Regular Session - January 22, 2014
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1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
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3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
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9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 January 22, 2014
11 3:55 p.m.
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13
14 REGULAR SESSION
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18 SENATOR DAVID J. VALESKY, Acting President
19 FRANCIS W. PATIENCE, Secretary
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and recite with me the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: In the
9 absence of clergy, may we bow our heads in a
10 moment of silence.
11 (Whereupon, the assemblage respected
12 a moment of silence.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Reading
14 of the Journal.
15 The Secretary will read.
16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Tuesday,
17 January 21st, the Senate met pursuant to
18 adjournment. The Journal of Monday,
19 January 20th, was read and approved. On motion,
20 Senate adjourned.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Without
22 objection, the Journal stands approved as read.
23 Presentation of petitions.
24 Messages from the Assembly.
25 Messages from the Governor.
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1 Reports of standing committees.
2 Reports of select committees.
3 Communications and reports from
4 state officers.
5 Motions and resolutions.
6 Senator LaValle.
7 SENATOR LaVALLE: Mr. President, we
8 have motions by Senator Gianaris.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Senator
10 Gianaris.
11 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
12 Mr. President.
13 On behalf of Senator Parker, I move
14 that the following bill be discharged from its
15 respective committee and be recommitted with
16 instructions to strike the enacting clause:
17 Senate Bill Number 3174.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So
19 ordered.
20 Senator LaValle.
21 SENATOR LaVALLE: Mr. President, on
22 behalf of myself, Senator LaValle, I move the
23 following bill be discharged from its respective
24 committee and be recommitted with instructions to
25 strike the enacting clause. That's Senate Bill
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1 Number 2921A.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So
3 ordered.
4 SENATOR LaVALLE: On Senator
5 Libous's behalf, Mr. President, I move that the
6 following bill be discharged from its respective
7 committee and be recommitted with instructions to
8 strike the enacting clause. That is Senate Bill
9 Number 4806A.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So
11 ordered.
12 SENATOR LaVALLE: On Senator
13 Maziarz's behalf, I move that the following bills
14 be discharged from their respective committees
15 and be recommitted with instructions to strike
16 the enacting clause. That is Senate Bill Numbers
17 1183A and 1345.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So
19 ordered.
20 Senator LaValle.
21 SENATOR LaVALLE: Mr. President, I
22 believe there is a privileged resolution by
23 Senator Stewart-Cousins, that is Resolution 2887,
24 that is at the desk. I ask that it be read in
25 its entirety and ask for its immediate adoption.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The
2 Secretary will read.
3 THE SECRETARY: Legislative
4 Resolution Number 2887, by Senator
5 Stewart-Cousins, memorializing the Reverend
6 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s tremendous
7 contributions to civil rights and American
8 society, and the 29th Anniversary of the national
9 holiday that honors his birth and achievements.
10 "WHEREAS, Today we celebrate the
11 life and extraordinary achievements of one of our
12 nation's most beloved and influential leaders,
13 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the
14 29th Anniversary of the holiday that honors his
15 birth and achievements; and
16 "WHEREAS, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
17 was born on Tuesday, January 15, 1929, at his
18 family home in Atlanta, Georgia, and was the
19 first son and second child born to the
20 Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., and
21 Alberta Williams King; and
22 "WHEREAS, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
23 began his education at the Yonge Street
24 Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia, attended
25 the Atlanta University Laboratory School and
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1 Booker T. Washington High School, and was
2 admitted to Morehouse College at the age of 15;
3 and
4 "WHEREAS, At the age of 19,
5 Martin Luther King, Jr., graduated from
6 Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree
7 in sociology, and three years later, in 1951, was
8 awarded a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer
9 Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania,
10 where he also studied at the University of
11 Pennsylvania, and won several awards for most
12 outstanding student, among which was the Crozer
13 fellowship for graduate study at a university of
14 his choice; and
15 "WHEREAS, In 1951, at the age of 22,
16 Martin Luther King, Jr., began doctoral studies
17 in systematic theology at Boston University, and
18 also studied at Harvard University, and at the
19 age of 26 was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy
20 degree from Boston University in 1955; and
21 "WHEREAS, During his studies at
22 Boston and Harvard Universities, Dr. King married
23 the former Coretta Scott of Marion, Alabama, in
24 1953; and
25 "WHEREAS, Dr. King entered the
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1 Christian ministry and was ordained in February
2 of 1948 at the age of 19 at Ebenezer Baptist
3 Church, Atlanta, Georgia, and became pastor of
4 the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church of Montgomery,
5 Alabama, from September of 1954 to November of
6 1959, when he resigned to move home to Atlanta;
7 and
8 "WHEREAS, Dr. King was elected
9 president of the Montgomery Improvement
10 Association, the organization which was
11 responsible for the successful Montgomery bus
12 boycott, which began in 1955 and lasted 381 days;
13 and
14 "WHEREAS, Dr. King was incarcerated
15 many times for his participation in civil rights
16 activities, was a founder of the Southern
17 Christian Leadership Conference, which he led
18 from 1957 to 1968, and was the leader of the 1963
19 March on Washington for Civil Rights, which is
20 one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in
21 American history and is a defining moment in this
22 nation's civil rights movement; and
23 "WHEREAS, Dr. King was honored
24 countless times for his leadership of the United
25 States civil rights movement, including his
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1 selection by Time Magazine as Most Outstanding
2 Personality of 1957 and Man of the Year of 1963,
3 and his selection by Link Magazine of India, the
4 home of Mahatma Gandhi, as one of the 16 world
5 leaders who had contributed the most to the
6 advancement of freedom during 1959; and
7 "WHEREAS, Dr. King's receipt in 1964
