVE MYSELF, 25 YEARS OF SERVICE. AND

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

THANK YOU, MIKE, FOR YOUR SERVICE AS WELL. WE WORKED TOGETHER,

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, MANY, MANY YEARS AGO. BUT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE

TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN ACTUALLY REWARD AND THANK OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT

OFFICERS NOT JUST IN NEW YORK STATE, BUT ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THERE

-- IT'S A THANKLESS JOB, THEY DO SO MUCH FOR OUR CITIZENS IN NEW YORK

STATE, AND I JUST WANT TO COMMEND THEM AND THOSE THAT PUT THEIR LIVES

ON THE LINE EACH AND EVERY DAY. THIS IS A JOB IN WHICH WE SIGNED UP

FOR -- WELL, I DID SIGN UP FOR MANY YEARS AGO, BUT NO LONGER. NOW I'M

SERVING THE PEOPLE IN A DIFFERENT CAPACITY. BUT WE WANT TO MAKE SURE

THAT WE DO THIS EVERY YEAR ON JANUARY 9TH AND WE COMMEND THEM FOR

ALL THEY DO FOR US.

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MR.

O'PHARROW.

MR. DURSO ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. DURSO: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER, AND

THANK YOU TO ASSEMBLY RA FOR BRINGING THIS RESOLUTION FORWARD. LAW

ENFORCEMENT APPRECIATION DAY, OBVIOUSLY IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THANK

THOSE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT DO WHAT THEY CAN TO PROTECT ALL OF US.

BUT SAYING THANK YOU SOMETIMES IS NOT ENOUGH. EVERY SINGLE DAY THEY

GO PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE TO PROTECT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US AND OUR

FAMILIES. AND AS MY COLLEAGUES HAD MENTIONED SPECIFIC INSTANCES

WHERE OFFICERS HAVE PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE AND, UNFORTUNATELY, SOME

OF THEIR LIVES HAVE BEEN TAKEN. BUT ONE ASPECT OF THIS I WANTED TO BRING

TO LIGHT WAS NOT ONLY THE PHYSICAL HEALTH OF OUR OFFICERS AND THOSE IN

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

LAW ENFORCEMENT, BUT THEIR MENTAL HEALTH. UNFORTUNATELY MORE AND

MORE, AND NOW A NUMBER OF TIMES THIS YEAR ALREADY, WE HAVE HAD

WHERE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS HAVE TAKEN THEIR OWN LIFE. AND

UNFORTUNATELY YESTERDAY IN NASSAU COUNTY ALONE, WE HAD ANOTHER ONE

OF OUR NASSAU COUNTY POLICE OFFICERS THAT TOOK THEIR OWN LIFE.

WATCHING OUT FOR OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND ALL OUR FIRST RESPONDERS'

MENTAL HEALTH IS SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE COMMITTED TO NOT

ONLY AS THE LEGISLATURE, BUT AS A PEOPLE HERE IN NEW YORK STATE. IT'S TO

CONTINUE TO DO WHAT WE CAN TO PROTECT THOSE THAT PROTECT US.

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MS. GRIFFIN ON THE RESOLUTION.

MS. GRIFFIN: THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THE

OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT DAY. AND I SEND MY DEEPEST

CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY OF THE POLICE OFFICER WHO TOOK HIS LIFE AND TO

SO MANY OTHERS THAT STRUGGLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH. IT IS SUCH A SERIOUS

ISSUE AND I THANK ASSEMBLY DURSO FOR BRINGING IT UP. TODAY IS A DAY

THAT WE CAN COME TOGETHER AND SAY OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO EACH AND

EVERY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER ACROSS OUR STATE AND IN OUR COUNTY. I

CAN ESPECIALLY THANK NASSAU COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR MAKING US

THE SAFEST COUNTY IN THE COUNTRY.

THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME SPEAK ON THIS IMPORTANT

MEASURE.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. RAMOS ON THE RESOLUTION.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

MR. RAMOS: MADAM SPEAKER, I -- I COMMEND THE

SPONSOR OF THIS RESOLUTION. I, TOO, WAS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. I

WAS A SUFFOLK COUNTY POLICE OFFICER FOR 20 YEARS, AND THAT WAS 20

YEARS OF WATCHING MY -- MY COLLEAGUES ACT IN HEROIC WAYS. TWENTY

YEARS OF HAVING THEM PUT THEIR LIFE ON THE LINE AND OTHER PEOPLE'S

FAMILIES BEFORE THEIR OWN IN THAT INSTANCE. AND THIS IS REALLY BEFITTING

THAT -- THAT WE DO THIS. I WORKED FOR TEN YEARS OF MY 20 YEARS IN

NARCOTICS, AND MY PARTNER DENNIS WUSTENHOFF WAS KILLED IN THE '90S

WHEN A BOMB WAS PUT IN HIS CAR IN FRONT OF HIS HOUSE AND HE WAS

BLOWN UP WHILE HIS FAMILY WAS HOME.

IN HIS HONOR, AND I THANK ALL THE POLICE OFFICERS LIKE

DENNIS WUSTENHOFF, AND I COMMEND THE ASSEMBLY TODAY FOR PASSING

THIS WONDERFUL RESOLUTION.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MR.

RAMOS.

MR. TANNOUSIS ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. TANNOUSIS: THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR

ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK ON THIS RESOLUTION. TODAY NOT ONLY ARE WE

SHOWING OUR APPRECIATION FOR OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT -- OF COURSE IF YOU

SEE A POLICE OFFICER PLEASE THANK THEM FOR THEIR SERVICE -- WE'RE

OBVIOUSLY RECOGNIZING ALSO THOSE PEOPLE THAT GAVE THEIR LIVES TO PROTECT

US. WHETHER IT'S THAT DETECTIVE RIVERA, DETECTIVE MORA, DETECTIVE

SIMONSEN, ALL THE PEOPLE THAT PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE, LOST THEIR LIVES,

LEFT FAMILY MEMBERS BEHIND, CHILDREN, WIVES, PARENTS, ALL TO PROTECT US.

WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET THAT, AND WE SHOULD DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

SUPPORT THEM EACH AND EVERY DAY.

THANK YOU ALL, GOD BLESS THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES.

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. CHANG ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. CHANG: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER, AND

THANK YOU MY COLLEAGUES FOR OFFERING THIS INTRODUCTION. AND EVEN

THOUGH I'VE NEVER WORN A UNIFORM FOR -- FOR AS LAW ENFORCEMENT, I WORE

A UNIFORM IN THE MILITARY, BUT STILL THEY'RE MY COLLEAGUES AND I

APPRECIATE THEIR -- THEIR -- THEIR SACRIFICES AND THEIR SERVICE TO PROTECT

OUR CITIZENS. AND ALSO WE HAVE TO TRY TO MAKE THIS AS A CAREER MOVE

BECAUSE IT'S RECRUITMENT IS DOWN PRETTY MUCH ACROSS THE BOARD AT

NYPD. WE NEED RECRUITMENTS FOR THEM BECAUSE WE HAVE TO FILL IN THE

RANKS FOR RETIRING POLICE OFFICERS, AND I HOPE THIS IS ONE WAY THAT WE

CAN HELP THEM AS WELL.

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. SLATER ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. SLATER: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. I JUST

WANTED TO RISE QUICKLY TO LEND MY VOICE IN SUPPORT FOR THIS FANTASTIC

RESOLUTION AND THANK THE SPONSOR FOR BRINGING IT FORWARD. IN MY

DISTRICT WE HAVE TWO COMMUNITIES WHO WERE NAMED TWO OF THE SAFEST

SMALL TOWNS IN AMERICA FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW; THE TOWN OF

YORKTOWN AND TOWN OF CARMEL. AND SO WE KNOW FIRSTHAND THE

IMPORTANCE OF HAVING STRONG LAW ENFORCEMENT IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

THE SACRIFICES THEY -- THAT THEY MAKE EVERY SINGLE DAY. ALSO, FOR OUR

PUTNAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, IT WAS RECENTLY ACCREDITED BY

DCJS, AGAIN, JUST A TRIBUTE TO THE INVESTMENTS THAT OUR COMMUNITIES

MAKE TO SUPPORT LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE HUDSON VALLEY. AND SO I DO

WANT TO SPEND A SECOND JUST TO THANK THEM ALL FOR THEIR SACRIFICES, I

WANT TO THANK THEIR FAMILIES FOR THEIR COMMITMENT, AND I WANT TO AGAIN

ALL MY COLLEAGUES FOR RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANT WORK THEY DO FOR US

EVERY SINGLE DAY.

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. FITZPATRICK ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. FITZPATRICK: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

I, TOO, WANT TO RISE AND OFFER MY THOUGHTS ON THIS RESOLUTION, AND THANK

YOU -- I THANK MY COLLEAGUES FOR DOING SO AS WELL. THE MEN AND

WOMEN OF THE POLICE FORCE IN EVERY COUNTY IN THIS STATE PROTECT AND

SERVE. SO IN MY VIEW, THEY DO GOD'S WORK TO PROTECT US FROM THE

FORCES OF EVIL, FOR -- FROM THOSE WHO WISH TO DO US HARM, AND THEY DO

GOD'S WORK AND WE SHOULD THANK GOD FOR THEM AND WISH THEM NOTHING

BUT THE VERY BEST. AND I WANT TO OFFER MY BEST WISHES TO OFFICER

GALLAGHER. IT'S A GREAT DAY TO SEE HIM NOT ONLY SURVIVE THAT HORRIFIC

CRASH, BUT BE ABLE TO LEAVE UNDER HIS OWN STRENGTH FROM THE HOSPITAL.

AND ALSO TO THE FAMILY OF THE OFFICER IN NASSAU COUNTY. TOO MANY

OFFICERS HAVE TAKEN THEIR LIVES, AND FOR THAT WE ARE VERY SAD AND THEY --

I HOPE THEY GET THE HELP THAT THEY NEED AND WE SHOULD DO EVERYTHING

WE CAN TO OFFER THEM THAT HELP.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES ON THE RESOLUTION.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES: THANK YOU, MADAM

SPEAKER. I WANT TO COMMEND COLLEAGUE RA AND THE OTHER MEMBERS

WHO SPOKE ON, I THINK, A VERY IMPORTANT PIECE OF LEGISLATION. IT MAKES

ME THINK ABOUT WHEN MY DAUGHTER LEFT TO GO TO COLLEGE, SHE WENT TO

TALLAHASSEE, AND HER AND HER ROOMMATE WERE LIVING IN AN APARTMENT

UNIT. THEY PICKED ME UP FROM THE AIRPORT, AND THE FIRST THING I SAW

WHEN I GOT THERE WAS A POLICE CAR. I'M LIKE, OKAY, WELL, THERE'S A

POLICE CAR. I GUESS SOME NEIGHBORS ARE HAVING SOME TROUBLE AND I

HOPE EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY. WELL, THE POLICE CAR WAS GONE WHEN WE

LEFT TO GO OUT TO DINNER, BUT WHEN WE GOT BACK FROM DINNER THERE WAS A

POLICE CAR THERE AGAIN. I WAS LIKE, WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS YOU GUYS

ARE LIVING IN WHEN THERE'S ALWAYS A POLICE CAR? THEY WAS LIKE, OH,

THAT'S MR. BOB, HE LIVES NEXT DOOR. NOW, THAT WAS VERY COMFORTING,

VERY COMFORTING. AND I THINK IT'S A COMFORT TO ALL AMERICANS THAT HAVE

-- KNOW THAT WE HAVE SUCH FINE PEOPLE LIKE POLICE OFFICERS WHO WILL

SWEAR TO GIVE THEIR LIFE TO PROTECT US.

AND SO I AM HONORED TO SUPPORT THIS RESOLUTION. I'M

CERTAINLY HONORED TO SUPPORT THE WELL-BEING OF THE FAMILY OF MR.

