Wednesday, March 7, 2007

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 7, 2007 11 11:25 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR JAMES W. WRIGHT, Acting President 19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 I ask everyone to please rise and 5 repeat with me the Pledge of Allegiance to the 6 Flag. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: In the 10 absence of clergy, may we bow our heads in a 11 moment of silence, please. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Reading 15 of the Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Tuesday, March 6, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, March 5, 19 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 20 adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Without 22 objection, the Journal stands approved as 23 read. 24 Presentation of petitions. 25 Messages from the Assembly.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Messages from the Governor. 2 Reports of standing committees. 3 Reports of select committees. 4 Communications and reports from 5 state officers. 6 Motions and resolutions. 7 Senator Skelos. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 9 there's a Resolution 518 at the desk, by 10 Senator Robach. If we could have it read in 11 its entirety and move for its immediate 12 adoption. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 14 Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 16 Robach, Legislative Resolution Number 518, 17 memorializing Governor Eliot Spitzer to 18 declare May 2007 as "Hepatitis C Awareness 19 Month" in the State of New York. 20 "WHEREAS, Hepatitis is a known 21 public health threat and is known to be caused 22 by many viruses; and 23 "WHEREAS, Chronic viral hepatitis 24 due to Hepatitis C has been a disease that has 25 little or no public awareness due to its

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(518) 371-8910 1 nature as being largely asymptomatic until 2 irreversible liver damage has occurred; and 3 "WHEREAS, Hepatitis C currently 4 infects nearly 4 million Americans, including 5 an estimated 158,000 New Yorkers, and there 6 are about 30,000 new cases and approximately 7 10,000 deaths each year in the United States; 8 and 9 "WHEREAS, The consequences of 10 Hepatitis C cost approximately $7.5 million 11 per 100,000 people; and 12 "WHEREAS, Hepatitis C is largely 13 nonreported, and the public is uninformed 14 about the virus; and 15 "WHEREAS, In the absence of a 16 vaccine for Hepatitis C, emphasis must be 17 placed on other means of disease prevention, 18 including education of healthcare workers, 19 emergency services workers, veterans and the 20 general public; and 21 "WHEREAS, Hepatitis C has been 22 characterized by the World Health Organization 23 as a disease of primary concern to humanity; 24 now, therefore, be it 25 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative

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(518) 371-8910 1 Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize 2 Governor Eliot Spitzer to declare May 2007 as 3 'Hepatitis C Awareness Month' in the State of 4 New York, and to urge the citizens of this 5 great Empire State to learn about the causes, 6 symptoms, diagnoses and treatments for 7 Hepatitis C; and be it further 8 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this 9 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 10 to the Honorable Eliot Spitzer, Governor of 11 the State of New York." 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 13 question is on the resolution. All in favor 14 signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 20 resolution is adopted. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 if we could take up Resolution 793, by Senator 24 Larkin, have it read in its entirety and move 25 for its immediate adoption.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 4 Larkin, Legislative Resolution Number 793, 5 commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the 6 Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights 7 that began on Sunday, March 7, 1965. 8 "WHEREAS, It is the practice of 9 this Legislative Body to commend publicly 10 courageous acts which prompted important 11 changes in state and national history; and 12 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 13 concern, and in full accord with its 14 long-standing traditions, it is the sense of 15 this Legislative Body to commemorate the 42nd 16 anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march 17 for voting rights that began on Sunday, 18 March 7, 1965; and 19 "WHEREAS, The Selma-to-Montgomery 20 march for voting rights represented the 21 political and emotional peak of the modern 22 civil rights movement; and 23 "WHEREAS, Despite the Civil Rights 24 Act of 1964 and the active attempts of the 25 Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

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(518) 371-8910 1 (SNCC) to register the African-American voters 2 of Alabama, no significant progress was made. 3 One such place was Selma, Alabama. This small 4 southern town of 29,000 soon became the focal 5 point of the civil rights movement; and 6 "WHEREAS, Of the 15,156 7 African-Americans in Dallas County, Alabama, 8 only 156 were registered to vote. On January 9 2, 1965, the Reverend Martin Luther King 10 visited Selma and gave a fiery speech. In it, 11 he stated: "Today marks the beginning of a 12 determined, organized, mobilized campaign to 13 get the right to vote everywhere in Alabama"; 14 and 15 "WHEREAS, On 'Bloody Sunday,' 16 March 7, 1965, some 600 civil rights marchers 17 headed east out of Selma on U.S. Route 80. 18 They got only as far as the Edmund Pettus 19 Bridge, six blocks away, where state and local 20 lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and 21 tear gas and drove them back into Selma; and 22 "WHEREAS, Nearly 100 of the 23 marchers were hurt that day in Selma. The 24 next day, civil rights workers and clergy from 25 across the nation rushed to Selma. On

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(518) 371-8910 1 March 9, 1965, many marched to the Edmund 2 Pettus Bridge, where the marchers stopped for 3 prayer and then, obeying a federal court 4 injunction, returned to Selma; and 5 "WHEREAS, On March 21, 1965, after 6 the court injunction had been lifted and the 7 Alabama National Guard had been federalized to 8 provide protection, the march began again; and 9 "WHEREAS, About 3,200 marchers set 10 out for Montgomery, walking 12 miles a day and 11 sleeping in fields. By the time they reached 12 the capitol on Thursday, March 25, they were 13 25,000 strong; and 14 "WHEREAS, Less than five months 15 after the last of the three marches, President 16 Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 17 1965, the best possible redress of grievances; 18 and 19 "WHEREAS, in 1996, the Selma to 20 Montgomery National Historic Trail, the 21 highest tribute a road can receive, was 22 created by Congress under the National Trails 23 System Act of 1968. Like other 'historic' 24 trails covered in the legislation, the Alabama 25 trail is an original route of national

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(518) 371-8910 1 significance in American history, cannot be 2 replicated, and is a destination unto itself; 3 now, therefore, be it 4 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 5 Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate 6 the 42nd anniversary of the Selma to 7 Montgomery march for voting rights that began 8 on Sunday, March 7, 1965." 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 10 Larkin, on the resolution. 11 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 I want to congratulate and thank my 14 colleague Senator Cousins, because this was a 15 joint venture on our part. And I thank you 16 very much, Senator. 17 You know, 42 years ago there were 18 some people in this chamber that were only a 19 dream. But 42 years ago, this was a real 20 dream. There had never been solid elections 21 in Alabama. And the question came up 22 constantly, When do we become full Americans? 23 I'm one American who served in 24 combat when we had segregated troops. They 25 weren't segregated in my mind. I was the

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(518) 371-8910 1 fortunate individual with four other white 2 officers to command this company that went 3 into combat and was a true, true unit of our 4 fighting forces of the American armed forces. 5 In 1965 the first incident 6 concerning this was a call from the Justice 7 Department to the Secretary of the Army that 8 there was problems in Alabama that they could 9 not control within their own authorities. 10 The problem was, Governor Wallace 11 had made it very clear that he wouldn't be a 12 player to this action. At which time the 13 President, through the Secretary of Defense 14 and Secretary of the Army, designated certain 15 individuals to go to Alabama. In my office of 16 98 officers, we drew straws. Not knowing that 17 every one had a larger straw than I did, I got 18 the small straw. 19 When I went to Alabama, my mission 20 was to tell the Governor or his appointed 21 assistants that there was to be an activation 22 of the Alabama Guard. It never happened. 23 Governor Wallace said, "You tell the President 24 if he wants to activate the Alabama Guard, let 25 him do it and let the federal government pay

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(518) 371-8910 1 for it." 2 And that's exactly what happened. 3 The entourage that took place on the three 4 marches -- the first march was a total 5 disaster because of Bull Connor with his 6 bullhorn -- and that's where he got it from -- 7 and his hoses. And the second one, and the 8 third one. The third one, when we marched out 9 of Selma, the church -- I met Dr. King for the 10 very first time. Most of my contacts had been 11 with Reverend Abernathy, who was trying to 12 keep a level hand on it. 13 You know, they talk about 575 14 people were there when the marches started. 15 When we did the march on the 21st, the start 16 of the four days, there were probably 3,000 17 people. 18 The control, just think about it. 19 This was almost like a combat operation. We 20 brought elements of the 11th Air Assault from 21 Fort Benning, the 101st from Camp Campbell, 22 Kentucky. We brought units from Fort Hood, 23 Texas; Fort Lewis, Washington; and Fort Riley, 24 Kansas. They were all assembled at the 25 Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

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(518) 371-8910 1 This was a joint venture. The 2 Justice Department had overall responsibility, 3 but the responsibility for safety and security 4 was left to both guard and active elements of 5 our armed forces. 6 Was it peaceful? Not necessarily. 7 Because every night when we would put in and 8 stop, as you and I spoke, there had to be a 9 search of the area. We had engineers that 10 went in with mine sweepers to find out if the 11 land had been braced and anything for a major 12 disaster. And the conduct of the armed forces 13 during this was great. And then the next 14 morning when we got up, they would go and 15 sweep the rail, because the supplies were 16 brought by rail. 17 We were very fortunate. Did we 18 have skirmishes? Yes. They talk about a 19 Reverend Reed, who was killed back in the 7th 20 of March. But on the four days of the march, 21 there was only one person killed, and that was 22 after the march was completed. The lady's 23 name was Viola Liuzzo. She was from Detroit, 24 Michigan, and she was a member of United Auto 25 Workers. Sad. Very sad. Because up until

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(518) 371-8910 1 that, the skirmishes were just harassment from 2 people on the side, some few rednecks and 3 stuff like that. 4 But just let's talk about the issue 5 itself. We're Americans. And, you know, as 6 I -- I just came back from Savannah, Georgia. 7 And when I still see what goes on, I wonder 8 what did we accomplish. 9 We got the Voting Rights Act. And 10 I'm very proud to stand here, because I was 11 stationed in the Pentagon at the time. The 12 votes for the civil rights, for the voting 13 rights, the necessary votes to pass that bill 14 were delivered by Republican Senators. So you 15 on that side of the aisle, remember, we were 16 there when it counted. 17 So what have we accomplished? We 18 still have bickering, we still have fighting. 19 And sometimes we fail to realize that a lot of 20 it is our fault. It's ours as adults -- not 21 just State Senators or members of the Assembly 22 or Congress. But we have to start to realize 23 that what we impart to our young people in our 24 schools and our communities and our churches 25 and synagogues, that's where a lot of this is

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(518) 371-8910 1 going to melt out. 2 Again, I'm very proud that I was 3 there. Trying, time-consuming negotiations, 4 discussions, with one purpose in mind: as an 5 American, to see a mission accomplished for 6 all Americans. 7 Thank you very much, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 9 Stewart-Cousins. 10 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 11 you, Mr. President. 12 And I also want to thank Senator 13 Larkin for sharing his story and certainly 14 sharing the opportunity to be on the 15 resolution. 16 We both put the resolution in, and 17 I did not know that his compelling story has 18 been told before on this very anniversary or 19 around this very anniversary because of his 20 involvement. And reminding us of the history 21 that brings us here is so very, very important 22 and vital. So I thank you for that. 23 The reason why I felt this was an 24 important resolution to present was not that I 25 was there, not that I got dressed after church

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(518) 371-8910 1 or went out to march and see what we could do 2 to promote voting rights for 3 African-Americans, because I was not. I was 4 not able to vote; I wasn't old enough. I 5 probably wasn't even conscious of the fact 6 that people were fighting for what should have 7 been their right as an American citizen at 8 that time. 9 I certainly heard, however, of the 10 Bloody Sunday and how young children, women, 11 were beaten back from attempting to exercise 12 their rights as American citizens. And I 13 understood, after time and time again, how 14 President Johnson decided it was time for the 15 Voting Rights Act in 1965. 16 And I guess what I stand here to 17 say is that all those things that happened 18 didn't matter quite as much to me until a 19 wintery Tuesday in November of 2006, when I 20 became and the 35th District became the 21 recipient of federal monitors that came to 22 watch an election that would normally be an 23 ordinary election. 24 It was the Voting Rights Act that 25 allowed for someone like me to say I need

