Regular Session - February 5, 2019
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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 February 5, 2019
11 11:41 a.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
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17
18 LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL, President
19 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will
3 come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 THE PRESIDENT: In the absence of
9 clergy, I ask that everyone bow their head for a
10 moment of silent reflection or prayer.
11 (Whereupon, the assemblage respected
12 a moment of silence.)
13 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the
14 Journal.
15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Monday,
16 February 4, 2019, the Senate met pursuant to
17 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, February 3,
18 2019, was read and approved. On motion, Senate
19 adjourned.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Without objection,
21 the Journal stands approved as read.
22 Presentation of petitions.
23 Messages from the Assembly.
24 The Secretary will read.
25 THE SECRETARY: On page 10,
948
1 Senator Kaminsky moves to discharge, from the
2 Committee on Environmental Conservation,
3 Assembly Bill Number 2572 and substitute it for
4 the identical Senate Bill 2316, Third Reading
5 Calendar 76.
6 THE PRESIDENT: The substitution is
7 so ordered.
8 The Secretary will read.
9 THE SECRETARY: On page 10,
10 Senator Kaminsky moves to discharge, from the
11 Committee on Environmental Conservation,
12 Assembly Bill Number 2571 and substitute it for
13 the identical Senate Bill 2317, Third Reading
14 Calendar 77.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The substitution is
16 so ordered.
17 Messages from the Governor.
18 Reports of standing committees.
19 Reports of select committees.
20 Communications and reports from
21 state officers.
22 Motions and resolutions.
23 Senator Gianaris.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
25 Madam President. I now move to adopt the
949
1 Resolution Calendar, with the exception of
2 Resolutions 364 and 367.
3 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of
4 adopting the Resolution Calendar, with the
5 exception of Resolutions 364 and 367, please
6 signify by saying aye.
7 (Response of "Aye.")
8 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed?
9 (No response.)
10 THE PRESIDENT: The Resolution
11 Calendar is adopted.
12 Senator Gianaris.
13 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
14 can we now take up the noncontroversial reading
15 of the calendar.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary will
17 read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 56,
19 by Senator Hoylman, Senate Print 2377, an act to
20 amend the Public Health Law.
21 SENATOR GRIFFO: Lay it aside.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 58,
24 by Senator Hoylman, Senate Print 300, an act to
25 amend the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law.
950
1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
2 section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE PRESIDENT: Announce the
8 results.
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.
10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 76,
12 substituted earlier by Assemblymember
13 Englebright, Assembly Print 2572, an act to amend
14 the Environmental Conservation Law.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
16 section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kaminsky to
22 explain your vote.
23 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Thank you very
24 much.
25 Madam President, I appreciate the
951
1 body taking up this bill. It's very important
2 for New York's coastline, especially on
3 Long Island. The fact that the federal
4 government opened up the Atlantic coastline to
5 oil drilling I think is a real step backward and
6 could create an ecological disaster, not to
7 mention affect Long Island's economy, as tourism
8 is its number-one industry.
9 But even more important, we should
10 be moving forward with our energy needs and
11 trying to combat global warming head-on. This
12 would be a step in the wrong direction. The
13 people that I represent certainly don't want this
14 and see this as a major harm, and I'm glad we
15 could finally come together to prohibit offshore
16 drilling. It's something that could devastate
17 Long Island and something today we stand up
18 against.
19 Thank you to my colleagues. I vote
20 aye.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kaminsky to
22 be recorded in the affirmative.
23 Senator Kavanagh to explain your
24 vote.
25 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Thank you,
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1 Madam President.
2 Just briefly, I just rise to commend
3 our sponsor, our great new chair of the
4 Environmental Conservation Committee, for
5 bringing this bill forward and getting it enacted
6 so early in the session.
7 I represent a lot of our waterfront
8 communities and all of New York Harbor. A lot of
9 the oil and gas infrastructure that would become
10 necessary were the federal government to move
11 forward with its plans to have extensive offshore
12 drilling would flow through those areas and would
13 pose, as the sponsor mentioned, ecological
14 dangers to all of our waterways.
15 Moreover, this is part of a broader
16 effort for states across the country to take back
17 their waterways, to ensure that we're not just
18 permitting the federal government to dictate what
19 happens on our shores and in our waterways.
20 It's a terrific bill, and I'm very
21 proud to support it today.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kavanagh to
23 be recorded in the affirmative.
24 Senator Hoylman to explain your
25 vote.
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1 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you,
2 Madam President.
3 I rise also to commend the sponsor
4 and the entire Long Island delegation for making
5 this a priority so early in the session, to
6 protect not just Long Island's waterways and
7 coastal areas but New York's. And that's why I'm
8 so proud of our chamber today for taking that
9 very aggressive step forward.
10 This weekend we had a press
11 conference out on Long Beach with
12 Senator Kaminsky, and I brought my one-year-old
13 daughter. And as I stood there, I looked at the
14 beautiful glistening waters and really felt a
15 sense of awe that we today are preserving that
16 coastline for her and future generations.
17 So in the words of County Supervisor
18 Laura Curran, who was at the press event, she
19 said "Not drill, baby, drill, but krill, baby,
20 krill."
21 Thank you, Madam President. I vote
22 aye.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Hoylman to
24 be recorded in the affirmative.
25 Senator May to explain your vote.
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1 SENATOR MAY: Thank you,
2 Madam President.
3 I also want to congratulate
4 Senator Kaminsky on this legislation and to say
5 even though I live far from Long Island, this
6 bill is important to me and to our children and
7 our grandchildren, because the last thing we need
8 to be doing is doubling down on more fossil fuel
9 drilling.
10 And quite apart from the real risks
11 of pollution to the coastline, this is pollution
12 to our entire global ecosystem that we cannot
13 afford and we must not continue doubling down on.
14 So thank you, Senator Kaminsky, for
15 this bill. And I vote aye.
16 THE PRESIDENT: Senator May to be
17 recorded in the affirmative.
18 Senator Metzger to explain your
19 vote.
20 SENATOR METZGER: Yes, thank you,
21 Madam President.
22 I want to thank Senator Kaminsky for
23 championing this legislation. As someone who has
24 been fighting the unnecessary and harmful fossil
25 fuel infrastructure for many years, I am really
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1 happy to see this happen, especially in the
2 climate that we're facing nationally.
3 I just want to say that I'm looking
4 forward in working with all of my colleagues in
5 this room to accelerating the shift to a clean
6 energy economy, because we have to be using less
7 of this stuff and reduce our reliance on fossil
8 fuels and taking away the need for any
9 infrastructure whatsoever.
10 So thank you very much.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Metzger to
12 be recorded in the affirmative.
13 Senator Kaplan to explain your vote.
14 SENATOR KAPLAN: I want to thank
15 Senator Kaminsky for bringing up this bill.
16 Our waterways and beaches are some
17 of our most important natural assets. They
18 attract millions of visitors to the region each
19 year, driving significant economic activity. And
20 they also support the unique way of life that
21 attracted so many of us to raise our families in
22 Long Island. If we were to allow oil and gas
23 drilling offshore, we would be putting it at
24 risk, and so many of the things that make
25 Long Island special.
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1 I'm standing here today to say that
2 I'm not willing to take that risk, and that's why
3 I proudly cosponsor this legislation and vote in
4 the affirmative so that our communities aren't
5 put in harm's way.
6 Thank you.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kaplan to
8 be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Senator Thomas to explain your vote.
10 SENATOR THOMAS: Thank you,
11 Madam President.
12 Thank you, Senator Kaminsky, for
13 sponsoring this bill, because we need to protect
14 Long Island's coast. The Atlantic coast has been
15 off-limits to offshore drilling since 1981, but
16 President Trump now wants to reverse that. He
17 wants to expand offshore drilling to more than 90
18 percent of the waters in the Atlantic.
19 Opening up Long Island's coast to
20 offshore drilling would spoil the coast with
21 spills and industrial development. It will also
22 hurt the local industries, like fishing and
23 tourism.
24 Let me remind of you what happened
25 in the Gulf of Mexico with the BP Deep Water
957
1 Horizon. The spill released millions of barrels
2 of oil to the Gulf over 87 days, from April 20th
3 to July 15, 2010. Some of the oil was recovered,
4 burned, or dispersed at sea, while some washed up
5 on the shorelines of Louisiana, Alabama,
6 Mississippi, Florida, and Texas. It is
7 considered to be the largest marine oil spill in
8 history.
9 I do not want what took place in the
10 Gulf of Mexico happening here on Long Island. I
11 vote yes on this bill.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Thomas to
13 be recorded in the affirmative.
14 Senator Gaughran to explain your
15 vote.
16 SENATOR GAUGHRAN: Thank you,
17 Madam President.
18 This issue does not just impact the
19 shore of the Atlantic Ocean, which is something
20 that we all need to preserve. If there were ever
21 a catastrophic event that would be leaking oil,
22 this impacts the entire ecosystem of Long Island,
23 including the Long Island Sound that I represent
24 communities that border on it. And it would
25 really be a natural disaster for all of
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1 Long Island.
2 So I vote aye.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Gaughran to
4 be recorded in the affirmative.
5 Senator LaValle to explain your
6 vote.
7 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you,
8 Madam President.
9 This is a great bill. This is a
10 bill that I once sponsored, and I'm a cosponsor.
