Regular Session - May 8, 2006
2774
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 May 8, 2006
11 3:17 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President
19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will
3 please come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of
6 Allegiance.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 THE PRESIDENT: With us is a
10 colleague, friend and advisor who needs no
11 introduction, Reverend Peter G. Young, from
12 Blessed Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing,
13 New York.
14 REVEREND YOUNG: As New Yorkers,
15 in having honored the prayer and having
16 honored, of course, our flag, we are proud
17 that the first christening of the American
18 flag, the Stars and Stripes, was flown in
19 battle at the defense of Fort Stanwick in
20 Rome, in Senator Meier's turf.
21 It's with great pride that we are
22 able to serve as Senators in this patriotic
23 tradition, as elected leaders to fill Your
24 call, O God of leadership to all our people of
25 New York State.
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1 Amen.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the
3 Journal.
4 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
5 Sunday, May 7, the Senate met pursuant to
6 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, May 6,
7 was read and approved. On motion, Senate
8 adjourned.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Without
10 objection, the Journal stands approved as
11 read.
12 Presentation of petitions.
13 Messages from the Assembly.
14 Messages from the Governor.
15 Reports of standing committees.
16 Reports of select committees.
17 Communications and reports from
18 state officers.
19 Motions and resolutions.
20 Senator Fuschillo.
21 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
22 Madam President.
23 On behalf of Senator Meier, on page
24 number 58 I offer the following amendments to
25 Calendar Number 849, Senate Print Number
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1 2322A, and ask that said bill retain its place
2 on Third Reading Calendar.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments
4 are received, and the bill will retain its
5 place on the Third Reading Calendar.
6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
7 Madam President.
8 On behalf of Senator Little, on
9 page number 33 I offer the following
10 amendments to Calendar Number 412, Senate
11 Print Number 3844, and ask that said bill
12 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Those amendments
14 are also received, and the bill will retain
15 its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam
17 President, on behalf of Senator Meier, on page
18 number 39 I offer the following amendments to
19 Calendar Number 579, Senate Print Number
20 2316B, and ask that said bill retain its place
21 on Third Reading Calendar.
22 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments
23 are received, and the bill will retain its
24 place on the Third Reading Calendar.
25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam
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1 President, on behalf of Senator Libous, on
2 page number 54 I offer the following
3 amendments to Calendar Number 812, Senate
4 Print Number 6425, and ask that said bill
5 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar.
6 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments
7 are received. The bill will retain its place
8 on the Third Reading Calendar.
9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you.
10 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos.
11 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
12 there's a Resolution 5006 at the desk, by
13 Senator Breslin. Could we have it read in its
14 entirety and move for its immediate adoption.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
16 will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
18 Breslin, Legislative Resolution Number 5006,
19 congratulating the University at Albany Men's
20 Basketball Team and Coach Will Brown upon the
21 occasion of capturing the 2006 America East
22 Conference Championship.
23 "WHEREAS, It is with great pride
24 that this Legislative Body commends those
25 outstanding athletes of the State of New York
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1 who bring honor and distinction to the game of
2 college basketball, distinguishing themselves
3 through notable achievement and thereby
4 representing the State of New York with
5 exceptional dignity and determination; and
6 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is
7 justly proud to congratulate the University at
8 Albany Men's Basketball Team and Coach Will
9 Brown upon the occasion of capturing the 2006
10 America East Conference Championship. The
11 Great Danes defeated three-time defending
12 champions, the University of Vermont
13 Catamounts, on Saturday, March 11, 2006, in
14 front of a jubilant crowd of 4,538 fans at the
15 Recreation and Convocation Center, Albany,
16 New York, in a game televised nationally on
17 ESPN 2; and
18 "WHEREAS, The top-seeded Great
19 Danes earned the league's automatic bid to the
20 NCAA Tournament and completed their turnaround
21 from Division I patsy. Entering this year,
22 UAlbany hadn't had a winning season since
23 upgrading to Division I in 1999-2000 and
24 bottomed out with a 5-23 record just two years
25 ago; and
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1 "WHEREAS, The Great Danes came out
2 like a team determined to put that history
3 behind them. Hundreds of UAlbany students
4 rushed the court when the game was over, and
5 UAlbany players cut down the net; and
6 "WHEREAS, Entering the NCAA
7 Tournament on Friday, March 17, 2006, the
8 Great Danes competed against the top-seeded
9 University of Connecticut Huskies in the first
10 round at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia,
11 Pennsylvania; and
12 "WHEREAS, The athletic talent
13 displayed by this team is due in great part to
14 the efforts of Coach Will Brown and his
15 dedicated assistants, skilled and
16 inspirational tutors, respected for their
17 ability to develop potential into excellence;
18 and
19 "WHEREAS, The team's overall record
20 of 21 wins and 11 losses is outstanding, and
21 the team members were loyally and
22 enthusiastically supported by family, friends
23 and fans all across the great State of
24 New York; and
25 "WHEREAS, The hallmarks of the
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1 University at Albany's Men's Basketball Team,
2 from the opening practice of the season to
3 participation in the NCAA Tournament in
4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were a brotherhood
5 of athletic ability, of good sportsmanship, of
6 honor and of scholarship, demonstrating that
7 these team players are second to none; and
8 "WHEREAS, Athletically and
9 academically, the team members have proven
10 themselves to be an unbeatable combination of
11 talents, reflecting favorably on their
12 college; and
13 "WHEREAS, Coach Will Brown and his
14 staff have done a superb job in guiding,
15 molding and inspiring the team members toward
16 their goals; and
17 "WHEREAS, Sports competition
18 instills the values of teamwork, pride and
19 accomplishment, and Coach Will Brown and the
20 12 outstanding athletes have clearly made a
21 contribution to the spirit of excellence which
22 is a tradition at the University at Albany;
23 now, therefore, be it
24 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
25 Body pause in its deliberations to
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1 congratulate the University at Albany Men's
2 Basketball Team, its members -- David Bauman,
3 Brian Connelly, Jimmie Covington, Jon Iati,
4 Lucious Jordan, Jerrad Knotts, Levi Levine,
5 Brian Lillis, Jason Siggers, Brent Wilson,
6 Jamar Wilson and Kirsten Zoellner -- Trainers
7 Rich Bennet and Brian DePasquale, Managers
8 Michael Peck, Rob Longert, and Nick Mattera,
9 Assistant Coaches Pat Filien, Chad O'Donnell,
10 Eric Eaton and Jeremy Friel, and Coach Will
11 Brown on their outstanding season and on
12 winning the America East Conference
13 Championship; and be it further
14 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
15 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
16 to the members of the University at Albany
17 Men's Basketball Team and to Coach Will
18 Brown."
19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Breslin.
20 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you,
21 Madam President.
22 This is a wonderful day to stand
23 and to applaud this basketball team, a team
24 that didn't become a Division I team until
25 1999. And to have its first winning season
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1 this year, at 21 and 11, and to be able to
2 turn on the television and watch a national
3 game, as Albany beat Vermont for the America
4 East title -- and then that Friday night, that
5 Friday night when all of us were watching,
6 when Albany played Connecticut -- Connecticut,
7 a team that we see every day, a team that was
8 arguably the number-one team in the country
9 then -- and to watch minute after minute go by
10 as, shot for shot, these kids just stayed with
11 them and stayed with them, stayed with the
12 team, the Connecticut team that's made up
13 predominantly of McDonald's All Americans.
14 But as I talked to these young men,
15 they weren't at all fazed by the people they
16 were playing against. They knew if they
17 played their own game, they would be right
18 there with them.
19 And speaking of that team, the team
20 at Albany is more than just the players, it's
21 made up of the coaches: Will, who you know,
22 Will Brown -- if you'd stand up, Will -- Eric
23 Eaton, Pat Filien, Chad O'Donnell, Jeremy
24 Friel; the athletic administration, led by
25 Athletic Director Lee McElroy, who's here, and
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1 Brian DePasquale and Charlie Voelker, who many
2 of us know; and the university administration,
3 our fine president, Kermit Hall, who's there
4 with Charlie Williams and Mark Schmidt.