8 of the Nobel Peace Prize, at the age of 35, made
9 him the youngest recipient of that prestigious
10 award, and one of only three black Americans who
11 have received that award, along with Dr. Ralph
12 Bunche and President Barack Obama, whose journey
13 to become president owes no small debt to the
14 journey Dr. King and the millions of Americans
15 who walked hand in hand with him undertook to end
16 segregation and remind Americans of the great
17 moral underpinnings of our federal Constitution,
18 which provides that we are all created equal, and
19 of the incredible power of the American ideal
20 that we all deserve to live in a free and just
21 society; and
22 "WHEREAS, Dr. King was murdered in
23 Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, by James
24 Earl Ray, and was mourned by millions of
25 Americans of all ages, races, creeds and colors
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1 on the national day of mourning declared by
2 President Lyndon Johnson; and
3 "WHEREAS, Dr. King's birthday was
4 made into a national holiday in 1986, was first
5 celebrated in all 50 states in the year 2000, and
6 is the only federal holiday to honor a private
7 American citizen; and
8 "WHEREAS, Dr. King stands in a long
9 line of great American leaders and represents the
10 historical culmination and living embodiment of a
11 spirit of united purpose, rooted in black African
12 culture and the American Dream; and
13 "WHEREAS, Dr. King taught us that
14 through nonviolence, courage displaces fear, love
15 transforms hate, acceptance dissipates prejudice,
16 and mutual regard cancels resentment; and
17 "WHEREAS, Dr. King manifestly
18 contributed to the cause of America's freedom;
19 his commitment to human dignity is visibly
20 mirrored in the spiritual, economic and political
21 dimensions of the civil rights movement; now,
22 therefore, be it
23 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
24 Body pause in its deliberations to honor the life
25 of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
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1 whose untimely death robbed America of his
2 leadership at too early a date, and whose deeds
3 and words transformed America and live in our
4 homes, schools and public institutions to this
5 day, continuing to inspire the millions of
6 Americans whose lives of purpose and achievement
7 might not have been possible but for Dr. King's
8 leadership and the examples set by the millions
9 of Americans who joined him in one of the great
10 moral crusades of the 20th century; and be it
11 further
12 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
13 Body calls upon its members and all New Yorkers
14 to observe the day of Dr. King's birth as a day
15 of service to our family, friends, neighbors and
16 those less fortunate than ourselves, and to moral
17 causes greater than ourselves, and to the great
18 State of New York, in keeping with the ideals of
19 the national Martin Luther King Day of Service,
20 which was started by former Pennsylvania State
21 Senator Harris Wofford and Congressman John Lewis
22 from Atlanta, Georgia, who coauthored the King
23 Holiday and Service Act, signed into law by
24 President Bill Clinton in 1994; and be it further
25 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
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1 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to
2 the family of Dr. King and to the King Center in
3 Atlanta."
4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Senator
5 Stewart-Cousins on the resolution.
6 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank
7 you, Mr. President.
8 And I guess after all of us have
9 returned from this weekend where we were able to
10 remember Dr. King, to celebrate how far America
11 has come because of the work of Dr. King and
12 countless others, it is really fitting that we
13 begin our session with where he left off, because
14 that's what we must do.
15 He was only 39 when he died. And
16 most people, I think, because when you read the
17 biography and you read so much about him, you
18 sort of tend to think that this was someone who
19 lived so long to do all these things -- he did
20 this work in less than 13 years, from 1955 to
21 when he was assassinated in 1968. The tremendous
22 amount of progress that happened for
23 African-Americans and others happened in this
24 13 years.
25 Mahatma Gandhi, his own Christian
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1 faith obviously informed him on the ways of
2 nonviolence. And while people, certainly people
3 growing up as I did in New York, we had the
4 debate, well, is it nonviolence, is it by any
5 means necessary, the reality was that Dr. King in
6 his relentless pursuit of justice and equality
7 changed a nation and changed the world.
8 And when he was assassinated, he was
9 talking about economics, he was talking about
10 jobs, he was talking about education, he was
11 talking about organized labor, he was talking
12 about the extension of what the March on
13 Washington was was really the March for Jobs and
14 Freedom.
15 Dr. King would have been organizing
16 today with fast-food workers. Dr. King would
17 have been organizing people who are working hard
18 and not able to sustain families, who aren't
19 getting educational opportunities, who still
20 haven't been able to walk through those doors of
21 equality, who still long for justice.
22 So it is so great that we as a
23 nation get to pause every beginning of the year
24 to remember not only what has been achieved but
25 what has yet to be achieved. And certainly
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1 people in legislatures and chambers all over this
2 nation just like us, every day we have an
3 opportunity to advance that dream, advance that
4 purpose, and even make our own mark in making
5 sure that Dr. King's legacy is felt, lived and
6 enjoyed by all.
7 So thank you, Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
9 you, Senator Stewart-Cousins.
10 Senator Larkin on the resolution.
11 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you,
12 Mr. President.
13 And I'd like to congratulate the
14 Senator. It was an excellent presentation, and
15 it encompassed years into minutes. Well done.
16 Congratulations and thank you.
17 You know, I've stood up in this body
18 for a number of years. I believe I'm probably
19 the only person in this room that ever personally
20 met Dr. King.
21 When I first heard about Dr. King,
22 it was 1963. I was in Europe, it was August, the
23 Washington March, when he said "I Had a Dream."
24 I asked then and I ask today, what happened to
25 the dream? We talk about it, but we're not doing
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1 things that we should be doing.
2 In 1965 I had the privilege of
3 representing the United States government going
4 to Montgomery, Alabama, and to entice the
5 governor to activate his troops in protection and
6 safety of the march from Selma to Montgomery.
7 And of course the Governor said go you know
8 where. At 12 o'clock that night I went back and
9 gave him an official order to activate his troops
10 and to move troops from all over America to Selma
11 and Montgomery and the route to.