11 Our resources, whether it be land or
12 the water, are just precious. The fish, the
13 plant life, precious. And we need to protect
14 them. All it takes is one mishap and we have
15 spoiled our precious, precious resources.
16 So I vote in the affirmative.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator LaValle to
18 be recorded in the affirmative.
19 Any other Senators wish to explain
20 their vote?
21 Senator Akshar to explain your vote.
22 SENATOR AKSHAR: Madam President,
23 thank you very much.
24 Actually I think it's the height of
25 hypocrisy, this particular bill. How many people
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1 heat their homes and their hot water with natural
2 gas?
3 I'm pleased that we're protecting
4 the coast of Long Island; I'm not suggesting for
5 a moment that we shouldn't be doing that. You
6 know, plates on our desks made of petroleum
7 products, the list goes on and on. Water bottles
8 made out of petroleum products.
9 Here's what I would ask the sponsor,
10 to put as much effort into protecting upstate
11 forests as we are the Long Island coasts.
12 Because the upstate forests in the district that
13 I represent and so many others, are being
14 decimated by these ridiculous 600-foot windmills
15 which we're sending power downstate to.
16 So, Madam President, I'm proudly
17 voting no on the bill today. Thank you.
18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Akshar to
19 be recorded in the negative.
20 Senator Sanders to explain your
21 vote.
22 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you,
23 Madam President.
24 Just as we should protect the
25 upstate, we have to protect the downstate. And
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1 I'm sure that a bill is going to be coming out to
2 protect the upstate, and I look forward to voting
3 yes on protecting upstate as I am voting yes on
4 protecting the shores of Long Island, which I
5 share.
6 Thank you, Madam President.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sanders to
8 be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Senator Helming to explain your
10 vote.
11 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you,
12 Madam President.
13 I agree with much of what's been
14 said today on the floor, that we need to do all
15 that we can to protect our natural resources. As
16 someone who represents a district that includes
17 four of the Finger Lakes, a large portion of
18 Lake Ontario, and of course more miles of the
19 New York State Canal, water is especially
20 important to me, the protection of the water
21 quality. It's why I got involved in politics way
22 back in the '90s.
23 But to add on to what Senator Akshar
24 said, we all control our own actions. So I watch
25 Senators, even today, go into the Senate lounge,
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1 pick up your food on plates that are produced
2 using petroleum products. To use the plastic
3 water bottles that were in there.
4 You know, it doesn't take a law to
5 change that. We can all change our own actions.
6 I vote aye on this, but I ask that we all look at
7 our daily lives and what we're doing and make the
8 changes that we can.
9 Thank you.
10 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Helming to
11 be recorded in the affirmative.
12 Any other Senators?
13 Announce the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
15 the negative on Calendar 76 are Senators Akshar,
16 Amedore, Antonacci, Flanagan, Funke, Gallivan,
17 Jordan, Lanza, O'Mara, Ortt, Ranzenhofer, Seward
18 Tedisco and Young.
19 Ayes, 47. Nays, 14.
20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 77,
22 substituted earlier by Assemblymember
23 Englebright, Assembly Print 2571, an act to amend
24 the Environmental Conservation Law.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
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1 section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE PRESIDENT: Seeing and hearing
7 no other Senator that wishes to explain their
8 vote, Senator Kaminsky to close.
9 Senator Addabbo to explain your
10 vote.
11 SENATOR ADDABBO: Thank you,
12 Madam President.
13 I am supportive of this bill, and I
14 want to thank its sponsor, Senator Kaminsky, for
15 protecting the Atlantic menhaden. You know, my
16 areas of Howard Beach, Broad Channel and Rockaway
17 have witnessed the benefit of protecting this
18 fish species in terms of protecting Jamaica Bay.
19 You know, by prohibiting large
20 vessels, vacuum ships that come from out of state
21 to decrease the population of this fish -- this
22 bill would prohibit those vessels and actually
23 protect the population of the menhaden, which
24 would help local fishermen and those who are in
25 the business of fishing, but also just the other
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1 marine life that feeds off the menhaden.
2 So for this environmental reason, I
3 do appreciate this bill. I think it's a great
4 bill. And that's why I'll be supportive.
5 Thank you, Madam President. Thank
6 you, Senator Kaminsky.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Addabbo to
8 be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Senator Boyle to explain your vote.
10 SENATOR BOYLE: Madam President, I
11 too would like to thank the sponsor of this
12 legislation protecting our menhaden population.
13 For too long New York State has been treated
14 unfairly protecting this important species.
15 And also I'd like to congratulate
16 Senator Kaminsky on becoming the new legislative
17 commissioner to the Atlantic States Marine
18 Fishery Commission. I had this position for the
19 last six years, and now you get to listen to
20 scientists talk about biomass on end.
21 Thank you. I vote in favor.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Boyle to be
23 recorded in the affirmative.
24 Seeing and hearing no other Senators
25 that wish to be heard, Senator Kaminsky to close.
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1 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Thank you very
2 much, Madam President.
3 Thanksgiving 2017 I woke up, looked
4 out my window and saw a horde of people on the
5 boardwalk in pretty cold weather in Long Beach
6 and didn't know what was going on. There was no
7 surf competition. Maybe someone got hurt, God
8 forbid. And I ran out on the boardwalk, and
9 there were whales everywhere. Schools of whales
10 coming out of the water -- I don't know if whales
11 are schools, maybe they're pods. But there were
12 a lot of whales.
13 And the whales were coming out of
14 the water, fully breaching. It was an amazing
15 sight to see. And that's when I first learned
16 about menhaden, the bunker fish that have come
17 back to life in the area after being overfished
18 and have attracted tons of marine life back into
19 the area.
20 And I want to thank Senator LaValle
21 for championing this issue in the past and now.
22 And this is something in a bipartisan way we can
23 both come together to do. Out-of-state fishermen
24 are coming up with vacuum ships, they're throwing
25 nets in the water, sucking the fish up -- very
965
1 important fish in the ecosystem, not just for our
2 own enjoyment of watching whales, but certainly
3 for the entire ocean ecosystem.
4 So to step up today and do this I
5 think is wonderful, and preserving our Atlantic
6 Ocean ecosystem should be a top priority. I vote
7 aye, and with my reusable water bottle, I will
8 sit down. Thank you.
9 (Laughter.)
10 THE PRESIDENT: Announce the
11 results.
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 79,
15 by Senator Martinez, Senate Print 2410, an act to
16 amend the Environmental Conservation Law.
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: Lay it aside for
18 the day, please.
19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
20 aside for the day.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 80,
22 by Senator Brooks, Senate Print 2411, an act to
23 amend Chapter 464 of the Laws of 2016.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
25 section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
2 act shall take effect immediately.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE PRESIDENT: Announce the
6 results.
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is passed.
9 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
10 noncontroversial reading of today's calendar.
11 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
12 Madam President.
13 Can we now take up the controversial
14 reading of the calendar, please.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary will
16 ring the bell.
17 The Secretary will read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 56,
19 by Senator Hoylman, Senate Print 2377, an act to
20 amend the Public Health Law.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Griffo, why
22 do you rise?
23 SENATOR GRIFFO: Madam President, I
24 believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
25 waive the reading of that amendment and ask that
967
1 you call upon Senator Young to be heard.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator
3 Griffo.
4 Upon review of the amendment, in
5 accordance with Rule 6, Section 4B, I rule it is
6 nongermane and out of order at this time.
7 SENATOR GRIFFO: Madam President, I
8 appeal the ruling of the chair and I ask that
9 Senator Young be heard on the appeal.
10 THE PRESIDENT: The appeal has been
11 made and recognized, and Senator Young may be
12 heard.
13 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
14 Madam President.
15 This amendment is germane because
16 the bill before the house amends Public Health
17 Law to include additional topics of information
18 to be provided to certain individuals, while the
19 next section of the bill amends Correction Law to
20 include additional data that is to be collected,
21 maintained, and analyzed statistically.
22 The bill before the house clearly
23 highlights the importance of collecting and
24 maintaining data which can provide important
25 information on which to base future decisions.
968
1 The amendment also highlights the
2 importance of collecting and maintaining records
3 by requiring medical records to be kept and
4 requiring compliance with vital statistics
5 requirements.
6 Madam President -- Mr. President,
7 sorry about that -- this body recently passed the
8 Reproductive Health Act, which eliminated medical
9 record keeping and data collection in certain
10 situations. Now there is no way to know the
11 impact or effect of passing the Reproductive
12 Health Act. This amendment will restore the
13 recordkeeping data and data collection
14 requirements in the Public Health Law.
15 And I'd like to remind the members
16 that no longer do we keep information because of
17 the RHA on maternal health, on pregnancies, on
18 births and on abortions.
19 Medical recordkeeping and reporting
20 has always been crucial to and continues to be
21 important to public health. That is why you are
22 updating the Public Health Law today.
23 We must restore the section of
24 public health removed by the RHA to protect
25 women's health.
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1 Also this part of law specifically
2 requires that records be kept on all
3 life-sustaining efforts made if a baby is born
4 during an abortion. It would be unconscionable
5 to cease collecting all of these records.
6 Thank you, Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Thank
8 you, Senator.
9 I want to remind the house that the
10 vote is on the procedures of the house and the
11 ruling of the chair.
12 Those in favor of overruling the
13 chair signify by saying aye.
14 (Response of "Aye.")