5 But now to the people who brought
6 it all together. And you can rest assured I
7 won't be like the Governor; I'm not going to
8 challenge any of these young men one-on-one,
9 even though I threatened to before. And if
10 you'd stand: Lucious Jordan, who happens to
11 be from Colonie Center and a member of Albany
12 County, and hopefully a voter in this
13 county -- that's called an aside -- Jamar
14 Wilson, from the Bronx; Jon Iati, from York,
15 Pennsylvania; Dave Bauman, from Pittsburgh;
16 and, last but not least, Levi Levine, from
17 New York City.
18 We applaud what's happened. You've
19 set a new standard for basketball. We expect
20 to have you back each and every year. I am
21 terribly impressed by watching you all this
22 year, you players, the way you handled
23 yourselves -- we knew you could do it on the
24 court, but off the court, your ability to
25 articulate and to bring prestige to this
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1 university.
2 We of course have another kind of
3 informal member of your team right here on the
4 floor, and that's Senator Hugh Farley, from
5 Schenectady, a long-time professor at Albany
6 State, who I know joins with me in this
7 tribute.
8 Again, I commend you, I'm humbled
9 to have you here, and I look forward to seeing
10 many of your games next year.
11 Thank you very much.
12 (Applause.)
13 SENATOR BRESLIN: I'd like to
14 note, just before Senator Farley speaks, that
15 they have decided to retire my number here at
16 Albany State.
17 (Laughter.)
18 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you very
19 much, Senator Farley.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Farley.
21 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam
22 President, Senator Breslin.
23 Let me just say that as a graduate
24 of the State University of New York at Albany,
25 and somebody that's taught there for
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1 35 years -- and for many, many years I used to
2 rehabilitate Coach Sauer's players in my
3 classes and enjoyed all of those basketball
4 players who have been academic outstanding
5 students -- let me just say, Albany, it was
6 incredible.
7 The whole nation was watching them
8 and rooting for them as they -- as the bottom
9 seed was really taking the University of
10 Connecticut and almost beat them, to the last
11 minute. We got the light out from underneath
12 the bushel for Albany. This is a national
13 school.
14 Will Brown, what you've done with
15 that team in the very short time you've been
16 Division I is absolutely incredible. We're
17 very, very proud of you. There's a lot of
18 better days coming. This is one of the most
19 exciting things that has ever happened in this
20 Capital District. And I salute you, not only
21 as a fine academic institution but as a great
22 team and a great bunch of youngsters. And,
23 you know, we've got them coming back for next
24 year.
25 We're very proud of you.
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1 Congratulations.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
3 Stachowski.
4 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Just
5 briefly. I won't rehash everything they said
6 about the great year you guys had and the
7 wonderful job you did in the tournament.
8 I just wanted to point out to you,
9 as somebody who has nothing to do with the
10 University at Albany, and I don't live in
11 Albany except when I work here, what I noticed
12 that you did for the university is lobbyists,
13 people that work here, members of the
14 Legislature that went to Albany were now
15 suddenly telling everybody: "You know, I went
16 to Albany. I'm going to watch my team
17 Friday."
18 Then when you guys played so well,
19 the following Monday they were all, again, in
20 our face, telling us what a great job you guys
21 did and how proud they were to be from the
22 University of Albany. And I think that that
23 job you did for the university, the university
24 couldn't afford to pay for.
25 So I just join everyone else in
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1 congratulating you.
2 THE PRESIDENT: On the
3 resolution, all in favor please signify by
4 saying aye.
5 (Response of "Aye.")
6 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
7 (No response.)
8 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
9 adopted.
10 Congratulations. Best wishes, as
11 we're sure you will have similar success down
12 the road.
13 (Applause.)
14 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos.
15 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
16 there's a Resolution 4632 at the desk, by
17 Senator Flanagan. Could we have the title
18 read and move for its immediate adoption.
19 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
20 will read.
21 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
22 Flanagan, Legislative Resolution 4632,
23 commending Lieutenant Dennis Carman upon the
24 occasion of his designation as Correction
25 Officer of the Year by the New York State
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1 Deputies Association.
2 THE PRESIDENT: On the
3 resolution, all in favor please signify by
4 saying aye.
5 (Response of "Aye.")
6 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
7 (No response.)
8 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
9 adopted.
10 Senator Skelos.
11 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
12 there's a resolution at the desk, 5100, by
13 Senator Little. Could we have the title read
14 and move for its immediate adoption.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
16 will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
18 Little, Legislative Resolution Number 5100,
19 commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the
20 Tupper Lake National Bank.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Little.
22 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you.
23 We always speak about small
24 businesses and how they are the backbone of
25 our community. The Tupper Lake National Bank
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1 is a small business. It has been an ongoing
2 banking business in Tupper Lake for 100 years.
3 And it's with a great deal of pride that we
4 celebrate that.
5 They now have branches in Saranac
6 Lake, Lake Placid, and Plattsburgh. And they,
7 like many of our other small businesses, have
8 been able to grow in the New York State
9 business climate.
10 So I congratulate them and all of
11 their previous workers and current-day workers
12 for the wonderful job that they do providing
13 banking services to the people in my district.
14 Thank you.
15 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor
16 please signify by saying aye.
17 (Response of "Aye.")
18 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
19 (No response.)
20 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
21 adopted.
22 Senator Skelos.
23 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
24 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading
25 of the calendar.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
2 will read.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 57, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 5532B, an
5 act to amend the Family Court Act, in relation
6 to making juvenile delinquents criminally
7 responsible.
8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
9 section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
11 act shall take effect on the first of
12 November.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside
16 temporarily, please.
17 THE PRESIDENT: The roll call is
18 withdrawn.
19 The bill is laid aside temporarily.
20 The Secretary will continue to
21 read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 105, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 494B, an
24 act to amend the Education Law.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
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1 section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
3 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
8 passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 162, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4381A, an
11 act to amend the Uniform Commercial Code, in
12 relation to conversion.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
14 section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
21 passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 517, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 6880A, an
24 act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering
25 and Breeding Law, in relation to authorizing.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
2 section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
9 passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 611, by Senator Maziarz --
12 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
13 the day, please.
14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
15 aside for the day.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 700, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 4677A, an
18 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to
19 changing.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
21 section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect on the 90th day.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
3 passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 724, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 6568,
6 an act to authorize the East Farmingdale
7 Volunteer Fire Company, Inc.
8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
9 section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
16 passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 725, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 6851, an
19 act to authorize.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
21 section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays,
2 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
4 passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
6 Calendar Number 725, those recorded in the
7 negative: Senators Bonacic, Larkin and Rath.
8 Ayes, 52. Nays, 3.
9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
10 passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 778, by Senator Little, Senate Print 731A, an
13 act to amend the Local Finance Law, in
14 relation to advance refunding.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
16 section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
23 passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 783, by Senator Little, Senate Print 4916, an
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1 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in
2 relation to balancing.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
4 section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect on the first of July.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
11 passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 786, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 6316, an
14 act to amend the General Municipal Law and
15 others, in relation to requiring.
16 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local
17 fiscal impact note at the desk.
18 Read the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
20 act shall take effect on the first of January.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
25 passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 800, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 997, an
3 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law and
4 the Labor Law, in relation to fingerprinting.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
6 section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
8 act shall take effect on the 90th day.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays,
12 1. Senator A. Smith recorded in the negative.
13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
14 passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 808, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
17 5054, an act to amend the Navigation Law, in
18 relation to operation.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
20 section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
2 passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 809, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5360, an
5 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in
6 relation to suspension.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
8 section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays,
14 1. Senator Montgomery recorded in the
15 negative.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
17 passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 811, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6238, an
20 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in
21 relation to designating.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
23 section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
5 passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 821, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1412, an
8 act to amend the Real Property Actions and
9 Proceedings Law, in relation to purchase.
10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
11 section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect on the 30th day.