12 When that march started that Sunday
13 morning, everybody was hanging around Dr. King,
14 wanting to get him. I wasn't inside; all I know
15 is what was being reported to me. And one person
16 that we never hear talked enough about was
17 Dr. Ralph Abernathy. When I went to him and
18 said, you know, I can't talk to your boss but I'm
19 telling you, there's thousands of people out
20 here, thousands of people on the road. There was
21 2500 people ready to march.
22 He went in and said: "Martin, it's
23 time to move." And some of the other hangers-on
24 were saying, We need pictures, we need this. And
25 Dr. King looked at him -- because I could see, I
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1 was at the door. He was listening to Dr. Ralph
2 Abernathy, who in my opinion is one individual in
3 civil rights who never got the recognition that
4 he deserved.
5 But look at what Dr. King said. His
6 goal was to let us think about individuals as
7 they can be. Respect for one another. I said
8 last year, in this chamber, "In a year, when we
9 come back, I want to ask you what have you done
10 to fulfill those visions."
11 I can stand up and say for myself
12 we're having an essay contest that's finished in
13 a high school. And I'm giving them cash out of
14 my pocket for the winners. I've seen three or
15 four of them. I've seen one from a young girl
16 that came from Nigeria. And she said: "I never
17 thought that I could enjoy a country as I do in
18 America. But the more I read about Dr. King, we
19 haven't done enough to fulfill his dream and his
20 hopes."
21 And his hopes weren't just for
22 African-Americans. His hopes were for all of us,
23 to stop putting the blinders on and do something
24 that would make us want to cooperate and do
25 something for our fellow citizens.
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1 You know, that march on the 25th,
2 when it terminated there were 25,000 people.
3 There were the left, there were the right, there
4 were the antagonists on the sides of the road
5 using such language that I wouldn't repeat here.
6 But it came through, and it was safe.
7 One of the big incidents I remember
8 was meeting with a gentleman called Bull Connor.
9 You won't know him, but you'd have to look him
10 up. He's the idiot that took a 12-inch hose and
11 knocked people off the bridge. Yes, a law
12 enforcement officer I call an idiot.
13 My comments to him were very
14 simple: "You come out on this bridge and I
15 guarantee you you'll need a plastic surgeon to
16 get you out of jail."
17 And I meant it. This was a momentum
18 in life. Because a lot of people fail to realize
19 this was a time in our life when the civil rights
20 and the voting rights campaign was in high esteem
21 in Washington, in '65. And some prominent
22 southern Democrats, including former Vice
23 President Gore's father, voted against it.
24 But I think the momentum that
25 Dr. King put together that spring was a momentum
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1 to say to everybody it is time to act. Just
2 think of it, the young man -- very, very young --
3 what he did, what he meant.
4 And he was -- if you read in
5 history, in April of '68 he was encouraged to go
6 to Memphis, Tennessee, because of the sanitation
7 strike. Dr. Abernathy, in his comments, said "I
8 tried to tell Martin it was too violent, stay
9 away. But he said 'I made my commitment and I'm
10 going to fulfill it.'"
11 His wife even asked him not to go.
12 But he said, "How can I ask them to do something
13 that I'm not willing to do?" And it cost him his
14 life.
15 Think about it. What have we done
16 as individuals to say this is what I've done in
17 my community, this is what I will do.
18 I have a big African-American
19 community in Newburgh. I've never won that
20 district in 36 years. But Dr. King made an
21 emphasis of working together. We've taken an
22 armory and built it, doing what he said we should
23 do. We're taking these young people and teaching
24 them how to get along with one another. We're
25 teaching them how to improve their educational
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1 opportunities. And we have kids now that three
2 years ago were outside getting in trouble. Now
3 they're studying, playing sports, learning how to
4 act with one another.
5 You know, it's nice to come every
6 year and make mention of somebody that's done
7 something. I'd like to come back next year and
8 be able to say, Look what we've done as a body.
9 Look what we've done in our districts.
10 We have 63 districts. How many here
11 have done anything in the last seven days with
12 Martin Luther King as a vision? I don't know. I
13 saw less events this year than I did last year.
14 But you cannot stand around and make
15 statements that Dr. King was somebody I think was
16 great, we did this, and then the next day you
17 say, well, what's on the football game or the
18 basketball game?
19 How many people paid attention? How
20 many people went out Monday and went to events?
21 How many made some difference in how their
22 community is? Because you were committed to do
23 something that a man put his life on.
24 He was locked up at a young age. He
25 did things that some in the southern territories
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1 of our country didn't like. Did they not like
2 him because of the color of his skin or did they
3 dislike him because he wanted to do something to
4 change and give everybody an opportunity? Not
5 just people that were called Caucasians, not
6 people that were called African-Americans. And
7 in the early days of Dr. King they weren't called
8 African-Americans, they were called Negroes.
9 But he wanted to send a message. I
10 don't think we got the message. I hear people
11 say all these nice things, but where's the
12 message? The messenger left us a message and I'm
13 sorry to say I don't think we -- not just in this
14 body, but we in this state have turned around and
15 said "This is what we will do."
16 In our community, I think our
17 community has gotten together. And we did have
18 an event. But we did something for the young
19 people. Which is one of the things that he
20 said. Make them understand, bring them in so
21 they'll know what was going on. That was his
22 vision.
23 Mr. President, it's an honor to
24 stand here and talk about someone who made a
25 difference in a lot of our lives, whether we like
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1 to believe it or not. But let's remember a year
2 from today, with God's blessing -- Michael, God's
3 blessing -- I will be here and I'm going to ask
4 you the same question: What have you done in
5 your district to further those visions that
6 Dr. King said?
7 He had a dream that one day. That
8 day hasn't come. And I don't think we've done
9 enough to enhance his vision.
10 Thank you, Mr. President.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
12 you, Senator Larkin.
13 Senator Savino on the resolution.
14 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 And thank you, Senator
17 Stewart-Cousins, for bringing this resolution to
18 commemorate the contributions and the life of the
19 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.