15 SENATOR GRIFFO: A show of hands,
16 please.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: A show
18 of hands has been requested and so ordered.
19 (Show of hands.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 18.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
22 ruling of the chair stands, and the bill-in-chief
23 is before the house.
24 Are there any other Senators wishing
25 to be heard?
970
1 Seeing and hearing none, the debate
2 is closed.
3 The Secretary will ring the bell.
4 Senator Biaggi.
5 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 On unanimous consent, please restore
8 this bill to the noncontroversial reading of the
9 calendar.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Without
11 objection, so ordered.
12 Read the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
14 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
15 shall have become a law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
20 Announce the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
22 the negative on Calendar Number 56 are
23 Senators Akshar, Antonacci, Gallivan, O'Mara,
24 Ortt and Serino.
25 Ayes, 55. Nays, 6.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 bill is passed.
3 Senator Biaggi, that concludes the
4 noncontroversial reading of today's calendar.
5 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 May we return to motions and
8 resolutions.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Motions
10 and resolutions.
11 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you,
12 Mr. President.
13 May we return to Senator Kennedy for
14 an introduction, please.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
16 Kennedy.
17 SENATOR KENNEDY: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 I'd like to take a moment to
20 recognize some Western New Yorkers who are very
21 active in the community on foreclosure prevention
22 issues who have made the trip to Albany today and
23 have joined us in the gallery.
24 From the Western New York Law
25 Center, Kathryn Franco and Jordan Zeranti. From
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1 the Center for Elder Law and Justice, the CEO,
2 Karen Nicolson. From the Legal Aid Bureau of
3 Buffalo, the deputy executive director, Paul
4 Curtin. And from Belmont Housing Resources for
5 Western New York, Sandy Becker.
6 I would ask, Mr. President, that you
7 acknowledge their presence and give them all
8 privileges of the house.
9 Thank you, and welcome.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: We
11 extend the privileges and courtesies of the house
12 and welcome you to the chamber. Thank you for
13 being here. We welcome your presence here in
14 this house. We extend all privileges of the
15 chamber. Thank you for coming.
16 Senator Biaggi.
17 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 May we also return to myself for an
20 introduction.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
22 Biaggi.
23 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you. I
24 would like to welcome, from my district, from
25 P.S. 24 in Riverdale, Sloan Colbert, Rollins
973
1 Colbert, Samara Adam and Stella Adam, and also
2 their parents, who sit behind them in this
3 gallery.
4 They are here in Albany to learn
5 about the legislative process. They were in the
6 Assembly earlier today, and now they're visiting
7 in the Senate. And I'm very grateful that they
8 are visiting us.
9 And, Mr. President, I ask that all
10 of the privileges and amenities of the house be
11 offered to them.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: We
13 welcome you and extend all privileges of the
14 house to you. Thank you for being here.
15 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
17 Biaggi.
18 SENATOR BIAGGI: Yes, can you
19 please call up Resolution Number 364, read that
20 resolution in entirety, and recognize Senator
21 Bailey to speak.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
23 Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
25 Number 364, memorializing Governor Andrew M.
974
1 Cuomo to proclaim February 2019 as Black History
2 Month in the State of New York.
3 "WHEREAS, Black History Month,
4 previously known as Negro History Week, was
5 founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, and was first
6 celebrated on February 1, 1926; since 1976, it
7 has become a nationally recognized month-long
8 celebration, held each year during the month of
9 February to acknowledge and pay tribute to
10 African-Americans neglected by both society and
11 the history books; and
12 "WHEREAS, The month of February
13 observes the rich and diverse heritage of our
14 great state and nation; and
15 "WHEREAS, Black History Month seeks
16 to emphasize black history is American history;
17 and
18 "WHEREAS, Black History Month is a
19 time to reflect on the struggles and victories of
20 African-Americans throughout our country's
21 history and to recognize their numerous valuable
22 contributions to the protection of our democratic
23 society in war and in peace; and
24 "WHEREAS, Some African-American
25 pioneers whose many accomplishments, all of which
975
1 took place during the month of February, went
2 unnoticed, as well as numerous symbolic events in
3 February that deserve to be memorialized, include
4 John Sweat Rock, a noted Boston lawyer who became
5 the first African-American admitted to argue
6 before the U.S. Supreme Court on February 1,
7 1865, and the first African-American to be
8 received on the floor of the U.S. House of
9 Representatives; Jonathan Jasper Wright, the
10 first African-American to hold a major judicial
11 position, who was elected to the South Carolina
12 Supreme Court on February 1, 1870; President
13 Abraham Lincoln submits the proposed
14 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
15 abolishing slavery, to the states for
16 ratification on February 1, 1865; civil rights
17 protester Jimmie Lee Jackson dies from wounds
18 inflicted during a protest on February 26, 1965,
19 leading to the historic Selma, Alabama, civil
20 rights demonstrations, including Bloody Sunday,
21 in which 600 demonstrators, including Martin
22 Luther King, Jr., were attacked by police;
23 Autherine J. Lucy became the first
24 African-American student to attend the University
25 of Alabama, on February 3, 1956; she was expelled
976
1 three days later 'for her own safety' in response
2 to threats from a mob; in 1992, Autherine Lucy
3 Foster graduated from the university with a
4 master's degree in education, the same day her
5 daughter, Grazia Foster, graduated with a
6 bachelor's degree in corporate finance; the Negro
7 Baseball League was founded on February 3, 1920;
8 Jack Johnson, the first African-American World
9 Heavyweight Boxing Champion, won his first title
10 on February 3, 1903; and Reginald F. Lewis, born
11 on December 7, 1942, in Baltimore, Maryland,
12 received his law degree from Harvard Law School
13 in 1968, and was a partner in Murphy, Thorpes &
14 Lewis, the first black law firm on Wall Street,
15 and in 1989, he became president and CEO of TLC
16 Beatrice International Food Company, the largest
17 black-owned business in the United States; and
18 "WHEREAS, In recognition of the vast
19 contributions of African-Americans, a joyful
20 month-long celebration is held across New York
21 State and across the United States, with many
22 commemorative events to honor and display the
23 cultural heritage of African-Americans; and
24 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body
25 commends the African-American community for
977
1 preserving, for future generations, its
2 centuries-old traditions that benefit us all and
3 add to the color and beauty of the tapestry which
4 is our American society; now, therefore, be it
5 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
6 Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize
7 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim February
8 2019 as Black History Month in the State of
9 New York; and be it further
10 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
11 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to
12 the Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the
13 State of New York, and to the events
14 commemorating Black History Month throughout
15 New York State."
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
17 Bailey on the resolution.
18 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you,
19 Mr. President. On the resolution.
20 I am excited always for Black
21 History Month. It is a time where we get to
22 reflect on who we are as a people and how far we
23 still must go to achieve equality.
24 And I was asked, I was honored by
25 our leader, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, to
978
1 kick off with this resolution. And it truly is
2 an honor to speak about black history from
3 somebody who has made black history. I mean,
4 we're all well aware that Leader Stewart-Cousins
5 is the first African-American woman to lead a
6 conference in the history of the State of
7 New York's Legislature, and that is no small
8 feat. But I want you to look at the breadth of
9 the person that our leader is: Dignified,
10 experienced, and qualified to lead.
11 And when you look at black history
12 and you look at what's happened to people
13 throughout our history, sometimes you think
14 people get somewhere because of the color of
15 their skin, and Andrea arrived because of who she
16 was.
17 History is defined as a series of
18 events that have taken place in the past, but
19 history is evolving and it is ongoing all the
20 time. We have history every day. In addition to
21 Andrea Stewart-Cousins, we have the first
22 African-American woman to be counsel and chief of
23 staff in Shontell Smith.
24 Black history is everywhere. In the
25 resolution, February 3rd kept coming up. And
979
1 February 3, 2015, was the day that my mentor,
2 Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, became the first
3 African-American speaker in the history of the
4 State of New York.
5 But it's not just about being the
6 first. It's not just about being the last or the
7 most recent. It's about making sure that what
8 you do matters. And everything that we do
9 matters.
10 And I was thinking about Black
11 History Month and I was reflecting on things, and
12 I was -- you know, and I have a family group
13 chat, Mr. President. Sometimes my family group
14 chat, it goes haywire. Right? But I asked the
15 members of my family today: What does black
16 history mean to you?
17 My aunt, Esther Power: "Look at the
18 blacks who have opened doors for us. So many
19 achievements. On the shoulders of others, we
20 have made many great accomplishments."
21 My cousin Mel: "It means
22 motivation, faith, and take a stand. Black
23 History Month will forever remind us how far
24 we've come from being slaves and being called
25 certain derogatory phrases."
980
1 My Aunt Sherry: "When I was in
2 grade school, it meant just another report I had
3 to write. I didn't appreciate the substance of
4 it. But as I grew, I learned it was so much
5 more. A time to reflect on what was done by
6 others for the betterment of those currently in
7 the struggle and for those in the future. Young
8 people today need to understand their worth in
9 this world."
10 My Aunt Barbara, a teacher: "Black
11 History Month to me is bringing to the forefront
12 all of the people, the accomplishments of the
13 well-known and little-known black people who have
14 contributed to this country -- from Dr. Charles
15 Drew, his medical contributions, to Matthew
16 Henson, the explorer. All of these things must
17 become known to teachers by incorporating these
18 facts in everyday teaching in all schools, not
19 just in predominantly minority schools. This
20 should include Latinos and Native Americans and
21 everyone. History must reflect all people and
22 not just be one-sided."