14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
18 passed.
19 The Secretary will read Calendar
20 Number 57.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 57, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 5532B, an
23 act to amend the Family Court Act.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
25 section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
2 act shall take effect on the first of
3 November.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
7 will announce the results.
8 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
9 the negative on Calendar Number 57 are
10 Senators Dilan, Montgomery, Oppenheimer and
11 A. Smith.
12 Ayes, 51. Nays, 4.
13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
14 passed.
15 Senator Skelos, that completes the
16 reading of the noncontroversial calendar.
17 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
18 if you could just recognize Senator Flanagan.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Flanagan.
20 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,
21 Madam President.
22 Just a brief announcement. Many of
23 my colleagues know tomorrow is the bowlathon
24 for the Bone Marrow Foundation, which many
25 people have participated in.
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1 Today, the Bone Marrow Foundation
2 is in the LOB, in Hearing Room C. They're
3 allowing people to get tested up until
4 6 o'clock. A very simple test, just a little
5 prick on the finger and it can help save
6 somebody's life. So if you have the time,
7 they're down there until 6 o'clock, Hearing
8 Room C, the Bone Marrow Foundation.
9 Thank you.
10 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno.
12 SENATOR BRUNO: Can we at this
13 time return to motions and resolutions.
14 I believe I have a resolution at
15 the desk. I would ask that it be read in its
16 entirety and move for its immediate adoption.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Motions and
18 resolutions.
19 The Secretary will read.
20 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno,
21 Legislative Resolution Number 5115,
22 commemorating May 8, 2006, as Volunteer
23 Firefighter and EMS Day, in recognition of the
24 sacrifices and contributions these outstanding
25 individuals make to protect and to care for
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1 the residents of the State of New York.
2 "WHEREAS, It is the custom of this
3 Legislative Body to recognize and pay just
4 tribute to those individuals who devote their
5 purposeful life to serving others, expressing
6 its highest regard and admiration for the
7 great skill and courageous dedication
8 exhibited by those individuals who take prompt
9 and heroic action in an emergency situation,
10 without due regard for their own safety and
11 welfare; and
12 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such
13 concern, and in full accord with its
14 long-standing traditions, this Legislative
15 Body is proud to commemorate Monday, May 8,
16 2006, as Volunteer Firefighter and Emergency
17 Medical Services (EMS) Day; and
18 "WHEREAS, The members of four vital
19 organizations that play a significant role in
20 caring for the residents of New York State
21 include the Firemen's Association of the State
22 of New York (FASNY), the Chiefs Association,
23 the Fire District Association, and the
24 Volunteer Ambulance Association; and
25 "WHEREAS, It takes a special
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1 dedication, a strong desire to help others,
2 and a tireless sense of community to be a
3 volunteer firefighter, to respond to the
4 signal that a neighbor is in need, and to
5 heroically perform, often above and beyond the
6 call of duty, those responsibilities which
7 define the task of fire protection; and
8 "WHEREAS, Emergency medical
9 services providers have traditionally served
10 as the safety net of America's healthcare
11 system. The members of EMS teams are ready to
12 provide lifesaving care to those in need 24
13 hours a day, seven days a week; and
14 "WHEREAS, More than 75 percent of
15 the emergency response in the great State of
16 New York is volunteer. The selfless
17 contribution that these men and women make to
18 New York's quality of life cannot be replaced;
19 and
20 "WHEREAS, It is important for all
21 citizens of our state and nation to know and
22 understand the problems, duties and
23 responsibilities of their volunteer
24 firefighters and EMS personnel, and that these
25 brave volunteers recognize their duty to serve
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1 the public by safeguarding both life and
2 property; now, therefore, be it
3 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
4 Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate
5 May 8, 2006, as Volunteer Firefighter and EMS
6 Day, in recognition of the sacrifices and
7 contributions these outstanding individuals
8 make to protect and to care for the residents
9 of the State of New York; and be it further
10 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
11 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
12 to the members of the Firemen's Association of
13 the State of New York, the Chiefs Association,
14 the Fire District Association, and the
15 Volunteer Ambulance Association."
16 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno.
17 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
18 we just heard a resolution that talks about
19 firemen and emergency responders here in this
20 state. They are -- many of them are here in
21 the building. We had hoped they could get
22 here before we finished session. They may or
23 they may not.
24 But the resolution describes the
25 contribution that they make to all of our
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1 lives. And recognize that all of these people
2 are volunteers. Three-quarters of them are
3 volunteers, 24/7. I don't think there's a
4 person here that hasn't had a personal
5 experience with one of the firemen or an
6 emergency responder who hasn't in some
7 positive way affected our lives.
8 I in one situation had them arrive
9 for part of my family at 2:00 in the morning,
10 and something that was very, very traumatic --
11 2:00 in the morning. Whether it was
12 life-threatening, lifesaving, who knows. But
13 they were there.
14 Fires, right next door to where I
15 live, 20 below zero, and they were there.
16 Son's house burned to the ground. Within
17 minutes, they were there.
18 I was the first car on the scene at
19 a car accident where the car was over on its
20 side and the motor was still going -- it was
21 over on its roof. And there was a couple in
22 there, and the woman was pregnant, eight
23 months pregnant. Within minutes -- and there
24 were fluids all over. And the young fellow
25 that was behind that wheel was upside down and
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1 strapped in. And we that were there were
2 doing what we could to create some relief.
3 But it was apparent you couldn't open doors,
4 you couldn't get into that car.
5 Those people arrived, and within
6 minutes -- with fluids all over that could
7 have been gasoline, that could have been
8 explosive -- just responded and handled the
9 situation.
10 And the good news in that case, the
11 baby was actually born and survived, the
12 mother survived, the young fellow survived.
13 And he had a good -- chances were that he
14 could have choked to death, because he was
15 upside down and bleeding in his head and his
16 mouth.
17 So those are personal experiences.
18 You just don't forget them. And everyone
19 here, I'm sure, could tell story after story
20 about the heroism, the commitment, the will of
21 these people to do things where they have no
22 regard for their own safety, their own lives,
23 but just respond to other people who need
24 their help.
25 So I am honored and privileged that
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1 we can pass a resolution recognizing the
2 merits of what all of these people do in our
3 lives. And while they may or may not be here,
4 this resolution will stand and will be
5 delivered to them as a testimony to the
6 respect that we in this chamber have for their
7 will, for their commitment, for their good
8 work, for being so unselfish, 24/7, in
9 responding to the need of people throughout
10 the state.
11 And if you would join me, as we are
12 being joined by the representatives of the
13 firemen and the emergency responders here.
14 Are there other speakers? There are. Then
15 I'm going to ask the other speakers to say a
16 few words, and then we'll go from there.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
18 Senator.
19 Senator Balboni.
20 SENATOR BALBONI: Senator Bruno
21 and Madam President, I wanted to rise because
22 we all understand the importance of the
23 firefighting community.
24 But I want to share an experience
25 that I just had. And I'm sorry, but I am
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1 unaware of how many members of the Senate are
2 members of volunteer fire departments. But I
3 am not, and so I had never really gotten a
4 chance to observe what fire departments and
5 firemen do.
6 And last fall, I went to the Fire
7 School. And I went with the Mineola Fire
8 Department, and they put me into a tower, a
9 fire going on in a tower of six floors. You
10 put the bunker gear on, turnout coats, the
11 helmet, the Scott air pack, about 60,
12 65 pounds, and you climb up six flights of
13 stairs.
14 And there were two staircases, one
15 the attack staircase and one the pressurized
16 staircase. And I went in with the captain to
17 the pressurized staircase, and we got in the
18 fire room before anybody else got there.
19 And what they'd done is they'd
20 taken two pallets of wood, and they put one in
21 both sides of the floor of the tower, and they
22 put a thing of gasoline underneath it. And so
23 that was all that was burning in this cement
24 room.