GALLAGHER [SIC], OFFICER GALLAGHER [SIC] THAT WAS JUST RECENTLY LOST IN

SOME OF YOUR COMMUNITIES. BUT I ALSO WANT TO HONOR THE FAMILIES OF

THE FOUR OFFICERS -- FIVE OFFICERS, ACTUALLY, THAT LOST THEIR LIVES EITHER

RIGHT AFTER OR NOT LONG AFTER THE JANUARY 6TH INSURRECTION ON OUR

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

CAPITOL. I WANT TO HONOR THEIR FAMILIES BECAUSE I KNOW THEY MUST STILL

BE GOING THROUGH IN THE LOSS OF LOSING THEIR LOVED ONES, PARTICULARLY

WHEN YOU FIND OUT THAT THE PERPETRATORS ACTUALLY END UP BEING

PARDONED FOR WHATEVER THEY'VE DONE TO YOU AND ANYONE ELSE AT THE

CAPITOL.

SO I DO HONOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND I THANK MR. RA

FOR PUTTING FORTH THIS RESOLUTION TO APPRECIATE THEM THIS DAY AND EVERY

DAY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MRS.

PEOPLES-STOKES.

ON THE RESOLUTION, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING

AYE; OPPOSED, NO. THE RESOLUTION IS ADOPTED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION NO. 44, MS.

TAPIA.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING GOVERNOR

KATHY HOCHUL TO PROCLAIM JANUARY 26, 2025 AS THE 212TH ANNIVERSARY

OF JUAN PABLO DUARTE DAY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: MS. TAPIA ON THE

RESOLUTION.

MS. TAPIA: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. TODAY

WE HONOR THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF A TRUE VISIONARY, PATRIOT AND NATIONAL

DOMINICAN HERO, JUAN PABLO DUARTE, THE FOUNDING FATHER OF THE

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. I AM PROUD TO SPONSOR THIS RESOLUTION TO

CELEBRATE JUAN PABLO DUARTE DAY, A DAY TO REFLECT ON THE SACRIFICES AND

CONTRIBUTIONS OF A LEADER WHO INSPIRED FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

DUARTE WAS A REVOLUTIONARY VISIONARY. BORN ON JANUARY 26, 1813,

DUARTE'S LIFE WAS DEFINED BY HIS UNYIELDING COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE,

INDEPENDENCE AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF HIS PEOPLE. AS A YOUNG MAN,

DUARTE ABSORBED THE IDEALS OF LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND SELF-DETERMINATION

DURING HIS TIME IN EUROPE, SHAPING HIS VISION FOR AN INDEPENDENT

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. DUARTE RETURNED HOME WITH A BOLD VISION --

MISSION: TO UNITE ITS PEOPLE AND ESTABLISH A NATION FREE FROM

OPPRESSION, ROOTED IN DEMOCRACY -- IN DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES AND

EQUALITY FOR ALL.

THROUGH HIS LEADERSHIP, DUARTE FOUNDED LA TRINITARIA,

A MOVEMENT THAT SPARKED A REVOLUTION AND ULTIMATELY LED TO THE

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC'S INDEPENDENCE ON FEBRUARY 27, 1844. HIS

UNWAVERING BELIEF IN THE POWER OF UNITY, EDUCATION AND CIVIC

RESPONSIBILITY CONTINUES TO INSPIRE FREEDOM FIGHTERS AROUND THE WORLD

TODAY. HERE IN THE -- IN NEW YORK STATE WE ARE HOME TO THE LARGEST

DOMINICAN COMMUNITY OUTSIDE OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, A

TESTAMENT OF THE STRENGTH AND VIBRANCY OF THE DOMINICAN DIASPORA.

DOMINICANS IN NEW YORK PLAY AN INTEGRAL -- AN INTEGRAL ROLE IN

SHAPING -- IN SHAPING OUR STATE, EMBODYING THE VALUES OF RESILIENCE

AND DETERMINATION THAT DUARTE CHAMPIONED.

JUAN PABLO DUARTE DAY IS NOT JUST ABOUT CELEBRATING

HIS LEGACY. IT'S A MOMENT TO REMEMBER THE RICH HISTORY AND ENDURING

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE -- OF THE DOMINICAN PEOPLE. LET US REMEMBER THAT

THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE AND DEMOCRACY IS A UNIVERSAL STORY, AND

JUAN PABLO DUARTE'S LIFE IS A SHINING EXAMPLE OF HOW COURAGE AND

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

CONVICTION CAN CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY.

TODAY, AS I ASK MY COLLEAGUES TO JOIN ME IN HONORING

THE MEMORY OF JUAN PABLO DUARTE AND RECOGNIZING THE DOMINICAN

COMMUNITY'S VIBRANT PRESENCE IN NEW YORK STATE, ALLOW ME TO SAY ONE

OF HIS QUOTES IN SPANISH. (SPEAKING SPANISH.)

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. ALVAREZ ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. ALVAREZ: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. I RISE

TODAY TO HONOR THE LIFE, LEGACY AND IDEOLOGY OF JUAN PABLO DUARTE, THE

FOUNDING FATHER OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, MY OWN COUNTRY. EVERY

JANUARY 26TH IS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN HONOR

OF OUR HERO JUAN PABLO DUARTE. DUARTE WAS AN ESSENTIAL PIECE OF THE

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC INDEPENDENCE, AND HE ALWAYS FOUGHT FOR A LIBERAL

DEMOCRACY AFTER FOUNDING THE NATION.

AS AN AFRICARYAN, I THANK ALL MY FELLOW DOMINICANS

ACROSS THE WORLD WHO UNDERSTAND THE SACRIFICE OF JUAN PABLO DUARTE

AND CELEBRATE HIS LEGACY, AND TO MS. TAPIA FOR BRINGING THIS RESOLUTION

FORWARD. (SPEAKING SPANISH.)

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. DE LOS SANTOS ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. DE LOS SANTOS: THANK YOU, MADAM

SPEAKER, FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ON THIS IMPORTANT RESOLUTION.

TODAY WE MARKS [SIC] THE 212TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF JUAN PABLO

DUARTE, THE FOUNDING FATHER OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, THE COUNTRY

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

WHERE I WAS BORN. A VISIONARY LEADER WHO CHAMPIONED OUR COUNTRY,

INDEPENDENCE. AS DOMINICAN AMERICANS CELEBRATE HIS BIRTH, WE ALSO

SHOULD BE IMITATING HIS VALUES, HIS PRINCIPLE, HIS HARD WORK, HIS

STRUGGLE, BUT ALSO HIS DEDICATION TO OUR COUNTRY. AS HE ONCE SAID, LET

US WORK FORTH AND FOR THE COUNTRY WHICH IS TO WORK FOR OUR CHILDREN

AND FOR OURSELF. (SPEAKING SPANISH.)

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MS. LEVENBERG ON THE RESOLUTION.

MS. LEVENBERG: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER,

AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE SPONSOR. AND I JUST WANT TO TIE TWO

THINGS TOGETHER, BECAUSE AS WE RECOGNIZE JUAN PABLO DUARTE DAY WE

ARE ALSO TODAY, IN A FOLLOWING RESOLUTION, RECOGNIZING INTERNATIONAL

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY. AND I JUST WANTED TO REMIND

EVERYBODY THAT THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WAS ONE OF THE FIRST NATIONS TO

ACCEPT JEWISH REFUGEES. IN THE 1930S THEY AGREED TO ACCEPT UP TO

100,000 JEWISH REFUGEES. LED BY DICTATOR GENERAL RAFAEL LE�NIDAS

TRUJILLO MOLINA, THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ADMITTED 645 JEWS FROM

1938 TO 1945 AND ISSUED APPROXIMATELY 5,000 VISAS. AND THEY SET UP

AN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY, SOSUA, WHICH I BELIEVE STILL IS IN EXISTENCE

TODAY.

SO I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THE SPONSOR FOR

THIS BILL AND HOW THEY TIE TOGETHER. THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. DIPIETRO ON THE RESOLUTION.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

MR. DIPIETRO: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. JUST

TO REITERATE THE SAME, IT'S -- MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW'S BIRTHDAY WAS

YESTERDAY. HER AND HER ENTIRE FAMILY ARE FROM PUERTO RICO AND WE

CELEBRATED YESTERDAY AT OUR HOUSE WITH A NICE DINNER AND -- AND I KNOW

IT MEANT A LOT TO THEM. AND I JUST WANTED TO THANK THE SPONSOR FOR

BRINGING THIS UP.

SO THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

ON THE RESOLUTION, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING

AYE; OPPOSED, NO. THE RESOLUTION IS ADOPTED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION NO. 45, MS.

ROZIC.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING GOVERNOR

KATHY HOCHUL TO PROCLAIM JANUARY 27, 2025 AS HOLOCAUST

REMEMBRANCE DAY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: MS. ROZIC ON THE

RESOLUTION.

MS. ROZIC: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER AND

MADAM MAJORITY LEADER. TODAY WE GATHER TO COMMEMORATE

INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY, HONORING THE SIX MILLION

JEWISH MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN ALONGSIDE MILLIONS OF OTHERS WHO

PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST.

IT'S OFFICIALLY 80 YEARS SINCE THE WORLD LEARNED ABOUT

THE HORRORS OF THE HOLOCAUST. AUSCHWITZ, WHERE 1 MILLION JEWS AND

MANY OTHERS PERISHED, WAS THE MOST NOTORIOUS. BUT I ALSO WANT TO

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

REMIND EVERYONE THAT THE NAZIS BUILT OVER 44,000 MASS INCARCERATION

CAMPS, AND OVER THE COURSE OF MANY YEARS DECIMATED TWO-THIRDS OF

EUROPEAN JEWS.

FOR MANY OF US IN THIS ROOM AND THOSE OF YOU

WATCHING AT HOME, INCLUDING MY MOM, YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT THIS DAY

COMPELS US NOT ONLY TO REMEMBER THE ATROCITIES OF THE PAST, BUT TO

CONFRONT THE DANGEROUS RESURGENCE OF ANTI-SEMITISM IN OUR OWN TIME.

AND IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHY I CONSTANTLY BRING THIS UP AND IF YOU

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA, THAT'S WHY I ALWAYS POST ABOUT IT, IT'S

BECAUSE 90 YEARS AGO PEOPLE SAID NOTHING. AND THE HOLOCAUST DID NOT

JUST HAPPEN AND BEGIN WITH GAS CHAMBERS, IT BEGAN WITH WORDS,

INSIDIOUS PROPAGANDA, DEHUMANIZING RHETORIC AND THE PASSIVE

COMPLICITY OF THOSE WHO TURNED A BLIND EYE. THE WORLD'S FAILURE THEN

TO CONFRONT EARLY MANIFESTATION OF ANTI-SEMITISM ALLOWED IT TO

METASTASIZE INTO ONE OF HUMANITY'S GREATEST TRAGEDIES. YOU SEE,

AUSCHWITZ IS NOT MERELY A SITE OF MEMORY, IT'S A WARNING. IT REMINDS

US OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HATRED IS NORMALIZED, WHEN SILENCE REPLACES

ACTION, AND WHEN LEADERS FAIL TO MEET THE MOMENT. WE REALLY CAN'T

AFFORD TO IGNORE THE LESSONS OF HISTORY. THE RISE OF ANTI-SEMITIC

INCIDENTS ACROSS NEW YORK AND THE COUNTRY UNDER -- UNDERSCORES THIS

URGENCY. LAST YEAR ALONE, NEW YORK CITY RECORDED OVER 300

ANTI-SEMITIC HATE CRIMES, A HUGE SPIKE FROM THE YEAR BEFORE. JUST

YESTERDAY A JEWISH-OWNED RESTAURANT IN BROOKLYN WAS THE TARGET OF

ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI, LABELING IT "GENOCIDE CUISINE." IT'S IMPORTANT TO

NOTE THAT AN ANTI-SEMITIC ACT OR A PERVERSION OF THE TRUTH, EVEN IF IT

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

OCCURS MILES AWAY, AFFECTS ALL OF US.

FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A CENTURY, JEWS AND THEIR

FAMILIES ARE CONSULTING LISTS TO FIND OUT WHICH OF THEIR RELATIVES WERE

MURDERED AND WHICH HAVE LIVED. WE ALSO HAVE A SECOND SET OF

SURVIVORS IN OUR MIDST. THESE ATTACKS ARE NOT ISOLATED INCIDENTS,

THEY'RE A PART OF A WAVE OF HATE THAT THREATENS NOT ONLY JEWISH

COMMUNITIES LIKE MY OWN, BUT THE BROADER PRINCIPLES OF EQUALITY,

JUSTICE, HUMANITY THAT REALLY UNDERPIN OUR SOCIETY BECAUSE WHAT STARTS

WITH THE JEWS NEVER ENDS WITH US. AND SADLY, WE'VE LEARNED THAT THEY

ARE TOO MANY OUT THERE WHO WOULD GLADLY SEE ANOTHER HOLOCAUST.

I'M GONNA QUOTE PRIMO LEVI, WHO WAS AN AUSCHWITZ

SURVIVOR HIMSELF. HE SAYS, "MONSTERS EXIST, BUT THERE ARE TOO FEW IN

NUMBER TO BE TRULY DANGEROUS. MORE DANGEROUS ARE THE COMMON MEN

-- AND I'LL ADD WOMEN -- THE FUNCTIONARIES READY TO BELIEVE AND TO ACT

WITHOUT ASKING QUESTIONS."

AND SO I SAY TO MY JEWISH COMMUNITY, WE'RE NOT

ALONE IN THIS STRUGGLE, EVEN THOUGH IT REALLY MIGHT FEEL THAT WAY AT

TIMES. WE DESERVE A SOCIETY WHERE WE CAN LIVE, WORSHIP AND THRIVE

WITHOUT FEAR. TO THE LEADERS IN THIS ROOM, NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT. I'VE

SAID THAT IN PRIOR YEARS, BUT REALLY, I MEAN IT. PROTECTING JEWISH

COMMUNITIES FROM ANTI-SEMITISM IS NOT JUST ABOUT SAFEGUARDING ONE

GROUP, IT'S ABOUT UPHOLDING OUR VALUES, STRENGTHENING PROTECTIONS FOR

JEWISH COMMUNITIES, ENHANCING EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT

ANTI-SEMITISM, AND ENSURING THAT THOSE WHO PERPETUATE THIS HATE ARE

ACTUALLY HELD ACCOUNTABLE. AND IT'S NOT ENOUGH. THE WINDOW FOR

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

PREVENTATIVE ACTION IS ACTUALLY CLOSING. THIS URGENCY CANNOT BE

OVERSTATED. SEVENTY-SIX PERCENT OF ADULTS SURVEYED IN THE U.S. BELIEVE

SOMETHING LIKE THE HOLOCAUST COULD HAPPEN AGAIN TODAY. AND IF YOU

TALK TO ANY STUDENT ON ANY COLLEGE CAMPUS, THEY WILL AGREE WITH YOU.

ANTI-SEMITISM UNCHECKED NOT ONLY ENDANGERS JEWS, BUT THREATENS ALL

OF US. AND WHAT WE CAN DO AND SHOULD DO IS GIVE MEANING TO THE

MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS AND LIVING HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS THROUGH OUR

ACTIONS. THIS YEAR MUST BE A TURNING POINT IN THE FIGHT AGAINST

ANTI-SEMITISM IN NEW YORK AND BEYOND. TO THOSE IN THIS CHAMBER

AND ACROSS THE STATE, I ISSUE A RENEWED CALL TO ACTION. MAKE THIS THE

YEAR WE SAY, ENOUGH. AS WE REMEMBER THE VICTIMS AND THE SURVIVORS,

LET US ALSO HONOR THEIR MEMORY BY BUILDING A SOCIETY ROOTED IN JUSTICE,

COMPASSION AND COURAGE. "NEVER AGAIN" IS NOT JUST A PLEDGE TO

REMEMBER, IT IS ALSO A PROMISE TO ACT.

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MS.

ROZIC.

MR. ERIC BROWN.

MR. A. BROWN: YOU GUYS CAN CALL ME ARI. THANK

YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. AND AS A SON AND GRANDSON OF HOLOCAUST

SURVIVORS, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE SPONSOR FOR BRINGING THIS IMPORTANT

PIECE OF -- RESOLUTION FORWARD. AND TO QUOTE ECCLESIASTES, (SPEAKING

HEBREW), THERE'S NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN. HOW DID IT ALL START?

HOW DID IT ALL FIRST HAPPEN? START OFF WITH BREAKING THE WINDOWS OF

JEWISH-OWNED BUSINESSES. OF COURSE IN THE UNIVERSITIES, OF PLACES OF

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

HIGHER EDUCATION, AND THAT'S TYPICALLY WHERE IT STARTS, CONDEMNING THE

JEWISH PEOPLE, AND THEN OF COURSE THE MURDER OF JEWISH PEOPLE. AS

MY COLLEAGUE JUST MENTIONED, JUST THE OTHER DAY, ON SATURDAY, MIRIAM'S

RESTAURANT IN BROOKLYN WAS TREATED VERY SIMILARLY TO WHAT HAPPENED TO

THE JEWISH-OWNED BUSINESSES IN NAZI GERMANY. OF COURSE WE KNOW

TODAY THE UNIVERSITIES ARE A CAULDRON OF ANTI-SEMITISM. NOT MUCH IS

BEING DONE ABOUT THAT. WE TALK, BUT WE ALLOW WHAT GOES ON, ESPECIALLY

THE CUNY SYSTEM, TO CONTINUE TO GO ON. AND OF COURSE THE SIMILARITY

WHAT HAPPENED ON OCTOBER 7TH, THE MURDER OF INNOCENT JEWISH LIVES.

AND EVERYBODY ALWAYS THINKS THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE OSKAR SCHINDLER,

THEY'RE GONNA SAVE THE JEWS. BUT AS WE'VE SEEN RECENTLY, PEOPLE AREN'T.

NO ONE'S SAVING ANNE FRANK.

SO WHAT CAN WE DO? YOU KNOW, IT WAS OUR THIRD

PRESIDENT THAT SAID, ALL TYRANNY NEEDS TO GAIN A FOOTHOLD IS FOR PEOPLE

OF GOOD CONSCIENCE TO REMAIN SILENT. AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT HAPPENS.

YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY NOT TO REMAIN SILENT. OUR

COLLEAGUE LESTER CHANG PROPOSED A RESOLUTION, OCTOBER 7TH DAY, TO

MEMORIALIZE OCTOBER 7TH, ONLY TO GET BACK A NOTICE TO SAY THAT IT WAS

TOO CONTROVERSIAL. TOO CONTROVERSIAL? WOW! WE HEARD THAT 80 YEARS

AGO AND WE'RE HEARING THAT AGAIN FROM OUR OWN LEGISLATIVE BODY? YOU

KNOW, MOST OF MY FAMILY WAS KILLED IN THE HOLOCAUST; ALL OF MY

GRANDFATHER'S FAMILY. MY MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER HAD TO ESCAPE.

THEY ENDED UP IN AN INTERNMENT CAMP RIGHT HERE IN OSWEGO, NEW

YORK, IN A BARBWIRE INTERNMENT CAMP FOR 18 MONTHS. I HAVE NO

RELATIVES ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE, AND MY MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER ARE NO

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

LONGER ALIVE. WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PUT THE POLITICS ASIDE, AND WE

HAVE RESOLUTIONS LIKE OCTOBER 7TH DAY TO SPEAK OUT AND DO THE RIGHT

THING AND NOT TO REMAIN SILENT, SO THAT IT WILL TRULY NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MR. ARI

BROWN.

MR. EICHENSTEIN.

MR. EICHENSTEIN: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER,

FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK ON THIS RESOLUTION, AND I WANT TO THANK THE

SPONSOR FOR BRINGING THIS RESOLUTION TO THE FLOOR. TODAY WE GATHER IN

THIS CHAMBER TO MARK HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY. WE HONOR THE

MEMORY OF SIX MILLION JEWS WHO WERE BRUTALLY MURDERED DURING THE

DARKEST HOUR IN OUR MODERN HISTORY. FOR ME, THIS DAY HOLDS DEEPLY

PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE, AS I STAND HERE TODAY AS A GRANDCHILD OF FOUR

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS. EXACTLY 80 YEARS AGO TODAY ON JANUARY 27, 1945,

THE NOTORIOUS AUSCHWITZ CONCENTRATION CAMP, WHICH WAS THE LARGEST OF

THE NAZI DEATH CAMPS, WAS LIBERATED. LET'S BE CLEAR. AUSCHWITZ WAS

BUILT FOR ONE PURPOSE AND ONE PURPOSE ONLY: TO EXTERMINATE THE

JEWISH PEOPLE. EVERY SINGLE ONE. THE NAZIS IMPLEMENTED THEIR

GENOCIDAL PLAN WITH HORRIFYING AND PRECISE DETAIL. BUT IT'S IMPORTANT TO

NOTE THAT THE HOLOCAUST DIDN'T START WITH THE GAS CHAMBERS. WHAT

STARTED WITH HATE SPEECH WHICH WAS ALLOWED TO FESTER, OVER TIME TURNED

INTO VIOLENT ATTACKS, YELLOW STARS, CONCENTRATION CAMPS, AND EVENTUALLY

THE GAS CHAMBERS. ALL WHILE THE WORLD REMAINED SILENT. HISTORY HAS

TAUGHT US, IT DOESN'T BEGIN WITH THE CATTLE CARS AND WITH THE DEATH

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

CAMPS. IT BEGINS WITH HATE SPEECH AND WITH ISOLATED ACTS OF VIOLENCE.

BUT WHEN -- BUT WHEN SOCIETY FAILS TO EXTINGUISH, EXTINGUISH THOSE

SPARKS OF HATE IT CAN ESCALATE INTO DISASTER. WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE IT

HAS HAPPENED BEFORE. SO TO THOSE THAT SAY, MOVE ON OF A SINGULAR

INCIDENT HERE OR A SINGULAR INCIDENT THERE, WE SAY, NO. NEVER AGAIN.

IT BEGINS RIGHT NOW.

COLLEAGUES, WE HAVE A FORMIDABLE TASK AHEAD OF US.

FIRST OF ALL, WE MUST END HATE SPEECH AND THE RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE

NOW, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. AND THAT MEANS WE NEED TO STEP OUT AND

SPEAK UP REGARDLESS OF WHERE IT'S TAKING PLACE, INCLUDING OUR VERY OWN

CUNY CAMPUSES. WE MUST EDUCATE OUR NEXT GENERATION, WHO ARE

SHOCKINGLY CLUELESS ABOUT OUR BASIC HISTORY. ACCORDING TO A SURVEY

RELEASED JUST LAST WEEK BY THE CLAIMS CONFERENCE, A FULL 66 PERCENT OF

MILLENNIALS COULDN'T EVEN IDENTIFY AUSCHWITZ. YOUNG PEOPLE NEED TO

KNOW. STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW. OUR CHILDREN NEED TO KNOW. LET'S

LEARN FROM HISTORY. WE ARE STRONG WHEN WE STAND TOGETHER FOR OUR

FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS. WE ARE STRONG WHEN WE TEACH THE NEXT

GENERATION ABOUT THE ATROCITIES AND THE UNCHECKED EVILS OF THE PAST.

WE ARE STRONG WHEN WE FULLY PROSECUTE THOSE THAT ARE CARRYING OUT

THESE HATE CRIMES.

EIGHTY YEARS AGO HATE AND BIAS LED TO HORRIFIC

ATROCITIES AGAINST THE JEWISH PEOPLE, AND NOBODY SPOKE OUT. IT'S 80

YEARS LATER. LET'S STAND UNITED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT NEVER HAPPENS

AGAIN. THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

MR. NORBER ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. NORBER: THANK YOU, SPONSOR ROZIC FOR

PUTTING IN THIS VERY IMPORTANT BILL, AND THANK YOU, COLLEAGUES FOR

ALLOWING ME TO ADDRESS THE CHAMBER ON THIS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE.