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(518) 371-8910 1 observers. And it was the Voting Rights Act 2 that allowed hundreds of people who might 3 ordinarily have been turned away to cast their 4 votes. 5 And so not only do I owe a debt to 6 those who walked before me, but this nation 7 owes a debt. Because no one decided to march 8 so that this act would be made, they decided 9 to march just because voting is an American 10 thing to do. 11 And no one would have thought 12 42 years later that we would not only be 13 commemorating their sacrifice and their 14 courage, but heralding the fact that the 15 protection still exists. 16 So I'm certainly happy to join my 17 colleagues in this resolution. 18 (Applause.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 20 Adams. 21 SENATOR ADAMS: I rise in support 22 of this item because I think that sometimes we 23 have the tendency to romanticize history. We 24 don't realize that we are still marching. And 25 we're at the bridge again. The question

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(518) 371-8910 1 becomes now, what are we going to do at that 2 bridge? 3 Side by side with us are those who 4 are of the immigrant population. They may not 5 be African-Americans from Alabama, but they're 6 Chinese, Portuguese, Indonese, Japanese, 7 Dominican, Irish. What are we going to do for 8 them? Are we going to cross the bridge, or 9 are we going to allow those individuals who 10 believe America is a monolithic society that 11 is not inclusive? 12 I believe it is inclusive. And I 13 commend my colleague from the other side of 14 the aisle as he indicated that our Republican 15 colleagues back then stood side by side with 16 us and pressed their shoulders up against the 17 door of inclusion to ensure that we were all 18 part of this great country. 19 The question now that lingers 20 before us in this sentence is: Where are you 21 now, my colleagues? Where are you now? Would 22 you stand with me on this side of the aisle so 23 when our children reflect on 2007 could you 24 say we led the charge of gun control so we 25 don't lose more young people and Dr. Kings of

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(518) 371-8910 1 today? Can you say that you joined us and led 2 the charge to deal with Campaign for Fiscal 3 Equity to ensure our children are educated? 4 Can you say that you put in place the correct 5 medical procedures so that black and brown 6 grandmothers receive the same level of 7 preventive care as their counterparts across 8 this entire state? 9 Where are you now? Let us not sit 10 back and dream and romanticize of how great it 11 was to march with Dr. King. Are we marching 12 with the Dr. Kings of today? That's the 13 question. 14 What's great about this institution 15 is that we have men and women from Rochester, 16 from Troy, from all over the state that are 17 coming here together with men and women from 18 Brownsville and Bed-Sty and Harlem -- not to 19 disrespect each other, not to believe that 20 only my position is right and you are wrong. 21 That's not the issue. 22 We are coming here with the voices 23 of those who cannot speak on behalf of 24 themselves. We are allowing each other the 25 opportunity that other countries don't have,

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(518) 371-8910 1 to be able to debate and discuss and bring you 2 into the streets of Brownsville as you bring 3 me into the streets of Rochester, to bring me 4 into the family of Troy, New York, as I bring 5 you into the family of Harlem. 6 We can have a discussion to come 7 together with one form of policy and procedure 8 so as we stand in front of not the Pettus 9 Bridge of yesterday, but the bridges of today, 10 and cross them together -- as not only 11 New Yorkers. I'm a firm believer that 12 New York State has the ability to prick the 13 conscience of the entire country, that not 14 only can we set the tone for the counties in 15 this state but the counties across the globe. 16 And as we think about that bridge, 17 let's also think about, regardless of your 18 position on the war, somebody's mother, 19 somebody's brother, someone's son, someone's 20 daughter, someone's neighbor is overseas in 21 Iraq or Afghanistan fighting for those 22 principles that we believe are true. 23 And we can talk about patriotism 24 back then and criticize the patriotic posture 25 now, but as long as our boys are coming home

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(518) 371-8910 1 to hospitals where they're not getting fair 2 treatment, as long as our boys coming home and 3 not having proper support, physical as well as 4 emotional, as long as our boys are unsure the 5 America they're coming home to is going to 6 embrace them when they lose an arm or leg or 7 when the anatomy of their soul is no longer in 8 contact because they saw someone die that is 9 precious to them, then we're not doing our 10 responsibility at the edge of the Pettus 11 Bridge of today's time. 12 So I challenge you, my counterparts 13 across the aisle, but I also challenge my 14 counterparts on this side of the aisle: We 15 have a responsibility and an obligation not to 16 believe that the march is over and not to 17 leave this century with a question mark, but 18 an exclamation point, that we have marched on 19 and strong. 20 Thank you. 21 (Applause.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 23 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 24 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Mr. 25 President, I feel that Senator Eric Adams has

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(518) 371-8910 1 more than adequately expressed my sentiments. 2 But I want to stand to support this resolution 3 this morning. 4 Thank you, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 6 you, Senator. 7 Senator Diaz. 8 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 I also rise to support the 11 resolution. But I would like to one more time 12 tell you my story, the story that I have 13 repeated over and over and over. 14 I was born in Puerto Rico, in a 15 town called Bayamon. And as you can see, I am 16 black. Because I was born in Puerto Rico, I 17 am Hispanic. 18 And we black Puerto Ricans, we know 19 a secret that many people don't know, but only 20 us black Hispanics know that secret: That we 21 don't fit in the black community because we 22 are Hispanic, and we don't fit in the Hispanic 23 community because we are black. And we don't 24 fit in the white community because we are 25 black and Hispanic. So this is a secret that

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(518) 371-8910 1 we black and Hispanic, we are in what we call 2 the limbo stage. 3 We talk about racism. In 1960 I 4 was just 18 years old and I went voluntarily 5 and joined the United States armed forces, the 6 Army, because that was a Vietnam era and I 7 wanted to fight for my country. And I was 8 sent to Columbia, South Carolina, Fort 9 Jackson, for my basic training. And I was 10 sent to that camp with many Puerto Ricans, and 11 I was the only black among all the Puerto 12 Ricans. They were as white as any one of you. 13 There I learned -- I learned -- and 14 since that time on, you could say that I have 15 been alone. I learned there, in Fort Jackson, 16 Columbia, South Carolina, I learned the story 17 of life. That was before Martin Luther King. 18 I'm talking about 1960. 19 And I was there, and I learned to 20 be called Puerto Rican spic. I learned to do 21 the dirty work that nobody else used to do. I 22 learned that I cannot attend places even with 23 my uniform, with my Army, United States of 24 America uniform, I cannot attend places other 25 people could attend.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I got my first pass -- and I've 2 been saying that over and over. I want you to 3 understand that not only black America has 4 this problem. We black Puerto Ricans and we 5 black Hispanics, we have the problem with 6 racism. And we have suffered this racism by 7 blacks and by Hispanics. 8 And at that time I got my first 9 pass, and I went to Columbia with my friends 10 from Puerto Rico. And I sat down in that bar, 11 with my uniform, proud, proud as an American 12 fighting man that I was supposed to be. And 13 the waiter came, took the order, and everybody 14 ordered a beer. And I say -- and the waiter 15 turned back. And I said, "Waiter, I want a 16 beer too." He said, "Whatever you're looking 17 for, we haven't got it." I will never forget 18 that occasion. 19 And my friends from Puerto Rico, my 20 white friends from Puerto Rico told me, "They 21 don't want to serve you." And I say, "What am 22 I going to do?" They told me, "You have to 23 leave." And they stayed there. My Puerto 24 Rican white friends, and they stayed in that 25 bar.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So I don't fit anywhere. And when 2 this march came and this thing come and this 3 thing happens, yes, I'm proud, because they 4 gave me some kind of liberty. But we still 5 have a lot of way to go, a long way to go. 6 Racism is ugly. And people even 7 laugh at your religion. Even in my own 8 Democratic conference, they laugh at my 9 religion. People laugh at you, people laugh. 10 And that racism is not only in color, it's in 11 creed and whatever. 12 So yes, I'm honored to support this 13 resolution. But ladies and gentlemen, racism 14 is still alive today. And we black Hispanics, 15 I could tell you about it. Because blacks 16 know they're black, and Hispanic, white 17 Hispanics know they're Hispanic. But we are 18 black and we are Hispanic. So what are we? 19 Go to Puerto Rico and see the 20 governor's cabinet, find out how many blacks 21 are there. Go to Puerto Rico and see how many 22 black governors have been there. Go to Puerto 23 Rico and see what's happening there. 24 Ah, what are you doing, you're 25 putting down your people? No, I'm speaking

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(518) 371-8910 1 the truth here, that racism is alive today. 2 Martin Luther King marched, we're glad, and he 3 achieved something. And those people that 4 marched achieved a whole lot of things for us. 5 But we are still suffering, in New York, in 6 Puerto Rico, all over the world, racism 7 intact. 8 So, ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud 9 to support this. But I'm going to end by 10 saying, Mr. President, it's not over yet. We 11 have a long way to go. My blood brothers and 12 my Puerto Rican and Hispanic friends, 13 remember, I'm watching. 14 God bless you all, ladies and 15 gentlemen, for your patience, for your 16 listening to me. But I'm venting today. 17 Today, during the day, I'm going to vent. 18 Today, not only now, later on, I'm going to 19 continue venting. Because today I'm saying it 20 all. And tomorrow the press going to call me 21 all kind of names. But today you shall hear 22 from me again. 23 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you 24 very much. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator. 2 Senator Montgomery. 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I rise to thank the sponsors of 6 this resolution, both Senator Larkin -- I 7 thank you for not only the resolution, but the 8 role that you played and the history that you 9 share. And certainly it really is an amazing 10 thing to be part of the generation that 11 actually has benefited, through the fact 12 that -- in the fact that we now have a Senator 13 who was a direct beneficiary of the march in 14 Selma. 15 And let me say that Senator 16 Cousins, you know, it was -- I think this 17 particular incident was about a hundred years 18 from the time that the emancipation was 19 signed, and so there was one hundred years 20 between the time that Africans in this country 21 were freed from slavery. And certainly that 22 was after a very bloody and vicious civil war 23 in our country. And this particular incident 24 was also part of a very violent and vicious 25 time, civil war, in our country.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I just am reminded that these 2 incidents in our history should not be 3 forgotten. And in fact I think it's important 4 for the young people that we have here and the 5 young people across our state should be very 6 much aware that we have been free less time 7 than we were in slavery as Africans in this 8 country. 9 So these marches are important, and 10 it is indeed important that all Americans have 11 participated in each of those incidents, both 12 in terms of the civil war as well as the civil 13 rights struggle. 14 And I hope that, as Senator Larkin 15 has indicated -- and Senator Cousins is living 16 with the benefits of those incidents we should 17 be able to pass on to young people in our 18 state across the state in every community and 19 every school. And I'm really very saddened by 20 the fact that we have tried to institute as 21 part of our state education system means by 22 which we could pass on this information as 23 part of the regular curriculum and somehow 24 we've not been successful in doing that. 25 So most African-American young

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(518) 371-8910 1 people in this state don't realize that one of 2 our heroes, the estate of one of our heroes, 3 sits in the middle of Senator Nozzolio's 4 district. They probably have never taken that 5 trip to see Harriet Tubman's homestead. And 6 they also don't know that across the street 7 from her homestead is the home of Seward, who 8 was an abolitionist, and he was white and in 9 fact was responsible for her being able to 10 have that homestead. 11 And so our people cross each other 12 in many different ways. Our history is rich. 13 Africans, African-Americans are very much a 14 part of that history. And I am sad that we do 15 not acknowledge that fact in every way that it 16 makes -- it is important, especially to young 17 people. 18 So I hope, and I hope, Senator 19 Larkin -- and I would like to be able to not 20 only have my name on this resolution, but I 21 would like to work with you as you try to 22 figure out ways we can make this incident and 23 the civil rights movement, the people who were 24 involved in it, the people who died in order 25 to make it possible for me to be able to stand