25 Well, the heat in there is
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1 something I have never witnessed, experienced
2 before in my life. And I didn't have one
3 inch, not one inch of skin exposed.
4 And the firefighter who was next to
5 me, the fire chief, he's walking on hands and
6 knees, it's completely black. I've got a huge
7 flashlight on my arm; you cannot see anything
8 but a dull glow. And so I get up, just
9 because we've got to run down this hallway
10 now, and as soon as I run up, the hair on the
11 back of my neck singes through the coat.
12 And the captain grabs me and pulls
13 me down and says, "Get down, you can't do
14 that, you're going to burn." And to emphasize
15 it, he stands up after the fire is over. He's
16 got a flashlight on top of his helmet; the
17 flashlight has melted.
18 This is the kind of heat and the
19 confusion and the darkness and the
20 claustrophobia and the fear and the
21 adrenaline. And now you've got to go look for
22 bodies and you've got to try to pull people
23 out. It is an extraordinary experience.
24 I urge all of my colleagues, if you
25 have a chance, go to your local fire
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1 department and see when they're going to do
2 this. I'm telling you, it is an amazing
3 experience. And to think that in places where
4 they have volunteer fire departments, they do
5 this for free. Unbelievable that they would
6 do this.
7 But that's the kind of protection
8 that they provide, it's the kind of experience
9 that they have. And every time they do
10 that -- you know, we talk so much about the
11 word "bravery." But when you think about
12 doing that to save your neighbor, there is no
13 better definition.
14 Thank you, Mr. President.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
16 Seward, on the resolution.
17 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 I rise as the chair of our task
20 force that we have on volunteer emergency
21 services. And following up on what my
22 colleague -- our leader, Senator Bruno, and
23 Senator Balboni have said, I think it's very,
24 very appropriate that we pause this day to
25 honor the men and women who selflessly give of
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1 themselves day in and day out, night in and
2 night out, to protect property and people in
3 the State of New York.
4 Our volunteer firefighters,
5 ambulance workers, other emergency service
6 personnel provide such an invaluable service
7 to the residents of our state.
8 I know Senator Bruno outlined some
9 personal experiences he's had in emergency
10 situations he's observed, Senator Balboni
11 talking about a personal visit to a firehouse.
12 I think we collectively, as New Yorkers and as
13 Americans, we all saw on September 11, 2001,
14 when the World Trade Center was under attack,
15 that no question we witnessed that day the
16 immense dedication, commitment and sacrifice
17 that our first responders make every time the
18 pager goes off or that whistle blows. They
19 never know what they're getting into.
20 And we saw, of course, on
21 September 11, 2001, such a catastrophic event,
22 but yet our first responders were there and
23 far too many of them lost their lives. But in
24 so doing, that was, I think, one of the
25 largest evacuation efforts in history. And
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1 many more thousands of lives could have been
2 lost that terrible day if it was not for the
3 bravery of our first responders.
4 And if there's any good that has
5 come out of that terrible day, I think it's
6 been a renewed appreciation for the
7 dedication, commitment and sometimes the real
8 sacrifice of our first responders.
9 So we pause today to pay homage to
10 the 110,000 paid and volunteer first
11 responders, our firefighters in particular,
12 throughout the state who are on call 24 hours
13 a day, seven days a week.
14 If you want to put it in dollars
15 and cents, it's very tough to quantify. We
16 estimate that volunteers save our state and
17 local communities no less than $2.9 billion.
18 That's just in salaries and benefits alone.
19 That's a tremendous contribution to this state
20 and local governments.
21 And I was so pleased in our budget
22 that we passed this year we included an income
23 tax credit for volunteers in that budget,
24 $200. It's not a huge amount of money, but it
25 is some recognition in a tangible way of the
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1 outstanding service that we're recognizing
2 here today.
3 And I think we as a Senate are
4 going to continue to provide the necessary
5 tools that will continue to assist our
6 volunteers in carrying out their important
7 work.
8 So I think it's very appropriate
9 that we pause this day to honor these heroic
10 men and women that do so much to protect
11 people and protect property throughout the
12 communities in New York State.
13 Congratulations, and thank you for
14 all you do.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank
16 you, Senator Seward.
17 Senator Rath.
18 SENATOR RATH: Thank you,
19 Mr. President. I would like to add my
20 congratulations to the volunteer firefighters
21 of New York State.
22 A little bit of sentimentality, if
23 you would allow me. My late husband's
24 grandfather and great-grandfather were both
25 battalion chiefs in the city of Buffalo. My
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1 father-in-law, who was at one time county
2 executive, always had the coat, helmet and
3 boots and gloves in the trunk, and the fire
4 band was always on his radio. And he was at
5 every fire of any consequence at all in Erie
6 County for his many, many years of public
7 service, even before he was county executive.
8 Senator Bruno spoke very, very
9 eloquently of some circumstances in his
10 district when the emergency responders turned
11 out almost instantly for a very, very dramatic
12 and serious automobile accident, and how
13 quickly things were put to rights and the
14 people were saved, and a pregnant woman
15 managed to deliver a very healthy child as a
16 result of quick action.
17 I had a circumstance in my district
18 a few years ago. I represent Western
19 New York, as I said, and the city of Batavia,
20 town of Batavia had a very serious train
21 derailment out in farmland. Companies from
22 everywhere showed up and came and stayed. It
23 was a magnificent display of what people can
24 do when they were interoperable in responding
25 to a disaster.
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1 So thank you for what you do today.
2 Thank you for what you've done in the past,
3 what you will do in the future.
4 And I would just like to note that
5 two nights ago, it was the 150th anniversary
6 of a very proud fire company in my district,
7 Hutchinson Hose. The history of
8 Williamsville, New York, is the history of
9 Hutchinson Hose Company. It was wonderful to
10 hear what they have done over the past
11 150 years and what we hope and plan and I know
12 they expect to do for the next 150.
13 Thank you all for your service to
14 the State of New York and the people of the
15 State of New York.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
17 Alesi.
18 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 Like many of us, I'm sure that we
21 all are related to or know or have personally
22 experienced what it's like to grow up in a
23 volunteer firefighter family, and I'm no
24 exception. I'm very fond of referring to
25 myself as a firefighter brat.
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1 And for those of our guests that
2 are in the gallery, I had the pleasure of
3 joining many of them last year at their annual
4 convention, recognizing some of the heroes
5 that they themselves recognized at that
6 convention.
7 And growing up in a little village,
8 I was five doors down from the local fire
9 department, which also housed the ambulance
10 corps and the police department. And in those
11 days, they didn't have pagers or radios, they
12 just had a very loud, ugly-sounding whistle.
13 But it worked very well to get the local men
14 in our village to race down the street from
15 wherever they were, whatever they were doing.
16 Whether they worked in the dairy or whether
17 they worked in the bank or the laundry,
18 wherever they worked, they dropped everything,
19 with complete, 100 percent community support.
20 And I remember racing down the
21 street many times with my dad, waiting for my
22 uncle, who lived a few doors down from us, to
23 catch up too, and watching those, at that
24 time, heroes get on the trucks and drive to
25 wherever the fire was. And I never realized
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1 as a young kid what it was that they were
2 providing in terms of a service to our
3 community.
4 And we look back now, and of course
5 we talk about how valuable that service is
6 because it's so hard to find volunteers. It's
7 very hard for people to leave their jobs.
8 It's very hard for them to just pick up and
9 run. It's very hard for them to take the time
10 for the training that's involved, because so
11 much more is involved. And yet they continue
12 to do it.
13 And our communities really need to
14 understand that if they weren't doing it, yes,
15 it would be costly to us in terms of dollars,
16 but it would be more costly to us in terms of
17 property lost and, even more important, lives
18 endangered.
19 I'm very proud to have been the
20 original sponsor of the tuition bill for our
21 volunteer firefighters, and to join my
22 colleagues here in the Senate in providing a
23 tax credit for them. It's just our way of
24 saying that we do recognize how valuable your
25 service is.
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1 And we also recognize that when
2 you're out there, your families and the places
3 where you work are supporting your efforts,
4 and we appreciate that support as well.