TODAY, AS WE MARK HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY, WE HONOR THE

MEMORY OF THE SIX MILLION WHO PERISHED AND THE COUNTLESS OTHERS WHO

DIED ON THOSE TERRIBLE DAYS OF WORLD WAR II. WE REMEMBER THE

SURVIVORS, THE RESILIENCE AND THE STRENGTH THAT THEY SHOWED AFTER

REBUILDING THEIR LIVES AFTER THEY SUFFERED THESE HORRIBLE EXPERIENCES

DURING WORLD WAR II.

AS A GRANDSON OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS, I WAS RAISED

WITH MANY STORIES OF SURVIVAL FROM THIS DARK ERA. MY GRANDFATHER, WHO

READ MEIN KAMPF VERY EARLY ON, COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD THE INTENTIONS

OF ADOLF HITLER AND HE BEGGED HIS COMMUNITY AND HIS PEOPLE AND HIS

FAMILY TO FLEE POLAND BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE. HE WAS COMPLETELY

IGNORED BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT BACK THEN THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY

AND NOTHING WILL HAPPEN AND THINGS WILL BE ALWAYS ALL RIGHT WITH THE

JEWISH PEOPLE. BUT EVIDENTLY, ULTIMATELY, HIS ENTIRE VILLAGE WAS WIPED

OFF OF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. THERE IS NO REMEMBRANCE OR ANY RECORDS

OF HIS VILLAGE WHICH ONCE EXISTED IN POLAND.

AND AS OF TODAY WE FIND OURSELVES AGAIN AT A TROUBLING

MOMENT. ANTI-SEMITISM IS RISING AGAIN IN THIS COUNTRY AND AROUND THE

WORLD. WE ARE LIVING IN A TIME OF VIOLENT ATTACKS ON SYNAGOGUES, HATE

SPEECH AND COLLEGE CAMPUSES AND HIGH SCHOOLS AND EVERYWHERE IN

NEW YORK -- IN MANY PLACES IN NEW YORK, AND HARASSMENTS ON OUR

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

STREETS. AND WE MUST BE ALWAYS MINDFUL OF WHAT HATE SPEECH CAN LEAD

TO. THIS IS WHY HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY IS NOT JUST ABOUT

LOOKING BACK, IT IS ABOUT CONFRONTING THE THREATS OF TODAY. IT IS ABOUT

EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION TO RECOGNIZE HATE, SPEAK OUT AGAINST IT,

AND STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE WHO FACE IT. NO MATTER WHAT

ETHNICITY, RACE OR RELIGION, WE MUST STAND TOGETHER AND OPPOSE HATE IN

ALL ITS FORMS. AS A FATHER RAISING JEWISH CHILDREN HERE IN NEW YORK, I

FEEL AN EVEN GREATER RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT THEY AND THE NEXT

GENERATION OF NEW YORKERS INHERIT A WORLD THAT LEARNS FROM THE PAST

AND VALUES DECENCY AND HUMANITY. NO ONE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEIR

RELIGION. WE IN THIS CHAMBER MUST SET THAT EXAMPLE NOT ONLY WITH OUR

ACTIONS, BUT ALSO WITH OUR RHETORIC. WE MUST CONTINUE TO ENSURE THAT

THE PROMISE OF "NEVER AGAIN" IS NOT JUST A PHRASE, BUT A COMMITMENT

THAT WE MUST UPHOLD WITH OUR ACTIONS.

AS A PROUD RESIDENT OF THIS GREAT STATE, AS A PROUD

JEW, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, AS A FATHER, I URGE ALL OF US TO RECOMMIT

OURSELVES TO FIGHTING AGAINST HATE AGAINST ALL MINORITIES. LET US LEAD BY

EXAMPLE THROUGH POLICY AND THROUGH COMPASSION TO CREATE A WORLD

WHERE OUR CHILDREN CAN LIVE WITHOUT FEAR, WHERE THEY CAN PRACTICE AND

EXPRESS THEIR FAITH, AND WHERE THEY CAN THRIVE IN A NEW YORK THAT

ACCEPTS ALL PEOPLE FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS.

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MS. GLICK ON THE RESOLUTION.

MS. GLICK: THANK YOU, MS. SPEAKER, AND I WANT TO

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

THANK THE SPONSOR FOR BRINGING THIS FORWARD AGAIN. IT'S -- IT IS

INTERESTING THAT WE LIVE IN A TIME WHEN HISTORICAL ILLITERACY SEEMS TO BE

THE WATCH WORD. PEOPLE DON'T REMEMBER FOUR YEARS LET ALONE 80 YEARS.

SO IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT THE CHANGE IN THE WAY IN WHICH INFORMATION IS

DISSEMINATED MAKES IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO LIE, IT MAKES IT EASIER FOR

PEOPLE TO CREATE FAKE NEWS, AND IT ALSO IS AN ORGANIZING TOOL FOR THOSE

WHO WOULD BAND TOGETHER TO ENSURE THAT THEY CAN PROMULGATE

WIDESPREAD HATRED AND, IN FACT, ACT ON THAT. WE SEE THE RISE OF FAR-RIGHT

VIGILANTE GROUPS ACROSS THE GLOBE, NOT JUST HERE, AND THAT THREAT SHOULD

NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY. THE MECHANISM FOR THE HOLOCAUST WAS REALLY

ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO KILL ENOUGH JEWS INDIVIDUALLY. THEY COULDN'T

MOVE FAST ENOUGH, AND SO THEY CREATED MANUFACTURING FACILITIES WHICH

WERE THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS WITH THE CREMATORIUM. AND THAT MADE IT

ALSO EASIER FOR AVERAGE PEOPLE WHO WERE PART OF THE MILITARY WHO

MIGHT HAVE HAD MORAL QUALMS ABOUT SHOOTING PEOPLE ONE AFTER ANOTHER

TO HAVE SOME DISTANCE FROM WHAT THEY WERE DOING. THAT EVIL AND THE

UNDERMINING OF PEOPLE'S MORAL COMPASS IS AT THE HEART OF HATE SPEECH,

THE DEHUMANIZING OTHER INDIVIDUALS, SAYING THAT THEY ARE, AS THE NAZIS

SAID, JEWS WERE VERMIN. THEY WERE A THREAT. THEY WERE POISONING THE

BLOOD OF GERMANY. THEY WEREN'T REAL GERMANS. THOSE ECHOES ARE

LOUD AND CLEAR TODAY. AND IF WE CONSIDER OURSELVES MORAL INDIVIDUALS,

IF WE BELIEVE OURSELVES TO BE AT LEAST SPIRITUAL, IF NOT RELIGIOUS, THEN WE

HAVE TO LOOK AT OURSELVES AND OUR OWN WILLINGNESS TO HEAR SIMILAR

PHRASES, SIMILAR WORDS, AND NOT RISE UP AND RESIST.

THERE IS A NOTION AND THERE'S A LIE THAT THE JEWS WENT

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

QUIETLY TO THEIR DEATH. THAT IS NOT TRUE. MANY, MANY FOUGHT AND MANY

SURVIVED, BUT MANY DIED. AND THEY DIED BECAUSE THE MECHANISMS OF

GOVERNMENT, NOT INDIVIDUAL HATEFUL PEOPLE LIKE THE GUY WHO SHOT UP

THE TREE OF LIFE SYNAGOGUE IN PITTSBURGH, BUT THE MECHANISM OF

GOVERNMENT WAS UTILIZED TO DEMONIZE A GROUP OF PEOPLE, ISOLATE THEM,

DEMONIZE THEM, DEHUMANIZE THEM AND THEN ACT.

WE HAVE A CAUTIONARY TALE TODAY, AND IT IS UP TO US AS

INDIVIDUALS AND AS COMMUNITY TO RECOGNIZE THAT OUR OWN HUMANITY IS

AT RISK WHEN WE DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE THREAT AND ACT. BECAUSE POST-WAR

GERMANS HAVE ACTED AS A COMMUNITY TO RECOGNIZE THE HOLOCAUST, TO

MEMORIALIZE THE HOLOCAUST, AND WE HAVE TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT WE DO

NOT PARTICIPATE IN SOME OTHER GOVERNMENT-ORGANIZED AND SANCTIONED

ATTEMPT TO DEMONIZE AND ISOLATE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING AND HAVE LIVED

IN OUR OWN COMMUNITIES.

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MS.

GLICK.

MR. WIEDER ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. WIEDER: HONORABLE SPEAKER, DISTINGUISHED

MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY, THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK TODAY

ON THIS IMPORTANT OCCASION. I ALSO WANT TO THANK THE SPONSOR FOR THIS

RESOLUTION, FOR BRINGING FORWARD THIS CRUCIAL REMEMBRANCE OF THE

HOLOCAUST.

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY COINCIDES WITH THE DAY

AUSCHWITZ WAS LIBERATED, A FACT THAT CARRIES IMMENSE WEIGHT. LIKE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

ASSEMBLYMAN EICHENSTEIN, AS A GRANDSON OF FOUR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS,

TWO OF WHOM WERE IN AUSCHWITZ, AND A GREAT-GRANDSON OF THREE MORE,

THIS DAY HOLDS DEEP PERSONAL MEANING FOR ME. I STAND HERE TODAY NOT

ONLY AS A MEMBER OF THIS ASSEMBLY, BUT ALSO AS SOMEONE WHOSE FAMILY

WAS DIRECTLY IMPACTED BY ONE OF THE DARKEST CHAPTERS IN HUMAN HISTORY.

THE LESSONS OF THE HOLOCAUST ARE NOT JUST HISTORICAL, THEY ARE PERSONAL.

ETCHED INTO MY FAMILY'S STORY. THE SLOGAN, "NEVER AGAIN" IS A

POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT DECLARATION, BUT WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT

OFTEN RINGS HOLLOW WHEN WE LOOK AT THE ATROCITIES, HATE AND

ANTI-SEMITISM THAT PERSISTS ALL AROUND THE WORLD TO THIS VERY DAY. THE

TRAGIC EVENTS OF OCTOBER 7TH SERVE AS A PAINFUL REMINDER THAT THE BATTLE

AGAINST HATRED IS FAR FROM OVER. WHILE THIS MAKES "NEVER AGAIN" FEEL

LIKE AN ELUSIVE GOAL, IT DOES NOT ABSOLVE US FROM THE RESPONSIBILITY TO

REMEMBER.

MANY, MANY YEARS AGO I VISITED AUSCHWITZ FOR THE

FIRST TIME. I DIDN'T TELL MY GRANDFATHER, MY ZAYDE, THAT I WAS GOING

BECAUSE I KNEW HE WOULD OBJECT. HE HAD ALWAYS SAID HE NEVER WANTED

TO RETURN TO EUROPE. BUT ON THE BRISK COLD MORNING I ENTERED

AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU, I FELT COMPELLED TO CALL HIM. I SAID, ZAYDE, I'M IN

AUSCHWITZ. THERE WAS A LONG SILENCE ON THE OTHER END OF THE LINE

WHICH FELT LIKE AN ETERNITY. FINALLY, HE TELLS ME, WATCH OUT FOR

YOURSELF. IT'S A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE. THEN UNEXPECTEDLY, HE

INSTRUCTED ME TO TELL THEM THAT (SPEAKING YIDDISH), JONAS IS ALIVE AND

JONAS SURVIVED. I WAS PUZZLED BECAUSE THERE WAS NO ONE THERE TO SAY

THIS TO. BUT I REPEATED, JONAS SURVIVED. HE RAISED HIS VOICE AND SAID,

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

SAY IT LOUDER. SO I DID. I SAID IT LOUDER, BUT HE INSISTED... NO, SAY IT

LOUDER. AT THAT POINT, STANDING BETWEEN THE BARRACKS OF AUSCHWITZ

AMIDST THE SOLEMN GROUNDS OF THAT NOTORIOUS PLACE, I FOUND MYSELF

SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS, (SPEAKING YIDDISH), JONAS IS ALIVE,

JONAS IS ALIVE. INDEED, MY GRANDFATHER, MY DEAR, DEAR GRANDFATHER

JONAS, SURVIVED THE HORRORS OF THE HOLOCAUST. HE CAME TO AMERICA,

BUILT A BEAUTIFUL LIFE, RAISED A FAMILY AND LIVED TO SEE HIS GRANDSON

STAND HERE TODAY IN THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

WE OWE IT TO MY GRANDFATHER, INDEED, TO ALL SURVIVORS

AND TO THE MILLIONS WHO HAVE PERISHED, NOT JUST AS A DUTY, BUT AS A

MORAL IMPERATIVE. WE MUST REMEMBER THE ATROCITIES, THE THOUSANDS OF

COMMUNITIES DESTROYED AND THE MILLIONS OF LIVES THAT WERE LOST. AND

PERHAPS IF WE CONTINUE TO HONOR THE MEMORY AND FIGHT AGAINST HATE,

ONE DAY, ONE DAY THE PHRASE "NEVER AGAIN" WILL NO LONGER BE A SLOGAN,

BUT A TRUE STATEMENT.

