In the News
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) has been selected as the new chairman of the powerful House Homeland Security Committee, a panel that helps steer federal counterterrorism programs to New York in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Garbarino, a third-term House member, defeated three other contenders for the post in a vote by the House Republican Steering Committee on Monday evening. The selection was officially approved by the House Republican Conference in a Tuesday morning vote.
Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), in partnership with Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R, NY-24), has reintroduced the Local Law Enforcement Protection Act, a federal bill aimed at safeguarding qualified immunity protections for police officers at the state and local levels across the country.
Colleges and universities would be barred from accepting financial support or gifts from foreign nations that support terrorism under bipartisan legislation introduced by two New York House members, who said taking such funds is “an act of national self-sabotage.”
The ban proposed by Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) and Andrew Garbarino (R-LI) would cover China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and other countries that support terrorism.
A rarely discussed cost of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack continues to soar year by year for the New York state and city pension systems — and it now totals about $3.4 billion, according to new estimates.
After the attacks, the Federal Emergency Management Administration reimbursed the pension funds $290 million to cover the death benefits for 343 firefighters and 28 active-duty and retired NYPD officers.
But since then, the federal government has not made any more payments as the costs to the pension systems have continued to mount.