5 And we also know, and we're
6 reminded every now and then, sadly so, that
7 when you're out there doing this and asking
8 absolutely nothing in return, that you're
9 putting your lives on the line. And we are
10 now and then reminded of that in the saddest
11 of ways.
12 You are all heroes, every one of
13 you. And when your day is a day when that
14 whistle blows or the radio goes off or the
15 pager sounds, you and your family are there
16 for us. And we need to remember that for you
17 on a daily basis, not just today.
18 Mr. President, I'm honored to be a
19 child of a volunteer firefighter family, and
20 I'm honored to be in the presence of these
21 people today.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
23 Krueger.
24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
25 So we have more in common than we
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1 all thought. I am very honored to be the wife
2 of an auxiliary firefighter of the FDNY. My
3 husband has been a volunteer with the FDNY for
4 30 years. And Engine Company 44, just having
5 had its 125th anniversary, is basically my
6 family's second home.
7 And on September 11th, when I was
8 trying to figure out where I would go, I knew
9 where my husband would be. He would have gone
10 to the firehouse and gone with his company
11 down to Lower Manhattan, which is exactly
12 where he was and what he did.
13 And he is a brat, I suppose, also;
14 his father was the chief medical officer for
15 the FDNY, and he is now an honorary chief.
16 And he is a true believer in what the
17 gentlemen and women standing behind me, who I
18 can't see right now, are throughout the State
19 of New York. They respond, they save lives.
20 And as is often said by firefighters, when
21 other people are running out of the buildings,
22 they are running in.
23 And so I see that every day in my
24 own community from the firefighters that I
25 know, both professionals and auxiliaries and
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1 volunteers in the Fire Department of New York
2 City.
3 And I have to tell you that I'm not
4 sure we could imagine a society where we
5 didn't have people who had such a strong sense
6 of community and interdependence and the
7 recognition that the definition of our society
8 and the greatness of our country is our
9 willingness to risk for each other.
10 So congratulations, and thank you
11 for the work you do.
12 Thank you, Mr. President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
14 Little.
15 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you.
16 I too would like to add my
17 congratulations and my thanks to our dedicated
18 volunteers in our fire services and emergency
19 services.
20 And we're joined today by one of
21 our most dedicated volunteers from the
22 Lake George area, Bob McKinney, former chief,
23 certainly a person who has spent a great deal
24 of his life advocating for volunteer firemen
25 and emergency services.
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1 In my area we have had several
2 instances recently where volunteer firemen
3 went above and beyond and did things other
4 than the normal fighting the fire. When we
5 had the Northway washed out and several roads
6 washed out in a rainstorm, it was the
7 volunteer firemen who redirected traffic and
8 looked at the closed-off roads.
9 When the dam burst in Fort Ann, it
10 was the volunteer firemen that went door to
11 door telling people that the dam had burst and
12 they needed to evacuate their homes.
13 We had a power outage recently this
14 winter, with temperatures below zero. It was
15 the volunteer firemen, over a three-day
16 period, who went from home to home hooking up
17 generators, firing up the furnaces to warm up
18 those homes.
19 And then most recently -- I was
20 with Bob the following day -- we had a big
21 fire in Lake George where five businesses were
22 burned down.
23 So these men and women truly go
24 above and beyond the call of duty and serve
25 our communities. And as chairman of the Local
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1 Government Committee, I don't know what the
2 many, many towns, villages and communities in
3 New York State would do without your services.
4 So thank you and your colleagues very, very
5 much.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
7 Winner.
8 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 I too would like to rise to honor
11 the emergency first responders and the
12 volunteer firefighters that are here today.
13 It is really a tribute to the State of
14 New York that we have such tremendous
15 volunteer efforts.
16 You know, as a representative of
17 the 53rd Senate District, which is a rural
18 area, I certainly recognize the valuable
19 contributions that you make. And also as
20 Chairman of the Legislative Commission on
21 Rural Resources, we're constantly reminded in
22 that function of all of the tremendous
23 contributions that volunteer firefighters and
24 first responders and emergency medical
25 technicians provide for the state.
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1 Senator Seward indicated the
2 financial impact, which is certainly only one
3 aspect of it, but a very, very important
4 aspect. But the overall responsibility that
5 you have to protect these communities is
6 absolutely very, very inspiring.
7 And certainly in many of these
8 rural areas the whole community's social
9 fabric is built around the operations of the
10 volunteer fire operations. And certainly in
11 rural areas such as I represent, nothing can
12 be more important than making sure that those
13 assets and resources are there.
14 You know, there was a troubling
15 report that came out recently from the
16 Association of Towns indicating that there is
17 a tremendous decline in the ranks of volunteer
18 firefighters and volunteer emergency medical
19 technicians. And certainly the reason for
20 that is -- there are a number of reasons.
21 But, you know, the amount of pressure and
22 training requirements and overall time
23 constraints is very, very difficult these
24 days.
25 And I know that it's important for
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1 us not only to maintain your ranks but to come
2 up with ways and solutions that we can to
3 increase them, because of the tremendous
4 contribution that you make to the communities.
5 And while the effort that we
6 undertook this year with regard to the $200
7 income tax credit was an important effort,
8 there is more that needs to be done and more
9 incentives that need to be offered, whether it
10 be real property tax relief, whether it be
11 access to public health insurance plans or
12 other types of measures that will provide for
13 incentives to improve your ranks.
14 Those are things I think that we
15 need to look at in this Legislature, and I am
16 the sponsor of one of those members. But, you
17 know, we need to get together on a bipartisan
18 basis to make sure that those efforts are a
19 reality so that we can improve your ranks and
20 improve the services that you'll be able to
21 provide to our communities.
22 So I congratulate you on this
23 resolution today, thank Senator Bruno for
24 advancing it, and look forward to working with
25 your organizations to try to improve your
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1 ranks, improve the ability to provide for
2 services and training to you to make you do
3 your jobs -- help you do your jobs better,
4 and, overall, thank you for everything that
5 you do.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank
7 you, Senator Winner.
8 Senator LaValle.
9 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 I am so pleased to join Senator
12 Bruno and my other colleagues to really say a
13 thank you, thank you to the volunteer service,
14 the EMS personnel for their special dedication
15 and their strong desire to help save life and
16 property at their own expense.
17 Volunteerism is just a wonderful
18 thing in this country, and sometimes we don't
19 appreciate it. Senator Seward talked about
20 and I was going to mention the billions of
21 dollars each year that are saved to the
22 citizens of our state.
23 But what they do is so appreciated
24 in their communities. And everyone is telling
25 stories, and I would like to just remind
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1 everyone of the Pine Barrens fires that not
2 only called into play every volunteer
3 department on Long Island, but many, many of
4 the departments throughout the entire state
5 and in other parts of the country came and
6 assisted in a fire that lasted for days upon
7 days. Not one life was lost, and it was just
8 absolutely incredible the property and the
9 houses that were saved. You could see the
10 fire line coming right up to a condo
11 development, and they were able to save an
12 entire development.
13 The fire was so intense -- Senator
14 Balboni talked about the intensity of a fire.
15 For those who have been out to Eastern Long
16 Island and the Sunrise Highway, or 27, to have
17 a fire arc over four lanes of highway is just
18 an incredible thing.
19 So just from my district, I say
20 thank you and thank you for the service that
21 you give. And I am so hopeful that we will be
22 able to meet the demands through more young
23 people joining the junior volunteer fire
24 service and having generation upon generation.
25 So many members got up -- Senator
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1 Rath talked about the Rath family having at
2 least three generations of service. As I
3 travel to the departments, I find so many
4 members having father, son, grandson having
5 participated in a department.
6 So we say, as a body, thank you
7 very much.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
9 Bonacic.
10 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you.
11 I'm humbled by our heroes visiting
12 us today. Every Senator could get up and tell
13 of an experience in their district where our
14 heroes showed courage in saving property and
15 lives.