20 This is the tenth time that I will
21 stand on this floor to talk about this. It's
22 amazing that I've been in the Senate 10 years
23 now. It's one of my favorite resolutions because
24 I get to hear from the other members what the
25 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King meant to them.
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1 I get to hear, always, Senator
2 Larkin tell the story about how he met Martin
3 Luther King and that he was the only one, and
4 then I get to hear Senator Hassell-Thompson point
5 out no, that she met him as well. So we are
6 blessed that we have two people in this chamber
7 that actually got to meet him.
8 Obviously I never did get to meet
9 him, but I feel the need every year to stand up
10 and talk about the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther
11 King's commitment not just to the civil rights
12 movement but to the labor movement and to remind
13 people where he was on that fateful day when he
14 was assassinated in the city of Memphis. He was
15 leading a strike of striking sanitation workers
16 in the city of Memphis. And that is where he
17 delivered his "I Have Been to the Mountaintop"
18 speech; we all know that.
19 But Dr. King was as committed to
20 organized labor as anybody else ever was in this
21 country. And so every year I feel the need to
22 remind people of that, number one, and to remind
23 people of where we are in this country and what
24 Dr. King would think about what is happening to
25 organized labor and workers' rights right now.
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1 And what he would think about what
2 happened the other day on Monday, on the
3 anniversary of his birthday, when every editorial
4 board in the state and probably across the
5 country decided that they would dedicate their
6 editorial pages to the contributions of the
7 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, and rightfully
8 so. But then the day after, every one of those
9 editorial boards would go back to their regularly
10 scheduled programming, lately, of bashing workers
11 and workers' rights and the institutions that
12 fight for workers rights.
13 What would he think about those same
14 editorial boards who celebrated the collapse of
15 Detroit and the City of Detroit and actually
16 applauded the fact that workers were going to
17 believe deprived of their rights that they had
18 achieved either through collective bargaining or
19 their pension rights that had been achieved
20 through their constitution?
21 Those very same pundits, Billy,
22 applauded that and then had the audacity to
23 applaud the work of the Reverend Dr. Martin
24 Luther King. They should be ashamed of
25 themselves. Those very same pundits and
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1 economists who think that workers should take
2 less applaud Dr. King and say nothing about
3 what's happening in Bangladesh or in Vietnam or
4 any of the other countries that manufacturers
5 continue to go to to exploit workers and to drive
6 down our economy.
7 So yes, Billy -- Senator Larkin --
8 we have a lot of work to do to live up to his
9 commitment and to his dream. For workers, we are
10 certainly not there, and in fact in many ways we
11 have been turning the clock back. So next year I
12 hope to be standing here right along with you and
13 everyone else in this chamber, and maybe we'll
14 have something positive to report about the
15 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's dream and
16 whether or not we've helped to achieve any part
17 of it.
18 Thank you, Mr. President.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
20 you, Senator Savino.
21 Senator Diaz on the resolution.
22 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you,
23 Mr. President.
24 Ladies and gentlemen, on February 4,
25 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered a sermon
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1 in the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta,
2 Georgia. And I want to read a paragraph out of
3 that sermon. It says: "And so Jesus gave us a
4 new norm of greatness. If you want to be
5 important -- wonderful. If you want to be
6 recognized -- wonderful. If you want to be
7 great -- wonderful. But recognize that he who is
8 greatest among you shall be your servant. That's
9 a new definition of greatness.
10 "You don't have to have a college
11 degree to serve. You don't have to make your
12 subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't
13 have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve.
14 You don't have to know Einstein's theory of
15 relativity to serve. You don't have to know the
16 second theory of thermodynamics in physics to
17 serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a
18 soul generated by love, and you can be that
19 servant."
20 That was what Martin Luther King
21 said in 1968. And I'm going to add to that you
22 don't even have to speak good English to be a
23 good servant.
24 But so many years after this
25 happened, just a few days ago, our beloved
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1 Governor, Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of
2 the State of New York, stated to millions of
3 people, especially me, that there is no place in
4 New York for me.
5 I was 18 years old in Puerto Rico,
6 and I proudly want to serve the American -- in
7 the United States Army. And I joined the Army.
8 And they send me in 1960 to Columbia,
9 South Carolina, to Fort Jackson.
10 With me from Puerto Rico there was
11 bunch of Puerto Ricans, white Puerto Ricans, just
12 as white as Senator Gustavo Rivera. And they
13 came with me from Puerto Rico to Columbia,
14 South Carolina. There's a reason why I'm
15 choosing -- there's a reason why I'm pointing to
16 Gustavo Rivera. There's a reason why. I'm going
17 to tell you in a minute.
18 I came with them, all white, I was
19 the only black, went to Fort Jackson,
20 South Carolina. They gave us the first pass.
21 All dressed in the Army suit, proud of being an
22 American fighting man, went to a bar in
23 Columbia. The waiter came, served all of them,
24 turned his back on me and told me -- and when I
25 called the waiter, the waiter told me: "Whatever
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1 you're looking for, we haven't got it."
2 Those white Puerto Ricans that went
3 from Puerto Rico, from Fort Buchanan,
4 Puerto Rico, with me to Columbia, they were
5 supposed to leave that place with me. But no,
6 they told me "You have to leave. You've got to
7 go." And they stood there.
8 And Martin Luther King fought to
9 take away all these things. But nothing has
10 changed. Because even Gustavo Rivera now, he's
11 the one that make fun of me and laugh at me
12 because of my heavy accent. So nothing has
13 changed. People make fun of you. For your
14 color, for your accent, for your kinky hair, for
15 whatever reason. People make fun of you.
16 Now, the Governor earlier said there
17 is no place for you in the State of New York, for
18 anyone that oppose gay marriage or for anyone
19 that feels that life is sacred and the babies in
20 the womb of the mother should not be killed.
21 So, ladies and gentlemen, yes, we
22 are honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. But we say
23 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, too many blah,
24 blah, blah. People doesn't even care of that.
