Monday, October 22, 2007

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 October 22, 2007 11 3:11 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR GEORGE H. WINNER, Jr., 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 WINNER: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 I ask everyone to rise and repeat 5 with me the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: In the 9 absence of clergy, may we bow our heads in a 10 moment of silence. 11 (Whereupon, the assemblage 12 respected a moment of silence.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Reading 14 of the Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Sunday, October 21, the Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 18 October 20, was read and approved. On motion, 19 Senate adjourned. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Without 21 objection, the Journal stands approved as 22 read. 23 Presentation of petitions. 24 Messages from the Assembly. 25 Messages from the Governor.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Reports of standing committees. 2 Reports of select committees. 3 Communications and reports from 4 state officers. 5 Motions and resolutions. 6 Senator Griffo. 7 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 8 wish to call up Print Number 56, recalled from 9 the Assembly, which is now before the desk. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 11 Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 19, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 56, 14 an act to amend the Penal Law. 15 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 16 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 17 bill was passed. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 19 the roll on reconsideration. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40. 22 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 23 now move to commit the bill to the Committee 24 on Rules. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: So

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(518) 371-8910 1 ordered. 2 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 3 move that the following bills be discharged 4 from their respective committees and be 5 recommitted with instructions to strike the 6 enacting clause: 7 Senate Bill 4919, from Senator 8 DeFrancisco; and Senate Bill 6365, from 9 Senator Maltese. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: So 11 ordered. 12 Senator Griffo. 13 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 14 wish to call up Calendar Number 1274, Assembly 15 Print Number 1239. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1274, by Member of the Assembly Paulin, 20 Assembly Print Number 1239, an act to amend 21 Chapter 912 of the Laws of 1920. 22 SENATOR GRIFFO: I now move to 23 reconsider the vote by which this Assembly 24 bill was substituted for Senate Print Number 25 2858 on June 18th.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40. 5 SENATOR GRIFFO: I now move that 6 the Assembly Bill Number 1239 be recommitted 7 to the Committee on Rules, and that the Senate 8 bill be committed to the Committee on Rules 9 also. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: So 11 ordered. 12 Senator Griffo. 13 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 14 wish to call up Calendar Number 2087, Assembly 15 Print Number 8015. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 2087, by Member of the Assembly Farrell, 20 Assembly Print Number 8015, an act to amend 21 the Tax Law. 22 SENATOR GRIFFO: I now move to 23 reconsider the vote by which this Assembly 24 bill was substituted for Senate Print Number 25 4558 on June 21st.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 2 the roll on reconsideration. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40. 5 SENATOR GRIFFO: I now move that 6 the Assembly Bill Number 8015 be recommitted 7 to the Committee on Rules, and that the Senate 8 bill be recommitted to the Committee on Rules. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: So 10 ordered. 11 Senator Griffo. 12 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 13 wish to call up Calendar Number 1234, Assembly 14 Print Number 8647A. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 16 Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1234, by Member of the Assembly Weinstein, 19 Assembly Print Number 8647A, an act to amend 20 the Civil Practice Law and Rules. 21 SENATOR GRIFFO: I now move to 22 reconsider the vote by which this Assembly 23 bill was substituted for Senate Print Number 24 3166D on June 21st. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll on reconsideration. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40. 4 SENATOR GRIFFO: I now move that 5 the Assembly Bill Number 8647A be recommitted 6 to the Committee on Rules, and that the Senate 7 bill be committed to the Committee on Rules. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: So 9 ordered. 10 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 11 wish to call up Senate Print Number 5891, 12 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 13 the desk. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1658, by Senator Young, Senate Print 5891, an 18 act to amend Chapter 78 of the Laws of 1981. 19 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 20 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 21 bill was passed. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 23 the roll on reconsideration. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR GRIFFO: Mr. President, I 2 now move to recommit the bill to the Committee 3 on Rules. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: So 5 ordered. 6 Senator Skelos. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could 8 adopt the Resolution Calendar, with the 9 exception of Resolutions 3488, 3527, 3582, and 10 3624. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: All in 12 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar, 13 with the exception of Resolutions 3488, 3527, 14 3582, and 3624, signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 20 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 if we could take up Resolution 3527, by 24 Senator Bruno, have the title read, and move 25 for its immediate adoption.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And Senator Bruno would like to 2 open it up for cosponsorship. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno, 6 Legislative Resolution Number 3527, 7 commemorating the 110th Anniversary of the 8 New York State Parent Teacher Association. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 10 question is on the resolution. All in favor 11 signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 resolution is adopted. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could open 20 that up for cosponsorship. If anybody wishes 21 not to cosponsor it, they should notify the 22 desk. 23 If we could take up Resolution 24 3582, by Senator Fuschillo, have the title 25 read, and move for its immediate adoption.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 4 Fuschillo, Legislative Resolution Number 3582, 5 urging the New York State Congressional 6 delegation to eliminate the five-year 7 expiration date and make the National "Do Not 8 Call" Registry permanent. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 10 question is on the resolution. All in favor 11 signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 resolution is adopted. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 20 Resolution 3624 is at the desk, by Senator 21 Sampson. If we could have the title read, 22 move for its immediate adoption, and open it 23 up for cosponsorship. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 25 Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 2 Sampson, Legislative Resolution Number 3624, 3 commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 4 historic integration of Central High School, 5 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and paying tribute 6 to the courageous "Little Rock Nine." 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 8 question is on the resolution. All in favor 9 signify by saying aye. 10 (Response of "Aye.") 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 12 Opposed, nay. 13 (No response.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 15 resolution is adopted. 16 All members not wishing to be a 17 cosponsor on not resolution, please notify the 18 desk. 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 21 Resolution 3488 is at the desk, by Senator 22 Trunzo. If we could have it read in its 23 entirety, move for its immediate adoption, and 24 I believe Senator Trunzo wants to open it up 25 for cosponsorship and to comment on the

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(518) 371-8910 1 resolution. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 5 Trunzo, Legislative Resolution Number 3488, 6 paying tribute to United States Navy SEAL 7 Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, upon the 8 occasion of being awarded the Congressional 9 Medal of Honor. 10 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 11 Legislative Body to recognize and pay tribute 12 to a truly courageous individual of 13 distinguished purpose and true commitment who 14 acquitted himself honorably during Operation 15 Enduring Freedom; and 16 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 17 concern, and in full accord with its 18 long-standing traditions, this Legislative 19 Body is justly proud to pay tribute to the 20 memory of United States Navy SEAL Lieutenant 21 Michael P. Murphy upon the occasion of being 22 awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor; and 23 "WHEREAS, The first United States 24 Navy SEAL since the Vietnam War to be awarded 25 the Congressional Medal of Honor, Lieutenant

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(518) 371-8910 1 Michael P. Murphy is the third recipient since 2 troops were sent to Afghanistan in 2001; and 3 "WHEREAS, A native of Patchogue, 4 New York, Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy 5 graduated from Patchogue-Medford High School 6 in 1994 and attended Penn State University, 7 where he received bachelor of arts degrees in 8 political science and psychology and graduated 9 with honors in 1998; and 10 "WHEREAS, Accepted to several law 11 schools, Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy instead 12 set his sights on becoming a United States 13 Navy SEAL. He accepted an appointment to 14 Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, 15 Florida, and was commissioned an ensign on 16 December 13, 2000, and graduated from SEAL 17 training in 2001; and 18 "WHEREAS, On June 28, 2005, 19 Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy was the officer 20 in charge of a four-man SEAL element in 21 support of Operation Red Wing tasked with 22 finding a key anti-coalition militia commander 23 near Asadabad, Afghanistan, when their mission 24 was compromised; and 25 "WHEREAS, A fierce firefight

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(518) 371-8910 1 ensued, with more than 50 anti-coalition 2 militia firing on the outnumbered Navy SEAL 3 team. Despite the intensity of the firefight, 4 and suffering from grave wounds himself, 5 Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy risked his own 6 life to save the lives of his comrades by 7 moving into the open for a better position to 8 transmit a call for help; and 9 "WHEREAS, While continuing to be 10 fired upon, Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy 11 calmly provided the location of his unit and 12 the size of the enemy force and requested 13 immediate support for his team; and 14 "WHEREAS, At one point, Lieutenant 15 Michael P. Murphy was shot, causing him to 16 drop the transmitter. He picked it back up 17 and completed the call while continuing to 18 fire at the enemy that was closing in; and 19 "WHEREAS, Severely wounded, 20 Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy then returned to 21 his cover position, where he continued the 22 battle with his SEAL team. By the end of the 23 two-hour firefight, he and two of his comrades 24 were killed, while the fourth managed to 25 escape; and

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(518) 371-8910 1 "WHEREAS, By his undaunted courage, 2 intrepid fighting spirit and inspirational 3 devotion to his men in the face of certain 4 death, Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy was able 5 to relay the position of his unit, an act that 6 led to the rescue of one member and the 7 recovery of the remains of the three who were 8 killed in the battle; and 9 "WHEREAS, In addition to the 10 Congressional Medal of Honor, Lieutenant 11 Michael P. Murphy was the recipient of the 12 Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the 13 Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy and 14 Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the 15 Afghanistan Campaign Ribbon and the National 16 Defense Service Medal; and 17 "WHEREAS, The highest award for 18 valor in action against an enemy force which 19 can be bestowed upon an individual serving in 20 the Armed Services of the United States, the 21 Medal of Honor is generally presented by the 22 President in the name of Congress; and 23 "WHEREAS, Dating back to the Civil 24 War, the Congressional Medal of Honor 25 commemorates acts of military bravery

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(518) 371-8910 1 performed above and beyond the call of duty. 2 Initially, only enlisted men could be 3 considered for the award, but it was later 4 changed to include officers as well; and 5 "WHEREAS, Lieutenant Michael P. 6 Murphy is survived by his mother, Maureen 7 Murphy, his father, Dan Murphy, and his 8 brother, John Murphy, all of whom felt 9 privileged to be a part of his life and 10 rejoiced in his many achievements; and 11 "WHEREAS, The banner of freedom 12 will always wave over our beloved New York and 13 all of America, the Land of the Free and the 14 Home of the Brave; and 15 "WHEREAS, Residents of this great 16 state must never forget the courage with which 17 Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy served his 18 country, and must recognize that no greater 19 debt is owed than that owed to those who gave 20 their lives for their beloved nation and to 21 those who continue to be missing in action; 22 now, therefore, be it 23 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 24 Body pause in its deliberations to pay tribute 25 to the memory of United States Navy SEAL

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(518) 371-8910 1 Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy upon the occasion 2 of being awarded the Congressional Medal of 3 Honor; and be it further 4 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this 5 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 6 to the family of United States Navy SEAL 7 Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy." 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 9 Trunzo. 10 SENATOR TRUNZO: Mr. President, 11 today in Washington, D.C., the family of Navy 12 Lieutenant Michael Murphy will be presented 13 with the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest 14 military award. 15 Lieutenant Murphy was killed in 16 action in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005, while 17 his four-man Navy SEAL team was being fired 18 upon by over 50 members in the Taliban 19 militia. 20 Lieutenant Murphy moved into the 21 open so he could radio a call for help. He 22 showed no regard for his personal safety. He 23 was shot, causing him to drop the radio 24 transmitter, but was able to pick it back up 25 and complete the call for help. He then made

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(518) 371-8910 1 it back to his teammates and continued the 2 battle. 3 During the two-hour battle, he and 4 two other members of the team were killed, and 5 the fourth one was rescued. 6 Lieutenant Michael Murphy is a true 7 hero, and we owe all the other men and women 8 who have died defending our freedom a 9 tremendous debt of gratitude. 10 Mr. President, I request that all 11 members of the Senate be put on this 12 resolution unless they ask not to be. 13 With that, thank you very much. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 15 you, Senator Trunzo. 16 Senator Leibell. 17 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 And to echo what Senator Trunzo has 20 just said, I chair the Committee of Veterans, 21 Homeland Security and Military Affairs for the 22 state. And we all are aware and understand 23 that the Congressional Medal of Honor is the 24 highest award for valor that our country can 25 grant. It is an award that is all too often

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(518) 371-8910 1 given, as in this case, posthumously. 2 Lieutenant Murphy, we have seen his 3 family on the news recently telling us a great 4 deal about their son and their great affection 5 and love for him. And it gives us a greater 6 understanding, I think, of the sacrifice that 7 this brave young American made in order that 8 the rest of us can enjoy the freedoms that we 9 have. 10 The details that have come out 11 concerning his action, this young Navy SEAL, 12 is something that will live forever in the 13 annals of our country and our great military 14 traditions. So I join with my colleagues 15 today in mourning his loss and in great 16 gratitude for what he has done in protecting 17 our great nation. 18 Thank you, Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 20 you, Senator Leibell. 21 Senator Farley. 22 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes, I just rise 23 to say thank you to Senator Trunzo for putting 24 in this resolution honoring a truly great 25 young man who gave his life for others in one

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(518) 371-8910 1 of the most heroic manners that anybody could 2 speak of, if you look at the details of his 3 death. 4 But also his parents. I saw them 5 on television; how proud they were of what he 6 did and of his life. 7 I appreciate the opportunity for my 8 name to be on this resolution. This was truly 9 a great New Yorker and a great American who 10 gave his life for his country. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 12 you, Senator Farley. 13 Senator Maltese. 14 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 15 I too rise and echo what Senator Leibell and 16 Senator Trunzo have said, and Senator Farley. 17 Certainly the recognition that was 18 accorded to this young man is a tribute not 19 only to his own heroism and dedication and 20 courage, but to his family and his friends. 21 The Medal of Honor, as Senator 22 Leibell has indicated, is our highest award. 23 It is an award that, as many of us know, is to 24 be saluted even by the Commander-in-Chief, the 25 President of the United States, when it is

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(518) 371-8910 1 worn by a recipient. Unfortunately, as 2 Senator Leibell has indicated, too often and 3 most often it is awarded posthumously for an 4 act above and beyond the call of duty. 5 This young man was in a branch of 6 the service, the Navy SEALS, that too often 7 lose their lives. To lose his life in 8 Afghanistan is a terrible misfortune. But 9 certainly to lay down your life for your 10 comrades and your country is something that 11 should be kept in the annals of our nation's 12 history forever. 13 I too join in commending Senator 14 Trunzo and the other Senators for putting in 15 the resolution, and I am most pleased to 16 second it. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 18 you, Senator Maltese. 19 Senator Young. 20 SENATOR YOUNG: I rise to echo 21 the sentiments of my colleagues and to point 22 out that Michael Murphy carries on the bravery 23 that we have in New York State. 24 Corporal Jason Dunham also received 25 the Congressional Medal of Honor for his