16 Three weeks ago we had a
17 19-year-old woman firefighter save
18 approximately 50 lives in Sullivan County,
19 alerting people at the Villa Roma, which was a
20 resort where many people were staying, to get
21 them out. And I could talk of twenty more
22 stories.
23 But what I want to use this
24 opportunity for is to talk to my colleagues
25 about the problems these heroes are facing --
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1 recruitment, retention -- and what we can do
2 to help them in this area and prepare the next
3 generation.
4 We do things in turtle steps. We
5 help with property tax exemption. We did a
6 voluntary tax credit in a bipartisan way. And
7 all these things are good. But these are a
8 group of individuals that have to raise a
9 family, have to hold a job, and maybe two
10 spouses in the family are working. And when
11 they come home, if the whistle goes off, they
12 leave for their second job, where there is
13 absolutely no financial compensation. These
14 are acts of love, unconditional commitment and
15 sacrifice to neighbors and strangers. And
16 they ask nothing in return.
17 But some of the things we can do.
18 We can boost the revolving loan fund, help
19 them with zero percent financing when they
20 have to buy fire trucks or build firehouses.
21 We can help them with affordable health
22 insurance, which they need desperately and
23 which they've been working on for the past
24 12 months with the Governor's office, so
25 there's adequate health insurance for their
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1 families. These kinds of incentives will help
2 bring younger people into the ranks of
3 firematics.
4 So I thank our heroes, and I am
5 sure that every Senator in these chambers
6 identifies and appreciates everything that you
7 do. You are simply the best. And we hope you
8 keep on doing it for the rest of your lives,
9 and the next generation.
10 Thank you very much.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
12 Larkin.
13 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you,
14 Mr. President.
15 You know, to the men up in the
16 balcony, Senator Bruno said it all, really.
17 But you know, when you start to think about
18 how much you educate us -- many of us here
19 have already spoken, have said things about
20 the firematics and what they do. But you
21 know, the education you provide for us.
22 My first term in politics was as
23 town supervisor. And the chief came to me and
24 said, "Let me sit down and talk to you. Here
25 are our problems. They're your problems,
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1 Supervisor." And then he said, "How much have
2 we advanced in coordinating our senior
3 citizens?" We had a big senior citizen
4 population.
5 And then we got together between
6 the fire department, Office of the Aging, and
7 the post office, and the fire department put a
8 little red sticker in every mailbox of a
9 senior. And they would have people
10 volunteering in our town, seven fire units, to
11 go around and watch the mail. If it seemed to
12 be piling up, someone would make some
13 arrangements with the chief of police so we
14 could get in and make sure that somebody in
15 there didn't die, was crippled and couldn't
16 get out. We saved at least three or four
17 lives in the two years that I was there.
18 But the thing that was important
19 was this put an additional burden on the fire
20 members. They didn't care, because, number
21 one, they were taking care of their fellow
22 citizens.
23 And, you know, sometimes we talk
24 about how much it costs to run a department.
25 You all know that you have multiple areas in
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1 your districts. How much does it cost? We
2 couldn't pay you. There is no way we could
3 compensate you for what you do. A lot of
4 people just say, Well, they do -- they put out
5 fires.
6 They take care of people. They
7 assist people. They work with the young
8 people. They teach young people about the
9 problems of starting a fire, how to be
10 productive as young people, how to come in and
11 be a joint venture, get our juniors, 15 years
12 of age, into the corps.
13 And you're always doing something
14 that promotes the public safety and health.
15 How would you like to put around here a new
16 insurance policy with no firemen? Everybody
17 would be moving to the town that still had
18 them.
19 You are a godsend. You're special.
20 You're special because you made a commitment,
21 and that commitment is to the public safety of
22 the units that you have protecting the lives
23 and property of people. You're the heroes of
24 not just today, but of yesterday and tomorrow.
25 And with your blessing and help, we'll be able
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1 to recruit new people to carry on the
2 dedication that you have shown for so many,
3 many years.
4 Thank you, and God bless you all.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
6 Meier.
7 SENATOR MEIER: Thank you,
8 Mr. President.
9 There's a book that many of us were
10 required to read in high school and in college
11 called "Democracy in America," written by a
12 Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville in 1836.
13 The most famous line in the book is "America
14 is great because America is good."
15 And what did he mean by that? In
16 1836 we weren't a big industrial power, we
17 weren't a big military power. What he was
18 talking about, he observed that in America,
19 unlike the old countries in Europe that he was
20 used to, Americans didn't sit around waiting
21 for a prince or a ruler to tell them to do
22 things, that Americans volunteered to help
23 each other out, to meet needs in their
24 communities.
25 And today, in 2006, nobody
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1 exemplifies that better than the men and women
2 of the volunteer fire service. And I'm proud
3 that in the gallery tonight are two leaders of
4 the fire service in my community, two friends
5 of mine, Dave Jacobowitz and Brian McQueen.
6 And just as a public official and
7 as a resident of a community that's serviced
8 by a volunteer fire department, you get an
9 opportunity to observe what they do, not just
10 the calls to the fire scenes or to the
11 accident scenes.
12 In 1998, an enormous ice storm hit
13 the northern part of my Senate district, and
14 parts of my Senate district were deprived of
15 electricity for several weeks. Think about
16 that: several weeks at a time. The volunteer
17 fire departments in those small North Country
18 communities became the literal lifeblood of
19 those communities. It became the command
20 post, it became the place from which people
21 were dispatched to help those who were elderly
22 and sick and alone.
23 And I'm mindful of something else
24 when you think about the character of these
25 gentlemen and the kind of spirit that this
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1 brotherhood engenders. On February 27th, in
2 the town of New Hartford in my Senate
3 district, a young police officer named Joseph
4 Corr was shot and killed in the course of
5 trying to apprehend a robber.
6 Now, you would think that a young
7 man with a wife and a baby at home would think
8 that he was doing enough for his community by
9 going out every day in his professional life
10 and putting his life on the line as a police
11 officer. But that wasn't Joe Corr, and that
12 wasn't so many other people like him. Joe
13 Corr was also a volunteer firefighter. Can
14 you imagine it? This young man felt that his
15 service to his community required even more of
16 it.
17 And this is the kind of character,
18 this is the kind of dedication, this is the
19 kind of integrity that you find in the men and
20 women who join the volunteer fire service.
21 And, Senator Bonacic, I think you
22 hit the nail on the head. This is an
23 opportunity, this resolution today, not just
24 to say thank you but to talk to you and to
25 recommit ourselves to our responsibility to
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1 you, to see to it that resources are dedicated
2 that equip you, that train you, that provide
3 you the tools to do better recruitment and
4 retention. America is great because it's
5 good, and you exemplify the best of the reason
6 why we're good.
7 Congratulations, and God bless.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
9 Morahan.
10 SENATOR MORAHAN: Thank you,
11 Mr. President. I too rise in support of this
12 resolution.
13 It is very difficult, having heard
14 all of my colleagues speak to this resolution,
15 to come up with something new or something
16 different. Therefore, I will not try to do
17 that.
18 I stand to honor our firefighters,
19 our volunteers across this great state and to
20 recognize, as Senator Meier says, they
21 represent the good of this country. They
22 represent, going back to the earliest times in
23 our history, of people in the community
24 fending for themselves, coming together as a
25 community to look after and protect each of us
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1 and each of their friends and neighbors.
2 Yes, we owe a host of things and
3 benefits and incentives to these men and women
4 on the front line of our defense right here at
5 home, and there is just no way we could ever
6 compensate them for what they do. And
7 furthermore, they're not in it for
8 compensation. They're not in it for benefits.
9 The meager things that we do for
10 our volunteers in providing equipment,
11 providing incentives is merely a very humble
12 way of saying thank you, recognizing you not
13 for what you do but for who you are, for you
14 who will stand up and rise to the occasion,
15 selflessly, to defend the property and protect
16 the lives of your neighbors and friends.
