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The advocates and survivors who’ve spent more than a decade fighting for funding for those with 9/11-related illnesses found an unlikely ally in their latest push to keep the World Trade Center Health Program financially viable. House Speaker Mike Johnson...Johnson’s support didn’t come in a vacuum. Rep. Andrew Garbarino has been leading the fight for 9/11 funding ever since he got to Congress, following in the footsteps of the 9/11 funding advocate he replaced, former Rep. Peter King. Garbarino made the WTC Health Program a key issue during the latest speaker’s race, when Garbarino and fellow Long Island representatives Nick LaLota and Anthony D’Esposito were key to Johnson’s ultimate victory. Their support for Johnson only came after Johnson promised support of his own. Johnson called Garbarino the morning of the speaker vote, Garbarino recalled in a conversation with The Point on Tuesday. “I said, ‘I need this. I need to make sure you’re not going to screw these guys over,’” Garbarino said of the 9/11 funding effort. “That’s when he told me about his father. He said, ‘I will never screw these guys over. It’s personal to me.’” Johnson’s father was a firefighter who was critically burned in the line of duty in an explosion that left him permanently disabled. As members of the House negotiated their version of the National Defense Authorization Act late last month, Garbarino reminded Johnson of his promise, and had LaLota and D’Esposito call Johnson as well. The goal: to include in the NDAA $676 million for the 9/11 health program and expand eligibility for the program to members of the military who responded at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed. And Johnson followed through.

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This week Andrew welcomed new recruits to the Suffolk County Police Department. Bolt, Nox and Valor are the newest K9’s to join the force and will make great additions helping and serving their community. Andrew was happy to provide certificates of recognition to Officers Robert Stroehlein, Anthony Fanwick and Marc Sacco for the incredible job they are doing protecting Long Islanders. Andrew knows how important it is to support our brave men, women and K9's who help keep our communities safe.

The Suffolk Y JCC hosted a Menorah Lighting this past week to celebrate Hanukkah and shine a light on the recent rise in Antisemitism. Synagogues across Suffolk County showed up, as well as many Jewish organizations on Long Island. It is great to see so many New Yorkers standing up to say no to hate. Andrew will always be a friend to the Jewish Community and strongly condemns any and all forms of Antisemitism.

A constituent reached out to Andrew’s office on behalf of her recently widowed mother. Her mother suffers from dementia and is on home hospice care. She was married to a veteran who sadly passed away last year, and as a result, her income decreased dramatically. Her family has been working tirelessly on her behalf to get assistance from Veterans Affairs (VA) but had issues getting results. Andrew’s casework team reached out to the VA on her behalf, and within 8 days were able to secure her benefits and resolve the issue. This constituent can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing her mother will be taken care of.

Andrew knows how frustrating dealing with bureaucracy can be. That is why he has an entire team dedicated to helping constituents get what they need from the federal government. If you need help dealing with a federal agency, contact our office and our team will get to work on your case. 

Andrew, as House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Chairman, presided over a hearing to examine the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) responsibilities related to the Biden administration’s new Executive Order (EO) on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Watch his opening statement here.

Jewish students deserve to feel safe on college campuses and the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT made it clear they are not up to the job after failing to condemn antisemitism on their campuses in a recent congressional hearing. That's why Andrew joined Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and 70 of their colleagues in calling for their dismissal. The President of Penn has resigned due to her failures and it's time that the other Presidents, and leadership of any university that condones antisemitism, follow suit or be removed. Read their full letter here.