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(518) 371-8910 1 actions in throwing himself on a live grenade 2 to save his fellow officers. And today we add 3 another name to that wall of honor. 4 And we're just so grateful for the 5 sacrifices that these brave young men are 6 making on behalf of freedom and on behalf of 7 our country. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 9 you, Senator Young. 10 The question is on the resolution. 11 All in favor signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 resolution is adopted. 18 The resolution is open for 19 cosponsorship. If you do not wish to be a 20 cosponsor, please notify the desk. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 there will be an immediate meeting of the 24 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference 25 Room.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: There 2 will be an immediate meeting of the Rules 3 Committee in the Majority Conference Room. 4 The Senate stands at ease pending 5 the return of the Rules Committee. 6 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 7 ease at 3:29 p.m.) 8 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 9 at 3:49 p.m.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 11 Skelos. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 13 could we return to reports of standing 14 committees and take up the Rules Committee 15 report at this time. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Reports 17 of standing committees. 18 The Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 20 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 21 following bills. 22 Restored: Senate Print 2360C, by 23 Senator Fuschillo, an act to amend the General 24 Business Law; 25 3854B, by Senator Fuschillo, an act

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(518) 371-8910 1 to amend the General Business Law; 2 5750, by Senator Trunzo, an act to 3 amend the Civil Service Law; 4 6000, by the Senate Committee on 5 Rules, an act to amend the Tax Law; 6 4296, by Senator Fuschillo, an act 7 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 8 And Senate Print 6379, by Senator 9 Bonacic, an act to amend the State Finance 10 Law. 11 Reported to the calendar: Senate 12 Print 755, by Senator Trunzo, an act 13 authorizing the Town of Brookhaven; 14 1820, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 15 act in relation to prohibiting; 16 3004B, by Senator Robach, an act to 17 amend the Domestic Relations Law; 18 4157D, by Senator Golden, an act to 19 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 20 4875, by Senator Young, an act to 21 amend the Criminal Procedure Law; 22 6136, by Senator LaValle, an act to 23 amend the Education Law; 24 6232, by Senator Stachowski, an act 25 to amend Chapter 276 of the Laws of 1993;

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(518) 371-8910 1 6407, by Senator Maziarz, an act to 2 amend Chapter 62 of the Laws of 2003; 3 6428, by Senator Wright, an act to 4 amend the Executive Law; 5 6431A, by Senator Lanza, an act to 6 amend the Lien Law; 7 6444, by the Senate Committee on 8 Rules, an act to amend the Tax Law; 9 6446, by Senator Golden, an act to 10 amend the Real Property Law; 11 6447, by Senator Maziarz, an act to 12 amend Chapter 487 of the Laws of 2007; 13 6452, by Senator Farley, an act in 14 relation to validating; 15 6461, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 16 act in relation to supervision; 17 6477, by Senator Padavan, an act to 18 amend the General Business Law; 19 6478, by Senator Oppenheimer, an 20 act to authorize; 21 6484, by Senator Padavan, an act to 22 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 23 6485, by Senator Marcellino, an act 24 to amend the Tax Law; 25 6487, by Senator Maziarz, an act to

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(518) 371-8910 1 amend the Labor Law; 2 6488, by Senator Maltese, an act to 3 amend the Public Health Law; 4 6489A, by Senator Marcellino, an 5 act to amend the Labor Law; 6 6490, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 7 to amend the Labor Law; 8 6492, by Senator Golden, an act to 9 amend the Civil Service Law; 10 6495, by Senator Maltese, an act to 11 amend the Civil Service Law; 12 6498, by Senator LaValle, 13 Concurrent Resolution of the Senate and 14 Assembly; 15 6499, by Senator Skelos, an act to 16 amend the Penal Law; 17 6500, by Senator Maziarz, an act to 18 amend Chapter 433 of the Laws of 2007; 19 6504, by Senator Skelos, an act to 20 amend the Public Health Law; 21 6505, by Senator Breslin, an act to 22 amend Chapter 584 of the Laws of 2007; 23 6508, by Senator Fuschillo, an act 24 to amend Chapter 33 of the Laws of 2002; 25 6509, by Senator Leibell, an act to

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(518) 371-8910 1 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 2 6514, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 3 to amend the Civil Service Law; 4 6516, by Senator Libous, an act to 5 amend the State Finance Law; 6 6517, by Senator O. Johnson, an act 7 to amend the Tax Law; 8 6518, by Senator Padavan, an act to 9 amend Chapter 611 of the Laws of 2007; 10 And Senate Print 6519, by Senator 11 Flanagan, an act to amend the Labor Law. 12 All bills ordered direct to third 13 reading. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 15 Skelos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 17 move to accept the report of the Rules 18 Committee. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: All in 20 favor signify by saying aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 23 Opposed, nay. 24 (No response.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 Rules report is accepted. 2 Senator Skelos. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 4 if we could stand at ease. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 6 Senate stands at ease. 7 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 8 ease at 3:54 p.m.) 9 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 10 at 3:55 p.m.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 12 Skelos. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could now 14 go to the noncontroversial reading of Senate 15 Calendar Number 67. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 136, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 2360C, 20 an act to amend the General Business Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 24 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 7 Calendar Number 631, Senator Fuschillo moves 8 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 9 Assembly Bill Number 6501B and substitute it 10 for the identical Senate Print Number 3854B, 11 Third Reading Calendar 631. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 13 Substitution ordered. 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 631, by Member of the Assembly Pheffer, 17 Assembly Print Number 6501B, an act to amend 18 the General Business Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 5 Calendar Number 1113, Senator Trunzo moves to 6 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 7 Assembly Bill Number 5739 and substitute it 8 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5750, 9 Third Reading Calendar 1113. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 11 Substitution ordered. 12 The Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1113, by Member of the Assembly Abbate, 15 Assembly Print Number 5739, an act to amend 16 the Civil Service Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 18 the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1914, by the Senate Committee on Rules -- 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside 5 temporarily, please. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 7 bill is laid aside temporarily. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 2010, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 4296, 10 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: There 12 is a home-rule message at the desk. 13 Read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 2073, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 6379, 24 an act to amend the State Finance Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read

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(518) 371-8910 1 the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 9 bill is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 2150, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 755, an 12 act authorizing the Town of Brookhaven, 13 Suffolk County. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: There 15 is a home-rule message at the desk. 16 Read the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 2151, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 2 1820, an act in relation to prohibiting 3 certain trucks with trailers. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 12 Seward. 13 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes, to explain 14 my vote, Mr. President, on 1820. 15 I commend Senator DeFrancisco for 16 introducing this bill and having it passed 17 today. 18 However, I'm going to be voting in 19 the negative, only because there are 20 communities in my district who are impacted by 21 this legislation; they continue to have some 22 questions about the bill which we hope to have 23 resolved with the sponsor and others. In the 24 meantime, I'm going to be voting in the 25 negative.

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(518) 371-8910 1 However, this bill does address a 2 serious problem, a serious issue that needs to 3 be addressed, and I commend Senator 4 DeFrancisco for tackling the issue. However, 5 I will be voting in the negative at this 6 particular time. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 8 Seward recorded in the negative. 9 Announce the results. 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 11 1. Senator Seward recorded in the negative. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 15 Calendar Number 2152, Senator Robach moves to 16 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 17 Assembly Bill Number 7410B and substitute it 18 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3004B, 19 Third Reading Calendar 2152. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 21 Substitution ordered. 22 The Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 2152, by Member of the Assembly Morelle, 25 Assembly Print Number 7410B, an act to amend

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Domestic Relations Law. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 5 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 2153, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 4157D, 14 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law 15 and the Education Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 19 act shall take effect on the 130th day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 25 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 2154, by Senator Young, Senate Print 4875, an 3 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 12 Young, to explain her vote. 13 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes, to explain 14 my vote. 15 Earlier this year the Senate took 16 the initiative and the leadership to pass a 17 whole series of domestic violence bills. This 18 one is a major step forward today, because 19 what it does, it allows a victim of domestic 20 violence to testify via closed-circuit 21 television so that they won't be intimidated 22 by their abuser. 23 So I want to commend everyone for 24 their support of this bill, and I would urge 25 everyone to vote yes.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you very much. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 3 Young will be recorded in the affirmative. 4 Announce the results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 9 Calendar Number 2155, Senator LaValle moves to 10 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 11 Assembly Bill Number 9058 and substitute it 12 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6136, 13 Third Reading Calendar 2155. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 15 Substitution ordered. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 2155, by Member of the Assembly Glick, 19 Assembly Print Number 9058, an act to amend 20 the Education Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 2156, by Senator Stachowski, Senate Print 8 6232, an act to amend Chapter 276 of the Laws 9 of 1993 relating to authorizing. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: There 11 is a home-rule message at the desk. 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 2157, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6407, 23 an act to amend Chapter 62 of the Laws of 2003 24 authorizing and directing. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read

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(518) 371-8910 1 the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 9 bill is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 2158, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 6428, an 12 act to amend the Executive Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect on the same date and in 17 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 18 2007. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 2159, by Senator Lanza, Senate Print 6431A, an 2 act to amend the Lien Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 6 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 2160, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 15 Print 6444, an act to amend the Tax Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect on the same date and in 20 the same manner as Chapter 405 of the Laws of 21 2007. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 2 bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 2161, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 6446, an 5 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 2162, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6447, 18 an act to amend Chapter 487 of the Laws of 19 2007. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 25 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 2163, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6452, an 7 act in relation to validating certain acts. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 2164, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 20 6461, an act in relation to supervision. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 4 DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. I 6 stand today to vote aye on this bill. 7 This and a companion bill that was 8 passed earlier today really is a direct 9 response to a serious problem in the village 10 of Skaneateles in the Auburn area, Aurora, 11 basically of truck traffic, traffic that 12 includes sometimes hazardous waste, sometimes 13 garbage going through very sensitive areas 14 like the village of Skaneateles and the town 15 of Skaneateles. 16 And it's a serious, serious problem 17 when these large trucks go through these areas 18 in order to avoid the superhighways that are 19 available, 81 and also the Thruway. 20 So I appreciate this bill being 21 brought to the floor, and I think this bill 22 will go a long way in correcting that serious 23 problem in Skaneateles and some of the towns 24 and villages adjacent to it. So for those 25 reasons, I vote aye.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 2 DeFrancisco will be recorded in the 3 affirmative. 4 Announce the results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 6 1. Senator Seward recorded in the negative. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 2165, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6477, 11 an act to amend the General Business Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 2166, by Senator Oppenheimer, Senate Print 24 6478, an act to authorize approval of certain 25 transportation contracts.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 2167, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6484, 13 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 14 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside, 15 please. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 bill is laid aside. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 2168, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 20 6485, an act to amend the Tax Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 4 Marcellino, to explain his vote. 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. I rise to explain my vote. 7 This bill is the result of a 8 confusion that has -- 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 10 Marcellino, would you suffer an interruption? 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Sure. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 13 chamber is a little bit loud. Could you 14 please have some order and give Senator 15 Marcellino the courtesy of your attention. 16 Thank you. 17 Senator Marcellino. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 This bill was put in to extend the 21 deadline on the STAR rebate program by 30 days 22 because of the confusion that has been created 23 by the procedures that were established by the 24 Governor's offices. 25 A lot of people have not gotten

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(518) 371-8910 1 their checks on time, their letters notifying 2 them of their STAR codes were not delivered on 3 time. Those who filed online have not 4 received any notification yet, or a check, as 5 to whether or not they got their rebates. 6 There are differences in different communities 7 throughout the state. 8 So we think we -- we know we need 9 more time. This bill will provide us at least 10 another 30 days so that our constituents can 11 go out and do what they have to do and 12 recognize that if they haven't already filed 13 or if they haven't received that letter, they 14 should file the appropriate forms to make sure 15 that they are on record prior to the deadline. 16 So this bill should be passed 17 unanimously, because it's to the benefit of 18 all of our constituents. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote 20 aye. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 22 Marcellino will be recorded in the 23 affirmative. 24 Announce the results. 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 2 bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 2169, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6487, 5 an act to amend the Labor Law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 2170, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 6488, 18 an act to amend the Public Health Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 2171, by Senator Marcellino -- 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside 7 temporarily. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Lay the 9 bill aside temporarily. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 2172, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 6490, 12 an act to amend the Labor Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect on the same date and in 17 the same manner as Chapter 578 of the Laws of 18 2007. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 2173, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 6492, an 2 act to amend the Civil Service Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect on the same date and in 7 the same manner as Chapter 545 of the Laws of 8 2007. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 2174, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 6495, 17 an act to amend the Civil Service Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: There 19 is a home-rule message at the desk. 20 Read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 2175, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 6498, 6 Concurrent Resolution of the Senate and 7 Assembly proposing an amendment to Section 26 8 of Article 6 of the Constitution. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 10 Secretary will call the roll on the concurrent 11 resolution. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 15 resolution is adopted. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 2176, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6499, an 18 act to amend the Penal Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect on the first of 23 November. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 25 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 2177, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6500, 7 an act to amend Chapter 433 of the Laws of 8 2007 amending the Labor Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 2178, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6504, an 21 act to amend the Public Health Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 23 the last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 2179, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 6505, 9 an act to amend Chapter 584 of the Laws of 10 2007 relating to the definition of "Erie 11 Canal." 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 2180, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 6508, 24 an act to amend Chapter 33 of the Laws of 2002 25 relating to authorizing.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 2181, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 6509, 13 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 15 the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect on the same date and in 18 the same manner as Chapter 655 of the Laws of 19 2007. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 25 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 2182, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 6514, 3 an act to amend the Civil Service Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 22. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 2183, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 6516, an 16 act to amend the State Finance Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 18 the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 2184, by Senator O. Johnson, Senate Print 4 6517, an act to amend the Tax Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 6 the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 8 act shall take effect on the first day of the 9 sales tax quarterly period. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 2185, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6518, 18 an act to amend Chapter 611 of the Laws of 19 2007. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 25 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 2186, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 6519, 7 an act to amend the Labor Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This 11 act shall take effect on the same date and in 12 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 13 2007. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 19 bill is passed. 20 Senator Skelos, that completes the 21 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 If we could go to the controversial 25 reading of the calendar and have the bells

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(518) 371-8910 1 rung at this time. And we'll just stand at 2 ease. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 4 Secretary will ring the bells. 5 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 6 ease at 4:14 p.m.) 7 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 8 at 4:29 p.m.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 10 Bruno. 11 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 12 can we at this time call up, on the 13 controversial calendar, Number 2167. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 2167, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6484, 18 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 20 Bruno. 21 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President and 22 colleagues, the bill that's on the floor is 23 the ill-advised concept of the Governor to 24 allow illegal -- illegal -- aliens to not only 25 get driver's licenses but ID, ID that will be

