Gary Ackerman
Gary Ackerman | |
---|---|
New York Senate from the 12th district | |
In office January 1, 1979 – March 1, 1983 | |
Preceded by | Jack E. Bronston |
Succeeded by | Leonard P. Stavisky |
Personal details | |
Born | Gary Leonard Ackerman November 19, 1942 Queens College (BA ) |
Occupation | High school teacher, newspaper publisher |
Gary Leonard Ackerman (born November 19, 1942) is an American retired politician and former U.S. Representative from New York, serving from 1983 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. On March 15, 2012, Ackerman announced that he would retire at the end of the 112th Congress on January 3, 2013, after fifteen terms, and would not seek re-election in November 2012.
Early life, education, and early career
Ackerman was born in
Following the birth of his first child in 1969, Ackerman petitioned the
Ackerman's second career move occurred in 1970, when he left teaching to start a weekly community newspaper in Queens called The Flushing Tribune which soon became the Queens Tribune. Ackerman served as its editor and publisher.
New York Senate
Ackerman was a member of the New York State Senate from 1979 to 1983, sitting in the 183rd, 184th and 185th New York State Legislatures.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
Incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal died on January 4, 1983. Ackerman won the special election with a plurality of 49%.[5] In 1984, he won re-election to a full term with 69% of the vote.[6] In 1986, he won re-election with 77%, and was unopposed in 1988 and 1990. After redistricting, he ran in New York's 5th congressional district. He won the Democratic primary with 60%,[7] and the general election with 52% against Republican county legislator Allan E. Binder.[8] In 1994, he won re-election with 55% of the vote.[9] Since then, he has won re-election with at least 63% of the vote.[10]
On March 15, 2012, Ackerman announced that he would retire at the end of the 112th Congress on January 3, 2013, after fifteen terms, and would not seek re-election in November 2012.
Tenure
Ackerman was the
Ackerman was one of only 22 Congressman and one of 2 Democrats from New York to vote against a resolution calling for the protection of the symbols and traditions of Christmas. The resolution, which did not include language that would protect the symbols of other religious holidays, passed 401–22 in the House in December 2005. In April 2003 the
Ackerman received an "A" on the
Ackerman has missed voting on 80 occasions pertaining to a variety of issues, including the
In June 2001, Ackerman honored King Christian X of Denmark for his wearing a yellow badge armband during World War II in support of the Danish Jews who had been ordered by the Nazi occupation to wear yellow badges, although Jews in Denmark were never forced to wear an armband, and the story is merely a legend.[14]
Health
Among Ackerman's significant legislative undertakings, was the passage of his Baby AIDS
Ackerman championed the issue of newborn testing after discovering that 45 states, including New York, tested babies for HIV but used the data solely to track the prevalence of the disease in the population, and did not disclose the results to the mothers. As a result, thousands of mothers brought their infants home from the hospital, never aware that their children had tested positive for HIV. Ackerman stopped the anonymous testing from being reinstated in years that followed.
Ackerman also scored a victory in his efforts to ban downed animals from being sold as meat in supermarkets, restaurants and butcher stores. For a decade, Ackerman warned that use of such livestock was not only inhumane treatment of animals but also risked causing a
Ackerman was also successful in getting Medicare to cover testing for prostate cancer.
In addition, Ackerman sponsored the first federal legislation to ban the use of handheld
Finance
Law of the land is Ackerman's measure requiring banks and financial companies to notify consumers when negative information is placed on their
On October 3, 2008, Ackerman voted in favor of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.[16]
On January 8, 2009, Ackerman introduced a bill to order the
On February 4, 2009, Ackerman criticized SEC Officials over the handling of tips given to them about the Bernie Madoff scandal. Ackerman believed that he was reflecting the public's opinion, saying: "How are they supposed to have confidence that if somebody goes to you with a complaint—gives it to you on a silver platter with all the investigations, with all the numbers, with all of the data, telling you exactly what he did, how he did it, and why he did it and how he knows that—and after a period after half a dozen or eight years, you don't know anything?"[17]
Foreign policy and terrorism
On October 10, 2002, Ackerman was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
Ackerman also convinced the Defense Department to stop garnishing wages from certain U.S. soldiers serving in the war against Iraq. Although troops who serve in combat zones are not required to pay federal taxes, many soldiers had failed to be granted the exemption.
Other highlights include the Congressman authoring legislation that required President George W. Bush to impose sanctions against the Palestinian Authority for not complying with peace agreements it signed with the U.S. and Israel.