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(518) 371-8910 1 here and talk to you, and for us to talk to 2 each other -- I want our young people to have 3 that understanding as part of the American 4 dream, the American history. 5 And so I really, really appreciate 6 and I join you in celebrating a moment in 7 history that certainly we can be proud of the 8 reason that it happened, but we can be proud 9 of the people who were involved to make it 10 happen and to bring us to this point. 11 And so thank you again, 12 Mr. President. I hope that I can have my name 13 associated with this resolution. And I hope 14 that all of us can be part of it, because it 15 is a celebration of American history. It's 16 not black history, it's not white history, 17 it's not redneck history, it's American 18 history. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 21 you, Senator. I believe it is the sponsor's 22 intent to open up the resolution. 23 Senator Huntley. 24 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Yes, 25 Mr. President. I rise to support the

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(518) 371-8910 1 resolution. 2 I would also like to say, listening 3 to Senator Adams, it brought back a lot of 4 memories. I have participated, I could say, 5 in more than half the marches for civil rights 6 in this country. I have traveled to Selma, 7 once my husband and I together and then once 8 with our children after we had children. 9 And I've always been a believer in 10 America for everyone. It's not about black 11 America, it's about America. And I claim my 12 American background. People will say to 13 you -- I'm Afro-American, yes, but I'm 14 American. I was born here. All of my 15 parents, my grandfather, my father, my two 16 adult sons, who are in the armed forces -- my 17 son served at Desert Storm. And I am a true 18 American. 19 And I just want to let you know how 20 racism is still very much alive. Because my 21 granddaughter in junior high school said to me 22 one day, she says, "Grandma, why in the 23 schools do they not talk about black history? 24 Why do they not talk about Martin Luther King 25 and what his achievements were?" They do in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Afro-American schools, but if it's not the 2 Afro-American schools, they don't talk about 3 it at all. 4 So what I did, two years ago, I 5 traveled to many schools in my district who 6 were predominantly white, and I spoke to 7 parents, I spoke to students. And I find it's 8 not the students that are the problem. The 9 students will all come together. I have great 10 relationships with all kinds of students 11 regardless of their ethnic background. It's 12 the adults that create problems. 13 And I think until adults can 14 realize that we're all in this country 15 together, we're all Americans -- I have the 16 same rights as anyone else, and I would never 17 let myself be denied of those, or my children. 18 So I have fought for rights, not only for 19 Afro-Americans but for people in general. 20 And I want to support the 21 resolution. And I hope people will remember 22 that just because we talk about Martin Luther 23 King or about going to Selma -- that's 24 important, but we're still in a time where it 25 is not fair for minorities. We have not

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(518) 371-8910 1 reached that peak that Martin Luther King 2 expected us to. 3 I thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 5 you. 6 Senator Larkin, to close. 7 SENATOR LARKIN: Mr. President, 8 thank you. And I thank everybody who has 9 contributed to these comments today. 10 What I'd like to do, Mr. President, 11 is open it up to those who would like to be a 12 part of this resolution. 13 And I again thank Senator Cousins 14 for her cooperation on this issue that I think 15 is something that we as Americans should not 16 just talk about it, we ought to do something 17 about it. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 19 you. 20 Senator Skelos, may we open the 21 resolution to all the members? 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 if we could put everybody on the resolution, 24 all the members. If anybody wishes not to 25 cosponsor it, they should notify the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 2 Secretary is so directed. 3 The question is on the resolution. 4 All in favor signify by saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 7 Opposed, nay. 8 (No response.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 10 resolution is adopted. 11 Senator Robach, you're recognized 12 on the previous resolution. 13 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Mr. 14 President, thank you. I am sorry that I was 15 not in the chamber when the resolution was 16 read on hepatitis C. 17 But I did want to comment very 18 briefly that it is important that we take this 19 time out as a state as we deal with a lot of 20 things in healthcare, it's certainly important 21 that we do this one as well. Hepatitis C is 22 the most common chronic bloodborne disease, 23 and one that affects a lot of people not only 24 in the United States but here in New York. 25 And I want to just take a moment to

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(518) 371-8910 1 say that we do have the advocates here from 2 Status C Unknown, which are a group of people 3 that work towards not only shedding more light 4 but making sure that there's adequate 5 treatment and that we are really doing all we 6 can to address this blood disease that, due to 7 its nature, a lot of people don't know about 8 until it really affects them in the later 9 stages of their liver. 10 And I did want to thank them 11 publicly for their work as well and hopefully, 12 with this resolution and other efforts, as we 13 continue to get our hands around a lot of 14 healthcare issues, work to a day where we're 15 treating this and hopefully decreasing the 16 numbers of people with hepatitis C here in 17 New York. 18 Thank you, Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 20 you, Senator Robach. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 there's a Resolution 794 at the desk, by 24 Senator Libous. If we could have the title 25 read and move for its immediate adoption.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 4 Libous, Legislative Resolution Number 794, 5 honoring Helen Corino Ferris upon the occasion 6 of celebrating her 100th birthday on March 2, 7 2007. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 9 question is on the resolution. All in favor 10 signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye.") 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 13 Opposed, nay. 14 (No response.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 16 resolution is adopted. 17 Senator Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could just 19 stand at ease for one moment. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 21 Bruno. 22 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, I 23 believe I have a resolution at the desk 24 numbered 808. I would ask that the title be 25 read and move for its immediate adoption.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno, 4 Legislative Resolution Number 808, urging the 5 New York State Congressional delegation to 6 oppose President George W. Bush's federal 7 fiscal year 2008 budget proposal relating to 8 healthcare. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 10 Bruno. 11 SENATOR BRUNO: Colleagues, 12 Mr. President, I want you to just focus for a 13 couple of minutes on this resolution. 14 We don't have to go through all 15 that it contains. The bottom line is that 16 healthcare in New York State is under siege. 17 It's under siege out of the White House, where 18 the proposals, if they are enacted into law, 19 will take something in the neighborhood of 20 $100 billion out of the healthcare delivery 21 system over the next five years in the United 22 States, about $2.8 billion in New York State. 23 Now, you couple that with the 24 Governor's proposal that is before us in the 25 budget, that state dollars takes out

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(518) 371-8910 1 approximately $1.3 billion. Coupled with 2 Washington, unrelated to the President's cuts, 3 adds potentially another $1.3 billion. 4 So you're talking $2.6 billion, the 5 federal cuts, you're talking the results of 6 the Berger Commission, which, when fully 7 impacted, can be a quarter of a billion to a 8 billion out of healthcare delivery. 9 Now, what is more important in 10 people's lives -- your lives, your family's 11 lives, your children, your neighbors -- than 12 quality, affordable, accessible healthcare? 13 Education is important, and this 14 Governor highlights its importance. He 15 highlights its importance by breaking a record 16 in spending for education, $7 billion over the 17 next four years, $1.4 billion this year. And 18 we applaud that, even though he has the 19 distribution wrong. And we're going to try 20 and help correct that as we go forward. 21 But the fact of the matter is you 22 don't take money out of healthcare and put it 23 into education. You don't take money out of 24 healthcare and put it in other places. Not 25 when you affect nursing homes, hospitals, home

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(518) 371-8910 1 care, prescription drugs, hundreds of millions 2 of dollars. Do you know of any senior, anyone 3 that needs prescription drugs that can do 4 without them? Presently they trade, and have 5 to, paying for their prescriptions, paying 6 their rents, paying for food. 7 So we have a challenge before us. 8 So this resolution, Mr. President, we're 9 forwarding to Washington. I'm going to join a 10 delegation of colleagues, with the Speaker, 11 with many of the principals in New York State 12 tonight and tomorrow in Washington, where 13 we're going to meet with a combined delegation 14 of all of our Congressional representatives. 15 This is not political. It's not 16 Democrat, it's not Republican, it's not any 17 other party. This is dealing with what is 18 right. And we're going to be asking you, as 19 we progress with this budget and with the 20 negotiations, to stand up and be counted as to 21 how you feel about delivering affordable, 22 accessible healthcare to your constituents, 23 your constituents throughout this state. 24 And I respect this Governor. He is 25 a mover and he's a shaker and he's aggressive

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(518) 371-8910 1 and helps get things done. And we have 2 partnered with him, and we're going to partner 3 again later today in getting some critically 4 important legislation done for the people of 5 this state. 6 But, colleagues, there is nothing 7 more important that we can address in this 8 chamber as we go forward in our budget than 9 delivering proper healthcare for you, your 10 families, for your constituents. So I would 11 respectfully ask anyone that would like to 12 join this resolution, while we try and 13 motivate people in Washington, especially out 14 of the White House, to be doing the right 15 things for the people of this state. 16 Because I know when we're done with 17 our budget you will join with us and with the 18 Speaker and Assembly, and hopefully the 19 Governor, in doing the right thing for the 20 people of this state in getting proper 21 healthcare for themselves and their children 22 and everyone else that's involved. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 25 Skelos.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 And I thank Senator Bruno for 4 bringing this resolution to the floor today. 5 And it's critically important that 6 we work on a bipartisan basis to see that the 7 cuts eliminated from Washington but also the 8 cuts -- and I underline the word "cuts" -- are 9 eliminated to protect healthcare in New York 10 State but also to protect many of the 11 wonderful individuals who provide healthcare 12 services in New York State. 13 This past week I had the 14 opportunity to meet with a number of the 15 healthcare providers within my district, and 16 they brought to my attention that actually the 17 healthcare cuts that have been proposed by the 18 Bush administration are actually not as bad to 19 our hospitals -- well, they're none of the 20 nursing homes, but to our hospitals in my 21 district as what Governor Spitzer has 22 proposed. That his cuts in some instances are 23 twice what the Bush administration has 24 proposed. 25 And I'll just mention one of my

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(518) 371-8910 1 hospitals, Long Beach Medical Center, that 2 services a diverse community. They would 3 lose, under Governor Spitzer's proposal, over 4 1 percent -- and he keeps talk about 5 1 percent -- to the hospital, and to the 6 nursing home, they would lose 8 percent, and 7 he keeps talking about 1 percent. 8 Now, what has this hospital done to 9 turn its fiscal situation around? They have 10 eliminated 66 positions. There's within no 11 wage increase for the rank-and-file worker for 12 two years, and there's been no salary increase 13 for managers for three years. And they've 14 frozen their pension plan effective 15 December 31, 2006, so that they can end up 16 with an approximately $58,000 budget surplus 17 after being in deficit by over $4 million 18 several years ago, in 2005. 19 So when you combine the proposed 20 cuts from Washington and you combine and add 21 to that the proposed cuts to Governor Spitzer, 22 it's going to be no more increases for our 23 healthcare workers at Long Beach Hospital and 24 many of the other hospitals and nursing homes 25 throughout my district, throughout Long

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(518) 371-8910 1 Island. 2 But I think it's also important to 3 note -- and I was listening very carefully to 4 what Senator Adams was saying about everybody 5 at times walking the walk together. Well, you 6 know what? I don't agree with him all time, 7 but I agree with Reverend Sharpton and 8 Reverend Jackson that these healthcare cuts 9 would particularly in a negative way impact 10 the minority community throughout New York 11 State, whether it's providing services or 12 whether it's helping those who work within the 13 hospitals. 14 So I'm ready to walk the walk with 15 Reverend Jackson when it comes to these types 16 of healthcare cuts to the minority community. 17 But I would ask my friends on the other side 18 of the aisle to stand up with Reverend 19 Jackson, to stand up with Reverend Sharpton 20 and deplore, deplore the cuts that have been 21 proposed by Governor Spitzer. 22 Speak up. It's about all of our 23 constituencies. It's not about being an 24 appendage to one individual, it's about 25 representing your community. It's about