17 Volunteerism really is the backbone
18 of this nation. It is what built this
19 country. It is what made us strong, which
20 made us the country we are. And our volunteer
21 firefighters and EMTs and many of our other
22 volunteer services, auxiliary police,
23 exemplify just that, that these are people,
24 notwithstanding of their own needs, who will
25 respond in the middle of the night, in the
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1 middle of the winter, anytime they're needed
2 for their neighbors.
3 And we must recognize too the
4 families that stand behind all of these
5 wonderful volunteers, those who worry and fret
6 while you're out answering the call, those
7 hoping and praying that you come back safe and
8 stay out of harm's way.
9 But you rush into fiery situations,
10 you rush into areas of danger without worrying
11 about your own lives, so to speak. But you
12 have our heartfelt thanks and the thanks of
13 all New Yorkers for what you do. And for all
14 volunteer firemen and volunteers across this
15 country, we say thank you today.
16 And we do have legislative programs
17 here because many of our young volunteers
18 can't afford to live in the suburban and rural
19 counties where they're so needed, and it's
20 that that worries us. What can we do? The
21 high cost of living in suburbia drives our
22 young people out. The next generation of
23 firefighters must move on and leave us
24 unprotected. I think we need to encourage
25 volunteers, young people to come in, but we
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1 have to allow them to live in the community.
2 You can't respond to a fire if you live
3 50 miles away.
4 So those things that we try to do
5 with tax credits that we've passed in some
6 counties, and we have statewide legislation
7 that will give property tax relief to help
8 costs of housing and to build, as we try to do
9 in Rockland and some parts of Orange County,
10 affordable housing for young volunteers and
11 their families so they can stay in the
12 community.
13 We salute you. We honor you. And
14 we thank you.
15 Thank you, Mr. President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
17 Oppenheimer.
18 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, as
19 the ex-mayor of a community that was a hundred
20 percent volunteer firefighters, Mamaroneck --
21 actually, the only all-volunteer community
22 underneath the Cross-Westchester Expressway.
23 And so I can tell hundreds of stories,
24 including when my own house was on fire and
25 how wonderful the response was and the many
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1 things that we did together.
2 Some exciting things, like a -- I
3 forget the name of it. It's a camera, and you
4 can go into a totally smoke-filled, blackened
5 basement, and the camera will show you in
6 white where the bodies are, where furniture --
7 where everything is. Because when they enter
8 this kind of a setting, they can't see if it's
9 dark and smoke-filled.
10 But with this particular -- they'll
11 know the name of the camera; I can't think of
12 it -- they're able to see and take out the
13 bodies and very often be able to get them out
14 before they get too much smoke in their lungs
15 and expire.
16 And we did dive equipment together,
17 because my village is on the water, Long
18 Island Sound. There are just so many
19 wonderful stories that I could tell, but the
20 time is getting late.
21 I was just trying to focus in on
22 what things we might do and what could be done
23 at the local level that would be more
24 beneficial in, you know, perhaps enticing
25 volunteers to come in.
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1 Now, in my community we have
2 families that have been at this for three and
3 four generations, so we're in pretty good
4 shape in my community. But one thing that we
5 did, and I was doing it already 30 years
6 ago -- and this might be a possible small
7 answer -- is if we had two people who were
8 sort of equally qualified for Department of
9 Public Works or for recreation or for one of
10 our many positions in our government -- we
11 were a village of 20,000 people -- if they had
12 equal qualifications, we always would take the
13 volunteer fireman, because he was right in
14 town. He was able to work right where he
15 would do his volunteer activities.
16 So, I mean, it's a small
17 recommendation but something that perhaps
18 could be considered by your communities. It
19 certainly has been very beneficial for my
20 community. And we have a very, very high
21 insurance rating because of the quality of our
22 department. And I have always been so
23 thankful that they are there, because they
24 saved my house and they saved my village a
25 bunch of money. But, more important, they're
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1 just really good people who are interested in
2 their communities and in helping people.
3 And I could never thank you enough
4 and still can't.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
6 Stachowski.
7 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr.
8 President, I too rise to comment, briefly,
9 because I think I might be last, if I'm not
10 mistaken. Or maybe there's one or two more.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: A few
12 more.
13 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: I just would
14 like to also thank the volunteer firemen for
15 all they do, and just give you a couple of
16 examples of how they do a little bit extra
17 when you ask them.
18 In my community we had a situation
19 where nobody was patrolling some of the
20 waterfront area in the Lake Erie shore,
21 Hamburg area, way back in the '80s. And
22 volunteer firemen came and asked for a boat,
23 and so we got them a boat to do the
24 patrolling. And it was run strictly by the
25 volunteers.
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1 Then we got to find out that there
2 were a bunch of volunteer companies that were
3 all doing similar things. And they all had
4 different equipment, but they wanted to be
5 helpful. So we started this thing called the
6 Alert Team, which has been in existence since
7 the middle '80s. It's an organization made up
8 of not only volunteer firemen but also paid
9 police, paid fire. It's one of the few
10 organizations that combines all kinds of
11 jurisdictions.
12 And it works wonderfully. It's
13 obviously still successful, it's still in
14 existence. And it all started with a sincere
15 effort by volunteer firemen, as if they didn't
16 have enough to do with just the fire and EMT
17 situations and the other things that come
18 across their everyday life as volunteer
19 firemen.
20 Then we had a regulation put out by
21 the federal government where everybody had to
22 have some kind of hazardous material plan.
23 And for all these little towns, it would have
24 been prohibitively expensive to have their own
25 hazmat team. So in my area we got together
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1 with the volunteer firemen and we started what
2 was then called, and still is, the South Towns
3 Hazmat Team.
4 And now all these volunteer firemen
5 that take all these courses regularly had
6 various members that volunteered to join this
7 hazmat team, and they all took all the
8 hazardous materials courses that keep changing
9 and evolving. And they continue to do that.
10 And they've been called out on numerous
11 occasions. And that thing's been in existence
12 for twenty-some years also.
13 So those are just ways where it's
14 interesting -- because everybody says, you
15 know, volunteer firemen, they fight fires.
16 But they do all kinds of things to help our
17 communities. In these two efforts, they saved
18 all the communities money, they obviously have
19 saved lives, and it was regionalism before it
20 was a popular phrase. And it was kind of
21 interesting, because here the volunteer
22 firemen were actually the resource used to
23 save all these different levels of government
24 money.
25 And so that I agree with my members
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1 on the other side, colleagues, that said we
2 should always be looking for ways we can help
3 them make their job easier and make it easier
4 for them to recruit members and keep members
5 and continue to be in existence so that they
6 can help our communities, not only in the ways
7 we all think of them, but in other ways, like
8 the two I just mentioned.
9 And for that, I'll always be
10 thankful, and I thank them every day for all
11 the good work they do in our various
12 districts.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
14 Young.
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 I want to join my colleagues in
18 raising my voice in congratulating and
19 thanking, giving our deepest gratitude to the
20 volunteers from across New York State.
21 And as I look up in the gallery, I
22 see so many familiar faces. And I wish to
23 personally thank each and every one of you for
24 your advocacy, for your communication. I
25 can't think of more effective representatives
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1 who come to Albany and tell us what is needed.
2 I especially want to point out that
3 a constituent from my area, Tom Mooney, is
4 here from Allegany County -- there's Tom --
5 and also Pete Casey, who is known across
6 Western New York -- there's Pete -- because
7 you do such an excellent job.
8 I was at two fire dinners over this
9 past weekend, Dunkirk and Fredonia. And it's
10 amazing to me, when you talk to people from
11 those fire districts, the service that they
12 have given, because it's very common to talk
13 with volunteers who have devoted 20 years,
14 30 years, 40 years, 50 years, and sometimes
15 more than 60 years to being volunteers. It's
16 really incredible when you think about it.
17 A lot of members have talked about
18 the fact that they can come up with story
19 after story in their districts about acts of
20 valor, everyday valor that our volunteers
21 give. And I can do that too. But I also can
22 speak to the fact that my family was
23 personally helped by volunteer firefighters.