23 So I got that text, and then I
24 called my wife and asked my daughter, my
25 4-year-old, on her way to school, "What does
981
1 black history mean to you, Giada?" She said,
2 "Black history is being black and Puerto Rican."
3 See, at 4 years old, she knows that
4 she's black and Puerto Rican, she knows that she
5 has a heritage, a legacy of kings and queens that
6 she builds upon. So she may not know exactly who
7 Carter G. Woodson is or who Garrett A. Morgan is,
8 but she understands her place in this world. And
9 as a father, that's all I can ask that my wife
10 and I continue to instill in them.
11 But sometimes they say, well, black
12 history is American history. You know, maybe we
13 don't have to teach it. That's -- as we've seen,
14 black history should be taught all the time. You
15 see, people still think that it's okay to put
16 blackface on, as a joke. It's never been okay.
17 It never will be okay. If black history was
18 taught more, I think people would get that.
19 We have to make sure we think about
20 the legends in our society: Jackie Robinson, the
21 first African-American player to cross the color
22 line in baseball. But not just Jackie Robinson.
23 Curt Flood, the father of free agency. Without
24 Curt Flood challenging the reserve clause, free
25 agency in sports would not exist.
982
1 Willy O'Ree, the first
2 African-American to play in the NHL. Fritz
3 Pollard, the first African-American to play and
4 coach in the NFL. We know Carol Moseley Braun,
5 the first African-American female Senator, and
6 Shirley Chisholm, who told us "If we don't have
7 the seat at the table, we're going to bring a
8 folding chair."
9 We talk about, in music, the
10 accomplishments that black folks have made, from
11 James Brown to Miles Davis to New Edition. To
12 Jay-Z, to Nas, to a whole new world of people
13 accomplishing great things.
14 You see colorism that still happens
15 in our community. And we need to teach ourselves
16 within the black community that I'm no less black
17 because I'm light-skinned and you're no more
18 black because you're dark-skinned. We're all one
19 people, we're all together.
20 You know, I can't tell you,
21 Mr. President, how many light-skinned jokes I've
22 had to endure. And all I want to do is be proud
23 and black like all the other proud black people
24 are.
25 I think about the unofficial Black
983
1 National Anthem of "Lift every voice and sing
2 till earth and heaven ring." And we sing that so
3 often at gatherings in the black community and
4 churches, but you know we only sing the first
5 verse, Mr. President. After that, we start
6 humming. We don't really --
7 (Laughter.)
8 SENATOR BAILEY: You know,
9 mm-hmm-hmm. We know how that goes.
10 (Laughter.)
11 SENATOR BAILEY: But it's
12 important, one of the lyrics in the song is "We
13 will march on until victory is won." You know,
14 we still haven't accomplished what we need to
15 have accomplished yet. And we've made gains.
16 But if there's a marathon that's running and it's
17 26.2 miles and somebody has a 24-mile advantage,
18 it's going take you a while to catch up. It
19 doesn't matter how fast we run, but eventually I
20 think we're going to catch up.
21 I think about the Constitution,
22 thinking about black people as three-fifths of a
23 human being once upon a time. Three-fifths. And
24 I think about how two-thirds of the people in the
25 room in the State of New York are
984
1 African-Americans. That's the kind of math I
2 like, Mr. President.
3 To close, I think about how we need
4 to come together as one. And we come together on
5 what would have been the 24th birthday of Trayvon
6 Martin. Trayvon Martin was killed for nothing
7 else than being black and wearing a hoodie.
8 Let's be very clear about that.
9 This is why we need Black History
10 Month. This is why we have to have conversations
11 with each other. This is why this month is so
12 vital and so important, regardless of where you
13 come from, whether it be from Jamaican descent,
14 like my brother Leroy Comrie; whether you're from
15 Guyana, like the wonderful Roxanne Persaud; or if
16 you're from Johnson County, North Country, like
17 myself. We all have a story. And the story is
18 ingrained in the history of America.
19 And yes, black history is American
20 history. But let's continue to march on until
21 victory is won.
22 Thank you, Mr. President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
24 Sanders on the resolution.
25 SENATOR SANDERS: Mr. President, I
985
1 ask in the future that you never put me behind
2 that speaker who just spoke --
3 (Laughter.)
4 SENATOR SANDERS: -- Because it
5 makes whatever I say so much less. But I'm
6 grateful that the subject is so powerful and so
7 strong that it lends itself.
8 I would contend, Mr. President, that
9 no American is properly trained in history unless
10 they know black history. That if the truth is
11 told, you cannot have American history without
12 black history. If you're looking at the
13 foundations of this great nation, some sordid,
14 some fantastic, you will see that blacks played a
15 role in every part of it. And to separate these
16 two things is to express an ignorance, an
17 ignorance that lends itself to racial bias and
18 racism. That you have to -- if you have gone
19 through school and you have not been trained in
20 black history, then you've been cheated, my
21 friends, and you should remedy that. As a matter
22 of fact, Mark Twain said that never let school
23 get in the way of your education. And I
24 encourage all of you to do that, to make sure
25 that we don't fail to understand that there's a
986
1 whole world of knowledge that we have to learn
2 outside of school.
3 Blacks have exceeded in every field,
4 including cotton -- tongue in cheek, gentlemen --
5 and we have to recognize those things. Black
6 history is every day. But you know, let me just
7 take one incidence of black history to show you
8 that it's American history and that everyone
9 plays a role in it.
10 This picture, this iconic picture of
11 Rosa Parks sitting down on the bus. Everyone has
12 seen that picture. But if you notice carefully
13 in that picture, there's a white guy sitting
14 behind her. And if you really understand that,
15 he actually was a New Yorker who just happened to
16 be on that bus at the same time and he stayed on
17 the bus to make sure that she was not brutalized.
18 The history of this country,
19 everything is so interwoven that to study it
20 would merely have you a better American. And
21 that gentleman who was a New Yorker, we really
22 don't speak of much, and perhaps that's good.
23 That's the way it should be, in one sense, that
24 each group must back the other if we are going to
25 have a true America.
987
1 Now, Mr. President, as I conclude, I
2 conclude by saying that you cannot really
3 separate -- we show the difference in black
4 history just so that we can greater understand
5 it. And if you really love this country, then
6 you have to study black history too so that you
7 can fully understand the country that we say we
8 love. American history is black history. Black
9 history is American history. We highlight it so
10 that we can, until the history books are written
11 in the correct fashion, we must highlight this.
12 But we all should long for the day
13 when we get a true history, a history of all of
14 us and the contributions of all. That we don't
15 have to highlight this or highlight that, but
16 just let the truth be told and we'll be a greater
17 country. That, Mr. President, is what would make
18 America great.
19 Thank you, sir.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
21 May on the resolution.
22 SENATOR MAY: Thank you,
23 Mr. President.
24 I am very happy to support this
25 resolution because the telling of black history
988
1 has not always been easy or acceptable in this
2 country. It wasn't that long ago that it was a
3 dangerous thing to be telling black history.
4 After the Civil Rights Act passed, the State of
5 California put out a call for a new eighth-grade
6 American history textbook that was more inclusive
7 of the tapestry of American history. And my
8 grandfather, who was an American historian,
9 collaborated with the famous black historian John
10 Hope Franklin to write a new textbook that dealt
11 with slavery, that dealt with Jim Crow, that
12 dealt with the internment of Japanese Americans
13 in World War II. It dealt with the genocide of
14 Native Americans and a lot of other really
15 shameful and painful episodes in American
16 history.
17 The textbook was ultimately adopted
18 in the California school system, but not until my
19 grandfather received death threats. The John
20 Birch Society fought it tooth and nail because
21 there were too many pictures of black children in
22 the book, there were too many references in the
23 bibliography to works by black authors. After it
24 was adopted, white women in the suburbs started a
25 movement to pull their children out of history
989
1 class so they would not have to use this
2 textbook.
3 If we read that textbook now, it
4 would seem very tame and bland, I'm sure. But at
5 the time it was considered dangerous.
6 So celebrating Black History Month I
7 think is an important gesture in saying that this
8 is -- this shouldn't be considered something that
9 we're afraid to look at or that is dangerous to
10 talk about. We do have shameful episodes in our
11 history. We also have a lot to be proud of about
12 the contributions of African-Americans to our
13 history. And I'm just very proud that we are
14 reaching a point where telling the history of
15 African-Americans is something that is widely
16 accepted and something that we can support
17 proudly.
18 Thank you.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
20 Parker on the resolution.
21 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you,
22 Mr. President. On the resolution.
23 First let me thank our leader,
24 Andrea Stewart-Cousins, for once again bringing
25 forth this important resolution honoring and
990
1 memorializing African-American History Month.
2 Certainly let me associate myself
3 with all of my colleagues who spoke, particularly
4 Senator Jamaal Bailey, who gave some really great
5 understandings of African-American history, both
6 from a larger sociopolitical perspective but also
7 from the context of his family. Right? And I
8 think that for all of us, particularly for
9 African-Americans, we don't necessarily think
10 about individual stories as being part of the
11 larger history of African-Americans.