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(518) 371-8910 1 used for Motor Voter registration, allowing 2 people to register fraudulently. 3 What is before us really -- and 4 everyone has to make their own judgments in 5 their hearts on what's right and what's wrong. 6 This concept of the Governor that he did all 7 by himself, to my knowledge -- never talked 8 with the Speaker, with myself, with 210 of the 9 other legislators, and just got it out 10 there -- it is ill-advised, it is wrong, we 11 believe it's unconstitutional, federally, and 12 may be against the law presently in this 13 state. 14 Senator Padavan has been a leader 15 on this issue for years and years and years, 16 as many of you have -- I know Senator Kruger, 17 Senator Golden, Senator Maltese, Senator 18 Lanza, people in the city, where you have 19 large populations. 20 All of us are sympathetic to 21 immigrants. My father was an immigrant, just 22 like many of yours. Came over with his 23 brother when he was 16, went through an 24 arduous process to be legal. 25 Now, why on earth -- and I

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(518) 371-8910 1 understand the humanity of helping people, 2 believe me I do. But there are other ways to 3 identify and help people who find themselves 4 in an illegal status with an inability to 5 access many of the things that lead to a 6 quality of life. 7 It's not fair to the 19 million 8 people to disadvantage them, to punish them. 9 And I'm so mindful of the fact that 10 18 out of 19 of the terrorists of 9/11 had a 11 driver's license obtained fraudulently, 12 allowing them to access aircraft, secure 13 buildings, public buildings and private, and 14 go where they pleased to do the death and 15 destruction that they did. And there are 16 others like that. 17 And apparently the Governor doesn't 18 know that Tennessee and North Carolina that 19 did this have fairly quickly moved away from 20 it, because of all of the negative impact of 21 what happened. 22 Now, Senator Smith, you're leader 23 there. Now, you have been partnering with 24 this Governor for better or for worse. Today 25 I'm going to ask you to partner for better

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(518) 371-8910 1 with your colleagues here in this chamber who 2 know what's right and they know what's wrong. 3 And the people of this state, 4 72 percent of them in the last poll say this 5 is wrong, it should not happen, it's a threat 6 to our security here in the state. 7 Senator Leibell and Senator 8 Flanagan and others did a hearing -- was it 9 last week? Everyone there was testifying how 10 dangerous to our security, to our democratic 11 way of life this is. 12 Now, just think of the act of 13 unilaterally, by yourself, saying you 300,000, 14 400,000 broke the law, but I'm going to fix it 15 for you. I am going to allow you, illegal, to 16 become and do legal things. 17 Well, how about the people that are 18 legally here who went through this process? 19 How about those that are still waiting months, 20 sometimes years to go through the process? 21 Kathy Marchione, thank you for being here. 22 Kathy is the state president of the county 23 clerks. 24 My county clerk, Frank Merola, I 25 think today has filed a lawsuit to keep the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Governor from moving forward. Frank's the 2 county clerk, and when things are, you know, 3 the way they should be, he runs most of the 4 time unopposed. Why? Because is he a public 5 servant who does the right things, as is 6 Kathy. 7 A resolution was passed imploring 8 the Governor, asking the Governor to please 9 think about what you are doing to the people 10 of this state, the safety of the people, the 11 law-abiding citizens. 12 This isn't Democrat, it's not 13 Republican, it's not political. It is right 14 and it is wrong. And I'm imploring the 15 Speaker in the Assembly to come on into 16 session. This is our third trip in session. 17 We've done a lot of things; we're going to do 18 more before we leave here, with confirmations 19 and other things. 20 But this is important. The 21 Assembly should take this up, get it on the 22 floor, and give the members over there an 23 opportunity to express their heartfelt 24 feelings. 25 And I, like many of you, understand

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(518) 371-8910 1 that there are two sides to issues. There are 2 two sides to issues. Issues are debatable. 3 You can take a position and defend. Sometimes 4 in our business, you tell me which side you 5 want me to be on and I'll defend it, just as 6 you do. But this is clearly wrong. So I'm 7 appealing to the Governor to think about what 8 he is doing. 9 And I'm going to share with you 10 that we're going to be joining -- if he 11 persists, we are going to do everything that 12 we can to keep this from happening, whether it 13 takes legal, litigation, whatever it takes. 14 This is wrong, and we cannot sit 15 here as elected representatives of the people 16 and let 72 percent of the population of 17 19 million people be disadvantaged by this 18 action. 19 Senator Padavan, thank you for your 20 leadership. And, Mr. President, I know that 21 Senator Padavan has a lot more information 22 that is very constructive and productive for 23 this body to hear. 24 Thank you, Mr. President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Bruno. 2 Senator Padavan. 3 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 And thank you, Senator Bruno, for 6 putting this proposed legislation, this 7 proposed law in proper context. I think you 8 laid the groundwork extremely well, so that we 9 understand not only our motivation but our 10 purpose here today. 11 In June of 2005, a bill came before 12 this house that did basically what this bill 13 does; namely, to ensure that driver's licenses 14 or driver ID cards in this state would be 15 given to those people who are legally in this 16 country. And it passed this house 38 to 19, 17 with bipartisan support. 18 The bill before us today is 19 sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblywoman 20 Ginny Fields from Suffolk County. And as you 21 know, there are many individuals who have 22 already spoken out on this issue throughout 23 the state -- notably, the mayor of the City of 24 New York, the county executive in Suffolk, 25 former Mayor Koch and others -- who have

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(518) 371-8910 1 indicated their concern and feelings that what 2 has been brought about recently by regulation 3 generated by the executive branch is the wrong 4 thing to do. 5 Now, the bill before us relates 6 specifically to the application for or the 7 renewal of a nondriver ID card or a driver's 8 license. It amends Sections 490 and 502 to 9 require applicants without a Social Security 10 number to provide proof of their ineligibility 11 for a Social Security number. 12 An example might be a student in 13 this country with a student visa who wants a 14 driver's license but is not working and is 15 therefore not about to get a Social Security 16 number. 17 It adds another requirement to the 18 same section, that the applicant prove that he 19 or she -- and I think this is the salient 20 issue -- is legally authorized to be present 21 in the United States. This is the bottom line 22 of all of this. 23 Now, there are some other issues 24 that had to be addressed. Some of the 25 applications have temporary time frames. It

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(518) 371-8910 1 has to indicate, in terms of what we propose, 2 when the license expires, when that effective 3 date is, and be identified as a temporary 4 license. 5 There are three objectives to be 6 met by this legislation. The first one, to 7 address the concerns, the findings of the 9/11 8 Commission. Which, as you know, was a 9 bipartisan group that met over an extended 10 period of time, came up with a very 11 comprehensive report dealing with all the 12 failures of our intelligence system and what 13 was in place in this country prior to 9/11 14 that allowed these individuals to do what they 15 did. 16 Among their recommendations are 17 specific areas of tightening forms of 18 identification. They specifically refer to 19 driver's licenses. 20 The Congress, using the 21 Commission's report as a point of departure, 22 developed what is called the Real ID Act. It 23 specifies what states by 2008, May of 2008, 24 must be doing to maintain the efficacy, 25 legitimacy, and the identity of the individual

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(518) 371-8910 1 who has a driver's license. 2 You can get an extension if the 3 state is logistically unable, technically 4 unable to comply. But in the process of doing 5 so, they must submit a plan by February of 6 2007 as to what they plan to do. So in other 7 words, it's serious and it's effective next 8 year. 9 The policy that I think has been 10 articulated recently by the executive does an 11 injustice and is in violation of both of those 12 two objectives that I cited, both the findings 13 and the direction of the 9/11 Commission and 14 the specific requirements of the federal 15 REAL ID Act. 16 Therefore, that being the case, if 17 these regulations were ever to continue in 18 effect, a driver's license in New York State 19 would not be a legitimate document for you to 20 use to go up to the airport counter to get on 21 a domestic flight to travel to some other part 22 of this country. You could not use it to go 23 into a federal building for whatever purpose. 24 Banks would take it with suspicion, 25 particularly if you started transferring

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(518) 371-8910 1 money. Which, by the way, the hijackers did, 2 among other things, with their driver's 3 licenses that they obtained in New Jersey and 4 Virginia and Florida. 5 So our driver's license, not being 6 in compliance with the federal REAL ID Act, 7 would be diminished in its value and 8 inconvenience every citizen of this state. 9 There are 11.2 million licenses in the 10 possession of citizens of New York State. All 11 of those licenses would be undermined in terms 12 of their value and how you could use them and 13 where you could use them if this regulation 14 were to go into effect. 15 So that, Mr. President, is the 16 essence of the bill before us. And I know 17 that Senator Leibell, Senator Flanagan, and 18 Senator Libous had an extensive hearing on 19 this subject, and many people came before 20 them, including the former Commissioner 21 Martinez, who we had a lot of discussion with 22 in 2005 and we know about the regulations he 23 put into effect. 24 And let me tell you one fact about 25 those regulations requiring a Social Security

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(518) 371-8910 1 number and other proof. Once that was put 2 into effect, within months, going into the 3 federal ID database, over 100,000 licenses 4 popped up with phony Social Security numbers, 5 100,000. So obviously he did the right thing. 6 And therefore we know the kinds of problems 7 that could be generated. 8 And at these hearings, there were 9 many others who came forward, and I'm sure the 10 Senators that I mentioned would be happy to 11 share that input with us. 12 Thank you, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 14 you, Senator Padavan. 15 Senator Smith. 16 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you very 17 much, Mr. President. 18 Let me just offer a few brief 19 comments. I know some of my colleagues have 20 something else they would like to offer. And 21 I know that this is a sensitive matter, if you 22 will. For some reason it has become 23 increasingly emotional for some individuals. 24 I am not sure whether it is right 25 or appropriate to sort of, if you will,

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(518) 371-8910 1 characterize immigrants or all immigrants, if 2 you will, in that 9/11 episode that I've heard 3 so often characterized over the last couple of 4 weeks, as though once an individual gets a 5 license, they are a proponent of potential 6 terrorism. I'm not sure if that is 7 thoughtful, nor am I sure if that is the right 8 road that we want to go down in terms of 9 individuals. 10 As Joe said, we were all immigrants 11 at some point in time. I myself, my family at 12 one point wasn't even a full citizen, if you 13 will, and yet still we became productive 14 citizens of this society. 15 Let me also say that this is 16 nothing new. And I'm not sure if everybody 17 understands that, that this actual policy is 18 in effect in eight other states around the 19 country. And there is no major challenges to 20 an individual's ability to be an honest 21 citizen or an individual who will follow the 22 letter of the law. 23 This is nothing new. It is not 24 something that you can say, Well, it happens 25 in New York first and we're the test tube and

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(518) 371-8910 1 we're not sure what's going to happen. It's 2 already happening. 3 In addition -- and I think Joe did 4 talk about one or two individuals who are in 5 support of Senator Padavan's bill. And I 6 obviously applaud Senator Padavan for being 7 thoughtful in what he is trying to do. But 8 unfortunately, I think his bill has gotten a 9 little bit lost in some of the overarching 10 rhetoric that has gone on around this whole 11 issue. 12 Now, we all know Richard Clarke. 13 He was an antiterrorist czar for not only 14 Clinton but also -- a lot of your friends -- 15 Bush. He was the antiterrorist czar for him 16 as well. And he himself has said this is the 17 right direction to go, given the fact that 18 Washington has failed to act. 19 Many of you know the former 20 commissioner of New York City, Commissioner 21 Bratton. He has also came out in support of 22 this policy change. He said it is the right 23 way to go. 24 What you have is individuals that 25 you now can track. And I dare say to you some

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(518) 371-8910 1 of you recently heard of the individual by the 2 name of Chester Stiles. Chester Stiles was a 3 individual who was raping young ladies, 13, 4 14 years of age. Chester Stiles recently was 5 caught. You know how Chester Stiles got 6 caught? A routine traffic stop. And guess 7 what? His license had expired. 8 The fact that he had a license, 9 they were able to track who Chester Stiles 10 was, track the fact that he had not had a 11 license that was authorized, and it also 12 brought to light the fact that here is someone 13 who had been raping children. 14 Had he not had a license, we would 15 not have found out who Chester Stiles was. To 16 this day, Chester Stiles would still be on the 17 street. 18 Our own DA in Albany, Soares, had a 19 similar episode where if it hadn't have been 20 for a license. 21 So what this does is it actually 22 brings people out of the shadows, if you will. 23 You want to be able to know where individuals 24 are, you want to be able to track them down if 25 in fact you need to do so.

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(518) 371-8910 1 This is not something that you 2 should be frightened about. I mean, everyone 3 has gotten to the point where you are using 4 such aggressive, fear-mongering language that 5 the moment that someone gets a license, that 6 automatically they're going to become a legal 7 weapon, if you will. And I just don't see 8 that being the case. 9 This is an opportunity to say to 10 individuals who work in our society, who are 11 contributing to our society to a certain 12 degree, that they are now coming out of the 13 shadows that so that eventually, in fact, they 14 may become citizens, as Senator Bruno says. 15 Understand that if Senator 16 DeFrancisco was on the line at the DMV to get 17 a license and there was an illegal immigrant 18 applying the same day as him, they do not get 19 the license that same day. Senator 20 DeFrancisco may get that license, because he 21 is a bona fide citizen of the United States; 22 that other individual that has to go through 23 the process. 24 There is an antifraud security that 25 they have to go through. It takes much more

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(518) 371-8910 1 time, and perhaps a week, a month or even more 2 time before they actually get that license. 3 It is not a matter of simply saying, I'm going 4 to walk in there that day to the clerk's 5 office and I'm going to pick up my license the 6 same day as Malcolm picks up his. That is not 7 the case. 8 The security measures, the 9 technology that is going to be used is 10 foolproof to the extent that it will make sure 11 we know that person is not some potential 12 terrorist, as we all rightfully have some 13 concern or need to be concerned about. 14 So what we have here today is a 15 bill that I know Senator Padavan worked very 16 diligently on, put a lot of time in. But the 17 policy which the Governor has put forward is 18 one that is going in the right direction. 19 Understand, leadership requires you 20 to take, sometimes, some bold positions. My 21 own mayor -- good friend -- Mayor Bloomberg, 22 on the congestion mitigation plan, that's a 23 tough decision. That's a bold decision. And 24 as much as the polls say he's going in the 25 wrong direction, he continues to press on on a

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(518) 371-8910 1 matter that he knows is vitally important to 2 the welfare of the people of the City of 3 New York. 4 Same here. This is a bold 5 decision. It's a tough decision. The 6 majority of individuals, according to that 7 poll, whoever did that poll, said that it's 8 70 percent of the people are moving in one 9 direction. They have their opinion. 10 But as leaders of this state, we 11 also have and are charged with the ability to 12 make tough decisions and sometimes take 13 decisions and move them outside of the box. 14 Well, that's where we are today. This is not 15 easy, but it's also a time where we have to 16 stand up and stand up firm and tell the people 17 of the state: You elected us to sometimes 18 agree with you, because we are looking at a 19 bigger picture. 20 And I think the direction in which 21 this policy is going is one that we don't have 22 to put our heads down and be shameful of. 23 It's one that is right, it's one that makes 24 the people of this state, those that are 25 involved and contributing a great deal to this