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(518) 371-8910 1 representing your constituents and speaking 2 out, just as we have in the past with Governor 3 Pataki. When he was wrong, we stood up as 4 Republicans and overrode his vetoes. We had 5 the courage to do it. 6 So I ask my friends, number one, 7 support this resolution. But now you have to 8 go the next step and help us fight the cuts 9 that Governor Spitzer -- and they're cuts, 10 they're not reform -- the cuts that Governor 11 Spitzer has proposed, whether it's Long Beach 12 Medical Center in my district, whether it's 13 St. Francis Hospital, which is premier heart 14 surgery, in Senator Johnson's district, 15 throughout the state. 16 Join us. Join us and fight these 17 horrible cuts. 18 (Applause.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 20 question is on the resolution. All in favor 21 signify by saying aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 24 Opposed, nay. 25 (No response.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 2 resolution is adopted. 3 Senator Bruno. 4 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 5 can we ask for an immediate meeting of the 6 Finance Committee in the Majority Conference 7 Room. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: There 9 will be an immediate meeting of the Finance 10 Committee in the Majority Conference Room. 11 Senator Skelos, is it the intent to 12 open the resolution to the members? 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 14 think we'll stand at ease now. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 16 Senate is at ease. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, I'm sorry, 18 Mr. President, I didn't hear that. Anybody 19 who wishes not to sponsor the resolution, they 20 should notify the desk. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 22 resolution will be opened up to the members of 23 the Senate. If you choose not to be on the 24 resolution, please indicate so to the desk. 25 Thank you. The Senate will stand

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(518) 371-8910 1 at ease. 2 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 3 ease at 12:19 p.m.) 4 Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at 5 12:36 p.m.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 7 Senate will come to order. 8 Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 10 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 11 of the calendar. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 13 Secretary will read the noncontroversial 14 reading of the calendar. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 25, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 163, an act 17 to amend the Penal Law. 18 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside, 19 please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: It 21 shall be laid aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 163, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 1143, an 24 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 25 relation to statements.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 187, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 1651, an 13 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 14 identity theft. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 16 the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect on the first of 19 November. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 25 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 192, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 3 1829A, an act to amend the Penal Law, in 4 relation to identity theft and -- 5 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 7 bill is laid aside. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 199, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 2453, an 10 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 11 relation to authorizing peace officers. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 217, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 434, an 24 act to amend the Correction Law, in relation 25 to requiring sex offenders to verify.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 4 act shall take effect on the first of January. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 224, by Member of the Assembly Silver, 13 Assembly Print Number 3736A, an act to amend 14 the Executive Law, in relation to 15 establishing. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: Lay it aside. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Lay it 18 aside. 19 Senator Skelos, that completes the 20 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 the Finance Committee was in session and a 24 couple of members wanted to vote no on 25 Calendar Number 199.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'll move to reconsider the vote by 2 which the bill was passed in order for them to 3 vote. We're not opening up debate, just for 4 those members to indicate their vote. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 6 Secretary will call the roll on 7 reconsideration. 8 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 9 Calendar Number 199, Senate Print 2453. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 12 Secretary will announce the results. 13 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 14 the negative on Calendar Number 199 are 15 Senators Adams, DeFrancisco, Dilan, Duane, 16 Fuschillo, Griffo, Hannon, Hassell-Thompson, 17 Huntley, C. Johnson, L. Krueger, Marcellino, 18 Montgomery, Morahan, Parker, Skelos, 19 Stewart-Cousins and Young. 20 Ayes, 42. Nays, 18. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Skelos. 24 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 25 if we could go to the controversial reading of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the calendar. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 3 Secretary will ring the bell for the 4 controversial calendar. 5 Senator Nozzolio. 6 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President, 7 there's a report of the Senate Finance 8 Committee at the desk. If we could have it 9 read at this time. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Return 11 to reports of standing committees. 12 The Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson, 14 from the Committee on Finance, reports the 15 following nomination. 16 As Secretary of State, Lorraine 17 Cortes-Vazquez, of the Bronx. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 19 Johnson, to move the nomination. 20 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 21 nomination. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 23 Klein. 24 SENATOR KLEIN: I rise today in 25 support of the nomination of Lorraine

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(518) 371-8910 1 Cortes-Vazquez as our next Secretary of State. 2 I've had the privilege of knowing 3 Lorraine for many years. And you'll never 4 find someone who's more dedicated towards the 5 public good and towards public service. Every 6 time she goes into the private sector, she 7 comes back again, because I always believe 8 that her true calling is public service. 9 She has a tremendous resume. She 10 was vice president of government and public 11 affairs for Cablevision, she was president of 12 the Hispanic Federation, chief of staff to 13 Assemblymember Roberto Ramirez, executive 14 director of ASPIRA, and she was bureau chief 15 at the New York City Department for the Aging. 16 She's a graduate of New York 17 schools -- an MPA degree from NYU, a 18 psychology degree from Hunter College, and her 19 associate's degree from the Borough of 20 Manhattan College. 21 She's someone who I think, because 22 of her background and really because of her 23 compassion and her ability to work with 24 people, will make a great Secretary of State. 25 I wholeheartedly support the nomination.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 2 Hassell-Thompson. 3 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 4 you, Mr. President. 5 I rise to second the nomination of 6 Ms. Cortes-Vazquez. I had the privilege of 7 voting for her for Regent. And it gives me 8 great pleasure to have this opportunity to 9 second her nomination today as someone who is 10 a very hardworking woman and who has some 11 goals and achievements, achievements behind 12 her and goals before her, that I think will 13 augur well for the State of New York. 14 Congratulation, Lorraine. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 16 Adams. 17 SENATOR ADAMS: I also rise in 18 support of Secretary of State Lorraine 19 Cortes-Vazquez. 20 As we know, the Secretary of State 21 is one of the oldest governmental agencies in 22 New York State. And she will be responsible 23 for regulating a number of businesses and 24 professions. I think that although it's 25 impressive and important that she was the

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(518) 371-8910 1 president of government and public affairs at 2 Cablevision, that she was the former chief of 3 staff of Assemblyman Ramirez and executive 4 director of ASPIRA, director of the bureau of 5 programs, New York City Department of Aging, 6 her graduate degrees -- all of those things 7 are impressive, particularly her master's at 8 NYU. 9 But what I am impressed with, 10 particularly after meeting and interacting 11 with her, is her Ph.D. in life. Her Ph.D. in 12 life. She is able to touch real people for 13 real issues and real solutions, and I think 14 that's important. 15 Government, in my opinion, must be 16 user-friendly. You know, we sit here and we 17 walk inside these halls and we get used to it. 18 But to countless numbers of New Yorkers, 19 walking in this place, walking in the 20 courtroom, walking in a real estate agency, it 21 is intimidating and it is frightening. And 22 unless government becomes user-friendly to our 23 residents, then it's useless. 24 And I think that my friend, our new 25 Secretary of State, she is an asset to the

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(518) 371-8910 1 greatest race alive, and that's the human 2 race. 3 Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 5 Parker. 6 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President, 7 on the nominee. 8 I, like the speakers before me, 9 have a great respect for Lorraine 10 Cortes-Vazquez's resume. It's extremely 11 impressive. 12 I wanted to congratulate both the 13 Governor on an excellent appointment to 14 Secretary of State but also congratulate her 15 on her continuing service and really 16 congratulate the people of the State of 17 New York, because in Lorraine we're getting 18 somebody who has been toiling in the vineyards 19 for many years. 20 She is now getting a promotion in 21 her public service. She has done a great deal 22 to help the people of the State of New York in 23 many capacities, both in government and the 24 nonprofit area and in corporate America. And 25 there's nobody more suited for this position

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(518) 371-8910 1 and brings more to the job in terms of getting 2 results than Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez. 3 And I want to congratulate her, and 4 I will be voting in the affirmative on her 5 nomination. 6 Thank you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 8 you. 9 Senator Thompson. 10 SENATOR THOMPSON: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. 12 I rise in support of the new 13 Secretary of State. I think it's an awesome 14 opportunity. This is an entity that 15 definitely needs some continuation and 16 development and also some reform. 17 I think she comes in at a time when 18 I believe the department could be more helpful 19 with nonprofit organizations, expediting that 20 process, offering technical support and 21 assistance to many of the nonprofits in the 22 Western New York community. 23 Also, a couple of things that I'd 24 like to say that I think that the agency can 25 do as well, and I believe she's qualified to

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(518) 371-8910 1 help in those areas. One is in the grants 2 division, helping with waterfront development, 3 coastal development in the Buffalo/Niagara 4 Falls region, and also getting up to Western 5 New York more often. 6 Recently we had, from the other 7 side of the aisle, a friend of mine, Chris 8 Jacobs, who was the Secretary of State. His 9 office was right next door to our new office. 10 And he provided leadership in upstate 11 New York. 12 And also being someone that's 13 Latina, we don't have -- we only have one 14 Hispanic or Latino or Latina who is elected to 15 public office in Western New York, and I think 16 it would be an inspiration if she can come up 17 more often and share some of her ideas and 18 experiences in this very high-profile 19 leadership capacity. 20 But I do believe that this office 21 can do more for community development, 22 business development, and nonprofit 23 development. And I look forward to working 24 with our new Secretary of State. 25 Thank you. And I support her

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(518) 371-8910 1 nomination. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 3 you. 4 Senator Diaz. 5 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 Today is a glorious occasion for 8 the Hispanic community. Today is the day that 9 the Lord has made for the Puerto Rican 10 community. We are about to anoint a woman, a 11 Puerto Rican woman, by the name Lorraine 12 Cortes-Vazquez. 13 That is something heavy. That's 14 something that carries weight. Because 15 Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez is not only a Puerto 16 Rican Hispanic woman, she's one of the first 17 appointments this Governor, Eliot Spitzer, 18 made, recognizing the values in our community. 19 So I would like to express my 20 appreciation to Governor Eliot Spitzer for the 21 appointment of Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez. 22 But, ladies and gentlemen, a 23 previous speaker has said that Lorraine was 24 the executive director of ASPIRA, she directed 25 the Hispanic Federation, she used to work in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the New York City Aging Department. Her 2 husband is a good friend, Luis Vazquez. 3 Today, to see the importance of 4 this appointment for our community, we have 5 Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo here. We have my 6 son, Assemblymember Ruben Diaz, Jr. We have 7 up there, with Lorraine, we have our leader in 8 the Bronx, Assemblymember Jose Rivera, and 9 Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera. That's to let you 10 know how important this is for our community. 11 But titles, titles mean nothing 12 when they go to people's heads. Because I 13 know many people with a lot of titles. Even I 14 know Senators that you cannot even talk to 15 them, because titles go to people's head. 16 But Lorraine Cortes has so many 17 titles. Lorraine Cortes has so many 18 positions. And one thing that I could tell 19 you about Lorraine Cortes, that she's always 20 the same, down to earth. No matter how many 21 titles, no matter how many positions. 22 Executive director, vice president of 23 Cablevision -- I'm fighting against 24 Cablevision. When the -- when the -- when I 25 see Lorraine, she's always respectful, always