25 Martin Luther King said you don't
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1 have to know too much to be a servant. You don't
2 have to speak good English, Gustavo, just learn
3 how to serve. And just learn that words hurt and
4 that we are all human. Just learn that lesson.
5 Stop making fun, stop laughing at people. And
6 stop discriminating people for whatever reason
7 they are. This is a lesson that we supposed to
8 have learned.
9 And now, public servants, we all
10 public servants, how could a public servant
11 tell -- the Governor, the leader of the state,
12 tell residents of the State of New York that
13 there is no part for them, there is no way, there
14 is no room for them in the State of New York?
15 Even an undocumented person is better than me
16 now. Because they got people to protect them,
17 they got people to look out for them. Now
18 they're going to say, Get out of New York, we
19 have no place for you guys.
20 But there are millions and millions,
21 there are millions in New York State that believe
22 like me -- Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Orthodox
23 Jews that believe like me. And the Governor is
24 telling them, equal that he is telling me, that
25 there is no room for us in New York State.
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1 And then we brag about honoring
2 Martin Luther King? Bunch of hypocrisy. That's
3 what we are doing. Oh, we got to honor
4 Dr. Martin Luther King. Honor Dr. Martin Luther
5 King, and then you are making fun of people and
6 you are discriminating people and you are not
7 accepting people when we are supposed to serve
8 everyone, when we supposed to be equal to
9 everyone?
10 I don't believe in gay marriage, but
11 I have gay in my staff. I don't believe in gay
12 marriage, but I got friends, and I employ them,
13 and I make room for them.
14 So the Governor should learn the
15 lesson and many of us should learn that lesson
16 that we are servants. We don't have to have a
17 college degree. We don't have to have -- what is
18 it Dr. Martin Luther King say? We don't have to
19 know the theory of thermo, what, thermodynamics.
20 There's no room. I didn't even make
21 the list -- Malcolm, we didn't even make the list
22 of the best dressed in New York.
23 (Laughter.)
24 SENATOR DIAZ: There's no room.
25 Anywhere you go is ostracism.
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1 So, ladies and gentlemen, yes, I'm
2 here today with my broken English, my kinky hair,
3 because Martin Luther King fought and people like
4 Dr. Martin Luther King want us, black and all
5 kind of race, to join together and took us blacks
6 from the back seat of the bus. Now Governor
7 Cuomo wants to put me back in the seat.
8 Sometimes Gustavo Rivera kill me,
9 kill me. Because he doesn't agree with my
10 position, he just make fun of me. There's no
11 reason for that, Gustavo. And to any one of you,
12 there's no reason for that. Don't agree with me.
13 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Senator
15 Gianaris, why do you rise?
16 SENATOR GIANARIS: We certainly
17 want to hear what everyone has to say, but I do
18 want to remind everyone --
19 SENATOR DIAZ: I know you don't
20 want to hear that -- I know you don't want to
21 hear what --
22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Senator
23 Diaz, Senator Gianaris is speaking.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: I would just
25 remind our colleagues that we're not supposed to
148
1 refer to each other by name during the
2 proceedings. Thank you.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The
4 point is well-taken.
5 SENATOR DIAZ: Yeah, see? This is
6 the problem that we are all facing. It's good
7 when it's good for you, but when it's time for
8 me, it's no good for me. That's a problem that
9 we are facing here. And that's why I do what I
10 do.
11 And I am the only -- and by the way,
12 with all due respect to you Independents, I'm the
13 only independent here.
14 And by the way, you know, this is
15 something that we have to be more reasonable. If
16 I don't bring this to your attention, if I don't
17 bring this on the floor, it will continue.
18 People get hurt. So I got to bring it. I have
19 to -- I have to express my feelings, because I'm
20 a human being like any one of you. Even though I
21 don't believe in gay marriage and I don't believe
22 in abortion, I'm a human being too. And I'm a
23 Senator like any one of you.
24 So respect, you want me to respect,
25 Gianaris? You want me to respect others? Teach
149
1 your members to respect others. And then we all
2 could agree and then we'll join together to
3 celebrate Martin Luther King and to honor
4 Dr. Martin Luther King.
5 But it doesn't work that way. It
6 doesn't work that way. So that's what I'm
7 saying, Mr. Chairman and all of you. I might be
8 out of order -- it's not the first time that I've
9 been called out of order. You remember when gay
10 marriage came? They didn't even allow me to
11 speak because I was . . . So it's not the first
12 time that this body call me out of order.
13 But I will continue expressing my
14 feelings. I will continue to fight for what I
15 believe. I will continue doing like Jesse
16 Jackson said: Keep your faith, baby. And I will
17 fight and keep my faith no matter how many
18 ostracism they do to me and no matter how many
19 fun they make of me and no matter how many
20 Governor Cuomo say that there's no room for me in
21 the State of New York.
22 I'm proud to be a Christian. I'm
23 proud to follow the Bible. I'm proud to be a
24 minister. I'm proud to be a Puerto Rican and I'm
25 proud to be a black Puerto Rican.
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1 And by the way, before I finish, us
2 black Puerto Ricans, we have no part, we have
3 no -- sometimes we in the limbo. When blacks and
4 Hispanics fight, there's no room for me. The
5 Hispanics reject us because we're black and the
6 blacks reject us because we're Hispanic. You got
7 to be in that shoe, in those shoes, to know
8 exactly what discrimination is all about.
9 Thank you, Mr. President. And I --
10 I am really sorry for -- if I have interrupted
11 anything.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Senator
13 Hassell-Thompson on the resolution.
14 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank
15 you, Mr. President.
16 I rise to thank Senator Andrea
17 Stewart-Cousins for bringing the resolution to
18 the floor today as we honor Dr. King. Last week
19 we stood here and honored Nelson Mandela. Two
20 men who changed the face of the world, two men
21 who did not let hate interfere with the message
22 that they had to bring.