In his capacity as the then Chairman of the Asia Subcommittee, Ackerman made history in the 1990s by traveling to
Enacted as well was his measure that prevents
or other atrocities, from entering the U.S. and deports those who have slipped in.He convinced the German government to establish a US$110 million fund to compensate 18,000
Ackerman is also well known for his many missions to feed the starving people of
In January 2011, Ackerman criticized Jewish organizations including the Jewish Voice for Peace and
On January 12, 2009, Ackerman admitted to arranging a visit between Israeli officials and a defense contractor at the same time he was investing in that contractor.[18] Although the visit did not result in any official deal between the parties, questions regarding his ethics were raised.[19]
Ackerman was also successful in getting enacted, his bill that created the
In 2011, Ackerman voted to extend expiring provisions of the
State and local issues
Ackerman participated in forcing the State of Hawaii to change its law that forbade blind individuals from bringing their guide dogs with them to the islands. The Congressman chaired an investigation and bipartisan hearing into whether New York City and Long Island officials properly used the spraying of Malathion during the West Nile virus outbreak. He also obtained federal funds to combat a return of the virus.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Financial Services
- Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
- Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
- Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
- Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia(Ranking Member)
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Arts Caucus
- Congressional Caucus on Indian Americans
Personal life
Ackerman, who sports a white
At the 2006 meeting of the
Ackerman was named an honorary graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy for his continued support of the service academy located in Kings Point, New York.
Ackerman also has a street named after him located in Central Islip, New York.
Sexual assault accusation
In the 1960s, Ackerman served as director of the Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp. In 2019, a former camper filed a lawsuit accusing Ackerman of fondling him and forcing him to perform oral sex on Ackerman.[24] The alleged abuse occurred in 1966, when Ackerman was 23 and the accuser was 17. Ackerman denied any wrongdoing but resigned from his position as a consultant for the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service.[25][26]
See also
References
- ^ "ackerman". freepages.rootsweb.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ Ackerman, Gary L. (January 2, 2013). "My Last Day in Congress". The New York Times.
- ProQuest 119339599. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ProQuest 119711097. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ "Our Campaigns – NY District 7 Special Race – Mar 01, 1983". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "Our Campaigns – NY District 7 Race – Nov 06, 1984". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "Our Campaigns – NY District 5 – D Primary Race – Sep 15, 1992". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "Our Campaigns – NY District 5 Race – Nov 03, 1992". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "Our Campaigns – NY District 5 Race – Nov 08, 1994". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "Our Campaigns – Candidate – Gary L. Ackerman". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "Congress at the Midterm: Their 2005 Middle-Class Record". Drummajorinstitute.com. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
- ^ "Missed Votes by Gary Ackerman – Congress votes database". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008.
- ^ "Gary Ackerman, former Representative for New York's 5th Congressional District". GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "Congressman Gary Ackerman, U.S. House of Representatives. Ackerman's Statement on International Relations Mark-up, Statement by Mr. Ackerman". Archived from the original on August 3, 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) 6–6–01. H.Con.Res. 145, Condemning The Recent Order by the Taliban Regime to Require Hindus in Afghanistan to wear Symbols identifying them as Hindus. - ^ "Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization: Where We Stand | TheBody". www.thebody.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 681". Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ "News Headlines". Cnbc.com. February 4, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
- ^ Lesser, Benjamin; Smith, Greg B. (January 1, 2010). "Rep. Ackerman confirms he introduced Israeli officials to defense contractor Xenonics". New York Daily News. New York. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
- ^ Editorials (January 1, 2010). "Come cleaner, Gary: Too many unanswered questions about Ackerman's 100G score". New York Daily News. New York. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
- ^ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 36". Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ "HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 – Voting Record". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
- ^ Lorver, Janie. "Plan to allow PBA officials plane-ticket upgrades knocked", Newsday, August 18, 2008. Accessed August 23, 2008. "The 20-year resident of Jamaica Estates has sold his house after waiting months for a buyer, for just more than $1 million, less than the $1.3 million he'd asked, he said. Ackerman bought a condo in Roslyn Heights, about nine miles away, for $950,000 in December, records show."
- ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
- ^ "Ex-congressman Gary Ackerman accused of abusing teenager five decades ago". The Times of Israel. August 25, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
- ^ Blidner, Rachel (August 28, 2019). "Former Rep. Gary Ackerman leaves Suffolk civil service consulting job". Newsday. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
- ^ Keneally, Meghan (August 26, 2019). "Former congressman accused of decades-old sexual abuse from his time working at a Boy Scouts camp". ABC News. Retrieved December 30, 2021.