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(518) 371-8910 1 there, always caring, always there. 2 Lorraine Cortes [in Spanish]. 3 Lorraine Cortes, you are it. Eliot Spitzer 4 has made one good one. 5 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Just one? 6 SENATOR DIAZ: Don't get me 7 going, please. 8 Eliot Spitzer has made one good 9 appointment. The best one that he has made is 10 in Lorraine Cortes. And this Democratic 11 Senator from the 32nd Senatorial District, 12 where she live -- where she live, in the 32nd 13 Senatorial District -- I am proud to say that 14 I am the Senator representing the 32nd 15 Senatorial District where the New York State 16 Secretary, Secretary of New York State 17 resides. 18 And I am so proud to be here, 19 Lorraine. I love you, I love your husband, I 20 love Eliot Spitzer for appointing you. 21 I'm voting yes. 22 (Laughter.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 24 we are proud with you. 25 Senator Stewart-Cousins.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: I 2 don't know what to say after that. 3 Que viva, Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez. 4 (Cheers; applause.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 6 question is on the nomination of Lorraine 7 Cortes-Vazquez as Secretary of State. All in 8 favor signify by saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye.") 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 11 Opposed, nay. 12 (No response.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 14 Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez is hereby confirmed as 15 Secretary of State. 16 (Extended applause.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: On 18 behalf of Senator Bruno and all the members of 19 the Senate, please accept our congratulations 20 and best wishes as you assume the new duties 21 of your office on behalf of the people of 22 New York State. Congratulations. Best to 23 your family. 24 Senator Nozzolio. 25 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 can we go to the reading of the controversial 2 calendar. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 25, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 163, an act 7 to amend the Penal Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 9 Montgomery. 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank 11 you, Mr. President. Would Senator Alesi yield 12 to a question, a clarification question? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 14 Alesi, will you yield to a question? 15 SENATOR ALESI: Yes, 16 Mr. President, I'd be happy to yield. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 18 Alesi will yield, Senator Montgomery. 19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 20 Mr. President, through you. 21 I'd like to ask Senator Alesi, it's 22 my understanding from reading what the 23 existing law is, it says a person is guilty of 24 false personation when, after being informed 25 of the consequences of the act, he or she

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(518) 371-8910 1 knowingly misrepresented his or her identity 2 to a police officer. Currently, this offense 3 is a B misdemeanor. 4 So my question, Senator Alesi, is 5 how does your legislation change the existing 6 law that I just read? 7 SENATOR ALESI: Mr. President, 8 through you, if I may, would the Senator like 9 an explanation before the Senator asks a 10 question directly on the bill? Or would the 11 Senator like me to just the question? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 13 Montgomery, would you prefer an explanation? 14 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 15 Mr. President. I was intending to ask that. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 17 Alesi, an explanation has been asked for on 18 the bill. 19 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 This bill does two things. It 22 recognizes the danger of providing false 23 information when it comes to someone 24 identifying themselves to a police officer, 25 recognizes the danger to society. And as a

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(518) 371-8910 1 result of that, it increases the penalties for 2 doing that. 3 It also removes the loophole, which 4 is a requirement currently in law that says a 5 police officer must inform the person who is 6 being asked for their identification that a 7 false statement could land them in trouble. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 9 Montgomery. 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: So, 11 Mr. President, through you, it's then the 12 intent of the sponsor, Senator Alesi, to in 13 fact remove the requirement that when a police 14 officer approaches a person and that person 15 may or may not misidentify himself or herself, 16 the officer is required to inform that person 17 that there are consequences for 18 misrepresenting themselves and, in the event 19 that they do so, it is currently a 20 B misdemeanor. So it's a misdemeanor. 21 Is that what the intent of this 22 legislation is? In other words, the police 23 officer no longer would be required to say to 24 that person, If you give me a false name, 25 there will be consequences?

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 2 Alesi. 3 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 In my explanation I thought I was 6 clear when I said that it did remove the 7 loophole that exists in the existing 8 legislation, which requires a police officer 9 to inform someone that if they give false 10 information as far as their identity, that 11 there would be consequences. 12 So it is my intent to remove that 13 loophole, hopefully that it will protect those 14 people that would be victimized by anybody who 15 is trying to give false information, for 16 whatever nefarious reason they might be trying 17 to do it for. 18 The second part of this bill, in 19 response to the Senator's overall question as 20 to what the bill does, is it does increase the 21 penalties from a B misdemeanor to an A 22 misdemeanor. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 24 Senator Alesi. 25 Mr. President, briefly on the bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 2 Montgomery, on the bill. 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. I note 4 that Senator Alesi has introduced this bill in 5 prior years, and I have opposed it in the 6 past, will continue to, along with several 7 other of my colleagues. 8 I just want to make this comment on 9 the bill. Senator Alesi talks about removing 10 a loophole and he also talks about a victim, 11 protecting a victim. And I'm unable to 12 associate that with this legislation. Who is 13 being victimized? 14 I don't see why it's not convenient 15 or it somehow creates a safety issue for the 16 police officer who stops a person. Especially 17 since there are so many stops in my district, 18 and in New York City generally, of young 19 people, especially young African -- well, 20 young men of color, let me just say that, are 21 stopped frequently by the police. 22 So it seems to me that it's not an 23 imposition on the police officer to say to a 24 young person, when they are stopped: Listen, 25 if you give me a false name, if you give me

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(518) 371-8910 1 the wrong information, it is a misdemeanor, so 2 you need to tell me the truth. 3 Why wouldn't the police want to say 4 that? What is the problem with the police 5 having to give that kind of warning to a 6 person that they stop? And especially since 7 they stop so many people in my district and in 8 my part of the state. 9 So I have to oppose this. I also 10 am not clear why and what is the rationale for 11 raising it from a B misdemeanor to an 12 A misdemeanor. 13 So this really is very problematic 14 for me. It troubles me that we continue to 15 bring forward these kinds of bills which make 16 it possible for, one, many more consequences 17 of contact with police by certain people and, 18 two, to increase the penalties. 19 So this is a pattern. I continue 20 to oppose this way of addressing issues in our 21 cities and our state. And I'm going to vote 22 no on this legislation. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 25 chair recognizes Senator Adams.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR ADAMS: In 2002 we had 2 97,000 UF-250s that took place in New York 3 City. That is the role of the police officer, 4 to stop someone and question them when they 5 believe the person has committed some type of 6 criminal behavior. In 2006 we had over 7 500,000. Eighty-five percent of those who 8 were stopped were either black or Hispanic. 9 One of the important tools that we 10 can give a police officer to use in his 11 arsenal to fight crime is the Miranda warning. 12 It tells the person who's about to be arrested 13 what are his requirements and what he or she 14 can or cannot do. We are empowering police 15 officers by telling them that it is a crime to 16 falsely impersonate yourself or give 17 misinformation. We are hampering police by 18 not allowing or requiring them to let that 19 person know it's a crime. 20 When you have over 500,000 stop, 21 question and frisks of young people -- many of 22 them are young people -- and don't give them 23 the opportunity to know before, you commit a 24 crime you should tell us the truth, that 25 allows them the opportunity to think of their

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(518) 371-8910 1 behavior. 2 Too many of our young people across 3 the country, they receive their education of 4 law enforcement from Hill Street Blues 101, 5 not from the reality of policing. 6 This is the wrong direction to go. 7 I don't know any men and women in law 8 enforcement who would believe that in any way 9 we are empowering them. I understand the 10 spirit of my colleague. I understand his 11 desires. But when you get down to the nitty 12 gritty 101 of policing, nothing would hamper 13 the ability of an officer to investigate, to 14 implement, or to administer a law by not being 15 able to tell a person it is against the law 16 not to lie to a police officer in the area of 17 their identity. 18 So we cannot cloak and disguise our 19 desire to properly carry out the crime 20 enforcement by not using some of the basic 21 principles of the Miranda warning that is 22 currently in place, that we should also have 23 it when it comes down to explaining to a 24 person you cannot lie about your identity. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Connor. 2 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 Looking over the sheets, it looks 5 like I may have voted for this bill in 2005 6 and 2006. But after I heard Senator 7 Montgomery's comments and I heard the 8 sponsor's explanation, and reinforced by 9 Senator Adams said, I'm going to change my 10 mind. And let me tell you why. 11 You know, there was a move after 12 9/11, renewed, to have everybody carry a 13 national identity card. And civil 14 libertarians get really upset by that. Some 15 of them do. But I remember Professor 16 Dershowitz, who certainly is not a 17 pro-prosecution reputation, writing an oped 18 saying, look, in this country you have a lot 19 of rights. You have a right to privacy, you 20 have a right to due process and so on, but 21 there is no right to anonymity. There is no 22 right to anonymity. It's probably what led me 23 to, without looking at it closely, vote for 24 this bill in the past. 25 But I am concerned because the

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(518) 371-8910 1 reality is grownups, unless they're hardened 2 criminals or are wanted by the law, are going 3 to give their correct name to a police 4 officer. It's kids. It's kids who -- maybe a 5 19-year-old is worried that, gee -- I don't 6 know, I could see my kid saying, I don't want 7 to give my right name, they'll know who my dad 8 is and, you know, it might be embarrassing to 9 him because I'm cutting up with my friends on 10 the street corner. 11 Kids would casually give a false 12 name. A real wise guy might say his name is 13 Michael Mouse. You know? Now, not a polite 14 thing to do to a police officer, but we're not 15 talking about circumstances where the police 16 officer is necessarily in danger because he's 17 getting an answer like that. We're not 18 talking about circumstances where a police 19 officer has to act really quickly. 20 I mean, look, if he sees a real 21 crime taking place, he's going to arrest the 22 person and not worry about asking the person's 23 name until they're in cuffs and on their way 24 to the station house, or maybe in the station 25 house.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So we're not talking about those 2 circumstances where the police officer has to 3 be accommodated in the need to do things 4 quickly and urgently. You know, you don't 5 stop a bank robber and say, "What's your 6 name?" You disarm them, you cuff them, put 7 them in transport. You know, later on he's 8 asked his name, usually when he's being 9 printed. 10 So we are talking about the more 11 casual encounters that police officers have, 12 usually with young people on the streets. And 13 I don't see any undue burden on the police 14 officer to give the kid a second chance by 15 saying, "Listen, you know, you give me a wrong 16 name, it's a crime. It's a misdemeanor." 17 What's the big deal? Most kids are 18 going to go: "Oh. Well, you know, I was just 19 kidding, my real name is" -- whatever. So I 20 don't see what's wrong with that. And I don't 21 see the need to make it an A misdemeanor with 22 a year in jail. 23 If the person was giving a false 24 name because they're wanted, because there's 25 warrants out, there will be other consequences

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(518) 371-8910 1 beside the B misdemeanor. But if the only 2 thing the person does wrong is persist, for 3 whatever reason -- they don't want their 4 parents or whatever to find out they had any 5 encounter with a police officer -- certainly a 6 B misdemeanor is a pretty stringent penalty 7 for that. Certainly most people would think, 8 gee, you're guilty of a crime for doing that 9 and you committed no other crime? 10 As I say, if you had a really 11 ulterior motive, if the person has an ulterior 12 motive for giving a false name, then there's 13 other consequences. They obviously are 14 wanted, there's going to be further 15 investigations. And that's fine too. 16 So I'm going to vote no this year 17 on this bill, because I don't see the 18 necessity for it, I think it's really unwise 19 and unnecessary. 20 Thank you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 22 Alesi. 23 SENATOR ALESI: On the bill, 24 Mr. President. Thank you. 25 And I appreciate the comments of my

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(518) 371-8910 1 colleagues. Interesting to me that Senator 2 Connor would change his vote when nothing 3 really in society has changed except that 4 those people who are victimized, the ones that 5 really suffer because someone lies about who 6 they are when a police officer confronts them, 7 steals their identification, might be someone 8 who has just perpetrated a crime, someone who 9 might be a sex offender, a predator, any of 10 those things. 11 The other side of the equation, my 12 side of the equation, is recognizing that 13 society is victimized when someone's identity 14 is given falsely. 15 And this stems directly from an 16 instance when a police officer pulled someone 17 over and asked him what his name was, he gave 18 him a false name, someone whose name was 19 similar to his, and that innocent victim had 20 to go through a whole series of trials and 21 tribulations to reinstate himself because 22 someone stole his name, someone used his 23 identity when he was asked by a police 24 officer. 25 We're not talking about police