24 A memory that's seared into my mind
25 is the fact that when I was 14 years old,
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1 arsonists burned down my family's livelihood,
2 our barns. It was August, the barns were full
3 of hay. The firefighters here know what that
4 means. And the firefighters were there
5 immediately, and every single company in the
6 entire county responded.
7 My father lost his business that
8 night, but the firefighters battled that blaze
9 for three solid days. And we were afraid that
10 our house would burn to the ground also; it
11 was a 150-year-old structure. But because of
12 the efforts of the firefighters, they saved
13 our house and they also saved lives.
14 And that's really what it's all
15 about. Because I know FASNY did a study a
16 couple of years ago, they did estimate I think
17 it was about $8.5 billion would be the cost if
18 New York State provided all the volunteer
19 services across the state. And that's true.
20 And so you can quantify the services from that
21 financial aspect.
22 But you cannot put a price tag on
23 the value of what you mean to the communities.
24 Because when you go out and you save a father
25 of four who's had a heart attack by getting
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1 him to the hospital in time, when you go out
2 and rescue the van that actually hit a tree,
3 and those family members, when you go out and
4 save a business from burning to the ground or
5 you go out and save people from a house fire,
6 you cannot put a value on that.
7 And so what you do, the lives that
8 you touch day in and day out throughout this
9 state, grows exponentially. So I want to echo
10 the viewpoints of my colleagues, just extend
11 our deepest admiration and our gratitude to
12 those you represent from New York State. We
13 just thank you from the bottoms of our hearts.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
15 Nozzolio.
16 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
17 Mr. President. On the resolution.
18 I rise to lend my name and voice in
19 support of this resolution in a small way to
20 honor the great sacrifices and contributions
21 of our brave men and women who have answered
22 the call time and time again, when that call
23 arose, as members of volunteer fire
24 departments across our state.
25 Each weekend I spend time with
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1 volunteer firemen from various corners of my
2 district. Last week I was in Red Creek, the
3 week before in Romulus. Whether it's West
4 Webster or Victor or Fairville, each and every
5 one of the firefighters provide me a unique
6 perspective.
7 And my own home is covered by
8 volunteers and protected by volunteers for the
9 Canoga Fire Department. Just down the road,
10 the town of Fayette, the Fayette Fire
11 Department, my father-in-law was chief there
12 for over 35 years.
13 And it's that fabric of great
14 volunteerism the spirit that makes America
15 what it is today. And if any good could have
16 been derived from the horrific occurrences
17 that the great attack against us on
18 September 11, 2001 -- if there was any good
19 that could have come from that attack, I think
20 it's a growing recognition that the true
21 heroes in the United States of America today
22 are not the actors and celebrities, are not
23 the athletes, are not those who are held up by
24 the media as media icons. It's those who lay
25 their lives on the line.
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1 And the true heroes of our state
2 and nation are those who answer the call each
3 and every day to do, on behalf of their
4 neighbors who need support, when the brave
5 consequences of their actions could result in
6 injury or even worse. The firefighters are
7 the true American heroes in our nation. If
8 9/11 brought us anything, it was that
9 recognition.
10 So I rise and thank the Fire
11 Association, thank my good friend who has been
12 stalwart in helping educate the Legislature as
13 long-time legislative director -- I know he
14 was here earlier -- Bill Schlegel, from West
15 Webster, but who acts on behalf of all the
16 firemen across this state in educating the
17 legislators about items that we should pursue
18 in making this state a better place for the
19 volunteer services.
20 Mr. President, I humbly support
21 this resolution and humbly thank the true
22 heroes of our state, our firefighters.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank
24 you.
25 Senator Marchi.
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1 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President,
2 I -- as so many of you have participated
3 before your membership here in the Senate of
4 this state, circumstances which commended
5 themselves to you in prior living. And many
6 of us -- there are people here who have four
7 years of World War II and numerous experiences
8 since then.
9 And I meet so many people here with
10 personal experience with witnessing and
11 responding to what these noble people have
12 made manifest to all of us. And here I am
13 now, some 55 years later, here, coming back --
14 I don't think I'll be back many more after
15 this year. But the spirit is well and alive.
16 People do care.
17 And here are representatives of the
18 people who discuss a number of issues on both
19 sides, the many sides that beset our society.
20 And they're getting up with great rectitude
21 and admirable love of people. I think what
22 we're all trying to say is that we do love our
23 neighbor. We go back to the Old Testament,
24 love of God and love of neighbor as ourselves.
25 And this is manifest in this body.
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1 Which means that there's a note of nobility,
2 of what I observed here after so many years,
3 the outpouring of splendid statements that
4 have gone down on the record. And they will
5 endure, and people will respond again. It
6 nourishes that spirit of love of neighbor and
7 the love of God that we all experience.
8 So it is a very fitting
9 circumstance to be here. And I want to
10 confess my profound appreciation to all of
11 you, men and women from all over the state,
12 giving testimony, living testimony that we
13 should keep the object of love. It's not
14 enough to bring relief, it's not enough to do
15 those things that are necessary, but it's the
16 proof positive that it's generated by a
17 personal feeling of love of our neighbor.
18 And when I complete my service this
19 year, I doubt if I'll be back up here again.
20 But it's good to know that it's a spirit that
21 will endure. It's not going to be abandoned.
22 And there are people on both sides of the
23 aisle -- there isn't an individual here who
24 would take exception to the manifestation of
25 what we should go through, when the only
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1 reason you get involved -- and you people
2 really give testimony to that feeling, because
3 you prompted yourself to take notice and to do
4 something positive about it. And we, in
5 noticing it, generate our own spirit.
6 And we need it. We need it.
7 Because if we're not, we're just another class
8 of animals. But we're not. We're created in
9 a divine image. And as long as there are
10 people willing to give testimony and risk
11 their lives, as you folks have been doing,
12 then there's indeed reason for all of us to
13 exult over the liveliness.
14 You know, and I'm sure that if I
15 had the ability to be here a hundred years
16 from now, that spirit would endure if we're a
17 society that deserves to live. Otherwise,
18 what is it all worth?
19 So I feel very blessed by just
20 sitting here and listening to all of you and
21 the way you express yourselves. And you do it
22 in such a wholesome way, in a God-given love
23 of our fellow beings on this earth. And that
24 means that there will be people in our society
25 that will respond when the need is great.
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1 So God bless this group. I feel --
2 I feel rejuvenated. And I'll be 85 shortly.
3 And I really feel exhilarated over this
4 example that I was pleased to be a part of.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
6 Bruno.
7 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, I
8 am very, very pleased that the Firemen's
9 Association representatives here and their
10 leadership could join us.
11 And I want to thank all of my
12 colleagues for their comments and
13 observations.
14 We have a resolution there that
15 preceded the attendance of the members, who
16 were in the other chamber. I would ask at
17 this time that the title be read again while
18 they're here.
19 And I would also offer to open the
20 resolution to anyone that's in the chamber.
21 Anyone that would rather not be on it, if you
22 would approach the desk.
23 After reading the title, I would
24 move for its immediate adoption.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
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1 Secretary will read.
2 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno,
3 Legislative Resolution Number 5115,
4 commemorating May 8, 2006, as Volunteer
5 Firefighter and EMS Day, in recognition of the
6 sacrifices and contributions these outstanding
7 individuals make to protect and to care for
8 the residents of the State of New York.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: On the
10 resolution, all those in favor signify by
11 saying aye.
12 (Response of "Aye.")
13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH:
14 Opposed, nay.
15 (No response.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
17 resolution is adopted.
18 (Applause.)
19 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, is
20 there any further business at the desk?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: There
22 is none.
23 SENATOR BRUNO: There being no
24 further business to come before the Senate, I
25 would move that we stand adjourned until
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1 tomorrow, Tuesday, May 9th, at 3:00 p.m.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: On
3 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
4 Tuesday, May 9th, at 3:00 p.m.
5 (Whereupon, at 4:50 p.m., the
6 Senate adjourned.)
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Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.
(518) 371-8910