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. LAVINE ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. LAVINE: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. THIS IS

A MEANINGFUL DAY FOR ALL WHO HAVE SPOKEN, AND CERTAINLY FOR ME AS

WELL. EVERY MEMBER OF MY EUROPEAN FAMILY WAS MURDERED. NONE OF

THEM SURVIVED THE NAZI RITUALIZED SLAUGHTER OF THE JEWS.

SO TODAY WE MARK THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE

AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU LIBERATION, AND WE REFER TO THIS AS INTERNATIONAL

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY. TODAY IS A REMINDER OF THE NEED FOR

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

CONSTANT VIGILANCE TO OVERCOME AND BATTLE AGAINST STEREOTYPES AND

PREJUDICE. TODAY MARKS NOT ONLY THE LIBERATION OF HOLOCAUST VICTIMS,

BUT IT ALSO SERVES TO REMIND US OF THE RESILIENCE AND THE COURAGE OF THE

SURVIVORS WHO REBUILT THEIR LIVES, SHARED THEIR STORIES AND CONTINUE TO

FIGHT AGAINST HATE.

THERE WAS A REFERENCE EARLIER TO THE JEWS WHO

RESISTED, AND I THINK THAT IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT EACH OF US RECOGNIZES THAT

THERE WERE MAJOR REBELLIONS IN EVERY GHETTO AND IN THE DEATH CAMPS

THEMSELVES. SO, WE TAKE A MOMENT TODAY TO RECOGNIZE THE LOSS AND THE

HEROISM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THE PRICE PAID FOR HATRED AND

WE HAVE TO HONOR TODAY THE ROMA, THE SLOVS, THE PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT

ABILITIES, THE LGBTQ+ PEOPLE AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO WAS MURDERED

BY THE NAZIS AND ITS ALLY.

TODAY ANTI-SEMITISM AND RACISM AND HATE ARE NOT

SIMPLY RELICS OF THE PAST; THEY REMAIN A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO

AMERICA. OUR WORK EXTENDS BEYOND REMEMBRANCE. IT REQUIRES ACTION.

THAT MEANS PASSING LEGISLATION TO COMBAT HATE CRIMES, TO PROTECT

VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES, AND TO SUPPORT EFFORTS TO PROMOTE HUMAN

RIGHTS IN BOTH THE UNITED STATES AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. I ASK EACH

OF US TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF THOSE MANY SOULS LOST IN THE HOLOCAUST

BY COMMITTING OURSELVES TO BUILD A WORLD WHERE JUSTICE, COMPASSION

AND THE COURAGE TO STAND AGAINST HATRED GUIDE US EACH AND EVERY DAY,

AND ENSURING THAT "NEVER AGAIN" ISN'T JUST A PHRASE, BUT A PROMISE THAT

WE UPHOLD.

FINALLY, GROWING UP IN THE HOME OF A GRANDMOTHER

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

FROM NORTHERN EUROPE WHO WAS ONE OF 14, AND SHE AND A SISTER WERE

SENT AGAINST THEIR WILL TO THE UNITED STATES, THEY SURVIVED. OF THE

REMAINING 12, 11 DIED AS A RESULT OF THE NAZIS. ONE MORE, TO MAKE A

FULL 14, WAS KILLED IN A POGRAM IN THE EARLY PART OF THE LAST CENTURY. SO

MY GRANDMOTHER HAD A LOT OF LETTERS FROM THESE PEOPLE. ALL THOSE

LETTERS' POSTMARKS ENDED ONCE THE NAZIS ARRIVED. AND I HAD ALWAYS

WANTED TO HAVE THOSE LETTERS TRANSLATED SO WE WOULD HAVE SOME --

BECAUSE THEY WERE IN YIDDISH IN ONION SKIN -- IF ANYBODY REMEMBERS

WHAT THAT WAS -- AIR -- AIR MAIL ENVELOPES. I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT

WERE THEIR LIVES LIKE. AND SADLY, MY FAMILY MOVED FROM PLACE TO PLACE

TO PLACE, THOSE LETTERS ARE LONG GONE. WHAT WE DO TODAY TO HONOR THE

MEMORIES OF THOSE PEOPLE SPEAKS FOR THEM.

I THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME SPEAK.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. BROOK-KRASNY ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. BROOK-KRASNY: THANK YOU, MADAM

SPEAKER, FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK ON THIS RESOLUTION. I WANT TO THANK

YOU, THE SPONSOR AND ALL MY COLLEAGUES SUPPORTING THIS RESOLUTION. JUST

A FEW SHORT THOUGHTS IN ADDITION TO WHAT MY COLLEAGUES HAVE BEEN

SAYING HERE TODAY. AMONG THE SIX MILLION PEOPLE THAT WE JEWISH

PEOPLE LOST WERE REAL FIGHTERS. ONE OF THOSE FIGHTERS WAS MY OWN AUNT,

BASYA KATSNELSON. SHE WAS A (INAUDIBLE) IN A RUSSIAN FORCE AND SHE

LOST HER LIFE SOMEWHERE IN 1942. SHE WAS KILLED BY THE NAZI FIRE

SQUAD. SHE WAS PREGNANT AT THE TIME, SO OUR FAMILY LOST -- DIDN'T LOSE

JUST ONE FIGHTER, BUT LOST TWO. NO MATTER HOW MANY ATTEMPTS WE --

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

HOW HARD WE WERE TRYING TO FIND HER GRAVE, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE UP UNTIL

NOW. SO TO CELEBRATE HER LIFE, WE CANNOT GO TO HER GRAVE. THAT'S WHY

I'M ESPECIALLY THANKFUL TO THE -- MY COLLEAGUES TODAY FOR SUPPORTING

THIS RESOLUTION BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW WAYS TO CELEBRATE

THE LIFE OF MY AUNT WHO WAS A REAL FIGHTER AGAINST NAZIS.

I HAVE IN MY DISTRICT STILL A FEW HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS.

NOT TOO MANY, UNFORTUNATELY. SO WHEN WE SPEAKING [SIC] ABOUT

HOLOCAUST -- ON HOLOCAUST, WE'RE ALWAYS CONCLUDING -- ALMOST ALWAYS

CONCLUDING BY SAYING, "NEVER AGAIN." SO TODAY WHEN I'M SPEAKING TO

MY HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS IN MY DISTRICT AND WHEN I'M SAYING, "NEVER

AGAIN", SOME OF THEM -- SOME OF THEM ARE RESPONDING BY SAYING, ALEC,

ARE YOU SURE? BECAUSE HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS ARE AFRAID AGAIN, AND IT'S

TIME TO FIGHT. WE WILL ALL HAVE TO BECOME FIGHTERS LIKE MY AUNT WAS,

BASYA KATSNELSON.

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. THANK YOU ALL.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. EPSTEIN ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. EPSTEIN: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. I WANT

TO THANK THE SPONSOR FOR INTRODUCING THIS RESOLUTION AGAIN. AND, YOU

KNOW, AS SOMEONE WHO IS JEWISH AND LESS THAN 1 PERCENT OF THE WORLD

POPULATION IS JEWISH, AND YOU SEE SO MUCH ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE WORLD

AND YOU WONDER WITH SUCH A MINORITY POPULATION, WHY IS THERE SO

MUCH HATE AND ANGER AGAINST JEWS. WHEN YOU THINK BACK TO THE

HOLOCAUST AND WHAT HAPPENED AND THE FAMILY MEMBERS THAT I LOST

DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME AND SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY, IT HAS TO

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

COME INTO EFFECT THAT -- THAT THERE'S SO MUCH MISUNDERSTANDING AND

INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY OF JUDAISM AND JEWS IN THE UNITED

STATES, AND OUR ROLE TO BE A PRODUCTIVE MEMBER OF THIS SOCIETY. OVER

THE LAST YEAR-AND-A-HALF, THE GROWTH OF ANTI-SEMITISM IS BEYOND ITS

PALE, AND THE REALITY IS THAT WE HAVE BROKEN DOWN THE ABILITY TO TALK TO

EACH OTHER. AND WHEN YOU SEE THINGS LIKE THAT HAPPEN, YOU REALIZE

WHAT HAPPENED IN GERMAN IN THE 1930S. JEWS BECAME OTHERS. JEWS

BECAME UNTOUCHABLES. JEWS BECAME PEOPLE WHO YOU COULDN'T TALK TO

OR UNDERSTAND OR RELATE TO. AND WE SEE SOME OF THOSE HAPPENING --

THINGS HAPPENING TODAY IN OUR SOCIETY AS WELL. JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE

JEWISH WE'RE GONNA VANDALIZE YOUR STORE. JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE JEWISH

WE GONNA VANDALIZE YOUR OFFICE. JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE JEWISH WE'RE

GONNA SPEAK OUT AGAINST YOU AND SAY YOU'RE DOING THINGS THAT ARE

UNACCEPTABLE. AND YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY OF THESE INCIDENTS

EXCEPT BEING JEWISH. THAT IS WHAT THE -- THAT IS WHAT ANTI-SEMITISM IS

ABOUT. AND IF WE CONTINUE TO LET IT FESTER AND GROW WITHIN OUR SOCIETY,

WE CAN SEE OTHER ATROCITIES COMING FORWARD.

SO I IMPLORE US ALL TO STAND UP AGAINST HATE AND

CRUELTY. TO BUILD BRIDGES TO OTHER PEOPLE AND DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES.

BECAUSE UNLESS WE DO THIS, THE MESSAGE "NEVER AGAIN" MAY NOT

BECOME TRUE. "NEVER AGAIN" HAS TO HAVE MEANING FOR US ALL, AND IT

MEANS TAKING ALL AFFIRMATIVE STEPS TO MAKE SURE IT HAPPENS NEVER AGAIN.

AND I REALLY WANT TO APPLAUD THE SPONSOR AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ALL

WORK VIGILANTLY TO MAKE SURE THAT BECOMES OUR REALITY.

THANK YOU.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MS. KAY ON THE RESOLUTION.

MS. KAY: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. AND THANK

YOU TO THE SPONSOR AND ALL MY COLLEAGUES WHO HAVE BEEN SO SUPPORTIVE

OF THIS RESOLUTION. TODAY IS A REMINDER THAT WE MUST NEVER FORGET.

AND IF WE HAD A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR EACH AND EVERY HOLOCAUST

VICTIM, WE WOULD BE SITTING HERE SILENT FOR THE NEXT 11-AND-A-HALF

YEARS.