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(518) 371-8910 1 officers that are just casually coming up to 2 someone and saying, "What's your name?" 3 That's not what this bill is about. This bill 4 recognizes that someone who doesn't tell the 5 truth when they're talking to a police officer 6 has a reason to hide something. 7 All it does is recognize, in many 8 cases, that if the police officer failed to 9 say, "By the way, you're not three years old 10 so you probably know this already, but I'm 11 required to tell you that if you lie to me, 12 there will be consequences" -- it recognizes 13 that there are people that are going to lie. 14 And if he doesn't give that warning, the case 15 gets thrown out. 16 And so in the instance of that 17 person that was a victim of false personation, 18 nobody got punished for it. The liar got off 19 scot-free because the police officer, for 20 whatever reason, didn't say, "If you don't 21 tell the truth, there's consequences." 22 So when we're looking to protect 23 people, when we're looking to talk about 24 victims, what we really need to do is say 25 who's on the other side of the intent to lie,

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(518) 371-8910 1 to misinform when a police officer, who's 2 charged with upholding the law and protecting 3 all of us -- and not just some of your 4 constituents, but all of your constituents -- 5 recognizes that this offers protection to real 6 victims. 7 In the case of Miranda, I don't 8 want to open this up too much, but that 9 happens at the time of arrest. Nobody's 10 dismantling that. That isn't even part of 11 this debate. 12 This debate is simply limited to 13 the fact that if a police officer forgets to 14 tell you that there are consequences for 15 lying, which is something that every honest 16 and decent person knows you don't lie to a 17 police officer, if he forgets to tell you 18 that, then there's no case. That offers 19 protection to real victims. And it just steps 20 up the penalty for those people who do lie. 21 And that's appropriate. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 23 Adams, on the bill. 24 SENATOR ADAMS: On the bill, 25 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Again, I want to say I understand 2 the desire of my colleague in dealing with the 3 issues not to hamper the ability of a law 4 enforcement officer of carrying out his role 5 of public safety. 6 And if we're not careful, when we 7 pass laws in the sterilized environment of the 8 Senate we don't realize the real practical 9 dirty dealings of the real universe of 10 policing. 11 When you look at crimes like 12 disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, you see 13 that they are victimless crimes, they're 14 crimes that take place based on the police 15 officer's encounter with a civilian. So here 16 in this clean, pristine, sterilized 17 environment, it seems unrealistic that the 18 average 17-year-old that carries out behavior 19 that's reflective and indicative of a youth, 20 something that some of us have forgotten how 21 we were. 22 But as one time I remember jumping 23 the turnstile and a cop asking me what was my 24 name, and I said it was John. And if you read 25 the back of the chair, you'll know it's Eric.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We make mistakes as children. If 2 we start the process of taking juvenile 3 behavior and criminalizing it, we're going to 4 create an environment of the criminalization 5 of young people. And when I look at the 6 UF-250s in New York City and see 85 percent of 7 500,000 were black and brown kids, I'm 8 concerned. When I reflect on my 22 years of a 9 police officer, from cop, sergeant, lieutenant 10 and cracking the glass ceiling to become a 11 captain, I'm concerned. 12 So for people to tell me that don't 13 worry about this, the victims are going to be 14 protected, that's a make-believe universe. In 15 the real universe of policing you do not 16 hamper the police by ensuring they verbalize 17 that there's a crime that takes place if you 18 improperly identify yourself. 19 Now, are we concerned about those 20 who steal ID? Yes, we are. That's why we 21 have laws that address those who use 22 fraudulent means to take a person's ID. 23 That's what the law is for. 24 But we cannot continue to push 25 through, because it's politically expedient

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(518) 371-8910 1 and it sounds good, laws will impact on real 2 people. The real people that I speak with 3 every day, the real people that I protected as 4 a police officer, the real people that sent me 5 to Albany to make sure those who have never 6 sat in a patrol car through the midnight 7 hours, those who have never held large number 8 of seminars and forums to educate young people 9 on what they can do if they're stopped by the 10 police. 11 It's not as though a third- or 12 fourth- or fifth- or eighth-grader can sit in 13 a school in this city or state and explain 14 what are the laws and what aren't the laws. 15 It's not as though that we have somehow 16 embraced and taught our young people on what 17 they could and can't do. No, we want to dupe 18 them with a three-card-monte process of saying 19 you made a mistake and now you are a criminal. 20 That's wrong. That's wrong. 21 Because when 16-year-old John makes 22 a mistake and lies to a cop and he's arrested 23 and he becomes 19-year-old Bobby looking for a 24 job, and he sits down to talk to American 25 Express or Smith Barney or Citicorp and he has

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(518) 371-8910 1 to fill out an application that he was 2 arrested, and the only reason he was arrested 3 is because he's a liar and he made a mistake, 4 corporate America is not going to say we 5 understand. You know what? In the eyes of 6 corporate America, he's a criminal. 7 So now Johnny is not employable and 8 now Johnny becomes a real criminal because he 9 can't get a job. 10 Stop it. The criminalization of 11 our good kids for stupid mistakes is the wrong 12 thing to do. There is no one in this chamber 13 that could reflect on their childhood 14 experience and can't say I made an error 15 somewhere. It's a mistake to do that. 16 I respect the spirit of my 17 colleague. I understand his passion of 18 protecting the public. I understand his 19 desire of making sure things are done 20 correctly to empower our police officers. But 21 if he or anyone else wants to take it from the 22 position of just the straight old flatfoot cop 23 that I was, this is not the way to go. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Any 25 other Senator wishing to be heard?

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(518) 371-8910 1 Debate is closed. 2 The Secretary will ring the bell. 3 Read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect on the first of 6 November. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 11 Senator Alesi, to explain his vote. 12 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. I'll try to be brief on this 14 issue. 15 If I could be helpful at all in 16 trying to clear up the confusion on the other 17 side of the aisle, this is about protecting 18 victims. It is appropriate. This isn't 19 singling out somebody for some reason other 20 than recognizing that victims of crime are 21 victims, not people who are simply asked who 22 they are. 23 And because of that, and because of 24 the real world experience that I cited in my 25 remarks earlier, I'm voting yes and I urge my

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(518) 371-8910 1 colleagues to vote yes as well. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 3 Diaz, to explain his vote. 4 SENATOR DIAZ: This is a school 5 here. After listening to the captain, to the 6 master, and his reason and his explanation, 7 whoever votes in favor of that bill needs to 8 be judged by a higher authority. 9 Mr., Senator, Captain Adams, I want 10 to be like you when you I grow up. You 11 convinced me with facts. You convinced me 12 with words better said than anybody else. I 13 voted yes last year. And listening to you on 14 the reasons you're giving me and the way you 15 put it, how could I vote yes? How could 16 anybody vote yes? Mr. Senator Adams, you are 17 it. 18 Thank you very much. I'm voting 19 no. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 21 DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 22 SENATOR DEFRANCISCO: I'll 23 explain how someone could vote yes. 24 Number one, with respect to the 25 Miranda warnings, you don't even have to give

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(518) 371-8910 1 those upon arrest, it's only when you want to 2 question somebody. That is the specific 3 purpose behind it. You can't use a statement 4 unless the Miranda warnings were given. 5 With respect to whether it's good 6 police practice or not, as Senator Adams 7 suggested, to advise the person -- this 8 doesn't say young people, it says person -- 9 that if they lie about their identity they 10 could get in trouble, if that's good police 11 practice, this bill doesn't stop you from 12 doing that if you choose to do that. 13 All this bill says is if you 14 misidentify yourself, a police officer doesn't 15 have to explain that that's wrong. And I 16 think one phrase that Senator Alesi made was 17 pretty clear, that a 3-year-old would know 18 it's wrong. I mean, what are you explaining? 19 What information are you giving to the person? 20 And if they make a mistake, God -- 21 every one of us has made a mistake as a young 22 person. That doesn't mean you're going to be 23 prosecuted, tried and convicted. But it's a 24 worse mistake to have a child or anyone else 25 misidentify himself and then not be able to

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(518) 371-8910 1 have any consequences for it because the 2 police officer failed to identify that this is 3 something wrong. 4 To me, that's a horrible message to 5 a young person. It's better there is a 6 consequence because it is a wrong thing to do, 7 especially to a police officer. 8 So I don't -- that's how I vote 9 yes, Senator Diaz, and I would stand by that 10 rationale. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 13 Adams, to explain his vote. 14 SENATOR ADAMS: With respect to 15 my colleague, some bills don't have to state 16 that they identify young people. When you do 17 an analysis of the interaction between police 18 and civilian, the overwhelming number of 19 interactions are young people, overwhelming. 20 Currently the reason I'm voting the 21 way I am is because the current laws, as they 22 state, if a person commits a crime and the 23 police officer questions him and fails to give 24 him his Miranda, then in the proceeding the 25 fruits of the poisonous tree kicks into place,

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(518) 371-8910 1 where if the police officer questioned this 2 person on dealing with a particular crime and 3 that police officer didn't give the person the 4 Miranda, you endanger the entire charge. So 5 those systems that are put in place is to 6 safeguard the public. 7 If a person commits multiple crimes 8 and the only crime we're talking about is that 9 he lied on his identity, you don't lose those 10 crimes that he committed. That person would 11 still be arrested for those crimes and 12 prosecuted for those crimes. 13 So we're not jeopardizing the 14 process of the criminal justice system by 15 ensuring that that warning is in place 16 beforehand. And that's why I'm voting no. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 18 Adams will be recorded in the negative. 19 Announce the results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 21 the negative on Calendar Number 25 are 22 Senators Adams, Connor, Diaz, Duane, 23 Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, L. Krueger, 24 Montgomery, Parker, Perkins, Sampson, Savino, 25 Serrano, and Stewart-Cousins.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Ayes, 47. Nays, 14. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 6 just a reminder that there is a regularly 7 scheduled meeting of the Crime and Corrections 8 Committee at 1:30 in Room 124. 9 If we could continue with the 10 controversial reading of the calendar. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 192, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 15 1829A, an act to amend the Penal Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 17 C. Johnson. 18 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank 19 you, Mr. President. Will the sponsor, Senator 20 DeFrancisco, yield for a question? 21 SENATOR DEFRANCISCO: Yes. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 23 DeFrancisco, will you yield for a question? 24 SENATOR DEFRANCISCO: Yes. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you. 2 The Senator yields, Senator 3 Johnson. 4 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank 5 you. Through you, Mr. President, I'm seeking 6 a clarification from the sponsor. 7 And will the sponsor clarify the 8 definition in -- the new definition, which is 9 C, which is member of the armed forces? Does 10 that definition include a person who is in the 11 military reserve, whether or not that's on 12 active duty or inactive duty? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 14 DeFrancisco. 15 SENATOR DEFRANCISCO: The intent 16 of the bill is it doesn't differentiate 17 between the two, and both would be included. 18 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: I'm 19 sorry, Mr. President, I didn't hear. 20 SENATOR DEFRANCISCO: The bill 21 doesn't differentiate between active and 22 nonactive, and so the intent of the bill is to 23 include both. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 25 C. Johnson.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank 2 you, Mr. President. I've been clarified. 3 Thank you very much. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 5 you. 6 Is there any Senator wishing to be 7 heard on the bill? 8 Debate is closed. 9 The Secretary will ring the bell. 10 Read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 12 act shall take effect on the first of 13 November. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 224, by Member of the Assembly Silver, 22 Assembly Print Number 3736A, an act to amend 23 the Executive Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 25 Skelos.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Can we now take 2 up Calendar Number 224. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 224, by Member of the Assembly Silver, 7 Assembly Print Number 3736A, an act to amend 8 the Executive Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 10 Winner. 11 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 Today is a major, significant day 14 for the New York State Senate as we pass 15 landmark ethics and lobbying reform 16 legislation as part of a three-way agreement 17 between all the parties, among all the 18 parties. The Assembly has already passed this 19 measure, and the Governor is obviously poised 20 to sign it, as it is his program bill as well. 21 This will impose significant new 22 standards for public officials in New York 23 State, it will strengthen penalties for ethics 24 violations and will establish an independent 25 Public Integrity Panel to enforce ethics and