12 And as you hear both the comments of
13 Senator Sanders and Senator May, you start to
14 understand the notion that African-American
15 history is part of a larger history of American
16 history, and that that history has an impact on
17 people who are not African-American. Right? And
18 that the contributions -- you could actually do,
19 you know, a whole lesson on the contributions of
20 whites and others to the civil rights and the
21 freedoms of African people, because it's been
22 that important and that intertwined.
23 But I want us to remember Carter G.
24 Woodson and what he did in terms of creating
25 Negro History Month, which typically was
991
1 celebrated the second week of February because it
2 was both the week of President Lincoln's birthday
3 and Frederick Douglass's birthday. Right? In
4 1976 it was expanded to go from Negro History
5 Month to African-American or Black History
6 Month -- I'm sorry, Negro History Week. It went
7 from a week, the second week of February, to
8 African-American History Month in 1976. Right?
9 And the fact that it's the shortest month of the
10 year was just parenthetical to the whole
11 situation. I know some people have negative
12 feelings about that, but that's really -- you're
13 not getting shortchanged.
14 But what you should be remembering
15 is that African-American History Month is a
16 starting point for year-long study into
17 African-American history. So it should not be
18 the only month that we talk about or think about
19 African-American history, it should be just the
20 starting point for 365 days of study. And then
21 hopefully that study will branch us off into the
22 studies of other groups and other cultures. I
23 fundamentally believe that that is an important
24 part of where this country and where this state
25 has to be.
992
1 And certainly I'm looking forward to
2 working with my colleagues in this chamber on
3 bringing forward some legislation that would
4 mandate African-American history and curriculums
5 of inclusion into the curriculums of the young
6 people throughout this state, because it's
7 certainly beyond time that we certainly start to
8 understand and recognize the contributions of
9 every single major group. And particularly as we
10 talk today, the contributions of
11 African-Americans in our history -- but not just
12 in history. In science and mathematics, in
13 horticulture and all the things -- in politics
14 and economics and all the endeavors that we're
15 engaged in as a people.
16 I want us to also remember that the
17 history of African-Americans does not begin in
18 1619 with the first ships carrying, you know,
19 enslaved African people to the shores of
20 Jamestown, Virginia, but, you know, is a history
21 of literally the world. That the world begins
22 into the fact that we have, if there's a Garden
23 of Eden, that Garden of Eden is in Africa.
24 Right?
25 So we talk about, you know, the
993
1 primacy of African people and African-Americans
2 being the offshoot of that, that is a critical
3 piece to explore and to understand. You don't
4 properly understand African-American history
5 unless you understand the history of Africa. And
6 you can in fact love -- say you love
7 African-Americans and hate Africa. Right? As
8 Malcolm said you can't hate the roots of a tree
9 and then say that you love the tree. Right? And
10 that they're inextricably linked.
11 And so on this African-American
12 History Month, you know, we think and honor the
13 first in black politics here in this chamber.
14 Not just my African-American colleagues like
15 Senator Persaud and Senator Comrie, Senator
16 Sanders, Senator Bailey -- certainly our
17 illustrious presiding officer Senator Benjamin,
18 Senator Velmanette Montgomery, and certainly our
19 leader Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, as well as
20 Robert Jackson, who has been a huge -- a huge
21 person. Costa Rica we don't really count --
22 (Laughter.)
23 SENATOR PARKER: -- and so Senator
24 Myrie, we -- you know, we add him, but --
25 (Laughter.)
994
1 SENATOR PARKER: You know,
2 certainly -- we certainly remember him as well.
3 But having -- you know, we're in a
4 historical point of having two of the three men
5 in the room be African-American. Right? And
6 actually more historical, one of those men in the
7 room is actually a woman.
8 And so, you know, we make history
9 every day, but we should not forget what we did
10 on November 6 of last year, which is send our
11 first African-American woman to the Attorney
12 General's office in the body of Letitia James,
13 making history and doing justice for the people
14 of the State of New York.
15 We remember David Paterson, our
16 first African-American Governor. We remember
17 H. Carl McCall, our current chair of SUNY who was
18 the first African-American elected statewide as
19 the State Comptroller in the state. We remember
20 Bertram Baker, who was the first African-American
21 elected to any office by Brooklyn voters. People
22 like Percy Sutton, who was a groundbreaker.
23 Hulan Jack. Right? Charlie Rangel. You know,
24 Congressman Powell, Adam Clayton Powell, who, you
25 know, certainly Senator Benjamin walks in his
995
1 footsteps.
2 You know, the history, the political
3 history is very rich. And it was important
4 particularly as New Yorkers to be proud of that
5 history. Adam Clayton Powell was in modern times
6 our first, you know, African-American Congressman
7 and somebody who did amazing things in terms of,
8 you know, the SNAP program and free lunch and all
9 those kind of things. Really important.
10 Don't want to forget somebody really
11 important in this conversation. And certainly
12 Senator Kennedy was going to mention him, but I
13 want to just beat him to the punch and remember
14 Arthur O. Eve, who is somebody from Buffalo.
15 Helped negotiate the Attica uprising. Brought
16 the Opportunity Programs. You know, so if you're
17 a student who's gone and gotten TAP or HEOP or
18 Liberty Scholarship, you know, you have a debt to
19 Arthur O. Eve, who brought those programs to this
20 state.
21 And so in a kind of concise fashion,
22 I want to just mention these folks and honor them
23 and remember them today as we in this chamber
24 take up the idea of remembering African-American
25 history. And may we all use this to continue
996
1 both our own journeys to adding to
2 African-American history, but also our own
3 journeys of using this as a jumping-off point to
4 explore the rich histories of all groups in our
5 state, and really celebrating this state as the
6 inclusive and diverse state that it really is,
7 and understanding that we are the beauty of
8 America.
9 But remember, African people, we are
10 the people who were here the day before
11 yesterday. And we're going to be the people who
12 are going to be here the day after tomorrow. So
13 let's continue to bring good into the world, and
14 let no good be lost.
15 Thank you, Mr. President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
17 Kennedy on the resolution.
18 SENATOR KENNEDY: Thank you very
19 much, Mr. President.
20 Let me start by recognizing all of
21 my colleagues that have spoken thus far. I want
22 to thank Senator Parker for those wonderful
23 words. I want to thank Senator Bailey for
24 bringing this important resolution forward. And
25 I want to recognize our historic leader, Senator
997
1 Andrea Stewart-Cousins, as well as the leader on
2 the other side of the chamber, Assemblymember
3 Carl Heastie, and another historic figure from my
4 hometown of Buffalo, Assemblywoman Crystal
5 Peoples-Stokes, who also made history this year
6 last month, as she was appointed as the first
7 African-American and African-American female to
8 serve as Majority Leader in the New York State
9 Assembly.
10 So there is history all among us,
11 and it's a reminder that this history that we
12 celebrate today, this history that we celebrate
13 this month, is history that we will continue to
14 celebrate throughout the year and into
15 perpetuity, and we have an opportunity to make
16 history each and every day.
17 You know, when Senator Bailey sat
18 down before, I leaned over to him and I said,
19 "You know, you forgot the Irish," in recognizing
20 African and African-American history, and I have
21 a couple of tales to tell on that end.
22 I've had the fortune to travel
23 across the seas to see where my ancestors had
24 come from that had once been enslaved, that had
25 once been in famine and had to flee persecution
998
1 and oppression to come to this great institution
2 of democracy, the United States of America. And
3 when I went over to Ireland, I was reminded of
4 the great connection not only of New York and
5 Ireland, but the United States and Ireland. And
6 not just of the historic figures, the forefathers
7 of this country but particularly the
8 African-American leaders of this country and
9 their impact on Ireland.
10 Frederick Douglass, once a slave,
11 escaped slave, a New Yorker, a leader, once
12 visited Ireland because he had his life
13 threatened. And when he visited Ireland, he
14 visited with an individual called Daniel
15 O'Connell, who was still probably the most
16 revered historical figure in the history of
17 Ireland. And Daniel O'Connell, in his old age,
18 and Frederick Douglass, in his youth, connected
19 and formed a friendship and a bond. And
20 Frederick Douglass traveled from Dublin to the
21 north to Belfast and to other historical cities
22 in Ireland, and for two months he was in Europe.
23 Upon his return, he came back with a new vision
24 of the future of our country.
25 And prior to his visit to Ireland,
999
1 there was a movement and he had a vision of a
2 society in the United States of abolition, yes,
3 but abolition by separation. And once he came
4 back, and having spoken with different leaders in
5 Ireland, Frederick Douglass had a new vision of
6 our country, and it was abolition by unification.
7 And that is the vision that our great
8 forefathers, including Abraham Lincoln,
9 ultimately made their own.
10 And then when I had an opportunity
11 recently to go up to the north again in Ireland,
12 just last month, in December, and I got to visit
13 the Museum of Free Derry. And outside of the
14 museum of Free Derry -- which, 50 years ago last
15 year, there was a horrific incident where people
16 were shot into a crowd as they marched for civil
17 rights, singing "Amazing Grace," in 1968, an
18 incident referred to as Bloody Sunday.
19 And outside of the Museum of Free
20 Derry there are various murals depicting the
21 troubles in the north and the fight for civil
22 rights and human rights and the fight against
23 oppression from what was a colonized north, from
24 the English, for hundreds of years. And there
25 were historical figures on one mural like James
1000
1 Connolly, one of the freedom fighters who came to
2 New York State, and so many other of the Irish
3 freedom fighters back in the day. And the Irish
4 Republican Army next to an Easter lily,
5 recognizing the peace that has ensued over the
6 last 20 years since the Good Friday Peace Accord.