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. ZACCARO ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. ZACCARO: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

TODAY WE GATHER WITH HEAVY HEARTS AND PROFOUND REVERENCE AS WE

REMEMBER ONE OF THE MOST DARKEST CHAPTERS IN HUMAN HISTORY, THE

SYSTEMATIC PERSECUTION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. ON THIS DAY 80 YEARS

AGO, THE WORLD BORE WITNESS TO THE HORRORS OF THE AUSCHWITZ

CONCENTRATION AND EXTERMINATION CAMP, A PLACE WHERE UNIMAGINABLE

CRUELTY WAS UNLEASHED. AND AS WE REFLECT ON THAT DAY IN 1945, LET US

NOT FORGET THE FACES OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO SUFFERED. THE FACES OF REAL

PEOPLE WITH REAL DREAMS, WITH REAL HOPES AND FAMILIES WHOSE LIVES

WERE SHATTERED BY HATRED AND VIOLENCE. FOR MANY NEW YORKERS -- FOR

MANY JEWISH NEW YORKERS, THE SCARS OF THIS DARK PERIOD REMAIN. THE

TRAUMA ENDURED BY THEM AND THEIR LOVED ONES IS A HAUNTING REMINDER

THAT THE ECHOES OF THE PAST CAN LINGER FOR GENERATIONS. IT IS OUR SOLEMN

DUTY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS PAIN AND TO HONOR THEIR STORIES. "NEVER

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

FORGET" [SIC] IS NOT JUST A MERE PHRASE. IT IS A POWERFUL CALL TO ACTION.

IT IS OUR UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO UNITE AGAINST HATRED AND AGAINST

VIOLENCE. TO STAND SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH THOSE WHO ARE

MARGINALIZED AND OPPRESSED. IT IS A PROMISE TO CHAMPION THE DIGNITY

AND THE WORTH OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL, REGARDLESS OF THEIR BACKGROUND.

"NEVER FORGET" [SIC] ALSO COMPELS US TO FOSTER INTERFAITH COOPERATION,

RECOGNIZING THAT OUR SHARED HUMANITY IS FAR GREATER THAN THE DIVIDES

THAT SEEK TO SEPARATE US. IN A WORLD OFTEN FRAUGHT WITH DIVISION, LET US

CHOOSE -- LET US CHOOSE THE PATH OF UNDERSTANDING, OF COMPASSION AND

SOLIDARITY.

I EXTEND MY GRATITUDE TO THE SPONSOR FOR BRINGING

FORTH THIS IMPORTANT RESOLUTION. TOGETHER, AS MEMBERS OF THIS

CHAMBER, WE MUST REMAIN RESOLUTE IN OUR MISSION TO FORGE A BRIGHTER

FUTURE. WE WILL NOT WAVER IN OUR COMMITMENT TO REMEMBER THE

LESSONS OF THE PAST AND ENSURE THAT SUCH ATROCITIES NEVER ARE REPEATED.

LET US HONOR THE MEMORY OF THOSE THAT WE LOST BY DEDICATING OURSELVES

TO A WORLD WHERE LOVE TRIUMPHS OVER HATE AND WHERE EVERY VOICE IS

VALUED.

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. CHANG ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. CHANG: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. THANK

YOU, SPONSOR, FOR THIS BILL AND THANK YOU FOR MY FELLOW COLLEAGUE

SPEAKING ABOUT THIS HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY.

I REPRESENT A DISTRICT IN BOROUGH PARK WHICH A FAIR

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

PORTION ARE ORTHODOX JEWS, AND LIVED MOST OF MY CHILDHOOD IN

MIDWOOD, BROOKLYN, WHICH IS A LARGE AMOUNT OF JEWISH POPULATION.

THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT OCCASION BECAUSE OUR -- OUR PEOPLE, OUR

JEWISH NEIGHBORS AND THEIR FAMILIES SUFFERED BECAUSE OF THE HOLOCAUST.

ABOUT A YEAR AGO I TOOK MY FAMILY AND WENT TO SHANGHAI. AND NEAR

THE HOTEL WAS A HOLOCAUST MUSEUM. SOMEHOW, A NUMBER OF REFUGEES

ABLE TO IMMIGRATE TO -- AS REFUGEES TO SHANGHAI AND -- AND A PORTION OF

THEM WERE ABLE TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE, EVEN SURROUNDED BY THE JAPANESE

IN WORLD WAR II. FAST FORWARD, I DID A YEAR IN AFGHANISTAN AS A

VETERAN. MANY OF YOU NEVER EXPERIENCED THE HORRORS OF WAR. IT'S A

WASTE. IT DESTROYS HUMAN LIVES. YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER, EVEN WITH

THAT WAR, THE TALIBAN WANTED TO DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE, IN ANOTHER WAY

ANOTHER HOLOCAUST. WE CANNOT FORGET THIS. THIS TYPE OF HATRED IS

AMONGST CERTAIN PARTS OF THE WORLD AND CERTAIN RELIGIONS AND CERTAIN

SECTS. THEY STILL WANT TO DESTROY CERTAIN ETHNICITY, RELIGION OR OUR

CULTURE OF WAY OF LIFE. WE CANNOT FORGET THIS.

THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. ALVAREZ ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. ALVAREZ: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. AS

YOU ALL CAN SEE CLEARLY, I'M NOT A JEWISH [SIC], RIGHT? BUT I'M COMING

FROM A COUNTRY THAT EXTEND OUR HANDS WHEN -- WHEN THE SURVIVORS

NEEDED, AND WE FEEL THEIR PAIN AS WELL. SO I RISE TODAY TO HONOR THE

VICTIMS, REFLECT THE HORRORS OF THE HISTORY, BUT ALSO TO PLEDGE TO ENSURE

THAT SUCH ATROCITY[SIC] ARE NEVER REPEATED.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MS. LUNSFORD ON THE RESOLUTION.

MS. LUNSFORD: I RISE TODAY AS A JEWISH WOMAN

WHO IS THE GREAT-GRANDCHILD OF RUSSIANS WHO FLED FROM (INAUDIBLE).

AND WE'VE DONE A GOOD JOB IN THIS CHAMBER REMEMBERING THE IMPACT

OF THE HOLOCAUST ON THE JEWISH POPULATION. BUT I WANT TO REMIND

PEOPLE THAT WHEN WE SAY "NEVER FORGET" [SIC], WE NEED TO REMEMBER

THAT THE NAZIS DIDN'T START WITH THE JEWS. THEY STARTED WITH POLITICAL

OPPONENTS AND TRADE UNIONISTS. THEY STARTED WITH THE COMMUNISTS AND

THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS. IT WASN'T JUST JEWS THAT WERE MURDERED BY THE

THOUSANDS; IT WAS HOMOSEXUALS WHO DIDN'T MEET THE GENDER ROLES THE

GOVERNMENT FELT THEY SHOULD MEET. A GOVERNMENT THAT DEFINED WHAT A

MAN OR A WOMAN WAS. IT WAS THE ROMA WHO THE NAZIS SAID HAD ALIEN

BLOOD THAT PREDISPOSED THEM TO CRIMINALITY. AND WE WENT DOOR TO DOOR

AND WE TOOK THOSE WITH ALIEN BLOOD AND WE ISOLATED THEM AND WE

DEPORTED THEM AND WE MURDERED THEM. AND WHEN WE RISE IN THIS

CHAMBER TO REMEMBER TODAY, WE NEED TO REMEMBER THE GOVERNMENT

ACTIONS THAT LED TO THIS, BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN GERMANY

WAS LEGAL. WE NEED TO LOOK TO OURSELVES AND SAY, WHAT DOES

REMEMBER MEAN? WE ALL LIKE TO THINK WHAT WE WOULD HAVE DONE IF WE

HAD BEEN THERE. WHEN I LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM TODAY AND I SAY, WHAT

ARE YOU DOING BECAUSE I'M HEARING OTHERING EVERY DAY. RIGHT NOW IN

OUR COMMUNITIES THERE ARE CHILDREN THAT DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL TODAY

BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS ARE AFRAID THEY WON'T COME HOME. OR THEY'RE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

AFRAID THEY WILL COME HOME TO AN EMPTY HOUSE. WHEN WE SAY

"REMEMBER", WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH OUR MEMORY?

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. WEPRIN ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. WEPRIN: I, TOO, RISE IN SUPPORT OF THIS

RESOLUTION. I HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS IN MY FAMILY

AND IN THE DISTRICT, AND EACH AND EVERY YEAR THERE ARE LESS AND LESS

FIRSTHAND ACCOUNTS OF THE HORRORS OF THE HOLOCAUST; THE TORTURE, THE

MURDERS, THE EXTERMINATION OR ATTEMPT TO EXTERMINATE AN ENTIRE PEOPLE.

TRUE GENOCIDE. IT JUST SEEMS THAT EACH AND EVERY YEAR, YOU'D THINK 80

YEARS LATER THINGS WOULD DISSIPATE A LITTLE BIT, BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT. BUT

IT SEEMS, UNFORTUNATELY, THE LAST YEAR OR TWO HAVE BECOME WORSE AS FAR

AS THE RISE OF ANTI-SEMITISM, THE RISE OF HATE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,

LOCALLY, AS WELL AS INTERNATIONALLY. AND THAT JUST REMINDS US HOW

IMPORTANT IT IS TO SPEAK OUT, TO REMEMBER ANY TIME HATE REARS ITS UGLY

HEAD AGAINST -- NO MATTER WHO IT'S AGAINST, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE

ALL SPEAK OUT. AND IT -- IT JUST SEEMS AMAZING TO ME THAT ANTI-SEMITISM

HAS NOT BEEN ON THE DECLINE, BUT HAS REALLY BEEN ON THE RISE, AND HATE

AGAINST SO MANY DIFFERENT GROUPS HAS BEEN ON THE RISE. AND THAT'S WHY

IT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT WE ALL SPEAK OUT AND -- AND TRULY REMEMBER WHAT

HAPPENED, AND THAT -- THAT'S THE ONLY WAY WE'LL AVOID IT REPEATING AND --

AND -- AND SEEING HORRORS AGAIN.

SO MAY -- MAY THE MILLIONS OF INDIVIDUALS' MEMORIES

TRULY BE FOR A BLESSING. THANK YOU.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MS. GRIFFIN ON THE RESOLUTION.

MS. GRIFFIN: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. TODAY

MARKS 83 YEARS SINCE THE HOLOCAUST BEGAN AND ANTI-SEMITISM IS STILL A

TREMENDOUS THREAT AGAINST THE JEWISH COMMUNITY. WE SEE FAR TOO

MANY INSTANCES OF ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS. THAT IS WHY NOW MORE THAN

EVER WE MUST STAND TOGETHER AS HISTORY CONTINUES TO REPEAT ITSELF. WE

MUST ALL STAND UP TO HATE AND RACISM IN OUR COMMUNITIES, HATE OF ANY

KIND.

I COMMEND ASSEMBLYMEMBER ROZIC FOR BRINGING THIS

MEANINGFUL RESOLUTION FORWARD, AND THANK HER AND MY COLLEAGUES FOR

SHARING THEIR POIGNANT WORDS ON THIS VERY, VERY SERIOUS ISSUE AND TOPIC.

I AM PROUD TO COSPONSOR THIS RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING HOLOCAUST

REMEMBRANCE DAY SO WE NEVER FORGET THE TRAGEDIES OF OUR JEWISH

BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND WHAT THEY -- AND WHAT THEY CONTINUE TO GO

THROUGH IN OUR COUNTRY. THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MS. LEVENBERG ON THE RESOLUTION.