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(518) 371-8910 1 lobbying laws. 2 Certainly this agreement combines 3 the current State Ethics Commission and the 4 State Lobbying Commission. It certainly would 5 also replace the current Legislative Ethics 6 Committee with a new Legislative Ethics 7 Commission that has a majority of independent 8 members and requires some new disclosure 9 requirements. 10 These are reforms will make state 11 government much more transparent and open. It 12 certainly builds upon the record of this body 13 in the past. For over ten years we have 14 proposed new strict lobbying and ethics 15 disclosure forms and provisions in this house, 16 and we've been out in front on this issue for 17 many, many years. 18 Two years ago we took a major step 19 forward when we passed legislation that I 20 sponsored that implemented certain reforms 21 with regard to procurement lobbying reform. 22 And those were at the time the most sweeping 23 reform and overhaul of the state's lobbying 24 laws in a generation. 25 The reforms that we're doing today

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(518) 371-8910 1 are also very substantial. They would 2 prohibit all gifts from lobbyists and their 3 clients of more than nominal value, including 4 travel, lodging, and other expenses, and 5 broaden the type of lobbying activities that 6 lobbyists must disclose. 7 It would ban virtually all 8 honoraria for statewide officials, agency 9 heads and legislators, and it would prohibit 10 state employees from participating in any 11 personnel decisions or contracting with regard 12 to relatives. 13 It would prevent agency heads from 14 becoming a candidate for any compensated 15 elective office unless they resign or take 16 unpaid leave of office and would prohibit 17 elected government officials and candidates 18 for elective local, state, and federal offices 19 from appearing in taxpayer-funded 20 advertisements. 21 And it would also close the 22 revolving door by prohibiting former 23 legislative employees from directly lobbying 24 the Legislature for two years, and it would 25 expand the revolving-door prohibitions on the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Executive chamber employees to preclude 2 appearances before any state agencies. 3 These reforms and changes are 4 sweeping and they are significant, and it is 5 an example of how, when we work together, we 6 can achieve some great results for the State 7 of New York. And I commend them for your 8 passage. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 10 Diaz. 11 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 Today is a great day for the State 14 of New York. Today we are passing a bill on 15 ethics reform. We all know, we all know that 16 we would not be here today passing this bill 17 if it were not because Governor Eliot Spitzer 18 and the New York media has pushed all of us to 19 do this, especially the five men in the room. 20 Today we have a bill sponsored by 21 Assemblymember Silver and Senator Bruno -- 22 those are the leaders -- Silver, Bruno, the 23 two Minority Leaders and the Governor. 24 Because the press has been pressuring the 25 leaders, today we have a bill that everybody

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(518) 371-8910 1 is taking credit on. We have to understand 2 that we're doing it because of Eliot Spitzer. 3 However, people have told me, Don't 4 speak on the bill, because you're going to do 5 damage, damage to yourself. And other people 6 have told me, Do you have a death wish to 7 speak on this bill? 8 None of them. None of them. But I 9 know that people look at me different than all 10 of you. Because my positions on gay issues, 11 because my position on abortion, because my 12 position on moral issues, people look at me 13 different than some of you. 14 And the way -- as I told my 15 conference yesterday, I have tons of enemies 16 there waiting for me to fall down and to get 17 me. Reporters, community leaders, elected 18 officials, DAs, they're all there, waiting. 19 And I'm not opposing the bill, I'm 20 just going to give you my questions on the 21 bill. Because there are things in this bill 22 that open me, open myself to be a target. And 23 tomorrow you might read the newspaper talking 24 about me all kind of things. Because all it 25 needs is someone to say that you did something

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(518) 371-8910 1 wrong, and the media jumps on you. They write 2 everything about you that they could write, 3 and they don't even care if what is written 4 about you is true or not. And people read. 5 Now, they have some things here 6 that I have been questioning for a month in my 7 conference, and as of today I have no 8 response. One of the sections, called 9 "Honoraria," bans virtually all honoraria for 10 speeches given at a public or private 11 conference, convention, meeting, social event, 12 meal or like gathering by statewide elected 13 official agency heads legislators. Speeches 14 unrelated to our public office are excluded. 15 And I ask this question, the 16 question that I going to ask now, I asked that 17 question in my conference. And you know what? 18 People laughed at me. And the question I 19 asked was this. What happens to people like 20 me that are ministers? When we speak out 21 there and when we have to preach out there, 22 what happens to us? 23 You know the response I got in my 24 conference? One of the members says, "Oh, 25 allow me to collect the offerings." All the

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(518) 371-8910 1 members say, "Oh, I want to be your usher." 2 Funny. It was funny. But all the members 3 asked questions about their speeches out of 4 religion, and that was okay. And that was 5 okay. 6 But when I asked the question, when 7 they say -- the law says speeches unrelated to 8 their public office are excluded, you want to 9 tell me that when I speak -- you know, ladies 10 and gentlemen, I want to tell you, I want the 11 people in my 32nd Senatorial District that are 12 listening or viewing me to know that most of 13 my speeches, when I preach, are based on what 14 I do here. Most of my speeches when I speak 15 in my church are based on the wrong things 16 that are done in this place. 17 So it says speeches unrelated to 18 their public office are excluded. So does 19 that mean if I speak in my church and I talk 20 about the atrocities that sometimes are done 21 in this place or the immoral laws that 22 sometimes pass here, I'm going to be subject 23 to a violation of the ethical law because I'm 24 speaking related to my work? 25 And someone that runs against me or

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(518) 371-8910 1 a reporter could take that and say Senator 2 Diaz been accused of violating the Ethics Law, 3 because it says that I only can speak about 4 things that have nothing to do with my job 5 here. 6 And I'm telling you, all of you 7 today, and the people in my district, the ones 8 that vote for me, it will happen with me. I 9 will violate this law, because I will continue 10 speaking in my speeches about things that 11 happen here. Things that I believe are wrong, 12 when I speak in churches, I will speak about 13 the work that I do. I will violate the law. 14 They're going to -- they're going to -- this 15 is done specific to get me. 16 Let me tell you another thing. 17 Taxpayer-financed advertisements. Prohibit 18 elected government officials and candidates 19 for elective local, state or federal office 20 from appearing in taxpayer-funded 21 advertisements or promotions, including public 22 or community service announcements. Prohibit 23 the use of taxpayer money to pay for such 24 appearance. 25 What that means? I've been asking.

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(518) 371-8910 1 This State Senator -- none of you, but this 2 State Senator, I'm going to speak for 3 myself -- I contribute and I give money to 4 Little Leagues, I give money to social groups, 5 I pay for Family Days in all the housing 6 developments in my district. I pay and I help 7 with something called National Night Out. And 8 you know, most of those groups, when they 9 announce their event, they use my face and 10 they put my name. This law says that if they 11 do that, if they receive money from the public 12 funds, I will be in violation of the ethics 13 law. 14 My son and I -- see, in the County 15 of the Bronx, we have Puerto Rican Day Parade, 16 Dominican Day Parade, every kind of parade 17 except we never had, in the County of Bronx, 18 Afro-American Day Parade. My son and I 19 together, with Miss Carmella Price, in the 20 Bronx we organize the first Afro-American 21 parade in the Bronx County. And we are now 22 doing -- this has been going on for four years 23 that we're going to do this year. 24 And we give money to that people to 25 conduct the Bronx Afro-American Day Parade.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Carmella Price, my son and I, we did that. 2 And when they promote the parade, they use our 3 picture and they use our name. 4 They're going to say the law says 5 that if they do that, I will be in violation 6 of the Ethics Law. If a Little League or any 7 organization in my district, the ones that I 8 help, they do their party, they use T-shirts 9 and they put my name in the back, I will be in 10 violation of the Ethics Law. 11 If the flyer, as I said before, put 12 my -- look at this flyer. Look at this flyer. 13 It's my face. This flyer is done by the 14 New York Library Association. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 16 Libous. 17 Excuse me, Senator Diaz. 18 Senator Libous. 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: Point of order, 20 Mr. President. I believe the Senate rules do 21 not allow visual aids on the floor. 22 SENATOR DIAZ: Okay. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Your 24 point is well taken, Senator. 25 SENATOR DIAZ: Accepted.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Please forget that you saw that. 2 (Laughter.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 4 you, Senator. We would not want to find you 5 in violation of our rules. 6 SENATOR DIAZ: I never showed 7 this here. It never happened. 8 But that is -- that face in that 9 poster will make all of us in violation of the 10 Ethics Law. 11 So this is a good day for New York. 12 And Governor Spitzer got also with the media 13 to do this, and the five leaders. But as of 14 today, those questions that I have, nobody has 15 answered to me. 16 Oh, it's a great bill. Of course 17 it's a great bill. But I have so many enemies 18 out there. People run against me, when people 19 going to run against me, they're going to 20 use -- how could I -- how would I know, how 21 would I know if an organization throws a flyer 22 with my face promoting their activity? How do 23 I know? I'm going to be in violation of the 24 Ethics Law because they're using my face. 25 So organizations cannot use your

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(518) 371-8910 1 face? If they receive public funds they 2 cannot put your name in any of their 3 literature, they cannot promote an activity 4 with your name or your face? You cannot be in 5 any announcement of any activity in the 6 community because you want to promote an 7 activity? I want to promote the Afro-American 8 Day Parade in the County of the Bronx. I 9 cannot be in any promotion because I will be 10 in violation of the Ethics Law? 11 So this is a day that the law has 12 made. We are passing a law -- and by the way, 13 I am voting for it. And I will support it and 14 I will vote for this law. I just wanted to 15 tell you that you cannot ask me to speak in my 16 church or in churches throughout the State of 17 New York and not use things that is done here, 18 because I will continue using that. And I 19 will be subject to be in violation of the 20 Ethics Law that we -- that I am approving 21 today. 22 But I will continue using and 23 preparing speeches and giving lectures 24 throughout the state to the Hispanic 25 community. To the Hispanic evangelical

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(518) 371-8910 1 community, I will continue giving lectures and 2 speeches in what happens here. 3 And they sometimes will give me an 4 offering. They sometimes will pay my fee. 5 And they sometimes will give me something. 6 Many times they don't, many times they do. My 7 church will continue giving me my stipend, and 8 I will continue speaking in my church against 9 what I believe is immoral, against what I 10 believe is no good, against what I believe is 11 wrong. That's my job as a State Senator, that 12 is my job as a preacher. 13 The bill says I cannot do that? 14 Ladies and gentlemen, people that are watching 15 me in my district, I will be in violation of 16 the Ethics Law. The law says that community 17 group cannot promote my face? I will promote 18 one of the biggest things that I think will 19 happen soon in the Bronx, the Afro-American 20 Parade in the Bronx County soon will be the 21 biggest thing that ever happened in the County 22 of the Bronx. And I will continue promoting 23 that, and I will continue fighting for that. 24 The Ethics Law says I cannot do it. 25 People cannot put my name, people cannot use

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(518) 371-8910 1 my name, committees cannot use my name. And 2 tomorrow the New York Post will put my name in 3 their editorial: the corrupt Senator. And 4 they will call me all kind of things. And 5 there are people dying to get me. 6 You know sometimes what I think? 7 Go ahead, hurry up, do it. As Jesus told 8 Judah: Judah, I know what you're going to do, 9 I know what it is you intend to do. And that 10 was in the Last Supper. Hurry and up and do 11 what you have to do. 12 People out there who are trying to 13 get me, here is the opportunity. With this 14 bill, they really have the opportunity to get 15 me. 16 I'm voting yes, Mr. President. I'm 17 voting yes, ladies and gentlemen. But I have 18 to vent. I have to vent the funny things, the 19 abuses and the things that happen even in my 20 own Democratic conference when they talk about 21 my religion and they think that it's funny. I 22 will vote yes, and this bill will hang me. 23 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you 24 very much. Mr. President, I just want to say 25 that.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 2 you, Senator Diaz. You will be recorded in 3 the affirmative. 4 Senator Connor. 5 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 I'm going to vote for this bill. 8 I'm delighted that it has a total gift ban. I 9 first proposed that as a Senate rule some, I 10 don't know, eight or nine years ago. And 11 we -- I certainly have observed, for the last 12 I guess it's nine years, a voluntary gift ban 13 that many of us committed to then. I think 14 many of us have. I'm not sure newer members 15 who have come in since then are as up to par 16 on understanding what that meant. 17 This has many, many good provisions 18 in it. Things that are not in it that I would 19 like to have seen is I don't know why, when we 20 do our financial disclosures, the amounts are 21 masked out. I know how it got there. I 22 remember, back when that passed in 1987 or 23 '88, a particular leader being concerned about 24 not showing the amounts. 25 But, you know, I told the press,