23 Senator Larkin, in 1959 -- oh, he's
24 left the chamber. But in 1959 I had the
25 opportunity of meeting Dr. King. When he came to
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1 New York, he came to Grace Baptist Church. I was
2 17 years old. And listening to the power of his
3 voice as well as his message gave me a lot to
4 remember and certainly as guideposts for the way
5 I try to live my life.
6 I want to share with you a couple of
7 quotes that are indicative of who he was as a
8 man. We all know about his "I Have a Dream"
9 speech. But how many of you know that he said
10 "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
11 about things that matter"? And "In the End, we
12 will not remember the words of our enemies, but
13 the silence of our friends."
14 He said: "I've decided to stick to
15 love. Hate is too great burden to bear."
16 "There comes a time when one must
17 take a position that is neither safe nor politic
18 nor popular, but he must take it because
19 conscience tells him it's right."
20 "Let no man pull you so low as to
21 hate him."
22 "Never, never be afraid to do what's
23 right, especially if the well-being of a person
24 or animal is at stake."
25 "Society's punishments are small
152
1 compared to the wounds that we inflict on our
2 souls when we look the other way."
3 And finally, "Nothing in the world
4 is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and
5 conscientious stupidity."
6 That was Dr. Martin Luther King.
7 Thank you, Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
9 you, Senator Hassell-Thompson.
10 Senator Montgomery on the
11 resolution.
12 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank
13 you, Mr. President.
14 I also want to join my colleagues in
15 thanking our leader for making sure that once
16 again we have a resolution on the floor that
17 honors Dr. Martin Luther King.
18 And I certainly associate myself
19 with all of the comments that have been made.
20 And I'd like to take the challenge that Senator
21 Larkin has given us, and that is come back next
22 year to recite something that we've actually
23 done. So I appreciate that, and he's right.
24 I have had the opportunity to read
25 one of the many books about or by Dr. King, and
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1 one of them in particular is the autobiography
2 that's done by Clayborne Carson in conjunction
3 with Dr. King, where Dr. King has an opportunity
4 or we have an opportunity to look to see what
5 kinds of things were going through his mind when
6 he started the movement.
7 And I was particularly struck by one
8 scene that he portrays where they had been
9 threatened -- this was in the middle of the
10 Rosa Parks situation, and they had been told in
11 no uncertain terms that if they did not stop what
12 they were doing, that they would be killed. So
13 this kind of intimidation was made very, very
14 much a part of the communication between the
15 people who did not approve of, did not want to
16 see the movement go forward, to Dr. King and the
17 people he was working with.
18 And I was so absolutely amazed by
19 the fact that he was terrified, because it was
20 the Ku Klux Klan and it was in the place in
21 America where people could come with their guns
22 and when they threatened you, it was a real
23 threat. So -- and there was no police to protect
24 Dr. King. And so they came to his home and they
25 paraded, they cruised in their cars in front of
154
1 his house. And he stood in the door and waited
2 and in a sense dared them to go ahead and kill
3 me, because this fight for freedom will not end
4 with you killing me.
5 And so I'm so struck by that because
6 how terrifying it must have been to be
7 confronted, to be faced with this kind of
8 terror. These were terrorists in America who
9 were bent on making sure that the rights of
10 African-Americans, of black people in this
11 country were never realized, that the 13th, 14th
12 and 15th Amendments were really never going to be
13 realized in this United States of America.
14 So for me, that was the image of
15 Dr. King above all the other things that happened
16 to him, the fact that he would stand and face
17 death because he had a vision, he knew where he
18 was trying to go, he knew what the meaning of his
19 existence at that moment meant. Not to himself,
20 but to his people. And that is, to me, bravery
21 beyond belief.
22 Yes, we call him the Prince of Peace
23 and we call him the Drum Major for Justice. But
24 most of all, he was the symbol of democracy and
25 what it meant. And what was the end point to
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1 him, according to him in his words, was "I want
2 the right for my people to vote."
3 That's how we were able to elect an
4 African-American president. It was because
5 Martin Luther King led his people across what
6 some people would say the Jordan. He led his
7 people to the point where -- and he kept his eye
8 on the prize, and the prize was the vote. And so
9 I'm so thankful and grateful, because that's how
10 I'm here and that's how we're all here.
11 And let me just say it makes me so
12 sad and I feel such a sense of regret that some
13 people in our country are trying to take away the
14 vote that so many people, including Dr. King, who
15 stood in the door in the face of death because he
16 wanted his people to be able to vote -- and now
17 there are people trying to take it away. So this
18 is a very sad thing.
19 So I take the challenge of Senator
20 Larkin. He's right. I hope we all come back
21 next year and we have more than a speech to make
22 about Dr. King, that we've all done something.
23 In our various positions, in our party, the
24 Republican Party members, the Democratic Party
25 members, all of us. I hope we're going to begin
156
1 to raise our voices and say this is an
2 abomination. If we believe in anything that
3 Dr. King represented, it is the right to vote for
4 everyone in this country.
5 So thank you, Madam Leader, and
6 thank you, Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
8 you, Senator Montgomery.
9 Senator Sanders on the resolution.
10 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you,
11 Mr. President.
12 Colonel Larkin gave a very worthy
13 question that remains to be answered. And there
14 is no one answer to it. Each of us will have to
15 find our own answer to this question. I can only
16 try to answer it by saying that on Monday past I
17 stood with the airport workers who are being
18 grossly underpaid and struggled with them to
19 ensure that justice roll down like a mighty river
20 in their lifetime.
21 Now, I come to this position in a
22 strange way. I must confess I was not an early
23 convert to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
24 Indeed, I've been a late convert. The idea that
25 they espoused of turning the other cheek, of
157
1 strength, that was -- it was not my first
2 nature. It's not exactly the way I would see
3 things. My own nature, I must admit, it might be
4 better that the other guy turn the other cheek
5 for a while.