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(518) 371-8910 1 state, say that we appreciate what they do and 2 we don't fear the fact that they've been 3 living amongst us for years, a million of 4 them. 5 And I don't know what you plan on 6 doing about that, but you have a million of 7 them. Not ten, not a hundred, not a thousand. 8 They are living right next door to you. And I 9 think you'd rather know who they are and be 10 able to track them if necessary. 11 So that's why I will not be 12 supporting Senator Padavan's bill, although I 13 do consider him a colleague and a friend. But 14 on this one, I think it's the wrong direction. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 17 you, Senator Smith. 18 Senator Farley. 19 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you very 20 much, Mr. President. 21 You know, the 31 years I have been 22 here, I have never seen an issue that has so 23 polarized the public as this one. We can say 24 anything that we want, they are outraged by 25 this action of our Governor.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The county clerks, who are 2 represented by the president up in the 3 gallery, overwhelmingly rejected this idea. 4 Congressman Gillibrand in this local area has 5 rejected it. Congressman Weiner, Mayor Koch, 6 Police Commissioner Kelly, Mayor Bloomberg, 7 our own Senator Johnson -- it goes on and on. 8 Candidates, Democratic candidates 9 running for office in Schenectady are urging 10 you to sign a petition to ask the Governor to 11 overrule this -- or to reverse what he's done. 12 You know, as a lawyer and as a law 13 professor, as I read Section 502 it says that 14 a person shall -- shall, shall -- provide a 15 Social Security number in order to get a 16 license. 17 A Social Security number is 18 verifiable. We talk about some of the 19 documents that the Governor is talking about, 20 a passport. You can go to Tijuana and get a 21 passport from any country that you want. Some 22 of the passports that are issued from some of 23 the nations around the world aren't passports 24 worth the paper they're printed on. 25 Social Security numbers are

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(518) 371-8910 1 verifiable. He talked even that parole papers 2 could be used as identification. It's 3 absolutely insane what is happening. 4 Incidentally, Senator Smith, you 5 mentioned that Chester Stiles was apprehended 6 because he had an expired driver's license. I 7 think he'd be in a bit of trouble if he had no 8 driver's license. 9 We could go on and on on this, and 10 so forth, but this is an issue that has 11 totally polarized the general public. I have 12 person after person after person coming up to 13 me saying: "I'm a Democrat, and I think that 14 this is terrible," "I'm not in any party, but 15 I think this is terrible, what is happening," 16 urging us to do something about it. 17 I think we're here to represent. 18 And, you know, you can't get 72 to 75 percent 19 of the people to agree that it's going to snow 20 this winter. But I'll tell you something 21 else: they have realized that this is a 22 wrongheaded idea. It's something that we 23 should reject. 24 Senator Padavan's bill is 25 realistic. It addresses the problem.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I think clearly that what has been 2 done is not only against the law and 3 unconstitutional, I think that the Court of 4 Appeals decision was somewhat ingenuous and 5 did not absolutely reject what was said there. 6 It says that he could do this, that sort of 7 thing. 8 I think that we have to address 9 this. I urge my colleagues to stand up and do 10 the right things, what you're elected for, to 11 represent the people that sent you here. 12 This is a key issue. It's national 13 security. We have been, in New York State, 14 the target of terrorism. This isn't just a 15 partisan issue, this is an absolute issue of 16 security for this state and this nation. And 17 I think it's something that we must act on. 18 The people are asking us to do it. And I hope 19 at least this house is going to do it. 20 And let's hope that the Assembly, 21 if they come back and vote on this, if they 22 put that on the floor, it will pass in a 23 New York minute, I'll tell you that right now. 24 And I urge everybody to support the 25 legislation.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 2 you, Senator Farley. 3 Senator Volker. 4 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, I 5 have always said that I have always tried to 6 stay away from what we characterize as real 7 political issues. The interesting thing about 8 this one is it's been made political by, 9 unfortunately, the people in the Governor's 10 office who have been pushing this issue. 11 The politics of it really doesn't 12 bother me, I have to be honest with you. I 13 help oversee homeland security for this state, 14 with Senator Leibell and some other people. 15 This issue, it's not the chord that has 16 been -- that the people, in my opinion, have 17 rung. That is, that they're opposed to it. 18 That happens quite a bit. It's a big problem. 19 But the big problem is that I took 20 an oath when I became a State Senator -- I 21 took another one when I became an Assemblyman, 22 and I took an oath when I was a police 23 officer -- to uphold the law and the 24 Constitution of our state and nation. 25 The Governor is saying, even though

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(518) 371-8910 1 this is a violation of federal law -- and you 2 can argue whether it's a violation of state 3 law. I think it clearly is. He doesn't have 4 the ability to make such a decision. In fact, 5 the sad part of it is it's also a violation of 6 something else called democracy. 7 Governors have been overriding the 8 legislative authority for years now. Pataki 9 was just as guilty. And the media supported 10 them. So it was okay to ignore the 11 Legislature. More and more they've eroded the 12 authority of the Legislature to make 13 decisions. That's wrong. 14 But worse than that, in this 15 case -- my concern is I live in an area that's 16 the second major target in the state for 17 terrorists. By the way, nobody is saying that 18 most illegal aliens, or illegal whatever, are 19 a problem. In fact, I regret the fact that 20 the federal government has done such a bad job 21 on immigration, I'll tell you that right now. 22 And I've said it. 23 But the issue is that unfortunately 24 what the Governor did in doing this -- well, 25 it's not an executive order, it's just the

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(518) 371-8910 1 power of the DMV -- which is ridiculous, of 2 course -- to override a statute. 3 What he's done, he's endangered -- 4 what he would do is endanger the state and 5 endanger this country, this state from people 6 who would want to destroy us. 7 And I warn everybody, this bill is 8 a bill you should think very carefully about 9 not supporting. I've often said that there 10 are very few bills in this Legislature -- 11 death penalty, abortion, things like that -- 12 that can wreck careers. This bill could. 13 Because remember, if anything 14 happens, if this thing becomes the law of the 15 state -- that is, if this order becomes 16 effective -- and driver's licenses are 17 involved, as they were on 9/11 -- and I read 18 some stories about, well, they were all legal. 19 No, they weren't. I don't know where the 20 Daily News got that from, but they're wrong. 21 I know a little bit about what happened on 22 9/11, and that's not true. 23 But if it happens, God forbid that 24 we get a hit in this state and the people who 25 do it -- and by the way, it could be almost

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(518) 371-8910 1 anybody. Now, the driver's license under this 2 is now going to be degenerated. That is, as a 3 document. I have spoken to all the reputable 4 people I know who are involved in homeland 5 security. Not one of them says this isn't 6 going to be a problem for everybody. Not one 7 of them. 8 Now, I understand you got some guy 9 who used to be in homeland security, and he 10 says -- you can always find that person. 11 I can tell you, I was asked to try 12 to get people to testify who are former top 13 people in this state for homeland security. 14 They were reluctant. They said, "It's a 15 political issue. It's not a real issue. 16 We'll all testify against it, because 17 everybody knows it's a bad idea." That's not 18 even an issue. 19 I remind you of one thing. If we 20 get hit in the wrong place in Western New 21 York, the Eastern Seaboard will be shut down 22 with power. There are issues here that many 23 people do not understand about the homeland 24 security and the security of this state and 25 this nation.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The issue of undocumented aliens 2 and all that, to me, yeah, it's certainly an 3 important issue. We're not going to take a 4 million people out of the state. That's 5 ridiculous. Of course it's ridiculous. We 6 know that. 7 The issue, though, is not that. 8 The issue is security, terrorists. That's the 9 biggest issue in this state. If we ever get 10 hit again, God forbid, it's going to change 11 the face of this state. 12 And you can say all you want, Well, 13 this is a good idea because -- by the way, I 14 talked to some insurance people. I said, 15 where are they getting this idea that it's 16 going to reduce insurance rates? Nobody seems 17 to know where that idea came from. Many of 18 the things that are being said are, I realize, 19 to try to sell the idea of doing the driver's 20 license and reducing the use of it. 21 I was talking to a former DMV 22 person who was telling me, prior to 9/11 they 23 were giving out these nondriver licenses based 24 on a visa. So they said, "We'd better check 25 on this and see what happens." What would

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(518) 371-8910 1 happen is -- and they had short-term visas -- 2 they found out that 5,000 people took their 3 nondriver's license back into motor vehicles 4 and got driver's licenses without checking the 5 visas at all, because it was the normal course 6 of business. 7 I mean, you really have to 8 understand that the DMV is not impacting 9 people -- they don't go looking at everything. 10 And especially now. If this happens, all 11 sorts of illegal people will step through, 12 including people probably who are not illegal 13 aliens but just ordinary people who will get 14 driver's licenses without being checked out. 15 Because this will change the entire system. 16 When you decide that you're going 17 to change a system that has been in place for 18 all these years, you are making, in my 19 opinion, a huge mistake. 20 My vote in favor of this bill 21 doesn't have anything to do with illegal 22 aliens, it has to do with homeland security 23 and the security of my family, my region, and 24 my state. 25 So I only say that because all the

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(518) 371-8910 1 things I read are interesting. And I 2 understand the debate. I was just with a very 3 prominent group of lawyers -- who are all 4 Democrats, by the way -- and we talked about 5 this issue, and they were all incensed because 6 they said, you know, what the Governor is 7 trying to do is override the Legislature 8 without any recourse and tell county clerks -- 9 many of whom are Democrats, by the way -- "you 10 have to do this." 11 What they're saying is: "I took an 12 oath also. I am not going to do it. And the 13 reason I'm not going to do it, I am not going 14 to violate federal and state law." Because 15 they believe in the Constitution, and they 16 believe in laws. 17 Too often on a state and federal 18 level, people are just saying, Well, we don't 19 like that law, so we're going to ignore it. 20 Orval Faubus tried to ignore the law in Little 21 Rock. The story is that Eisenhower realized 22 that sending in troops for desegregation was 23 unpopular. It was very unpopular. But he 24 said, "The law of this land is the law of this 25 land," and he sent those in. At Selma --

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Larkin is not here -- the same 2 argument made. But the president said, "No, 3 we'll uphold the law." 4 If you vote against this bill, you 5 are voting against upholding the law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 7 you, Senator Volker. 8 Senator Flanagan. 9 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. On the bill. 11 I was listening to the comments of 12 my colleagues, starting off with Senator 13 Smith, and he made a comparison to Mayor 14 Bloomberg and the issue of congestion pricing 15 and the action being taken here by the 16 Governor and how it demonstrated fortitude and 17 courage and leadership. And sometimes when 18 you're demonstrating leadership, it's not that 19 easy. 20 I would respectfully suggest that 21 there's a major distinction between their two 22 approaches. One is unilateral, one is by 23 executive fiat, one is without public 24 discourse, one is without legislative input, 25 and that has become the style and of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Governor. Who, perhaps we should remind each 2 other, basically said, in July: I don't need 3 the Legislature. I will run government 4 through my state agencies, and I will 5 implement the policies that I believe to be in 6 the best interests of the public and, frankly, 7 the Legislature be damned. 8 Now, Mayor Bloomberg does deserve 9 credit because he took on a heavy issue, but 10 he's gone through a process that includes the 11 legislative process, a deliberative one, and 12 it seeks the input of not only various 13 constituencies but the public at large. So 14 there's a fundamental difference. 15 There have been no public hearings. 16 This was done under the cloak of darkness, in 17 secrecy, and put together over a period of 18 months without any legislative input. 19 The first hearing on this matter 20 occurred when the Senate had a hearing with 21 Senator Leibell and Senator Libous, through 22 their respective committees. That was the 23 first opportunity we really had a chance to 24 ask questions of the commissioner, for four 25 and a half hours.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And the Governor has not seen, 2 didn't feel any need to ask anybody here what 3 our constituents may think and what the 4 appropriate approach would be, and that has 5 been very deleterious as we move along here. 6 Everything is now out. All these 7 things should have been discussed beforehand, 8 at the front end of the process. So I'm going 9 to make some points that I think may be 10 different from some people. 11 I believe what the Governor is 12 doing is illegal. I believe it violates state 13 statute, the motor vehicle law. I believe it 14 violates the State Administrative Procedure 15 Act. And I also believe it violates federal 16 law, and federal law in two respects, REAL ID 17 and HAVA. And some of those laws that we 18 passed here in the State of New York affecting 19 HAVA were enacted prior to the policy that the 20 Governor is trying to forge. 21 I would add the Governor talks 22 about safety and security for the driving 23 public. If that's the whole crux of this, 24 then why, frankly, are we giving nondriver IDs 25 to people who are illegal immigrants? If it's

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(518) 371-8910 1 all about the driving public, then we should 2 at least differentiate that way. 3 And one of my colleagues, I'm not 4 sure who, referenced what we're doing to, in 5 essence, undermine the people who are actually 6 trying to go through the process the right 7 way. 8 These are facts that come from the 9 Department of Homeland Security: In 2003, 10 64,000 people; 2004, 66,000 people; 2005, 11 84,000 people; 2006, 104,000 people. Every 12 year it's gone up, for the last four years. 13 These numbers, ladies and 14 gentlemen, are the people who have become 15 naturalized citizens in the State of New York, 16 legal immigrants in the State of New York. So 17 for the last four years, 317,000 people 18 somehow found the wherewithal to get in the 19 process, start it at the beginning and work it 20 through to the end. 21 By adopting the policies that the 22 Governor is advocating, we're essentially 23 telling those 317,000 people, sorry for all 24 your time and effort, sorry for all your 25 expense and aggravation and frustration, but

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(518) 371-8910 1 we're just going to change the rules of the 2 game midstream. That's bad public policy. 3 The commissioner sat before the 4 committees and raised a number of different 5 points and answered questions. And I will 6 give him credit for sitting there for four and 7 a half hours. Frankly, it probably could have 8 been longer, because that was the first time 9 anyone had a chance to engage in a real 10 discussion with the commissioner. 11 Now, there was a lot of discussion 12 about safety and security and how well DMV 13 works with law enforcement. And yet I found 14 it ironic, when pressed, the commissioner said 15 any of the information that they have will not 16 be shared with any other law enforcement 17 agencies without a court order. 18 If you're talking about safety and 19 security, homeland security and terrorism and 20 the safety of the driving public, and you're 21 lauding all your efforts with law enforcement 22 agencies, why in God's name do you have to 23 say, I'm sorry, we have it, and if we don't 24 throw it away and we keep it, you can't have 25 it unless you walk in here with a court order?