7 And above that mural stood a mural depicting the
8 faces of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela
9 and Mother Teresa.
10 And that was just an hour's drive
11 from another mural I had seen earlier in the day
12 in Belfast, depicting Frederick Douglass and
13 Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and Barack
14 Obama and so many other historical
15 African-Americans that fought the fight here but
16 that had an indelible mark on the fight for civil
17 rights across the pond and across the globe.
18 And as we celebrate Black History
19 Month, it just calls to mind a story I heard
20 President Clinton speak of in Dublin as he
21 received a doctorate degree at Dublin City
22 University last year. And he talked about "Danny
23 Boy," the song "Danny Boy" that calls upon the
24 influence, the connection of all of humanity, all
25 of us, all of us in this together.
1001
1 And he told the story of how one of
2 the greatest accomplishments he had ever had was
3 the study of the human genome and the billions of
4 dollars in taxpayer money that was spent in the
5 study of the human genome. And what was found in
6 that study initially was that each and every one
7 of us share 4, 5, 6 percent of the same human
8 genome, traced back to sub-Saharan Africa. We
9 all come from the same place.
10 And so when he found out this
11 revelation, he broke into his office and he said:
12 "Hillary, you'll never believe it. The study
13 came back, and we're all connected. We all share
14 the same human genome." And she said, "Bill, you
15 don't have to spend billions of dollars of
16 taxpayer money to study the human genome for me
17 to find out and you to tell me that you're a
18 Neanderthal."
19 (Laughter.)
20 SENATOR KENNEDY: And he said, No,
21 Hillary, this is what's great about it. So are
22 you."
23 (Laughter.)
24 SENATOR KENNEDY: We are all in
25 this together. And as we celebrate black
1002
1 history, we celebrate our history: Human
2 history, American history, global history. And
3 yes, that has been a difficult history,
4 particularly in this country but across the
5 globe. We're making strides, but the fight
6 continues.
7 And I'm honored to serve in this
8 auspicious chamber with my colleagues, and I'm
9 honored to put forward the bills and the
10 legislation that continue to advance that history
11 moving forward.
12 Mr. President, thank you for the
13 opportunity to speak on this bill.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
15 Jackson on the resolution.
16 SENATOR JACKSON: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 My colleagues, I rise to let you
19 know a little bit about who I am. My mother, I
20 may have mentioned before in this chambers, was
21 born in Athens, Georgia. Her mother, my
22 grandmother, died at age 22 in 1932. And my
23 inauguration, my community inauguration, I listed
24 that in the back of the program, along with my
25 fathers: Eddie York Chu, a Chinese immigrant
1003
1 that came here many years ago, and James Robert
2 Rudd, from Danville, Virginia.
3 I say to you that my grandmother was
4 the descendant of slaves in Georgia. And when I
5 went down there many years ago when I was taking
6 my daughter down to look at schools in the
7 Atlanta, Georgia area, we stopped in Athens,
8 Georgia. And if you know, right now that's a big
9 college town. But the slave owners back then,
10 many of them brothers, were Willinghams. So my
11 family's maiden names were Willinghams. And I've
12 done research through ancestry.com, and my oldest
13 daughter, and we've gone back to 1860. In 1860,
14 the U.S. Census data did not list individuals by
15 their names, especially if you were a slave.
16 They only listed slave owners and then listed
17 either male or female and approximate age.
18 And I'm still trying to find my
19 family's history, because as you know most
20 blacks, going back then, were poor and
21 descendants of, you know, slave owners that
22 basically had the mixture. And that's why, you
23 know, if you look at my color of my skin and
24 others, there's all shades of blackness.
25 But I say all of that to give you a
1004
1 little bit about who I am. And I remember when
2 James Brown, the number-one soul singer, came out
3 with a song, "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm
4 proud." Because quite frankly, when that came
5 out, blacks all over was taking the proudness of
6 being black.
7 And in the City Council, I cochaired
8 the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus for eight
9 years. I'm a member of the state's body, the
10 Black, Puerto Rican, Latino, Asian Caucus. I
11 want everyone, no matter who you are, to be proud
12 of yourselves and proud of your family's
13 background.
14 In doing some research on my
15 grandmother, my grandmother is buried in a
16 colored cemetery. And there's no gravestone,
17 because they were poor. And back in 1932 when
18 she died, talking to some of the people of the
19 cemetery that's trying to revive it, at that time
20 they put a stick in the ground with your name on
21 it. And obviously that stick is gone. So they
22 know the geographical area of where she's buried,
23 but they don't know which grave.
24 So I just say that little bit to say
25 sometimes I used to hear people speak about all
1005
1 of us. And they say "We all are immigrants."
2 And in my mind I said: Oh, no, we're not. Some
3 of us did not emigrate here. Some of us were
4 brought here as slaves. That's a big difference.
5 But the bottom line is that we are
6 all brothers and sisters of the human race. And
7 that's why I've given blood to help somebody else
8 live. I've given platelets. That's why I was in
9 the Bone Marrow Bank. If I could help somebody
10 else live, that's what it's about. That's why
11 I've signed the back of my driver's license. If
12 I'm brain dead, I want to use my organs to help
13 somebody else live.
14 So we're all brothers and sisters.
15 But I say to you: Say it loud, I'm black and I'm
16 proud. And I support the resolution.
17 Thank you.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
19 Sepúlveda on the resolution.
20 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Thank you,
21 Mr. President, for allowing me to speak on the
22 resolution.
23 You know, many in this country,
24 whether you're black, white, gay, straight,
25 short, tall, whatever it is, many of us in this
1006
1 country owe a debt of gratitude to the
2 African-American community, African-Americans in
3 this country.
4 If you look at the civil rights that
5 many of us have, that many of us enjoy, it is
6 because of the struggle during the civil rights
7 movement -- the struggle primarily with the black
8 churches leading the way, black activists, black
9 leaders -- that we all have civil protections,
10 all of us have civil protections, encroachments
11 against government and criminal justice and
12 housing. I mean, a whole laundry list of things
13 that we owe a debt of gratitude to the
14 African-American community, the African-American
15 struggle in this nation.
16 Now, my grandfather was a
17 dark-skinned Puerto Rican man from Guánica,
18 Puerto Rico, who became a merchant marine. And
19 he suffered all the indignities that happened at
20 the time when you had separate but equal. He was
21 not allowed into bathrooms that white persons
22 would use. He was ordered to go to the back of
23 the bus. But my grandfather was one of the
24 smartest, greatest men I ever met. I was
25 fortunate to have him in my life because, even
1007
1 though he didn't have a formal education, he was
2 a learned man. He read a lot. And he was the
3 one who taught me about great leaders like
4 Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and
5 Charles Hamilton Houston.
6 Many people don't know who Charles
7 Hamilton Houston was. But if you ask anyone in
8 the legal profession, they can tell you that the
9 person who devised the strategy to take down
10 "separate but equal" institutions in this country
11 was Charles Hamilton Houston. He was a
12 brilliant, brilliant legal strategist. He was
13 the one who said let's start at the higher
14 institutions like the law schools, because he
15 understood that it would be too expensive, to
16 expensive to maintain "separate but equal" at
17 those institutions.
18 So we all, we all owe a debt of
19 gratitude to Martin Luther King, of course, and
20 Thurgood Marshall, but a greater debt of
21 gratitude, I believe, is owed to Charles Hamilton
22 Houston.
23 Now, as a point of privilege, I want
24 to point out that of course Rosa Parks is a
25 historic figure in this country. But nine months
1008
1 before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat,
2 one of my constituents, who is alive today, by
3 the name of Claudette Colvin, at 15 years old,
4 was brave enough to say "I paid for the ticket on
5 my bus, and I refuse to give it up." And nine
6 months before, Claudette was arrested and was one
7 of the litigants in the Browder vs. Gayle case
8 that ultimately led, she was one of four that
9 ultimately led to the holding of unconstitutional
10 "separate but equal" in transportation.
11 So we can't forget people like this,
12 because they are part of us. They are part of
13 our history. And we must always hold them in
14 high esteem, because we as a nation, we as a
15 country, we as a world have benefited from their
16 contributions.
17 And I'm proud to celebrate the
18 history of African-Americans this month -- but
19 not only this month, but my entire life, because
20 I say thank you for making our lives better and
21 for protecting us and giving us rights that
22 otherwise we probably would not have in this
23 country. Thank you.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
25 question is on the resolution. All in favor
1009
1 signify by saying aye.
2 (Response of "Aye.")
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Oh,
4 wait. Senator Comrie on the resolution.
5 SENATOR COMRIE: Mr. President, I
6 rise to support the resolution.
7 I want to thank Senator Bailey for
8 bringing forth the resolution and our leader, the
9 first African-American woman to lead this
10 State Senate, and is leading it in such a
11 positive and regal manner, Senator Andrea
12 Stewart-Cousins, for being here.
13 I thought I had my hand up early,
14 but I'll go beat up your people later on on this.
15 (Laughter.)
16 SENATOR COMRIE: After all of the
17 eloquent speeches that have been said about Black
18 History Month, I just want to remind folks -- and
19 I'm going to take it in a new direction. We
20 understand that history is being made every day.