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(518) 371-8910 1 when they asked me about that: "You want to 2 see?" Anybody can call my office since 1987 3 and get a copy of my ethics report with the 4 amounts shown, the categories of amounts. 5 Nobody ever asked. But it was always there. 6 I've occasionally given it to a reporter who I 7 had this discussion with. 8 I think that should be out there. 9 I think we need to address the perception 10 that's out there that's been fostered in 11 certain quarters, you know, that somehow or 12 other the Legislature as an institution 13 suffers from ethical blindness or lack of 14 sensitivity to ethical concerns. 15 Things that aren't in here that 16 should be. Addressing what Senator Diaz did, 17 because I agree. The honoraria ban, good 18 government groups, the press got on it. 19 Honoraria, honoraria. Let me say something, 20 Mr. President. In 29 years here, and I've 21 been known to give a good speech or two, I've 22 never gotten an honorarium for a speech. 23 Never asked. A couple of times it was 24 offered. I said, "Nah, give something to 25 charity."

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(518) 371-8910 1 In banning honoraria, it's 2 interesting -- and it's what Senator Diaz 3 tried to address -- there's an attempt to 4 carve out things. Like there's a carve-out 5 for if it's not related to your work here, you 6 can do it. And you can get travel 7 reimbursement if it's related to your other 8 business or profession. I say to my lawyer 9 colleagues, go give a speech somewhere and 10 talk about the law. 11 And I have been asked to do that, 12 to talk to lawyers' groups and other groups 13 and explain election law. Everybody knows I 14 do that. That's related to my profession. I 15 practiced that kind of law, believe it or not, 16 long before I was elected a mere 29 years ago. 17 How is it not related to what we do 18 here, though? Someone will say, Connor got 19 paid to go talk to this group and instruct 20 them on the developing election law. And of 21 course any good lawyer knows, if you go to a 22 CLE course and all, part of the commentary is 23 going to be, well, there have been proposals 24 to change this, this is likely to change or a 25 new law passed last year and it changed this.

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(518) 371-8910 1 That's what lawyers do, as lawyers. But how 2 does that not relate to what I do here? 3 And I say to every one of my lawyer 4 colleagues, go give a talk somewhere to a 5 group that pays you to talk about your 6 particular area or expertise in the law. And 7 you tell me how that's never related to votes 8 you take here or laws that get passed here. 9 It always is. 10 And I say to other colleagues with 11 outside interests, suppose you're an insurance 12 broker or an insurance whatever, go give a 13 talk in your other profession to a group on 14 insurance. Get reimbursed for the travel to 15 Kansas to give the speech. Get paid for your 16 time. How is that unrelated to what the 17 Legislature does? You work, you pass on 18 insurance laws all the time. 19 And take any other area of 20 business. If your profession is educator -- 21 and, I don't know, we have former educators 22 here. I know we once had a colleague a few 23 years back, he was actually the chair of our 24 conference -- we had two, actually. Their 25 outside -- as they put it, their outside

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(518) 371-8910 1 business interests were they were educational 2 consultants. 3 Now, they never did any work in 4 New York State. I understood that. Didn't 5 want the appearances of that. But how, being 6 an educational consultant in Colorado, how is 7 that not related to the work you do here on 8 education issues? 9 So I think this attempt to carve 10 out and protect members' legitimate outside 11 interests will fail woefully. And that brings 12 us to the point. What's really the point? 13 My colleagues, it's time to bite 14 the bullet. Congress did it 30-some years 15 ago, in the face of concerns that we have been 16 hearing in the public these past years. 17 Congress did it. They finally bit the bullet 18 back in the late '70s and they said no more 19 active, as opposed to passive, outside income. 20 They also doubled their salaries and put a 21 COLA feature in. And they eliminated all 22 sorts of concerns. 23 Yeah, they got in a jam a decade 24 later because there was an exception if you 25 published books. And we all know the history

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(518) 371-8910 1 of that. And a couple of people got burned 2 with their so-called publications that they 3 were pushing on interest groups by the boxful. 4 But it's time to -- you know, this 5 attempt to have it both ways isn't going to 6 work. What Senator Diaz said is true. What I 7 say is true. You think about it. You think 8 about it before you go to some business or bar 9 association or whatever event, forum, 10 conference somewhere where you're being 11 reimbursed for your travel and you're getting 12 paid for your time. How does anything that 13 goes on not relate to what this Legislature 14 does? 15 And it's time, and I will have 16 legislation to propose shortly, that we just 17 bite the bullet. If you want to serve -- and 18 look, let's get real, all of us who try and do 19 something else. How much time do you really 20 have to spend on your business or law 21 practice? Very little. The demands of this 22 job, in the 29 years I've been here, have just 23 increased, increased, increased. 24 People say to me, Oh, you have a 25 law practice. Yeah. Why do I do election law

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(518) 371-8910 1 besides the fact that I know how to do it? 2 Well, July and August. Sometimes it's the end 3 of November. That's about it. It works with 4 our legislative schedule. 5 A real law practice with real 6 clients? Not that all of you as candidates 7 aren't real clients. I try and make you real 8 clients to pay bills. Sometimes that doesn't 9 work. 10 And by the way, the interesting 11 thing is the press say to me -- you know, they 12 say to lawyers, list your clients, list your 13 fees, make them public. Now, we know, if we 14 are lawyers, well, you have confidentiality 15 problems doing that. 16 I always say to the press, go to 17 the Board of Elections. You'll find all my 18 clients. You'll find all my fees. They're in 19 campaign reports. So I really -- that's why I 20 never mind giving out my ethics disclosure 21 with how much I make. If somebody diligently 22 added it all up from the Board of Elections 23 records, they'd know. 24 But it is time to bite the bullet. 25 This attempt to have it both ways and to pick

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(518) 371-8910 1 on honoraria -- is the problem really that 2 somebody gets a $300 honorarium and that's a 3 bigger problem than somebody who gets some 4 huge consulting or legal retainer contract and 5 it's not clear to the public? 6 And I'm not saying you're not doing 7 the work for it, but it's not clear to the 8 public why you're getting that $100,000 or 9 $50,000 check from a group that coincidentally 10 has some indirect or direct interest in some 11 legislation or whatever. 12 So it's really -- this attempt to 13 please them and say, Oh, we got rid of 14 honoraria -- oh, but we have these 15 exceptions -- the exceptions won't work. The 16 measure doesn't go far enough. Once they 17 start picking at the holes in this and 18 pointing fingers, we will not have cured the 19 problem of perception. We'll be right back 20 where we started from, with far less 21 credibility. 22 So I'm going to vote yes, but I 23 don't think this is the answer. And I have 24 serious, serious concerns. And you, my 25 colleagues -- you, my colleagues who have

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(518) 371-8910 1 outside business interests, ought to have the 2 same concerns. 3 Thank you, Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Any 5 other Senator wishing to speak? 6 Debate is closed. 7 The Secretary will ring the bell. 8 Read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 46. This 10 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 15 Lanza, to explain his vote. 16 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 I rise to support this bill. I 19 will be voting in the affirmative. 20 I've heard the concerns, and 21 they're valid. But as Senator Connor said, 22 it's time to do something and the time is now. 23 And I am pleased to be part of these historic 24 reforms which I believe will bring 25 accountability and transparency to this great

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(518) 371-8910 1 state government. 2 And I want to thank Senator Bruno 3 for his leadership, Senator Winner as well, 4 and all my colleagues who have brought us to 5 this historic point. 6 In some respects this is the most 7 important measure that we will address in this 8 body, because everything else that we seek to 9 do as we advance the best interests of the 10 people that we represent, the success of all 11 that, in part, depends on us getting this 12 right. 13 And that's because it is important 14 for the people to have trust and confidence in 15 us that government will work effectively, 16 efficiently, and honestly on their behalf. 17 And that's because the compact that we have, 18 the covenant that we have is with them, the 19 people, not the Governor or some special 20 interest. 21 And it's important that we have 22 that trust as well. That, at the end of the 23 day, is our lifeblood, the trust of the people 24 who sent us here to do their bidding. 25 There have been practices that have

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(518) 371-8910 1 tended to erode that trust. I think this 2 measure goes a long way in restoring that 3 trust. And I think that this measure is 4 important not just for what it does but for 5 what it allows us to do, and that is to 6 advance the best interests of the people of 7 the State of New York, to deliver the best 8 healthcare system, education, improve 9 transportation, reduce government waste, 10 reduce the onerous and punitive taxes that are 11 driving families and businesses out of this 12 state. 13 And so that's why I believe this is 14 an historic day and this is historic 15 legislation. And that's why I support it and 16 I vote aye, Mr. President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 18 Lanza will be recorded as an aye. 19 Senator Liz Krueger, to explain her 20 vote. 21 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 22 To explain my vote. 23 I also just wanted to rise quickly 24 to say how important I think this legislation 25 is. I'm very proud that three bills that I

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(518) 371-8910 1 have carried in this Senate, in 2004, 2005 and 2 2006, actually are incorporated into this 3 legislation. 4 And I know that there's 5 controversy. And I know that some of our 6 colleagues have raised concerns about the 7 standards we are held to in this bill. But as 8 I often explain to people in my own district, 9 it is an honor, a privilege and a 10 responsibility to serve as a legislator 11 representing them. And we are the people who 12 they give the power to to make the laws that 13 they have to live under. 14 And so I make the argument that we 15 should be held to higher standards than our 16 constituents, because in fact no one put a gun 17 to any of our heads and made us become 18 New York State Senators or Assemblymembers or 19 other public officials. We asked for their 20 vote, their support. And we have an enormous 21 responsibility to be accountable to them and 22 for the laws of the state that affect all 23 19 million New Yorkers. 24 So I would argue that this is a 25 beginning, that there are more laws we need to

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(518) 371-8910 1 move -- on campaign finance, on how we use our 2 funds, on so many other reforms in this house 3 and in the other house. So I am proud to vote 4 for this bill, and I am delighted that we are 5 going to move this into law ASAP. 6 Thank you. I vote yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: 8 Announce the results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 10 Nays, 0. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 12 bill is passed. 13 Senator Fuschillo. 14 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 On behalf of Senator Maltese, on 17 page number 16 I offer the following 18 amendments to Calendar Number 172, Senate 19 Print Number 1237, and ask that said bill 20 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 22 amendments are retained and adopted, and the 23 bill will hold its place on the Third Reading 24 Calendar. 25 Senator Skelos.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, a 2 couple of things. 3 If the desk would please put all 4 members of the Senate on the legislation that 5 was just passed. If anybody wishes not to 6 sponsor it, they should indicate to the desk. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 8 Secretary is so directed. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 10 is there any further business at the desk? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: There 12 is no further business, Senator Skelos. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: There being 14 none, I move we stand adjourned until Monday, 15 March 12th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening days 16 being legislative days. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: On 18 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 19 Monday, March 12th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening 20 days being legislative days. 21 (Whereupon, at 2:13 p.m., the 22 Senate adjourned.) 23 24 25

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