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(518) 371-8910 1 I frankly was aghast at what the 2 commissioner was saying. And many of my 3 colleagues were there for over seven hours of 4 testimony for that entire day. That is 5 another bad step in this process. 6 And we do differentiate now. Let's 7 not forget the fact that we differentiate 8 right now in terms of our licenses. If you're 9 under 21, you get a different license. If 10 you're here on a temporary visa but you're 11 here legally, you get a different license. 12 But now that's changed. That's not 13 even waiting till December. Someone who's 14 here illegally can go into DMV today -- and 15 it's happening -- and you can go in and say, I 16 want the same license that everyone else gets, 17 and the clerks have to issue it today. So 18 there's a change that's happening already. 19 Now, there have been points made 20 about the costs of this program. There have 21 been points made about technology. 22 Commissioner Swarts was before the committee 23 and again said nothing is foolproof. Those 24 are his words, not mine: Nothing is 25 foolproof.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We don't know enough about this 2 technology. I'm surprised to hear the 3 Minority Leader get up and talk about the 4 efficacy of this technology, because frankly 5 we don't know, because it's never been vetted. 6 Because we have this thing called 7 the State Administrative Procedure Act which 8 allows for things like this to be published in 9 the state register the right way. It allows 10 for public comments -- not only from 11 individuals but, frankly, from people who are 12 experts in this field. 13 How do we know that the facial 14 recognition technology is the best? How do we 15 know that the scanners that they're talking 16 about using are going to be the best ones for 17 ferreting out fraud? We don't know that. We 18 haven't seen it. 19 And now that the Governor is under 20 the gun, he went into NYU last week and now 21 he's talking a little bit more about the 22 details. Kind of throwing a few things out 23 there for people to digest. That is why we 24 have a process. 25 There's been reference to other

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(518) 371-8910 1 states that have enacted legislation like 2 this. And I actually went and looked at them. 3 I don't agree with some of their laws, but 4 each of their states actually went through the 5 statutory and legislative process and involved 6 the public and the legislature. They drafted 7 bills. They allowed for comment. They 8 allowed for debate. 9 They used the deliberative process 10 that somehow the Governor really thought was a 11 good thing when he was Attorney General but 12 now doesn't really think that the rule of law 13 is something that he should have to abide by. 14 That's bad for the public, and it's certainly 15 bad for this Legislature. 16 I also believes that this violates 17 REAL ID. One of the things the commissioner 18 talked about, if you are here now on a 19 temporary visa, say you have a two-year visa, 20 you can get an eight-year New York license. 21 Federal REAL ID is going to say when that law 22 is fully implemented that it has to be 23 coterminous. If you're here for that period 24 of time, that's how long your license should 25 be.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Now, our state knows that. The 2 Commissioner of Motor Vehicles knows that. 3 The Governor knows that. But yet they're 4 pushing ahead on a policy that will directly 5 violate federal law. 6 Common sense would dictate -- and 7 the public would like to know -- sure, 8 somebody is here legally, give them a license. 9 If they're here for two years, why are we 10 giving them an eight-year license? It doesn't 11 make sense and, frankly, it will violate 12 federal law. 13 One of the clerks -- there's a 14 number of clerks here today. At the hearing, 15 they provided excellent testimony. And I 16 would underscore part of -- and forgive me, 17 Kathy, I'm going to butcher your last name. I 18 hope it's Marchione. Okay, close. She 19 testified about the role of the clerks. And 20 one of the things that's lost in this whole 21 discussion is what we should really be 22 thinking about driving. 23 Driving is a privilege. Driving is 24 not a right. All we have to do is look at 25 various sections of the motor vehicle law in

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(518) 371-8910 1 every different way, shape and form to 2 understand that we take people's privileges 3 away when they do something wrong. We don't 4 grant them immediately up front, and there are 5 very valid reasons for so doing. 6 And, in fact, the county clerk 7 referenced the DMV handbook -- not something 8 written by me, not something written by her -- 9 which repeats at least seven times on one page 10 that driving is a privilege. Those are the 11 words from the Department of Motor Vehicles, 12 not some outside institution. 13 And we seem to lose sight of that 14 fact in this debate, and certainly the 15 Governor has lost sight of that. 16 Now, also the commissioner talked 17 about forms of identification. This is 18 another reason why this should be vetted 19 through the process. He's talking about 20 expanding the acceptable forms of ID from 46 21 to maybe as high as 60. And there are many of 22 them that are under consideration, but we're 23 not sure which way they're going. 24 In fact, we're not really sure what 25 all of them are, because they're being leaked

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(518) 371-8910 1 out and there's not a full list. And people 2 can't really decide what they're going to 3 think or not, and they're not allowing people 4 who are frankly experts in this field to look 5 at what's there. 6 And finally, on Motor Voter. The 7 first two years I was here, I chaired the 8 Administrative Regulations Review Commission, 9 so I know something about the State 10 Administrative Procedure Act. It is there for 11 a very important reason. 12 Parallel that to the Election Law 13 in the State of New York. Senator Dilan had 14 the good fortune or misfortune, depending upon 15 one's viewpoint, of serving on the conference 16 committees involving the Election Law. 17 When we enacted Election Law 18 changes, it was pursuant to HAVA, which was 19 federal law to ensure the integrity of 20 elections all across the country. Our 21 statutes said for a first-time voter you can 22 register by mail and when you go to the polls, 23 if you are a first-time voter, you have to 24 provide identification in one of two forms, 25 either a Social Security number or a valid

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(518) 371-8910 1 driver's license. 2 This policy of the Governor 3 essentially repeals that statute, because 4 there's no way to verify someone's immigration 5 statute under the Governor's policy. He wants 6 all the licenses to look the same. So there's 7 no way, if somebody comes in now under the new 8 policy, there's the potential for fraud that 9 could be rampant. 10 And yes, ladies and gentlemen, I do 11 believe that can and actually will happen if 12 we move forward with this policy. 13 I believe that this violates the 14 Election Law, I believe it violates HAVA, and 15 it in essence is going to repeal the statute 16 that we enacted -- and we enacted it based on 17 the premise that a Social Security number and 18 a valid driver's license in the State of 19 New York were two basic, very clear indices of 20 citizenship. Now we're not going to have 21 that. 22 So it's about driving, it's about 23 the process, but it's also about voting and 24 the integrity of the electoral process. And 25 my constituents are like many of the other

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(518) 371-8910 1 people in the room. At least 75 to 80 percent 2 strongly are opposed to this policy. And now 3 that information coming out that people who 4 are illegal immigrants could potentially be 5 voting, that's making them even madder. 6 So as this issue unfolds, it only 7 underscores why this should have been done in 8 a completely different way. Regardless of the 9 outcome and regardless of one's philosophy, we 10 are violating the law and the Governor is 11 violating the law, more accurately, in his 12 approach. It was ill-conceived, it's 13 ill-advised, it's inappropriate, and it is bad 14 for the public in the State of New York. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 16 you, Senator Flanagan. 17 Senator Leibell. 18 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 19 Madam President. 20 First I want to comment on Senator 21 Padavan. You have been a watchdog in this 22 area over the course of many years and have 23 led all of us in being aware how critical 24 these issues are. 25 I would like you all to step back

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(518) 371-8910 1 in time with me to 9/11/01 and think of the 2 days that followed those tragic events. And 3 we were brought back into session shortly 4 thereafter. Does anyone here think that we 5 would have considered this legislation in 6 those days following 9/11? 7 But what has happened is exactly 8 what our enemies predicted, that as time went 9 by, we being a democracy, we would forget and 10 we would get soft. 11 I'm going to suggest that for every 12 elected official in this state, whether you're 13 a member of this legislative body or hold 14 another public office, we have one 15 responsibility that trumps every other 16 responsibility that we have, and that is the 17 safety of our constituents. Their physical 18 health, their well-being. 19 And in the course of a year, the 20 vast majority of issues that we discuss don't 21 really touch on that. They touch on education 22 dollars, library dollars, taxes. 23 But go back to our number-one 24 responsibility, the health and well-being of 25 our constituents. I chair the committee that

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(518) 371-8910 1 has oversight of homeland security. And I'm 2 going to suggest to you that there will not be 3 in our term, the one in which we're serving 4 now, a more significant issue than the one we 5 are discussing and debating today. We all 6 know the cost that we've paid -- the state 7 most dearly -- in this war on terror. 8 Just before this, we in effect 9 eulogized a young Navy lieutenant who died in 10 combat, Lieutenant Murphy, in that war on 11 terror. Unlike previous wars, this one 12 started out on our own shores. It's a 13 different type of enemy. It's not one we have 14 known before. It's not one that plays by any 15 international rules. It's not an enemy that 16 will be concerned with the Geneva conventions. 17 One of our most difficult issues is 18 identifying who that enemy is. It will be 19 rare that they wear a uniform. There will not 20 be any battle flags. There will be no bugles. 21 Identification is going to be absolutely 22 crucial to win this war. 23 And that little document most of us 24 carry in our wallets, that driver's license, 25 is one of the key weapons that we in our free

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(518) 371-8910 1 society have with which to wage that combat. 2 And in any way to diminish that document is to 3 hand a huge advantage to those who would wish 4 to harm our country and our state. 5 I'm absolutely convinced that what 6 has been proposed by the Governor is not only 7 a major step backwards in that process of 8 identification but represents a national 9 security nightmare. 10 I am truly amazed, in having spoken 11 with many of my colleagues, that on an issue 12 of this significance there was no attempt by 13 Governor Spitzer to reach out to us, to 14 discuss this, to say "I have something 15 important, and I want to talk to you about 16 it." 17 I would have certainly thought that 18 as chairman of the committee that concerns 19 homeland security, I might have received a 20 phone call. If not from the Governor, from 21 someone involved in his administration. I do 22 not have that much faith that I like taking 23 information on a critical issue such as this 24 from press releases. 25 We had our hearing last week, and

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(518) 371-8910 1 it gave us a great deal of information, none 2 of it particularly comforting. We heard about 3 technology. My office has tried to find out 4 what that technology is. Apparently it's 5 something right out of "Star Wars." I never 6 did care for, and especially at my age now, I 7 don't like surprises. 8 I would have thought that we could 9 have brought in some people, the Governor 10 could have brought in his people, and we could 11 have found out what this technology was. 12 That driver's license is known, in 13 criminal justice circles and intelligence 14 circles, as a breeder document. That small 15 documents leads to hundred of other forms of 16 identification -- as it did with the 17 terrorists on 9/11 -- to approximately 400 18 different types of ID. It in and of itself is 19 not foolproof, but you certainly don't want to 20 go the other way and weaken it. 21 I asked the commissioner, on an 22 issue like this, isn't this something that we 23 can now slow down? Let's stop this, let's 24 step back. We'll lower the rhetoric. But 25 bring to us your experts, let's take some

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(518) 371-8910 1 time, let's take some months on an issue like 2 this. Let's take a year. Because we're 3 really not talking about the convenience of 4 some, we're talking about the safety of all. 5 That's what this issue is about. 6 I asked the commissioner, What if 7 you're wrong? In an age of nuclear weapons 8 that can be put in a backpack, what if you're 9 wrong? And if you survive, what will you say 10 to the others who are out there? What will 11 you say to their families? What consolation 12 will there be for them if you're wrong? 13 Governor Spitzer, err on the side 14 of caution. These are dangerous waters, 15 dangerous for our state and for our fellow 16 citizens in other states. Reconsider your 17 proposal. 18 Thank you, Madam President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 20 you, Senator Leibell. 21 Senator Diaz. 22 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 23 President. On the bill. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you. Senator Diaz on the bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DIAZ: I have heard so 2 many powerful statements and so many of my 3 colleagues on the Republican side talking 4 about all the reasons why this should not 5 happen. 6 Senator Bruno mentioned that those 7 terrorists that attacked our state and our 8 nation on 9/11, Senator Bruno stated that 18 9 out of the 19 of them had driver's licenses. 10 Senator Padavan stated that in June 11 of 2005 a law was introduced to mandate Social 12 Security as a requirement to obtain a driver's 13 license. 14 Senator Farley mentioned all kind 15 of reasons too. And it was said that 16 70 percent of the people of the State of 17 New York are against the Governor's idea of 18 giving aliens a driver's license. 19 Seventy percent, they say. 20 Well, you know, I have to go back 21 to when I was 18 years old and I joined the 22 Army in Puerto Rico. And they sent me for 23 basic training to Columbia, South Carolina, in 24 1960. And did you know what? About 80 or 25 90 percent of the people said that I was not

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(518) 371-8910 1 qualified because, of my color, to eat in the 2 same place that they used to eat. Eighty and 3 90 percent of the people, they said that I 4 cannot eat in the same place that they eat. 5 Eighty, 90 percent of the people 6 told me that I cannot even drink water from 7 the same fountain that they used to drink. 8 But I saw dogs, dogs drinking from that 9 fountain. But I cannot do it, because I was 10 black. And 80 percent of the people was in 11 favor of me and others not to drink water from 12 the same place as the white people and not to 13 eat in the same place with them. 14 So now 70 percent of the people in 15 the State of New York say that this is not 16 good for the state. 17 Back then, about 90 percent of the 18 people said that blacks cannot vote because 19 they don't deserve to vote. And they don't 20 deserve to go to school, they don't deserve to 21 go to the same schools. Ninety percent of the 22 people didn't want blacks to study. 23 And there is many people, many 24 people, many, many people that follow the 25 majority, because it's always nice to be in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the majority side. So that people follow the 2 majority, and especially, especially when that 3 majority has been told so many lies and so 4 many fears have been put in their minds. 5 If you tell me -- if you tell 6 people that by issuing a driver's license to 7 an alien 9/11 will come back and people will 8 kill everybody else and people will destroy 9 the state, of course they don't want it. Of 10 course nobody want it, nobody will want them 11 to get a driver's license. 12 But let me tell you a powerful 13 statement. The day when Governor Spitzer 14 announced that he will issue driver's licenses 15 to illegal aliens, let me read you a powerful 16 statement made in favor of that. Powerful 17 statement. "I understand the merits of that. 18 We have hundreds of thousands of aliens here, 19 and I am not sure that it serves the public 20 good to deprive them of their ability to go to 21 school, to go to work, to do the kinds of 22 things that you have to do to lead a normal 23 life in this state." 24 That's a powerful statement. A 25 powerful statement. Don't you agree? I'm

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(518) 371-8910 1 going to repeat it again. 2 (Laughter.) 3 SENATOR DIAZ: I mean, I love 4 this statement. Madam President, I love this 5 statement. This statement -- this statement 6 broke my heart. "I understand the merits of 7 that." Regarding Governor Spitzer's idea, "I 8 understand the merits of that. We have 9 hundreds of thousands of aliens here. I am 10 not sure that it serves the public good to 11 deprive them of their ability to go to school, 12 to go to work, to do the kinds of things that 13 you have to do to live a normal life." 14 Powerful statement. Do you know 15 who made this statement? Senator Joseph 16 Bruno. Powerful statement. This is something 17 very powerful. You know, I admire Senator 18 Bruno for this statement. It's a beautiful 19 statement. 20 But let me tell you another 21 statement, another statement made in favor -- 22 even before the Governor was elected. Before 23 the Governor was elected, we have on the 24 Republican side there a powerful -- a 25 powerful, a distinguished and honorable member