21 We understand that we are here as elected
22 officials to try to make sure that we do better
23 for our communities. But one of the things that
24 we need to do as a body is to make sure that our
25 history as New Yorkers, whether you're
1010
1 African-American, whether you're Irish or whether
2 you're Bangladesh, wherever you're from, is
3 celebrated and applauded by us every day.
4 Now, we have African-American
5 History Month that is bestowed upon us since
6 1976. And it's important that we tell those
7 stories, that we repeat those stories, that we
8 tell those stories about our successes that have
9 happened in the past, our successes that are
10 still happening now. That we also be walking
11 examples for young people so that they can
12 understand that we are also giving them an
13 opportunity to make history by bestowing upon
14 them the education and the knowledge and the
15 desire so that they can become history-makers as
16 well.
17 And I hope that that translates into
18 the schools to ensure that our curriculum
19 reflects the beauty and pageantry of New Yorkers
20 on an everyday basis. That you can be celebrated
21 as African-American, that you can be celebrated
22 as Chinese-American, you can be celebrated as
23 whatever culture you're from.
24 I'm not going to tell my story,
25 since I was the last speaker for today. But as
1011
1 was said earlier, my parents emigrated from
2 Jamaica, West Indies. The short answer is I
3 never knew that I wasn't African-American until
4 the first time I went to Jamaica, West Indies,
5 when I was seven. My parents never tried to do
6 anything but say that all people are equal. That
7 anyone that comes to your home, you treat with
8 respect. That anyone that you encounter, you try
9 to learn from. That you understand that you have
10 to be respectful to everybody and learn from
11 everyone. Because what my parents and my elders
12 taught me was that no matter who you encounter,
13 you can learn from. You can understand their
14 passion, you can understand their background, you
15 can appreciate them for who they are.
16 And African-American History Month
17 is an opportunity for us to understand that
18 culture. African-American history is the history
19 of this country. There hasn't been anything that
20 has happened to this country that an
21 African-American wasn't a prominent part of, from
22 the civil rights movement to pre-Civil War. I'm
23 not going to run through all the names, because
24 I'm the last speaker, but I just want to say that
25 we have to continue that history in our
1012
1 curriculum. We have to continue that history in
2 everything that we do. We have to remind people
3 that as New Yorkers we are looking for them to be
4 history-makers also.
5 And I hope that we make that more
6 inclusive in our curriculum at every level. I
7 hope that we bring back civics in our schools,
8 because they're being lost. I hope that we can
9 reinstill in our children the desire to be
10 somebody based on the fact that we have so many
11 great people in this state that have led the way,
12 that have created opportunities. And I hope that
13 through this resolution and through understanding
14 that we have to create a better country than what
15 is being presented on the national level, we can
16 do it better on the state level.
17 So I want to thank Senator Bailey
18 for bringing this resolution today. I want to
19 thank all of the speakers for their eloquent
20 words about Black History Month. And I want to
21 encourage all of us to continue to be walking
22 examples to inspire someone every day.
23 Thank you, Mr. President. And you
24 look good up there.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
1013
1 question is on the resolution. All in favor
2 signify by saying aye.
3 (Response of "Aye.")
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
5 Opposed?
6 (No response.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
8 resolution is adopted.
9 Senator Biaggi.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
11 please call on Senator Jordan for a motion.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
13 Jordan.
14 SENATOR JORDAN: Mr. President, on
15 behalf of Senator Lanza, I move that the
16 following bill be discharged from its respective
17 committee and be recommitted with instructions to
18 strike the enacting clause: Senate Bill 416.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: So
20 ordered.
21 Senator Biaggi.
22 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you. Can
23 you please now call on Senator Mayer for an
24 introduction.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
1014
1 Mayer.
2 SENATOR MAYER: Thank you,
3 Mr. President.
4 I rise to introduce some of my
5 colleagues and friends from the Yonkers Kinship
6 Navigator program. We were going to do a
7 resolution today honoring Kinship Care Month; we
8 are going to defer that until Senator Montgomery
9 can attend. But today I know it's important both
10 for the leader and myself to honor
11 representatives from the Family Service Society
12 of Yonkers and the Kinship Navigator program.
13 For us in Yonkers and in
14 Westchester, the Kinship Navigator program has
15 been the leader in ensuring that particularly
16 grandmothers and grandparents raising
17 grandchildren have all the support and supportive
18 services they need. We have literally thousands
19 of grandparents raising grandchildren because of
20 their dedication to their families and their
21 commitment to do it well.
22 We're very, very proud of them.
23 We're thrilled that they're here today. I hope
24 that we get to do the resolution and you come
25 back for the full discussion, but today I ask
1015
1 that you welcome them and give them the
2 privileges of the house, and welcome them and
3 honor their service to their families and their
4 grandchildren and the communities they live in.
5 Thank you, Mr. President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: We
7 welcome our guests to the chamber. We thank you
8 for coming and extend to you all of the
9 privileges and courtesies of this house. Thank
10 you.
11 Senator Biaggi.
12 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you.
13 Can you please call up
14 Resolution Number 367, read that in the entirety,
15 and recognize Senator Kavanagh to speak.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
17 Secretary will read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
19 Number 367, by Senator Kavanagh, commemorating
20 the Asian-American community celebration of the
21 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Pig, on
22 February 5, 2019.
23 "WHEREAS, With due cause and proper
24 resolve, this Legislative Body honors the
25 Asian-American community of the State of New York
1016
1 as it celebrates the Lunar New Year in the Year
2 of the Pig; and
3 "WHEREAS, According to the ancient
4 customs and legend, Asian-Americans across the
5 State will wear red, light firecrackers and make
6 other loud noises to symbolically chase away the
7 wild beast Nian, who once was thought to attack
8 ancient villages at the outset of the New Year;
9 and
10 "WHEREAS, According to legend, the
11 Jade Emperor held a race to determine the
12 12 animals to represent the zodiac with the
13 cyclical order determined by their finishing
14 position; and
15 "WHEREAS, It is said that people
16 take on characteristics based upon the animal of
17 their birth year, and those born in the Year of
18 the Pig are said to be characterized by their
19 loyalty, kindheartedness, patience and willpower
20 to succeed; and
21 "WHEREAS, The Lunar New Year is the
22 most significant and popular Asian festival and
23 exemplifies the many diverse traditions of
24 Asian-Americans; and
25 "WHEREAS, It is cause for great
1017
1 celebration in the Asian-American community that
2 public schools in New York City now recognize the
3 Lunar New Year as a holiday, acknowledging the
4 festival's widespread observance across the city;
5 now, therefore, be it
6 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
7 Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate
8 the Asian-American community's celebration of the
9 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Pig, on
10 February 5, 2019; and be it further
11 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
12 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to
13 distinguished members of the Asian-American
14 community."
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
16 Kavanagh on the resolution.
17 SENATOR KAVANAGH: Thank you,
18 Mr. President. And thank you for allowing us to
19 discuss this resolution today.
20 And I also just want to acknowledge
21 that this resolution is cosponsored by Senators
22 Liu and Gounardes and Stavisky and Metzger and
23 dozens of other cosponsors in this chamber, who I
24 think we'll hear from many of them today.
25 You know, I rise to join my
1018
1 constituents and New Yorkers across the state who
2 are celebrating the Lunar New Year today. That
3 is being celebrated right now in my district in
4 Chinatown and many other parts of the state with
5 firecrackers and wonderful food and lion dances
6 and many other very traditional celebrations.
7 But I know that we can have just as much fun here
8 in this chamber celebrating Lunar New Year by
9 talking about this resolution.
10 As the resolution states, this is
11 the Year of the Pig. That is one of 12 years in
12 a cyclical calendar that is a very old and
13 venerated tradition, not just among people of
14 Chinese descent, but many people of Asian
15 descent. And as the resolution also notes, this
16 is the most important cultural festival for many,
17 many people across our state. So it's great that
18 we are taking a moment here in our Senate to join
19 so many people celebrating that today.
20 But this is not just an opportunity,
21 Mr. President, for us to join in that
22 celebration, but also to celebrate the cultural
23 diversity of this great state and this great
24 nation. Our Statue of Liberty reminds us that
25 New York has long been a beacon of hope for
1019
1 individuals from across the globe.
2 Of course it is also fitting that we
3 are discussing this resolution on the same day
4 and in the same chamber that we've discussed our
5 great resolution put forth by my colleague
6 Jamaal Bailey and so many others on Black History
7 Month, because we do understand that it is our
8 strength -- however people come to this country,
9 that it is our strength that we celebrate that
10 diversity and we celebrate the many communities
11 across this state that bring so much to our
12 common heritage and our common life together.
13 So this heritage is of course shared
14 not just by people of Chinese descent but also
15 Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian and Singaporean
16 heritage. I am proud to represent Manhattan's
17 Chinatown. It is among the largest
18 concentrations of Chinese individuals in the
19 Western Hemisphere. Mr. Speaker, there is some
20 friendly competition among Chinese and other
21 Asian communities in New York about which is the
22 most populous and which is the most prominent.
23 I will say that we are very proud in
24 Chinatown in Manhattan to be a community that has
25 a very long and distinguished history of
1020
1 welcoming people of Asian descent and building
2 businesses and them thriving. And organizations
3 like the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent
4 Association and Chinatown USA, which is
5 sponsoring many of the events today, and the
6 Chinese Chamber of Commerce are all headquartered
7 there.