6 But I came to an understanding
7 slowly. I understood that sometimes the greatest
8 courage is that it takes more courage to sit
9 down, sometimes, than it does to stand up. To
10 sit down when your nature may say to help the
11 other guy see his maker quicker, faster, better.
12 However, the strength that this
13 community came up with -- and a community of all
14 Americans, mind you, came up with at this time
15 was one that you couldn't deny, a strength that
16 went past and said that I'm going to love you in
17 spite of yourself. I'm going to do good to
18 people who are doing bad to me.
19 After you go past what the rational
20 mind may think is an insanity, you see something
21 deeper, something American, something deeper,
22 something human that transcends all of these
23 boundaries and says that, you know what, we can
24 get to a place, this beloved community that all
25 of us say, but it's going to cost us. It's going
158
1 to cost us greatly.
2 And this is why I'm so grateful that
3 all of those people went before me and stood and
4 were able to do what I at that time was unable to
5 do -- of course, being a younger man I wouldn't
6 have had the exact challenge, but I would not
7 have been able to do, and by doing so gave a
8 whole new generation.
9 Now, Dr. King, I'm very happy that
10 he was an African-American. But at the same time
11 I have to understand that he transcended all of
12 these boundaries, that Dr. King ultimately gave
13 his life for America and Americans and then went
14 further than that and his position was for the
15 world.
16 So in that sense he transcended even
17 the nation and became one of those figures that
18 we can point to -- and the world has several --
19 that we can point to in saying that this was a
20 figure that made us proud to breathe the same air
21 that he did.
22 So I'm glad that this body is kind
23 enough and bold enough to say that we need to do
24 these things. And because we have generations
25 coming up behind us that maybe, like me, that
159
1 don't understand the strength that sometimes you
2 stand tallest when you're sitting in.
3 And saying those things, I encourage
4 all of us to remember that we all have a little
5 bit of Martin Luther King in us, because his
6 blood has gone through the veins of the American
7 people.
8 Thank you very much.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
10 you, Senator Sanders.
11 Senator Perkins on the resolution.
12 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you very
13 much.
14 I want to thank our leader, Senator
15 Cousins, and everybody else who's here and had an
16 opportunity to speak.
17 I was going to use my half an hour
18 an hour ago, but so much of what I want to say
19 has been said. And the only thing that's left is
20 to really remember that the Prince of Peace who
21 we all remember mostly, I guess, for his civil
22 rights advocacy was actually assassinated for
23 economic justice and in the process of organizing
24 the remarkable Poor People's Campaign.
25 And maybe in that regard it gives us
160
1 some very concrete direction about what we can do
2 here as legislators for poor people, for people
3 that Dr. King actually sacrificed his life for.
4 So whether that's in terms of a job,
5 whether that's in terms of other kinds of
6 economic opportunities, or whether that's in
7 terms of ending discrimination, remember, the
8 Poor People's Campaign is what he was organizing
9 before he was assassinated. And perhaps that's
10 the message that we can use as we move forward in
11 our deliberations and making laws and
12 opportunities through this august body.
13 Thank you.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
15 you, Senator Perkins.
16 Senator Rivera on the resolution.
17 SENATOR RIVERA: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 As I sit here and hear what our
20 colleagues, certainly Senator Stewart-Cousins,
21 Senator Sanders, Senator Perkins and the rest of
22 the folks here -- certainly Senator Larkin --
23 talk about Martin Luther King, and we think about
24 all -- we think about his courage, we think about
25 his wisdom. And I'm sitting here thinking what
161
1 is the one thing that I am inspired most by when
2 I think about Martin Luther King.
3 So when I think about that, I
4 realize that it is the fact that he believed in
5 this country. The fact is that when our Founding
6 Fathers -- and I'm reminded when I'm in my
7 political science classes and I teach civics
8 classes in my district and I talk about where our
9 Constitution came from, of the fact that the
10 Founding Fathers, who were all white land-owning
11 males, wrote a document that spoke about people,
12 spoke about citizens, did not speak about white
13 land-owning males.
14 So when you look at the work of
15 Martin Luther King and other civil rights
16 leaders, you look at the fact that they believed
17 in the idea of this country. They believed that
18 during our history we can actually evolve, we can
19 actually include more people in the thing that is
20 America. And certainly as we discuss every day
21 on this floor, we are not a perfect country, not
22 by any stretch of the imagination. We have much
23 work to do to make sure that we make our system
24 more equal, we provide access to people that
25 don't have it now.
162
1 But when I look back at the work of
2 Martin Luther King, what I'm reminded of is the
3 fact that ultimately the country that we all live
4 in, the country that we all belong to and the one
5 that we swear to every time that we take our oath
6 of office or when we look up at the flag, is the
7 idea that our country can over time and over
8 history become better, can include more people,
9 can actually be a better place for everyone.
10 And over time, we have done that.
11 And every day that we do the work here in the
12 Senate -- and certainly when Senator Larkin comes
13 here next year and asks the question, I hope that
14 we can all say over the last year we have done
15 something to live up to that dream, to make our
16 country a little bit better, a little more
17 accessible, a little fairer.
18 And that's what I think about when I
19 think about Martin Luther King.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
22 you, Senator Rivera.
23 Senator Espaillat on the resolution.
24 SENATOR ESPAILLAT: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
163
1 I want to thank our leader, Senator
2 Cousins, for forwarding this resolution.
3 It was perhaps Jim Crow laws and how
4 they deeply affected the South and the rest of
5 this country that propelled Reverend King and a
6 host of other leaders -- because he was
7 surrounded by many capable, many charismatic,
8 daring leaders -- to confront the status quo as
9 he led the civil rights movement.
10 During that process he was also a
11 great coalition builder. You know, he reached
12 out to Cesar Chavez out on the West Coast who was
13 organizing the grape pickers and told them that
14 they were brothers in the struggle.