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(518) 371-8910 1 of the Republican Senate here. He made some 2 powerful statement too, before even the 3 Governor said anything. I'll tell what you he 4 says. 5 He said -- no, he didn't even say 6 it. He introduced a bill. So whatever he 7 thought would be noticed by everybody. He 8 introduced a bill, Senate Bill Number 7388A. 9 And this is what he said: "Application for a 10 driver's license shall be made to the 11 commissioner. The fee prescribed by law may 12 be submitted with such application. The 13 applicant shall furnish such proof of 14 identity" -- and he says acceptable proof with 15 or without visa stamps, valid documentation. 16 So that powerful Senator also said 17 "Eligibility for a driver's license shall not 18 be conditioned on a particular immigration 19 status." He also said: "In addition, the 20 commissioner also shall require that the 21 applicant provide his or her Social Security 22 number. A letter" -- this is powerful -- "a 23 letter or form from the United States of 24 America Social Security Administration stating 25 that the applicant is not eligible for a

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(518) 371-8910 1 Social Security number will be enough to issue 2 a driver's license to an immigrant." 3 Powerful. That was -- when was 4 this? This was introduced by Senator -- a 5 powerful Senator from Westchester County, 6 Nicholas, Nick Spano. And that was April 21, 7 2006, before Governor Spitzer decided to do 8 this. 9 So, ladies and gentlemen, Senator 10 Bruno, in his statement, supported Governor 11 Spitzer. Nick Spano -- no, no, no. The 12 Governor, I think, took the idea from Nick 13 Spano. 14 (Laughter.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 16 Adams, why do you rise? 17 SENATOR ADAMS: Will the Senator 18 yield for a question? 19 SENATOR DIAZ: No, no, no -- 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 21 Diaz -- Senator Diaz -- Senator Diaz, do you 22 yield? 23 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes, Madam 24 President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you. The Senator yields. 2 SENATOR ADAMS: I just want to be 3 clear, because it's possible that the Majority 4 Leader was misinterpreted. 5 What you read to us, was that in 6 quotes or was that the press's interpretation 7 of what he said? 8 SENATOR DIAZ: No, that's a quote 9 from the press, the New York Times, on 10 September 26, 2007. 11 SENATOR ADAMS: So there's two 12 dots or two quotation marks -- 13 SENATOR DIAZ: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 14 There are. 15 SENATOR ADAMS: So that's 16 specifically what he said? 17 SENATOR DIAZ: That is what he 18 said in the New York Times on September -- oh, 19 I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We -- through you, 20 Madam President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Yes, 22 thank you. 23 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Adams, on 24 September 26, 2007, the New York Times report 25 is quoting Senator Bruno saying, "I can

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(518) 371-8910 1 understand the merits of that. We have 2 hundreds of thousands of aliens here, and I am 3 not sure that it serves the public good to 4 deprive them of their ability to go to school, 5 to go to work, to do the kinds of things that 6 you have to do to live a normal life." End of 7 quote. 8 SENATOR ADAMS: Would the Senator 9 yield for another question? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 11 you. Senator Diaz, do you yield for another 12 question? 13 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes, Madam 14 President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 16 you. The Senator yields. 17 SENATOR ADAMS: Are you saying 18 that Joseph Bruno said this? The one that 19 spoke today? 20 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm supporting 21 this -- Madam President, through you. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Yes, 23 you may answer the question. 24 SENATOR DIAZ: I am supporting 25 this, based on this quote.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you. 2 SENATOR DIAZ: And not only 3 Senator Bruno did that, also Senator Nick 4 Spano. So that means that the Governor is 5 being supported by Senator Bruno and Senator 6 Nicholas Spano, Nicholas Spano, from 7 Westchester County. They are already on 8 board, they're already supporting this. 9 Because Senator Spano tried it before the 10 Governor. So the Governor copied Nicholas 11 Spano's idea. 12 So we should stop now. Now that we 13 know that we have two powerful members of the 14 Republican delegation supporting the Governor, 15 or at least maybe one, we have to stop trying 16 to confuse people and -- because, see, I 17 understand that there are people here with 18 good intentions, good hearts. But out there, 19 out there there are people, racists, racist 20 people. 21 Such as Congressman Tom Tancredo, 22 candidate for president of the United States, 23 that was invited to New York by Assemblyman 24 James Tedisco to speak on this issue. And you 25 know what he did? You know what he said? A

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(518) 371-8910 1 bunch of racist remarks against Hispanics and 2 minorities and immigrants. 3 So there are people out there, and 4 I'm not saying -- you have a good heart. 5 These are people here with good hearts, with 6 good intentions. But there are people out 7 there using all this to fill their agenda, 8 their anti-immigration agenda, their racism 9 against Hispanics, their racism against 10 minorities. And they're having a ball. 11 They're having a ball. 12 And what are they doing? Oh, 9/11, 13 they're going to kill all of us. I don't want 14 to give them a driver's license because 15 they're going to register to vote. Don't make 16 me laugh. Please. 17 Do you know that the easy -- the 18 worst laws to stop corruption from people who 19 want to register to vote is now in New York 20 State? People don't have to do anything. 21 People don't even have to get a driver's 22 license to register to vote, people go and do 23 it by mail. They take the form, they sign it 24 and send it, and they get their voting card. 25 They don't need a driver's license to go and

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(518) 371-8910 1 register to vote. So stop lying to people, 2 stop telling people the wrong thing. 3 I agree with you, I agree with you 4 that maybe the Governor should have consulted. 5 Okay, say that. Say the Governor didn't 6 consult us. Okay, say that, and I'll say you 7 right. I would agree with that. He didn't 8 consult me either. 9 (Laughter.) 10 SENATOR DIAZ: Yeah, I learn 11 about this when I was going to support it, 12 yeah. So? But then let's be honest and say 13 the Governor -- we are against it because the 14 Governor didn't consult us. 15 Other states have done it. This is 16 not a new invention. We have other states 17 that have already done this. It's done. I 18 don't see terrorism going up in those states. 19 I don't see people being killed. I don't see 20 people going -- that something bad happened in 21 those states that will happen in New York 22 State. Nothing happened, nothing. You know, 23 like Scarface says in the movie: "Nothing. 24 Nothing happened." 25 So, Madam President, we have to

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(518) 371-8910 1 stop telling people that if they give a 2 driver's license to illegal aliens that 3 everybody is going to be killed, that we're 4 going to have -- that people are going to do 5 this, they're going -- we've got people 6 already on record supporting this. 7 And no matter how many times we're 8 being told that it will be safer for the 9 public because if people had insurance -- you 10 know how many people without insurance and 11 without driver's license kill people in the 12 street and go along and nobody knows and they 13 cannot stop it because they don't know what 14 happened? I mean, people with driver's 15 license, with insurance, that would be 16 beneficial for the people of the State of 17 New York. 18 So it's not often I agree with the 19 Governor. I don't want you to go say no, no, 20 he -- not me. Not me. When I have to say to 21 the Governor -- and by the way, I think this 22 is the first time that I am agreeing with the 23 Governor. But I am already saying it, I think 24 this is the first time I agree with him, and I 25 agree with him on this one. He is doing

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(518) 371-8910 1 something beneficial for the state, beneficial 2 for the people. 3 And this is something with a good 4 heart, something that will benefit people, and 5 something that will agree with this statement: 6 "I can understand the merits of that. We have 7 hundreds of thousands of aliens here" -- 8 ladies and gentlemen -- "and I am not sure 9 that it serves the public good to deprive them 10 of their ability to go to school, to go to 11 work, to do the kinds of things that you have 12 to do to lead a normal life." 13 They have chosen your state to be 14 their home. Let's let them live and work and 15 support their family. 16 Thank you, Madam President, for 17 your tolerance to me. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 19 you, Senator Diaz. 20 Senator Liz Krueger. 21 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm sorry, 22 I'm going to cede my time to Senator Serrano, 23 since he had asked to go prior to me. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 25 Serrano.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you. 2 Thank you, Senator Krueger. 3 It's really amazing to sit here and 4 listen to the fear-mongering on this issue 5 that the other side of the aisle is putting 6 forth. 7 The facts are that voting for 8 Senator Padavan's bill will make our roads 9 less safe. It will make driving a car and 10 owning auto insurance more expensive. 11 But just to clear up some of the 12 things that have been said here in this 13 chamber which I find really amazing -- this 14 whole idea of having a driver's license will 15 just give everyone who wishes to do harm a 16 free ride on airplanes. The facts are that 17 you never needed a driver's license to fly on 18 a domestic flight. You never needed to prove 19 immigration status to fly on a domestic 20 flight. You can fly domestically with a 21 foreign passport, nothing more. 22 And to continue to beat this drum 23 about 9/11 and saying that -- creating this 24 correlation between immigration and 9/11 -- 25 there is no connection between immigration and

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(518) 371-8910 1 terrorism. And it's so unfortunate that this 2 great nation, which was built on immigration, 3 which separates us from the rest of the world 4 as being a place to welcome the tired, the 5 poor, those who are looking to make a better 6 life for themselves, to continually say you're 7 a terrorist, you're coming here and you're 8 going to do harm to this nation, is very 9 unfortunate. 10 Another issue that was brought up 11 in this debate is voting, that this executive 12 order by the Governor will make it easy for 13 unqualified or undocumented people to register 14 to vote. 15 Well, as it stands right now, you 16 swear or affirm when you fill out a voter 17 registration card that you are a citizen. 18 There is no proof that's needed when you 19 register to vote. There is no 20 immigration-status proof that's needed. So 21 none of that changes. 22 Now, if you want to have a 23 conversation with the Board of Elections about 24 changing that policy, fine, we can have that 25 conversation. But this plan does not change

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(518) 371-8910 1 that. 2 Another issue that I heard brought 3 up was REAL ID, that this will undermine the 4 REAL ID Act. Well, if you dig a little 5 deeper, you'll see that not one driver's 6 license in the United States of America 7 currently is in compliance with REAL ID. 8 REAL ID will take place, will come together in 9 the year 2013. And right now there is not one 10 driver's license in the United States that 11 fills all of the criteria that is spelled out 12 in REAL ID. 13 So this issue would have had to 14 have been -- the issue of having REAL ID would 15 have had to have been revisited at that time 16 anyway. 17 And the Governor's plan just makes 18 sense because it makes our driver's license 19 more secure. Whether you agree with this plan 20 or not, at the end of the day getting a 21 driver's license will be more difficult. It 22 will not become easier, because there will be 23 stipulations in place, additional antifraud 24 measures that currently don't exist that will 25 be in place, that will make it more difficult

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(518) 371-8910 1 for anyone to bring forth fraudulent 2 identification to get this driver's license. 3 Another thing that is very 4 important is that this will save insured 5 motorists in this state $120 million annually 6 on their insurance costs. 7 Because there are so many 8 unlicensed drivers in this state, because they 9 cannot purchase auto insurance because they 10 have no license, they are driving around as a 11 liability to all of us. And I personally want 12 to know that I'm driving on the roads with 13 qualified drivers. And I would like to save 14 some money on my auto insurance, because it is 15 too high. And everyone in this state will 16 agree with that. 17 So as we continue to listen to the 18 other side talk about 9/11 and the horrible 19 things that were done to this state, to 20 New York City and to this state and our 21 nation, we're talking about people who wish to 22 do harm to this nation. 23 So instead of going out and having 24 a blanket approach towards immigration, why 25 not spend more time and effort going after

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(518) 371-8910 1 people who choose to do harm to this great 2 nation? Instead of hurting the immigrants who 3 are only here to seek a better life and to get 4 away from what their oppression is in their 5 homeland, so they can have better 6 opportunities here for themselves and their 7 families. 8 And it's unfortunate, since we are 9 a nation of immigrants, that now those who are 10 the grandchildren of immigrants themselves do 11 not feel the same level of empathy for the 12 immigrants who are coming in now only wishing 13 to have the same opportunity. 14 And because the federal government 15 does not have a clear path to citizenship, 16 because of the failures of the federal 17 government to create a proper procedure for 18 immigrants, that is why we have so many 19 undocumented. 20 I can guarantee you that most of 21 most if not all undocumented immigrants would 22 love to be citizens, would love to have 23 documentation. But the system is stacked 24 against them, it's too expensive and it takes 25 too long. And that's what needs to be

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(518) 371-8910 1 reformed. 2 So I urge all of my colleagues here 3 to vote against Senator Padavan's bill, 4 because it's the wrong thing to do, it will 5 make us less secure. And I urge my colleagues 6 to vote -- 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 8 Larkin, why do you rise? 9 SENATOR LARKIN: Madam President, 10 would Senator Serrano yield for a question? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you. Senator Serrano, do you yield? 13 SENATOR SERRANO: Certainly. 14 After I finish my last statement. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: So you 16 don't yield. 17 SENATOR SERRANO: One second, 18 Senator. 19 I urge my colleagues to vote 20 against this bill because it really does not 21 do the State of New York any good to keep our 22 heads in the sand any longer about 23 immigrants -- unless we're planning on 24 deporting all of them, which will ruin our 25 state's economy.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Yes, Senator. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 3 you. Senator, do you now yield? 4 SENATOR LARKIN: You're echoing a 5 statement that was made by the Commissioner of 6 Motor Vehicles before the joint committee 7 meeting last week, where he said we will save 8 $124 million. When he was asked "Prove it, 9 tell us," he said, "Well, that's what somebody 10 in the Insurance Department said." 11 What is your answer? 12 SENATOR SERRANO: Well, the state 13 of New Mexico, Senator -- 14 SENATOR LARKIN: I didn't ask 15 about New Mexico, Senator, I'm -- 16 SENATOR SERRANO: But this is 17 proof -- 18 SENATOR CONNOR: Point of order, 19 Madam President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you. Senator Connor. 22 SENATOR CONNOR: He asked a 23 question. Let the Senator answer the 24 question. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you. Senator Serrano, answer the question. 2 SENATOR SERRANO: Madam 3 President, through you, eight other states in 4 this nation have implemented this plan. And 5 all of these states have seen a reduction in 6 their auto insurance costs. New Mexico has 7 seen a reduction by one-third. 8 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you very 9 much, Senator. 10 But my comment to you is that was 11 over a week ago, and the Insurance Department 12 has not sent us anything that they said they 13 would. So until they do it, I think somebody 14 should be very careful about saying how much 15 we will save. 16 SENATOR CONNOR: Point of order, 17 Madam President. 18 Senator Larkin is out of order 19 again. He is asking a question? Is he asking 20 the Senator to yield? Or is he making a 21 statement when he doesn't have the floor? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 23 you. 24 SENATOR SERRANO: Madam 25 President, currently auto insurance rates are