MS. LEVENBERG: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER,

AND THANK YOU TO THE SPONSOR. I JUST WANTED TO MENTION THAT MY

GREAT-GRANDFATHER JULIUS SCHMIDT'S NAME WAS READ YESTERDAY AT

WESTERBORK TO COMMEMORATE THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE

AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU LIBERATION. AND I AM SO LUCKY THAT I GUESS HE WAS

THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE PASSED AT THE HANDS OF THE NAZIS. BUT WE KNOW

FROM HEARING TODAY HOW MANY DESCENDENTS ACTUALLY ARE HERE TODAY IN

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

OUR CHAMBER WHO WERE BLESSED BY SURVIVORS WHO MANAGED TO MAKE IT

THROUGH THIS HATEFUL PERIOD OF OUR HISTORY. AND I'M PROUD THAT WE

MEMORIALIZE THIS DAY SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO PAY FORWARD THE

MESSAGES OF THE HOLOCAUST. BUT I REALLY WANT TO LIFT UP MY COLLEAGUE

ASSEMBLYMEMBER LUNSFORD'S WORDS BECAUSE SHE LITERALLY TOOK THE

WORDS OUT OF MY MOUTH. I DON'T THINK THAT WE CAN WAIT TO HOST ANNE

FRANK. MY MOTHER WAS SIMILARLY HIDDEN IN HOLLAND, AS -- AS WAS ANNE

FRANK, AS WERE MY GRANDPARENTS. I'M GRATEFUL TO OTHER PEOPLE,

RIGHTEOUS CHRISTIANS, WHO WERE BRAVE ENOUGH TO TAKE THEM IN. BUT WE

CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. WE NEED TO ACT NOW AGAINST HATE, AGAINST

DIVISIVENESS, AND STAND UP FOR THOSE WHO ARE BEING OTHERED RIGHT NOW

IN THIS COUNTRY AND ACROSS THE WORLD SO THAT WE DO NOT REPEAT THESE

BRUTAL MISTAKES OF THE PAST AND LOSE PRODUCTIVE MEMBERS OF OUR

COMMUNITIES BECAUSE SOMEBODY THINKS THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE A LABEL

AND THAT THEY SHOULD WEAR SOMETHING LIKE A JEWISH STAR ON THEIR ARM

AND THEY SHOULD BE PUT INTO A CAMP AND THEY SHOULD BE DEPORTED. THIS

IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN THIS COUNTRY, AND IT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR THOSE OF US

WHO HAVE SURVIVED AND HAVE COME FROM SURVIVORS. WE KNOW BETTER,

AND WE CANNOT LET THIS HAPPEN EVER AGAIN. WE MUST NEVER FORGET AND

WE MUST ACT.

THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. YEGER ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. YEGER: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. SO, IT'S

MY FIRST SPEECH IN THIS CHAMBER, AND TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY AS THE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

GRANDSON OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS TO STAND IN THE LEGISLATIVE BODY OF THE

STATE OF NEW YORK I DON'T THINK IS SOMETHING THAT MY GRANDPARENTS AND

GREAT-GRANDPARENTS WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IS POSSIBLE. WHEN YOU LOOK

AROUND THE CHAMBER, AS HAS BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE, THERE ARE SO MANY

OF US. I'VE HAD THE GREAT PRIVILEGE OF REPRESENTING THE LARGEST

COMMUNITY OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS WHEN I SERVED IN MY LOCAL

LEGISLATIVE BODY, AND TODAY THAT -- IN THIS CHAMBER THAT RESPONSIBILITY

AND OBLIGATION -- AS THE GENTLEMAN MR. EICHENSTEIN, WHO DOES A FINE

JOB. WE HAVE INCREDIBLY DWINDLING NUMBERS OF SURVIVORS, AND IN MY

JOB I ALWAYS FELT THAT EVERY DAY WAS REALLY HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS DAY,

INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY IS REALLY LOCAL FOR ME

BECAUSE IT'S WALKING DOWN THE STREETS OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD. MY

FAMILY'S STORY IS LIKE SO MANY STORIES. THE GENTLEMAN MR. CHAN [SIC]

SPOKE ABOUT SEEING THE MEMORIAL IN SHANGHAI; ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WAS

MY GRANDFATHER WHO MANAGED TO GET ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILROAD

AND CROSS THE PORT OF JAPAN INTO SURUGA, JAPAN, WHERE HE ULTIMATELY

MADE IT TO SHANGHAI AND WAS ABLE TO LIVE OUT THE WAR TOGETHER WITH HIS

YOUNGER SISTER. HE NEVER SAW HIS PARENTS AGAIN, HIS OTHER SIBLINGS. MY

OTHER GRANDFATHER -- ANOTHER STORY WAS MENTIONED THAT WAS VERY SIMILAR

-- LEFT HIS FAMILY IN EUROPE, WAS A YOUNG MAN, BEGGED HIS PARENTS AND

HIS FAMILY TO FOLLOW AND HE SAID, WE HAVE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY, IT'S

COMING, AND THEY DIDN'T LISTEN. AND HE NEVER SAW THEM AGAIN, THEY

NEVER SURVIVED. AND, YOU KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT "NEVER AGAIN", AND

"NEVER AGAIN" HAS BEEN MENTIONED ON THIS FLOOR SO MANY TIMES TODAY.

AND WHETHER OR NOT IT'S A SLOGAN, WHETHER IT'S ASPIRATIONAL OR WHETHER

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

IT'S JUST NOT TRUE. IF "NEVER AGAIN" IS ACTUALLY TRUE. IT'S SOMETHING THAT

WE HAVE TO CONSIDER TODAY WHEN WE LOOK AT THE LAST 15 MONTHS AND

WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THIS WORLD. OCTOBER 7TH WAS AN ATTEMPT AT A

HOLOCAUST. IT WAS A STARTING POINT. IT WAS A PLACE AND A TIME WHEN

PEOPLE SAID, WE'RE GOING TO KILL JEWS. THEY SET OUT AS A MISSION TO KILL

JEWS, OVER 1,000. THEY TOOK MANY OF THEM AS HOSTAGES. THE LAST 15

MONTHS HAS SHOWED THE WORLD THAT "NEVER AGAIN" IS NOT REAL, IT'S

HAPPENING IN FRONT OF OUR FACES. THE STREETS OF MY CITY IN NEW YORK,

PEOPLE MARCHED THE STREETS. THE IDEOLOGICAL HEIRS TO THE NAZIS

MARCHED THE STREETS IN SUPPORT OF HAMAS. ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES IN

NEW YORK AND ALL ACROSS AMERICA, THEY STAND UP FOR HAMAS, THE

IDEOLOGICAL HEIRS TO THE NAZIS. THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO KILL THE JEWS.

IN HALLS OF GOVERNMENT, NOT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES, IN THE UNITED STATES

HALLS OF GOVERNMENT PEOPLE WHO TOOK AN OATH TO DEFEND THE

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES STAND UP FOR HAMAS AND FOR THEIR

ALLIES IN NEW YORK. "NEVER AGAIN" IS SOMETHING NICE TO SAY, AND FOR A

REALLY LONG TIME IT FELT LIKE, WELL, THIS IS AMERICA. I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE

OF STANDING IN FRONT OF AN AMERICAN FLAG IN THE LEGISLATIVE BODY IN

NEW YORK. BUT IT'S NOT REAL. NOT RIGHT NOW. NOT WHEN YOU LOOK AT

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WHERE A RESTAURANT HAPPENED TO BE OWNED BY

JEWS -- WASN'T EVEN KOSHER -- GETS VANDALIZED JUST BECAUSE THE OWNER IS

JEWISH. "NEVER AGAIN" IS NOT YET. WE'RE NOT THERE YET. WE CAN MAKE

"NEVER AGAIN" REAL, BUT IT REQUIRES THAT THOSE OF US IN GOVERNMENT,

PARTICULARLY THOSE OF US IN GOVERNMENT, STAND UP TO OUR COLLEAGUES IN

GOVERNMENT WHO EMPOWER THE IDEOLOGICAL HEIRS TO THE NAZIS. THAT WE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

STAND UP TO THE COLLEGE PRESIDENTS WHO ARE EDUCATING AN ENTIRE

GENERATION OF KIDS TO HATE JEWS. AS A MATTER OF POLICY, THEY'RE DOING IT

BECAUSE IT JUST HAPPENED TO BE THAT WAY. THEY'VE SET OUT A COURSE, A

SCHOLARSHIP, OF "END THE JEWISH PEOPLE." AND WE SEE IT. IT'S NOT

SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO TURN ON A TV TO SEE. I LIVE IN THE CITY WHERE

IT'S HAPPENING. IT'S HAPPENING EVERY SINGLE DAY JUST BLOCKS AWAY FROM

WHERE I WORKED AT CITY HALL.

I WANT "NEVER AGAIN" TO BE REAL. THE DREAM OF MY

FAMILY. FOUR OF MY GREAT-GRANDPARENTS WERE KILLED BY THE NAZIS. TWO

OF MY GRANDPARENTS, MY GRANDFATHERS, MANAGED TO MAKE IT THROUGH. I

AM VERY FORTUNATE AND I'M HONORED TO BE HERE. I'M GRATEFUL TO THOSE

WHO STAND UP FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE EVERY SINGLE DAY. THANK YOU,

MADAM SPEAKER.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. RAMOS ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. RAMOS: MADAM SPEAKER, I RISE TO SPEAK ON

THIS RESOLUTION, A RESOLUTION THAT ALLOWS US TO REMEMBER. AND MANY OF

US ARE VERY THANKFUL TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE OF THE WORLD FOR MAKING SURE

THAT WE DO NOT FORGET. AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN THIS STARTED, IT STARTED --

THE HOLOCAUST STARTED WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS SAYING, JEWISH PEOPLE ARE

THE CAUSE OF YOUR PROBLEMS. THAT'S WHAT THEY SAID TO THE GENERAL

CITIZENS. GYPSIES ARE THE CAUSE OF YOUR PROBLEMS AND THEY'RE

CRIMINALS. IMMIGRANTS ARE THE CAUSE OF YOUR PROBLEMS. PEOPLE WHO

ARE HANDICAPPED ARE COSTING YOU MONEY. THAT'S HOW THE HOLOCAUST

STARTED, THOSE WERE THE SEEDS. NOW, ONE CAN -- CAN FIGURE OUT WHY THE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

LEADERS WERE TRYING -- USED THE TACTICS THEY USED BECAUSE A UNITED

COUNTRY CANNOT BE CONQUERED. THEY WOULD HAVE TO FIRST DIVIDE THE

COUNTRY INTO SEGMENTS IN ORDER TO -- TO CONQUER THAT COUNTRY. AND HOW

DID THEY DO THAT? THEY STARTED WITH THE RHETORIC AND TO THE POINT WHERE

-- YOU KNOW, TO THE POINT WHERE IT WASN'T JUST ELECTED OFFICIALS. YOU

WONDER HOW YOUR AVERAGE CITIZEN WOULD GO ALONG WITH PEOPLE BEING

MARCHED TO THEIR DEATH, THE GAS CHAMBERS. CHILDREN, WOMEN, FAMILIES.

YOU WONDER HOW YOUR AVERAGE CITIZEN COULD GO ALONG WITH THAT. AND

THAT'S HOW IT STARTED BECAUSE TO THEM THEY WERE TOLD THAT ALL THEIR

PROBLEMS ARE BECAUSE OF THAT GROUP. DIVIDE.

YOU KNOW, JUST TODAY WE -- WE'RE REMINDED OF THE

THINGS THAT -- THAT HAPPENED THEN, AND WE SAW OUR -- OUR COMMISSIONER

AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY IN GERMANY SAYING THAT

WE SHOULD GET OVER THIS AND THAT IT'S NOT FAIR TO GERMAN PEOPLE TODAY TO

KEEP BRINGING THIS UP.

THANK YOU TO THE JEWS OF THIS WORLD FOR MAKING SURE

THAT WE DON'T FORGET, AND I PRAY FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

MR. HEVESI ON THE RESOLUTION.