15 And so, you know, this is a very
16 nice warm evening in Albany here in the chambers
17 as we commemorate the legacy, the life, the work
18 of Reverend King. But many, many of the
19 initiatives that he stood for and the
20 advancements that he advocated for die right here
21 in this chamber.
22 You know, he called Chavez to give
23 him support for his efforts to organize
24 farmworkers. You know, I recently met with
25 Dolores Juerta, who is a terrific woman who
164
1 organized with Chavez, and she was appalled that
2 50 years later the conditions that they resolved
3 in California and the West Coast are present in
4 New York State, the Empire State. That the
5 constitution of our state still carves out a
6 classification of worker.
7 There were two classifications --
8 and for the most part back then they were
9 African-Americans -- domestic workers and
10 farmworkers. Now, we took care, to some degree,
11 of the domestic workers, but we continue on this
12 floor to kill that legislation that embody what
13 Martin Luther King felt about Jim Crow laws, that
14 embody everything that he stood for.
15 In this same floor, when we take up
16 bills like the minimum wage bill -- $7.25. It is
17 a struggle, it is a heavy lift to get all of us
18 here on this same floor to agree that a
19 New Yorker should earn $7.25 an hour. Income
20 inequality. Fast-food workers that sell a meal
21 in McDonald's and, after they sell that meal, for
22 the rest of the hour everything that McDonald's
23 gets is profits.
24 And they keep them under certain
25 wages so that us, government and the taxpayers,
165
1 we have to subsidize their healthcare, we have to
2 subsidize their food stamps, we have to
3 subsidize -- that's what he stood for. He wasn't
4 standing up for rich people with mansions and
5 Jaguars, he stood for the little guy. And so
6 right on this floor we kill many of the
7 initiatives that he stood for.
8 I think Martin Luther King would
9 have met with the Dreamers, I think he would have
10 knocked on those doors right there and then with
11 the Dreamers, young people that just want access
12 to go to college so they can pay their taxes and
13 hopefully even buy a car and a house in one of
14 our counties. And that's what he stood for.
15 And we continuously have this very I
16 believe self-serving day here where we cleanse
17 our souls, but on a daily basis when we take up
18 our calendar we kill many of the legislations,
19 the pieces of initiatives that he would have
20 stood for.
21 So I agree with Senator Larkin. We
22 should come back next year and celebrate Martin
23 Luther King and say we passed a farmworkers
24 bill. We should come back and say, You know
25 what, the workers in the airports that some are
166
1 making $4.25 an hour, they deserve a better
2 salary. Because at one point I remember it was a
3 privilege to work in an airport. Those folks who
4 worked in airports were privileged in our
5 neighborhoods.
6 We should come back and say the
7 Dreamers, yeah, they have the right to access
8 higher education. Then maybe we will have a
9 sincere session and not this soul-cleansing
10 exercise of which we should all be very shameful
11 of.
12 Thank you, Mr. President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank
14 you, Senator Espaillat.
15 The question is on the resolution.
16 All in favor signify by saying aye.
17 (Response of "Aye.")
18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Opposed,
19 nay.
20 (No response.)
21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The
22 resolution is adopted.
23 Senator LaValle.
24 SENATOR LaVALLE: Mr. President,
25 Senator Stewart-Cousins would like to open the
167
1 resolution up for cosponsorship.
2 Can we please place everyone on as a
3 cosponsor. And if someone does not wish to be a
4 cosponsor, they should notify the desk.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All
6 Senators will be listed as cosponsors. Anyone
7 who wishes not to cosponsor the resolution should
8 notify the desk.
9 Senator LaValle.
10 SENATOR LaVALLE: Mr. President,
11 may we have the noncontroversial reading of the
12 calendar.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6,
16 by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 6127, an act
17 to amend Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2006.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read the
19 last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
21 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
22 same manner as Chapter 459 of the Laws of 2013.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
168
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The bill
3 is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8,
5 by Senator Klein, Senate Print 6236, an act to
6 amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and
7 Breeding Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
12 same manner as Chapter 472 of the Laws of 2013.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call the
14 roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Announce
17 the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
19 Calendar Number 8, those recorded in the negative
20 are Senators Diaz, Espaillat, Hannon, Hoylman,
21 Krueger, LaValle, Montgomery, Parker, Perkins,
22 Sanders, Serrano and Squadron.
23 Ayes, 47. Nays, 12.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The bill
25 is passed.
169
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9,
2 by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6244, an act to
3 repeal subdivision 24 of Section 1005 of the
4 Public Authorities Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read the
6 last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call the
10 roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
13 1. Senator Gipson recorded in the negative.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The bill
15 is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11,
17 by Senator Robach, Senate Print 6248, an act to
18 amend Chapter 508 of the Laws of 2013.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read the
20 last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
170
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The bill
3 is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13,
5 by Senator Boyle, Senate Print 6250, an act to
6 amend the General Business Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read the
8 last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
10 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
11 same manner as Chapter 381 of the Laws of 2013.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The bill
17 is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14,
19 by Senator Carlucci, Senate Print 6251, an act to
20 amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read the
22 last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
24 act shall take effect on the same date and in the
25 same manner as Chapter 551 of the Laws of 2013.
171
1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call the
2 roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays,
5 2. Senators Montgomery and Perkins recorded in
6 the negative.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The bill
8 is passed.
9 Senator LaValle, that completes the
10 noncontroversial reading of the calendar.
11 SENATOR LaVALLE: Mr. President, is
12 there any other business at the desk?
13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There is
14 no further business.
15 SENATOR LaVALLE: There being no
16 further business, I move we adjourn until
17 Thursday, January 23rd, at 11:00 a.m.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: On
19 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
20 Thursday, January 23rd, at 11:00 a.m.
21 (Whereupon, at 5:00 p.m., the Senate
22 adjourned.)
23
24
25