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(518) 371-8910 1 as high as they are partly because there are 2 so many uninsured motorists on the roads, 3 unlicensed motorists on the roads. And 4 they're driving. Whether we like it or not, 5 they are driving. 6 And this plan brings them out of 7 the shadows and brings them into the system. 8 It is documenting the undocumented. It is the 9 smart thing to do. 10 And until the federal government 11 cleans up their act, this plan actually 12 creates records of who is here in this state, 13 who is driving, and it ensures that we have 14 qualified drivers on the road. And insurance 15 companies, because there are more insured 16 motorists on the road instead of uninsured, it 17 lowers the premiums. 18 Thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 20 you. 21 Senator Nozzolio. 22 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 23 President, on the bill. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you. Senator Nozzolio on the bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 2 President and my colleagues, I appreciate 3 hearing the passionate debate being exercised. 4 I'd like also to inject some passion into that 5 debate. 6 Before I do, though, I think 7 Senator Serrano, who I listened to very 8 intently, made some good points. Particularly 9 the fact that this issue is not about 10 immigration. 11 What this issue is about is the use 12 of state identification processes. And that 13 the first requirement under the federal 14 government's REAL ID Act is for the 15 establishment of legal status. You have to 16 have legal status in order to comply with that 17 act. 18 I also listened intently to Senator 19 Diaz. I think one fundamental item that 20 Senator Diaz failed to mention to this body 21 was that the licenses provided to those 22 individuals that Senator Diaz had indicated 23 were in fact individuals who are here legally. 24 Legally, through visas, through other forms of 25 legal, processed entry into the United States.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Last Friday I stood in a chapel in 2 Skaneateles, New York, along the shores of 3 Skaneateles Lake, to attend a funeral service, 4 a funeral service for Laura Lee Morabito. 5 Laura Lee, who was one of the victims of 6 September 11th. Incredibly, after six years, 7 on September 12, 2007, her remains were 8 identified. 9 Laura Lee was on that fateful 10 American Airlines Flight 11. That day her 11 body was slammed into the trade towers. She 12 was on that plane, she was killed. It took 13 six years to identify her remains. 14 Incredibly, her wedding ring was also part of 15 the identification process. 16 And on that day, Friday, last week, 17 her husband Mark more by to, presented their 18 wedding ring to his in-laws, the mom and dad 19 of Laura Lee Morabito. 20 I can't help but think that the 21 perpetrator of that horrendous act, the 22 individual who drove that plane into the trade 23 towers, got on the plane in the first instance 24 because of a phony driver's license. 25 I took a plane ride last week. As

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(518) 371-8910 1 I was entering into the security wing, I was 2 asked for my identification. I pulled out my 3 New York State Senator ID -- bar-coded, 4 signed, if found, call the New York State 5 Police at a toll-free number. The attendant 6 looked at that New York State Senator ID, 7 looked at the photo, looked at me, looked at 8 the ID, and said: "May I see your driver's 9 license, sir?" To me, that said it all. 10 Your Senator ID is underneath a 11 driver's license ID as an identifying tool. 12 And that's what this legislation is all about. 13 It's the identifying tool that this state, 14 under Governor's Spitzer's proposal, will 15 provide those who are here illegally. 16 And to suggest that in any way 17 those who oppose Governor Spitzer's policy are 18 in any way against immigration is disingenuous 19 at best. Senator Bruno indicated his father 20 came here from Italy. My father came here 21 from Italy. My father, as many of your 22 grandfathers and grandmothers, came to America 23 from another place. They came here for all 24 the same reasons. 25 And I'm not trying in any way,

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(518) 371-8910 1 shape or form, by my opposition to Governor 2 Spitzer's proposal, to cast aspersions on 3 those wonderful immigrants who are coming to 4 this country. But frankly, the federal 5 government has a process. That is a process 6 to document. It is a process that every 7 immigrant that came here legally had to comply 8 with. And for us to say that that process 9 should be ignored says that our laws of this 10 state should be ignored. 11 You took an oath of office to 12 uphold the laws of this state. So did I. And 13 I know that we all wish our citizenry would do 14 the same. But what gives an individual the 15 right to break the law regardless of the 16 motive? 17 Change the federal immigration 18 policies. That's your right. That's your 19 responsibility. We support you in that 20 effort. But don't disregard those laws that 21 exist today and don't sanctify those who have 22 broken the law by providing them an illegal 23 identification tool. 24 I spoke, as you spoke, to many who 25 come to this country, and I asked them what

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(518) 371-8910 1 they thought. I wish I could speak to my 2 grandfather, who has long since passed, what 3 he thought when he left his son, his parents, 4 his wife, his daughter to come to this country 5 and work for seven years before he saw his 6 kids again. My father, Alberto Nozzolio, 7 didn't see his father from his age 5 to his 8 age 12, while his father spent seven years 9 complying with the immigration laws of this 10 country provided to him, complied with them to 11 the letter, so he could bring his family here 12 legally. 13 What about "illegal" do you not 14 understand on your side of the aisle who are 15 supporting Governor Spitzer's ill-conceived 16 policy? It sends a terrible signal to 17 everyone. 18 Madam President, that is why I 19 oppose it aggressively, I will continue to 20 oppose it, and that's why the legislation 21 before us is the legislation that should be 22 enacted. 23 Thank you very much. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you, Senator Nozzolio.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Schneiderman. 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 3 Madam President. 4 I'd like to say that this debate 5 over driver's licenses is the most interesting 6 issue that I've worked on since I was elected 7 to the Senate. The passions on both sides are 8 tremendous. 9 But as the debate has evolved, I 10 think in the last few weeks one thing has 11 become clear. Those of us who support the 12 Department of Motor Vehicles, the DMV, and the 13 Governor are returning again and again to the 14 relatively mundane facts of how this process 15 will work, while unfortunately a lot of people 16 on the other side seem to be engaged in a game 17 of can you top this as hyperbolic rhetoric 18 escalates to fill the space created by a 19 national conservative media that quite 20 honestly is seeking to fan the flames of the 21 ugliest sort of social conflict a nation can 22 have. 23 And I would urge all of you to 24 listen carefully to what I'm going to say, 25 because you invited into your hearing people

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(518) 371-8910 1 who -- I don't think anyone on the other side 2 of the aisle is here to fan the flames of the 3 ugliest social conflict we can have, but you 4 invited people into your hearing who clearly 5 are. 6 And we have to very cognizant that 7 we are not writing on a blank canvas. There 8 is a national effort right now to blame and 9 target and scapegoat a vulnerable minority 10 group for other ills in our society. And this 11 time it's not Jews, it's Japanese, it's not 12 blacks, it is undocumented immigrants. 13 Don't kid yourselves that you're 14 not playing in the shadow of Lou Dobbs and Tom 15 Tancredo and the Ku Klux Klan, who have had a 16 boom, according to the Anti-Defamation League, 17 in their recruiting because they have switched 18 their attention from blacks and Jews to 19 immigrants. 20 So let's not pretend that we're 21 writing on a blank canvas. Let's go to the 22 facts. And I hope that on my side of the 23 aisle we will stick to the facts, because 24 there have been a lot of facts, supposed facts 25 presented here today by my colleagues on the

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(518) 371-8910 1 other side that are simply untrue. We have to 2 try to return to them again and again, because 3 history teaches us that the only way to fight 4 the demagoguery of fear is with an unwavering 5 commitment to the truth, to the facts, and 6 that over time people will get it. 7 Senator Diaz spoke earlier, and he 8 made a very important point. At various 9 points in our history, a majority of the 10 people have been in favor of discrimination. 11 You know, if you took a poll in 1948, probably 12 72 percent of Americans said, Yeah, we 13 shouldn't force integration on the southern 14 states. 15 We have an obligation to lead, and 16 we have an obligation to tell the truth. So 17 let's go to the truth. 18 First fact, central fact: 19 13 million undocumented immigrants are not 20 going away. So I quote from the great mayor 21 of New York City, a strong supporter of your 22 conference: "We need to get real about the 23 people who are now living in this country 24 illegally, in many cases raising families and 25 paying taxes. The idea of deporting these 11

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(518) 371-8910 1 or 12 million people" -- this was last year in 2 his testimony to Congress; it's now 3 13 million -- "about as many as live in the 4 entire state of Pennsylvania, is pure fantasy. 5 Even if we wanted to, it would be physically 6 impossible to carry out if we attempted it, 7 and it would be perhaps the largest roundup 8 and deportation in world history. The social 9 and economic consequences would be 10 devastating." 11 Mayor Bloomberg continued: "For 12 decades the federal government has tacitly 13 welcomed them into the workforce, collected 14 their income and Social Security taxes, which 15 about two-thirds of undocumented workers pay, 16 and benefited immeasurably from their 17 contributions to our country. Now, instead of 18 pointing fingers about the past, let's accept 19 the present for what it is by bringing people 20 out of the shadows, and focus on the future by 21 casting those shadows aside permanently." The 22 mayor of the City of New York. 23 That's fact one. They're not going 24 away. We can bring them out of the shadows or 25 we can continue this charade, this deception

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(518) 371-8910 1 of the people where you pretend that by 2 demeaning them, by harassing them, by taking 3 away their driver's licenses, they're going to 4 go somewhere else. They're not. 5 Fact two -- fact two, Madam 6 President. This is a -- 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 8 you. 9 Senator Skelos, why do you rise? 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Would Senator 11 Schneiderman yield for a quick question? 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I will 13 after I'm done. But I will yield later. 14 Fact two, Madam President, the 15 immigration system is not just broken, it is 16 in chaos. You're all acting as though the 17 system for distinguishing legal from illegal 18 is simple. 19 We had a constituent of mine in my 20 district who was very proud of the fact that 21 he was getting his green card. He was 22 processing it, he brought documents, he was 23 getting his green card. He then went one day 24 down to Federal Plaza to pick up his green 25 card, and they had decided somehow, in the

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(518) 371-8910 1 bureaucracy, that his mother's marriage to an 2 American wasn't legal. He never got a chance 3 to go home to get other documents. He was 4 deported, and he ended up in Santo Domingo. 5 The immigration system is not just 6 broken, ladies and gentlemen, it is in chaos. 7 It is unclear whose visas are valid for what 8 purpose. And when you talk about illegals, 9 you are lumping together people who were here 10 on visas and overstayed and have to make a 11 technical correction and people who came 12 across the border with coyotes. It's not fair 13 to say this is a group of illegals and that we 14 know the difference between legal and illegal; 15 we don't. 16 And every immigration reform 17 proposal at the federal level provides some 18 path to legalization for certain groups of 19 undocumented immigrants. We have to, for the 20 reasons Mayor Bloomberg stated. And I 21 respectfully suggest that the people Eliot 22 Spitzer's proposal and the DMV proposal would 23 bring out of the shadows are the people who 24 will be first in line as soon as we enact such 25 a proposal.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Fact three. The Governor's plan 2 does not make it easy for undocumented 3 immigrants to get licenses. The DMV 4 professionals -- and I know this because I 5 lobbied them to do this earlier. You know, 6 this is a big issue in my district. And they 7 said: No, we're waiting until we get this 8 worked out just right. 9 They have set up a separate system, 10 a separate unit. No immigrant is going to get 11 a license over-the-counter. Their documents 12 are going to go to the special unit with 13 state-of-the-art photo-comparison technology, 14 document-verification technology -- the same 15 thing that we use when people come into the 16 country to verify a foreign passport. In 17 addition to a foreign passport, they're going 18 to have to have other points of identification 19 so we can know where they live. 20 This is not a simple process. 21 These are professionals. And I would urge all 22 of you, if you actually saw the PowerPoint by 23 Commissioner Swarts -- and I understand from 24 DMV that no Republican member of the Senate 25 has requested him to come to the district with

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(518) 371-8910 1 a PowerPoint; I have, and it's very 2 persuasive -- will understand that these were 3 professionals. 4 It was done in collaboration with 5 the Insurance Department, in answer to Senator 6 Larkin's question. The AAA has issued a 7 report that unlicensed drivers are five times 8 as likely to flee the scenes of accidents. 9 They're very expensive to have on the roads. 10 The Insurance Superintendent ran the numbers 11 based on what other states have experienced. 12 I'm sure that Superintendent 13 Dinallo will be happy to share the information 14 with you; I don't know why it hasn't gotten to 15 you now. 16 But this is a prudent system that 17 will not make easy for people to get licenses. 18 That's fact three. 19 Fact four, this does not violate 20 any state or federal law. It is amazing to me 21 that members of this Senate can stand up here 22 and assert that the Governor's reversal of a 23 Pataki administration reversal of policy, done 24 exactly the same way Governor Pataki did it, 25 can violate state or federal law. It's

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(518) 371-8910 1 outrageous. He's doing exactly what Pataki 2 did, exactly what Pataki did. 3 You have made assertions -- and I 4 know that there's been the threat of a lawsuit 5 based on the 1995 change to the Vehicle and 6 Traffic Law. Well, this is that bill. It was 7 voted on by many members who are still here 8 today. This law and the legislative history 9 make it explicitly clear the only reason it 10 required that if you have a Social Security 11 number you must now provide it when you get a 12 driver's license was to provide for welfare 13 reform, including suspension of driver's 14 licenses of persons delinquent in the payment 15 of child support. 16 I assure you, if this had been 17 something targeted at undocumented immigrants, 18 someone here probably would have mentioned it. 19 It was never mentioned. 20 And before and after this law was 21 passed, the Pataki administration, Spitzer 22 administration have always given licenses to 23 people without Social Security numbers. So 24 that's just an illusion. 25 The notion about REAL ID, I'm not

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(518) 371-8910 1 even going to go into the details of it. The 2 assertions about the REAL ID Act are 3 absolutely false. The REAL ID Act does 4 contemplate licenses for immigrants. 5 The REAL ID Act will not go into 6 effect until 2013, and we don't even know what 7 it's going to hold because the regulations 8 haven't come out. It may never go into 9 effect, because other states are opting out. 10 But the assertions that this 11 violates REAL ID are demonstrably false. So 12 there's no legal claim against this policy. 13 Fact five, crime and terrorism. 14 And this is where we start to creep into 15 Lou-Dobbs-and-Tom-Tancredo-land. 16 The assertions made here that this 17 has to do with terrorism are outrageous. This 18 doesn't have to do with terrorism. This 19 doesn't have to do with crime. Anyone who 20 comes in and submits all their documents and 21 waits at their home address to get their 22 documents back from the DMV who is harboring 23 terrorist ambitions is such a fool he'll never 24 be able to carry out his plans. This is not 25 what the 9/11 terrorists did, this is not what