8 But of course one of the great
9 things about this day is that we're celebrating
10 the growing numbers and the thriving populations
11 of people of Asian descent all over our state and
12 the great communities that are represented by
13 many of my colleagues in this chamber.
14 We have many speakers today, so I'll
15 end there by just saying thank you again,
16 Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak on
17 this. Thank you to everyone who is joining us in
18 supporting this resolution. And Happy New Year
19 to all who are celebrating the beginning of the
20 great Year of the Pig.
21 Thank you.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
23 Myrie on the resolution.
24 SENATOR MYRIE: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
1021
1 I represent a vibrant, beautiful,
2 diverse Asian-American community, most of whom
3 reside in the Sunset Park neighborhood of my
4 district. So I'm very proud today to support
5 this resolution celebrating the new lunar year.
6 I think it's important that while
7 the rest of the world is out celebrating, that we
8 take time to recognize this important and storied
9 tradition in the Asian-American community. I
10 look forward to the many celebrations that will
11 be happening over the next couple of weeks. And
12 I thank this chamber for taking time to recognize
13 such an important community here in our state.
14 Thank you, Mr. President.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
16 Stavisky on the resolution.
17 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 Today is the actual day of the
20 Lunar New Year, and in fact the schools are
21 closed. And they're closed because the city
22 recognizes the importance of the Asian-American
23 community.
24 Saturday in Flushing we have one of
25 the largest parades separating the Year of the
1022
1 Pig. And it's interesting because the Chinese
2 community as well as the Korean community work
3 together cooperatively in celebrating the
4 Lunar New Year. The parade in Flushing -- and I
5 recommend it to everybody; the Lieutenant
6 Governor always comes, as well as other elected
7 officials -- is run by the Flushing Chinese
8 Business Association, representing the Chinese
9 American community, and by the Korean American
10 Association of Queens, representing the Korean
11 community.
12 And what do they do? Well, they
13 have the parade, we have lion dances where the
14 lions come out and celebrate, and firecrackers
15 and -- how do we explain -- people eat. And we
16 like to think in Flushing that we have the best
17 Chinese restaurants, the best Korean and Thai in
18 all of the Asian communities combined.
19 But it's more important than that.
20 It's the time when families come together to
21 celebrate their rich cultural heritage. And this
22 wasn't possible until 2016, when the City of
23 New York declared it a school holiday. Before
24 that, parents had to choose whether to send their
25 kids to school or to celebrate. Now they can do
1023
1 both, and without missing school.
2 The parades and the celebration and
3 the resolution here today demonstrate the growing
4 importance of the Asian-American community. They
5 are a vital part of the growth that has occurred
6 in the City of New York. And I invite you all to
7 come to Flushing, and you'll see construction
8 cranes, you'll see activity -- perhaps at times
9 too much activity. But people celebrate each
10 other's heritage. We celebrate together, and I
11 think that's what makes Flushing such a wonderful
12 place.
13 So let me wish everybody a very
14 happy Lunar New Year. With deference to my
15 colleague: Xin Nian Kuai Le, which is "Happy New
16 Year" in Mandarin; Gong Hei Fat Choi, which is
17 Cantonese, I believe; and in Korean, it's Saehae
18 Bok Manhi Baduseyo. And in any language, it's an
19 opportunity to enjoy New York.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
22 Liu on the resolution.
23 SENATOR LIU: Thank you,
24 Mr. President, for this opportunity to talk about
25 this resolution and to honor this very important
1024
1 holiday. New Year's is the most important
2 holiday in the Asian community. And you know,
3 being Asian -- and I have been Asian my whole
4 life --
5 (Laughter.)
6 SENATOR LIU: -- this is an
7 important holiday that I've grown up with all my
8 life, and it's very fitting that this body
9 recognizes it as such.
10 I want to thank Senator Kavanagh for
11 his ongoing leadership in putting this resolution
12 together. He has done this in the past. And I
13 want to thank all my colleagues for recognizing
14 this important holiday.
15 And I want to thank Senator Stavisky
16 for always giving me lessons in Chinese. Thank
17 you, Toby.
18 (Laughter.)
19 SENATOR LIU: Beyond the food,
20 beyond the festivities, beyond the firecrackers,
21 beyond the parades, the Asian community in
22 New York State and specifically in New York City
23 is among the fastest if not the fastest-growing
24 population. And as such, it's not just about
25 festivities and symbolisms that the community
1025
1 seeks; the community also seeks proper
2 representation.
3 And, you know, I am -- it turns out
4 that Kevin Thomas and I are the first
5 Asian-Americans in this body. I'm the first
6 Chinese American in the State Senate. I always
7 say I wish I was the ninth or tenth, because
8 there should have been a long time ago.
9 But it is about not just recognizing
10 a holiday, but recognizing a community and making
11 sure that the voicing of the community is heard.
12 And that's why many people are especially happy
13 to turn the page from last year into the new
14 year, the Year of the Pig, last year being a year
15 of tremendous offense and disrespect to the
16 community on one particular issue of grave
17 importance to the Asian-American community, an
18 educational issue. An issue that the
19 administration of the City of New York chose to
20 completely disregard and disrespect the opinions
21 of the Asian-American community.
22 I hope that we can help rectify that
23 situation in this body going forward, because it
24 is the Year of the Pig; as most people would say,
25 a very fortuitous year. And with that, I say
1026
1 Happy Pigs.
2 Thank you, Mr. President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
4 Gounardes on the resolution.
5 SENATOR GOUNARDES: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 And I want to thank all my
8 colleagues who spoke on this resolution. And not
9 to take anything away from my colleague Senator
10 Liu or Senator Thomas, I did a 23 and Me test and
11 I am part West Asian because my family hails from
12 parts of western Asia, in modern-day Turkey. A
13 different large continent, but I do share a
14 little bit of that claim.
15 But I rise today to celebrate the
16 Lunar New Year that's being celebrated in
17 communities across this entire state. And I want
18 to wish all those who celebrate this very, very
19 special holiday a happy, healthy and prosperous
20 year ahead.
21 As has already been noted, this year
22 marks the Year of the Pig. And it is said that
23 if you are born during the Year of the Pig, you
24 are generally philanthropic, you have a love for
25 life, you're disciplined and hardworking, and you
1027
1 are extremely friendly.
2 We should all take a moment to
3 reflect upon this. It seems particularly
4 poignant in this era and this age of divisiveness
5 that we're living in. So in honor of the Year of
6 the Pig, let us make a promise to ourselves and
7 our communities to give back some way, to show
8 kindness and friendship and understanding towards
9 all those that we interact with.
10 I rise in honor of my constituents.
11 I know everyone's taking claim for having the
12 best community in New York City. I think that
13 here in Brooklyn we're pretty special too. I
14 represent parts of Sunset Park and Dyker Heights
15 and Bensonhurst and Gravesend, and we have a very
16 large and vibrant Chinese-American community. I
17 rise in honor of them. I rise to salute them.
18 And I wish them all, and everyone
19 who celebrates, a prosperous year ahead that
20 inspires us to be the very best version of
21 ourselves. Gong Hei Fat Choi -- Happy New Year.
22 Thank you.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
24 Jackson on the resolution.
25 SENATOR JACKSON: Thank you,
1028
1 Mr. President.
2 My colleagues, I rise in order to
3 support the resolution and say that I wish all
4 the Asian communities a happy Lunar New Year.
5 I remember, growing up, when my dad
6 used to give us all our red envelopes, obviously
7 with brand-new bills in it, and give us the
8 tangerines and cook Chinese food for us. And
9 even I still have that tradition of giving my
10 girls, who are now 43, 38, and 32, and my
11 grandsons, nine and six -- they are expecting
12 their red envelopes and I will definitely, when I
13 get home, make sure that I get that to them.
14 But it's important to know that this
15 is a celebration around the world. And I
16 celebrate it with not only everyone but also my
17 father, Eddie York Chu, who was a Chinese
18 immigrant.
19 With that I say I vote yes on the
20 resolution and I wish everyone a happy Lunar
21 New Year.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
23 question is on the resolution. All in favor
24 signify by saying aye.
25 (Response of "Aye.")
1029
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
2 Opposed?
3 (No response.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
5 resolution is adopted.
6 Senator Biaggi.
7 SENATOR BIAGGI: Yes. At the
8 request of Senator Kavanagh, the resolution is
9 open for cosponsorship.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: This
11 resolution is open for cosponsorship. Should you
12 choose not to be a cosponsor of the resolution,
13 please notify the desk.
14 Senator Biaggi.
15 SENATOR BIAGGI: Yes,
16 Mr. President. On behalf of Senator Martinez, on
17 page 9 I offer the following amendments to
18 Calendar Number 61, Senate Print Number 1719A,
19 and ask that said bill retain its place on the
20 Third Reading Calendar.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
22 amendments are received, and the bill shall
23 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
24 Senator Biaggi.
25 SENATOR BIAGGI: Mr. President, is
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1 there any further business at the desk?
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: There
3 is no further business at the desk.
4 SENATOR BIAGGI: That being the
5 case, I move to adjourn until Monday,
6 February 11th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening days
7 being legislative days.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: On
9 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until Monday,
10 February 11th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening days
11 being legislative days.
12 (Whereupon, at 1:20 p.m., the Senate
13 adjourned.)
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