MR. HEVESI: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. I RISE TO

COMMEND THE SPONSOR AND I'M GONNA BE VERY BRIEF. IF YOU'RE GONNA

LEARN A LESSON FROM THE HOLOCAUST IT IS INCUMBENT UPON YOU TO APPLY

THOSE LESSONS TO WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH NOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF

AMERICA. AND ONE OF THE MOST SCARY -- NOT MOST SCARY, BUT ONE OF THE

SCARIEST COMPONENTS OF 1930S GERMANY WAS WHEN THE FEDERAL

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

GOVERNMENT ALLOWED ITS LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO GO AROUND TO ANY

CITIZEN AND SAY, SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS. SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS, WHICH IS

THE BEGINNING OF A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE ROAD. NOW, I UNDERSTAND WHY THAT

HAPPENED, AND I UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE WERE AFRAID OF THAT. BUT

THERE'S A PARALLEL HERE THAT WE JUST ELECTED A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED

STATES WHO SAID IT'S OKAY TO EMPOWER LAW ENFORCEMENT TO SAY, WHERE

ARE YOUR PAPERS? NOW, THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE DIFFERENT BUT THE RESULT

IS THE SAME. WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE AMONG YOU,

AMERICANS AMONG YOU, TO SINGLE THEM OUT, TO MAKE PEOPLE AFRAID OF

THEM, TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE GONNA TAKE YOUR JOB, THEY'RE GONNA

TAKE YOUR MONEY, AND IT'S AN OUTRAGE. AND FOR EVERYBODY WHO THINKS

THAT WE ARE NOT ON THAT ROAD, THAT WE'VE LEARNED THIS LESSON BECAUSE WE

COME HERE EVERY YEAR, YOU'RE WRONG. BECAUSE THE VAST MAJORITY OF

AMERICANS JUST VOTED FOR A GOVERNMENT WHERE WE'RE REPEATING THE

EXACT SAME THING WE DID IN THE 1930S AND IT'S WRONG. AND IT WAS

WRONG THEN WHEN IT WAS GOING AGAINST THE JEWISH PEOPLE, AND IT'S

WRONG NOW WHEN IT'S HAPPENING TO BLACK, BROWN AND ASIAN

AMERICANS. IT'S JUST PLAIN WRONG.

SO THAT'S THE LESSON THAT I AM TAKING FROM THIS

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY. THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER, FOR

ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK ON THIS.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU.

ON THE RESOLUTION, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING

AYE; OPPOSED, NO. THE RESOLUTION IS ADOPTED.

ON CONSENT, PAGE 4, CALENDAR 1, THE CLERK WILL READ.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A00565, CALENDAR NO.

1, PAULIN, SIMON, SEAWRIGHT, HEVESI, ROSENTHAL, GONZ�LEZ-ROJAS,

KELLES, SAYEGH, OTIS, SHIMSKY, KIM, RAGA, SIMONE, TAPIA, LEVENBERG,

BRABENEC, MAHER. AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, IN RELATION

TO THE ESTABLISHMENT, INCORPORATION, CONSTRUCTION OR INCREASE IN

CAPACITY OF FOR-PROFIT HOSPICE.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE BILL IS LAID

ASIDE.

ON CONSENT, PAGE 6, RULES REPORT NO. 30, THE CLERK

WILL READ.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A01026, RULES REPORT

NO. 30, SOLAGES. AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, IN RELATION

TO ACCESS TO DOULAS; AND TO REPEAL A CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF 2024

AMENDING THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW RELATING TO PERMITTING DOULAS TO BE

PRESENT IN THE OPERATING ROOM WHILE A CESAREAN SECTION IS BEING

PERFORMED, AS PROPOSED IN LEGISLATIVE BILLS NUMBERS S.5991-A AND

A.7606.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: READ THE LAST

SECTION.

THE CLERK: THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT ON THE 90TH

DAY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE CLERK WILL

RECORD THE VOTE.

(THE CLERK RECORDED THE VOTE.)

ARE THERE ANY OTHER VOTES? ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

(THE CLERK ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS.)

THE BILL IS PASSED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A01468, RULES REPORT

NO. 31, PAULIN. AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, IN RELATION TO

CERTIFICATES OF QUALIFICATION FOR CLINICAL LABORATORIES AND BLOOD BANKS.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: READ THE LAST

SECTION.

THE CLERK: THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE CLERK WILL

RECORD THE VOTE.

(THE CLERK RECORDED THE VOTE.)

ARE THERE ANY OTHER VOTES? ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS.

(THE CLERK ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS.)

THE BILL IS PASSED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A01472, RULES REPORT

NO. 32, SAYEGH. AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, IN RELATION

TO ESTABLISHING AN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

PROGRAM.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: READ THE LAST

SECTION.

THE CLERK: THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT ON THE 180TH

DAY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE CLERK WILL

RECORD THE VOTE.

(THE CLERK RECORDED THE VOTE.)

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

ARE THERE ANY OTHER VOTES? ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS.

(THE CLERK ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS.)

THE BILL IS PASSED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A01475, RULES REPORT

NO. 33, BURDICK. AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, IN RELATION

TO REQUIRING GENERAL HOSPITALS TO OBTAIN AND RECORD CERTAIN INFORMATION

DURING THE INTAKE AND REGISTRATION OF A PATIENT, AND TO AMEND A CHAPTER

OF THE LAWS OF 2024 AMENDING THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW RELATING TO

REQUIRING HOSPITALS TO ASK PATIENTS IF THEY HAVE A DISABILITY THAT REQUIRES

ACCOMMODATION UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, AS

PROPOSED IN LEGISLATIVE BILLS NUMBERS S.8666-A AND A.8560-A, IN

RELATION TO THE EFFECTIVENESS THEREOF.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: READ THE LAST

SECTION.

THE CLERK: THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE CLERK WILL

RECORD THE VOTE.

(THE CLERK RECORDED THE VOTE.)

ARE THERE ANY OTHER VOTES? ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS.

(THE CLERK ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS.)

THE BILL IS PASSED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A01476, RULES REPORT

NO. 34, PRETLOW. AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, IN RELATION

TO MEDICALLY-FRAGILE YOUNG ADULTS; TO AMEND A CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF

2024 AMENDING THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW RELATING TO MEDICALLY-FRAGILE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

YOUNG ADULTS AND PEDIATRIC SPECIALIZED NURSING FACILITIES, AS PROPOSED

IN LEGISLATIVE BILLS NUMBERS S.5969-A AND A.3674-A, IN RELATION TO THE

EFFECTIVENESS THEREOF.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: READ THE LAST

SECTION.

THE CLERK: THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT ON THE 120TH

DAY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE CLERK WILL

RECORD THE VOTE.

(THE CLERK RECORDED THE VOTE.)

ARE THERE ANY OTHER VOTES? ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS.

(THE CLERK ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS.)

THE BILL IS PASSED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A00418, RULES REPORT

NO. 35, LUPARDO. AN ACT TO AMEND THE CANNABIS LAW, IN RELATION TO

CANNABIS SHOWCASE EVENT PERMITS; AND TO AMEND A CHAPTER OF THE LAWS

OF 2024 AMENDING THE CANNABIS LAW RELATING TO AUTHORIZING A CANNABIS

SHOWCASE EVENT PERMIT, AS PROPOSED IN LEGISLATIVE BILLS NUMBERS

S.9679-A AND A.10398-A, IN RELATION TO THE EFFECTIVENESS THEREOF.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE BILL IS LAID

ASIDE.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A00428, RULES REPORT

NO. 36, VANEL. AN ACT TO AMEND THE GENERAL BUSINESS LAW, IN RELATION

TO CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF ONLINE DATING SERVICES.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: READ THE LAST

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

SECTION.

THE CLERK: THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT ON THE 60TH

DAY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE CLERK WILL

RECORD THE VOTE.

(THE CLERK RECORDED THE VOTE.)

ARE THERE ANY OTHER VOTES? ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS.

(THE CLERK ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS.)

THE BILL IS PASSED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A00432, RULES REPORT

NO. 37, WOERNER. AN ACT TO AMEND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LAW,

IN RELATION TO THE PROMOTION OF LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES LISTED ON THE

REGISTRY OF HISTORIC BUSINESSES.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: READ THE LAST

SECTION.

THE CLERK: THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT ON THE 30TH

DAY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE CLERK WILL

RECORD THE VOTE.

(THE CLERK RECORDED THE VOTE.)

ARE THERE ANY OTHER VOTES? ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS.

(THE CLERK ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS.)

THE BILL IS PASSED.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A00433, RULES REPORT

NO. 38, OTIS. AN ACT TO AMEND THE STATE TECHNOLOGY LAW AND THE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

CIVIL SERVICE LAW, IN RELATION TO THE DISCLOSURE OF AUTOMATED

EMPLOYMENT DECISION-MAKING TOOLS AND MAINTAINING AN ARTIFICIAL

INTELLIGENCE INVENTORY; TO AMEND A CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF 2024

AMENDING THE STATE TECHNOLOGY LAW RELATING TO AUTOMATED

DECISION-MAKING BY STATE AGENCIES, AS PROPOSED IN LEGISLATIVE BILLS

NUMBERS S.7543-B AND A.9430-B, IN RELATION TO THE EFFECTIVENESS

THEREOF; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 1 AND 3 OF A CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF 2024

AMENDING THE STATE TECHNOLOGY LAW RELATING TO AUTOMATED

DECISION-MAKING BY STATE AGENCIES, AS PROPOSED IN LEGISLATIVE BILLS

NUMBERS S.7543-B AND A.9430-B, IN RELATION TO THE SHORT TITLE AND

DISCLOSURE; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 403 AND 404 OF THE STATE TECHNOLOGY

LAW RELATING TO IMPACT ASSESSMENTS AND SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN REPORTS;

AND PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS UPON EXPIRATION

THEREOF.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE BILL IS LAID

ASIDE.

THE CLERK: ASSEMBLY NO. A00434, RULES REPORT

NO. 39, ROSENTHAL. AN ACT TO AMEND THE GENERAL BUSINESS LAW, IN

RELATION TO CONNECTED VEHICLE SERVICE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS;

AND TO AMEND A CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF 2024 AMENDING THE GENERAL

BUSINESS LAW RELATING TO REMOTE VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY AND DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE VICTIMS, AS PROPOSED IN LEGISLATIVE BILLS NUMBERS S.9174-B

AND A.9616-C, IN RELATION TO THE EFFECTIVENESS THEREOF.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: READ THE LAST

SECTION.

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

THE CLERK: THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THE CLERK WILL

RECORD THE VOTE.

(THE CLERK RECORDED THE VOTE.)

ARE THERE ANY OTHER VOTES? ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS.

(THE CLERK ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS.)

THE BILL IS PASSED.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES: MADAM SPEAKER, DO YOU

HAVE FURTHER HOUSEKEEPING OR RESOLUTIONS?

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: YES, WE HAVE A

NUMBER OF RESOLUTIONS BEFORE THE HOUSE. WITHOUT OBJECTION, THESE

RESOLUTIONS WILL BE TAKEN UP TOGETHER.

ON THE RESOLUTIONS, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING

AYE; OPPOSED, NO. THE RESOLUTIONS ARE ADOPTED.

(WHEREUPON, ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION NOS. 49-56 WERE

UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.)

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES: MADAM SPEAKER, WOULD

YOU PLEASE CALL ON MEMBER CLARK FOR THE PURPOSES OF AN

ANNOUNCEMENT?

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: MS. CLARK FOR AN

ANNOUNCEMENT.

MS. CLARK: THANK YOU, MADAM SPEAKER. I HAVE

THE EXCITING NEWS OF CONFERENCE FOR THE MAJORITY. MAJORITY CONFERENCE

NYS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 27, 2025

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING SESSION IN HEARING ROOM C. NEW PLACE, SAME

TIME, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING SESSION. THANK YOU.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: THANK YOU, MS.

CLARK.

WE HAVE AN IMMEDIATE MAJORITY CONFERENCE IN

HEARING ROOM C.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES.

MRS. PEOPLES-STOKES: I NOW MOVE THAT THE

ASSEMBLY STAND ADJOURNED AND THAT WE RECONVENE AT 12:30 P.M.,

TUESDAY, JANUARY THE 28TH, TOMORROW BEING A SESSION DAY.

ACTING SPEAKER HUNTER: ON MRS. PEOPLES-

STOKES' MOTION, THE HOUSE STANDS ADJOURNED.

(WHEREUPON, AT 5:07 P.M., THE HOUSE STOOD ADJOURNED

UNTIL TUESDAY, JANUARY 28TH AT 12:30 P.M., THAT BEING A SESSION DAY.)