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(518) 371-8910 1 any terrorists did. 2 I would urge all of you to take a 3 look at the facts as Commissioner Swarts has 4 presented them in his PowerPoint. There are 5 152,000 people who had licenses, undocumented 6 immigrants before, who haven't been able to 7 renew them because of the Pataki 8 administration change in administrative 9 policy. Please, go out there and make me a 10 list of every one of those 152,000 people 11 who's been accused of a terrorist act. It's 12 not there. We're talking about hardworking 13 people who want licenses to support their 14 families. 15 The 9/11 terrorists had -- if 16 you're going to do false documents, do false 17 documents showing you were here legally, which 18 is exactly what every one of the 9/11 19 terrorists did. This would have no 20 application to a single document submitted by 21 a 9/11 terrorist, and you should take that out 22 of the equation. It is insulting to the 23 hundreds of thousands of hardworking 24 immigrants in my district and other districts, 25 who are just trying to make money for their

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(518) 371-8910 1 family and support their people, to associate 2 them constantly with the despicable 3 perpetrators of the 9/11 atrocity. 4 Incidentally, when you come to 5 crime, I would note for you all that there are 6 significant studies, including "The Myth of 7 Immigrant Criminality," which was published by 8 a distinguished professor at the University of 9 California. Do you know that in the 10 18-to-39-year age range -- which is the key 11 crime years, as we say -- immigrants, 12 undocumented immigrants commit crimes at 13 one-fifth the rate of native Americans, 14 because they're trying to avoid the police? 15 And actually, when they're assimilated, they 16 start to, you know, get assimilated to 17 American criminal conduct also. These are the 18 safest people you can have. 19 And Michael Bloomberg has also 20 noted that crime goes down in cities like 21 New York that have large numbers of 22 undocumented immigrants. 23 So these aren't criminals, these 24 aren't terrorists. Let's put that aside. And 25 let's focus on fact six, which is what I

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(518) 371-8910 1 really want to concentrate on today, because 2 I'm not going to spend a long time on it. But 3 you all are playing in dangerous territory. 4 This is an issue where racist demagogues are 5 in our house. Are in our house. 6 Ladies and gentlemen, you called a 7 hearing after the October 3rd hearing of the 8 Assembly Republicans, who called a hearing and 9 tried to again make it appear that 9/11 was 10 somehow associated with this. They invited 11 Tom Tancredo in. Tom Tancredo, a 12 distinguished member of Congress, the leading 13 anti-immigrant demagogue in the country. It's 14 a disgrace that he was invited here. 15 But you know what made it worse? 16 On October 15th, when the Senate Republicans 17 held their hearing and invited a group of 18 witnesses, a few were public officials -- a 19 few were former public officials. Three out 20 of the four witnesses who were just experts 21 were all members of this network associated 22 with the group Federation for American 23 Immigration Reform, founded by John Tanton. 24 John Tanton has been called, publicly, "the 25 mastermind of contemporary nativism."

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(518) 371-8910 1 You brought into our house at that 2 hearing three individuals, including Pater 3 Gadiel, the president of 9/11 Families for a 4 Secure America. Here's one of his many 5 quotes: "Americans must sleep with loaded 6 pistols at their bedsides because so many of 7 them have been attacked by illegal aliens." 8 That's the guy you brought into our house. 9 You also brought in Michael Cutler. 10 Michael Cutler runs his organization, the 11 Center for Immigration Studies -- here's what 12 a Republican Congressman said about them. 13 "Tanton" -- who's the founder of these 14 groups -- "set up groups like the Center for 15 Immigration Studies to take an analytical 16 approach to immigration from a Republican 17 point of view so that they can give cover to 18 Republicans who oppose immigration for other 19 reasons." 20 Ooh. And these are the people you 21 brought in here. 22 You know who funds F.A.I.R. and 23 these groups? The Pioneer Fund, which was 24 started in 1937 for "race betterment." It is 25 a fund that promotes eugenics. I never

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(518) 371-8910 1 thought in 2007 I would be here faced with a 2 debate where people on one side are trying to 3 talk about facts about a simple DMV policy and 4 people on the other side are trotting in 5 witnesses supported by eugenicists. 6 You are in dangerous territory 7 here. This is not something where we should 8 be as cavalier with our rhetoric as we are 9 being. I would urge my colleagues on the 10 other side of the aisle to take a deep look at 11 your fellow travelers on this matter. 12 The people who we're talking about 13 are not the people you should be afraid of. 14 They are hardworking. 15 And finally, that brings me to fact 16 seven. This proposal, Senator Padavan, is 17 contrary to our most basic principles of 18 justice. Immigrants are not different than 19 you and me. Undocumented immigrants are human 20 beings. And the more you denigrate them, the 21 more you demonize them, the more you violate 22 the most fundamental principles of our country 23 and of our culture, quite honestly. 24 So, you know, the pilgrims were 25 undocumented immigrants. There were a bunch

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(518) 371-8910 1 of signers of the Declaration of Independence 2 who were undocumented immigrants. I was in 3 Washington last week. The dome of the 4 Capitol, I learned, was built by undocumented 5 immigrants from Italy who had been based in 6 the Bronx. 7 And if that's not good enough for 8 you, let's go to something more fundamental. 9 The story of the most famous group of 10 undocumented immigrant workers in history, the 11 Jews in Egypt. Oh. They were brought over in 12 very similar circumstances. And as a result 13 of that experience, the most famous story in 14 our culture, the story of Exodus, enjoins all 15 of you over and over again: "If a stranger 16 sojourn with thee in your land, you shall not 17 vex him." It's continued over and over. 18 Interestingly enough, Bible 19 scholars have noted that the only admonition 20 against discrimination that is repeated over 21 and over again in the Bible is not 22 discrimination based on gender or race or 23 religion, it is discrimination based on 24 oppressing immigrants among you. 25 So those are the facts. I hope

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(518) 371-8910 1 that you will all take a deep breath and look 2 at what's happening to our Senate as we engage 3 in this debate and feed into the flames of the 4 next great civil rights struggle in our 5 country. 6 I urge everyone here to vote no and 7 for us to take a look at what's really 8 happening here. Take your heads out of the 9 sand. They're not going away. If you want to 10 participate in the oppression and the 11 demonization of these people and turn them 12 into a hidden underclass, think about the 13 consequences. 14 I urge everyone here to vote no, 15 Madam President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 17 Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, Madam 19 President, if Senator Schneiderman would now 20 kindly yield to a quick question. 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, for 22 Senator Skelos I would be happy to. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 24 you. The Senator yields. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: You mentioned

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mayor Bloomberg and read certain comments that 2 he's made concerning immigration or illegal 3 immigrants in this country. 4 A question for you. And you talked 5 about temperament and racism. Do you believe 6 Governor Spitzer was correct in saying and 7 showed temperament and self-control when he 8 called Mayor Bloomberg's opposition to the 9 licensing bill that he was morally and 10 ethically corrupt or wrong? 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 12 Through you, Madam President. The Mayor 13 actually is not opposing this bill. So the 14 premise of the question is wrong. The Mayor 15 has said -- 16 SENATOR SKELOS: That -- 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Excuse me. 18 I'm allowed to answer. 19 The Mayor said that he had 20 questions about the bill, but then he's come 21 out to say that this is the Governor's call, 22 in his usual temperate way. The Governor 23 communicates in a slightly different 24 fashion -- 25 (Laughter.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: -- but 2 putting aside the issues of temperament, I 3 think the Governor is absolutely right on the 4 merits of his position, and I will stand by 5 him whether he is blowing me kisses or yelling 6 at me. He's just right. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 8 again, my good friend from the west side of 9 Manhattan has not answered the question. 10 Do you agree with the Governor's 11 statement that when Mayor Bloomberg 12 questioned, dared to question the policy, that 13 he is morally and ethically wrong to do so? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 15 you. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: To answer 17 the question, I don't know that the Mayor was 18 morally or ethically wrong, and I don't think 19 he was. I think he raised technical 20 objections that the Governor, I think, has 21 proved to be correct about. And I think the 22 Mayor was wrong, and the Mayor has backed off 23 and said that. I don't think he's morally or 24 ethically wrong. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: I've learned

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(518) 371-8910 1 that when my good friend from the west side of 2 Manhattan does not want to answer a question 3 correctly or directly, they speak quickly. So 4 I guess -- 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I -- 6 can -- speak -- more -- slowly if it makes it 7 easier for you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Point 9 of order. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: My next question 11 is, you know, you seem to insinuate if 12 Republicans take a certain point of view that 13 you disagree with, that there is racism 14 involved. 15 I'm very proud of a bill that this 16 house passed today that I sponsored, and 17 passed unanimously -- and I hope the Assembly 18 follows suit -- that would make it a felony to 19 display a noose very similar to the burning of 20 a cross or a swastika. So I don't think you 21 have the right to lecture us in terms of our 22 positions and the positions that we've taken 23 against discrimination. Now -- 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Can I get 25 a question, Madam President?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: You know, one of 2 the nice things about -- 3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Can I get 4 a question, Madam President? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Just a 6 moment -- 7 SENATOR SKELOS: I made a 8 statement. Let me finish what I want to say 9 now. 10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Well, you 11 can when you have the floor. I'll sit down, 12 and you can speak. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: One of the great 14 things about these little BlackBerrys: "Dear 15 Neighbors: Like many of you, we're opposed to 16 Governor Spitzer's proposed rule which would 17 forcer county clerks to issue" -- 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam 19 President, I'm sorry, could Senator Skelos 20 save this for when he has the floor? I'd just 21 like to finish my remarks -- 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 23 Skelos is asking you a question. 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: He is not 25 asking me a question, Madam President. He

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(518) 371-8910 1 made a statement -- 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: If you 3 wait long enough -- Senator Schneiderman, he's 4 asking a question. 5 SENATOR DUANE: Madam President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Hold 7 on. Senator Duane. 8 SENATOR DUANE: The Senator 9 yielded for a question. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: And 11 Senator Skelos is asking it. 12 SENATOR DUANE: The Senator did 13 not yield for a novel preceding a question, 14 the Senator yielded for a question. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: As long 16 as it ends in a question mark, it is a 17 question. 18 SENATOR DUANE: One-sentence 19 question, please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: There 21 is no rule -- 22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: But I 23 would like to talk about the issue that he 24 raised -- 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Schneiderman. 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam 3 President, I have the floor. Do I have the 4 floor? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Out of 6 order. There is no rule here that says the 7 question must be a one-sentence question. 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I know, 9 but -- 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Let 11 Senator Skelos ask the question. 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I'll be 13 glad to sit down. 14 SENATOR DUANE: Eric, just remove 15 your yield. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Let the 17 Senator ask the question. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I would no 19 longer yield to this question, because I'd 20 like to answer the first part of the question. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: No, you 22 don't have the floor any longer. 23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Then I 24 don't have the floor, I'll talk about it 25 later. Thank you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Could I ask you 2 another question? 3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: We're not 4 having a good experience here with these 5 questions. 6 (Laughter.) 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: In 8 response to that question, Senator Skelos, you 9 said something about your bill on the noose. 10 I would love to address -- 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 12 Schneiderman, will you yield for another 13 question from Senator Skelos, yes or no? 14 SENATOR SKELOS: That's okay. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Will 16 you yield? 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Why don't 18 we let other people talk, because there are 19 other people after -- 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 21 if I could just speak on the bill, then. 22 Because obviously, you know, we've 23 shown flexibility as a majority to have decent 24 discussions when you felt it's important. 25 Senator Duane, we've given you tremendous

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(518) 371-8910 1 leeway in the past session when we wanted to 2 have more or less an open and frank 3 discussion. And now "You're out of order; 4 Madam President, would you rule on this." 5 So I will just speak on the bill, 6 because obviously -- 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 8 Skelos, on the bill. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: -- you are 10 looking to stifle discussion. 11 SENATOR DUANE: Madam President, 12 is there a list? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 14 Skelos is speaking on the bill now. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: I'm on the bill. 16 I'm not asking a question. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: He's 18 been called on. 19 SENATOR DUANE: But, Madam 20 President, I don't believe that Senator Skelos 21 has the floor. Senator Schneiderman has the 22 floor. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: I have 24 called upon him and given him the floor. 25 SENATOR DUANE: Madam President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 he yielded for a question. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: That is 3 over with. 4 SENATOR DUANE: Senator Skelos is 5 not asking a question. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 7 Duane, you're out of order. Senator Skelos 8 has the floor. I've yielded the floor. He is 9 speaking on the bill. 10 SENATOR DUANE: Is he on the 11 list? I don't -- 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 13 Skelos, on the bill. 14 SENATOR DUANE: Madam President, 15 I just think -- I really think things have -- 16 are a little bit out of control here in terms 17 of the regular parliamentary order. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: You can 19 appeal the ruling of the chair. We have a 20 list. We have several members who are also 21 going to speak. I selected Senator Skelos to 22 speak on the bill. He is the Deputy Majority 23 Leader. 24 SENATOR DUANE: Madam President, 25 by the way, I am permitted to bring up a point

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(518) 371-8910 1 of personal privilege. Senator Skelos invoked 2 my name, so I'm allowed to respond, I believe. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: I don't 4 believe he asked you a question, though. 5 SENATOR DUANE: He doesn't have 6 to ask a question. He just has to say my 7 name. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Would 9 you state your point of order, Senator Duane. 10 SENATOR DUANE: My point of 11 personal privilege has to do with Senator 12 Skelos raising my name regarding how debate is 13 happening today in the context of how it 14 happened previously to this. 15 So the point I would like to make 16 on that is generally, Madam President, if we 17 are following the regular order of debate here 18 and if we're following Robert's Rules of 19 Order, then it's very easy to follow what's 20 going on and who has the floor, and in fact 21 that is the collegial way to do it. And I 22 have never objected as long as things were 23 being done in a collegial manner. 24 The issue that was raised that 25 caused me to object that caused Senator Skelos

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(518) 371-8910 1 to mention my name was Senator Schneiderman 2 yielded for a question. However, Madam 3 President, a question was not forthcoming. 4 And my objection, and all of our objection, 5 was based on there was no question there. 6 So Senator Schneiderman very 7 nicely -- and more politely than perhaps I 8 would have been -- basically said, All right, 9 go ahead, Senator Skelos, say whatever it is 10 you want to say. 11 But that does not allow Senator 12 Skelos to start mentioning our names as if 13 we're doing anything wrong, because we didn't 14 do anything wrong. We were following 15 parliamentary behavior. 16 So it's fine with us if Senator 17 Skelos wants to speak and then Senator 18 Schneiderman gets to regain the floor. 19 Thank you, Madam President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: I 21 believe that Senator Schneiderman had finished 22 his conversation and did not yield to Senator 23 Skelos. 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: But I'm 25 going to speak again.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: I then 2 chose Senator Skelos to have the floor. He is 3 now going to speak on the bill. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you. 5 Madam President, I do support this 6 bill. And I believe I did ask Senator 7 Schneiderman a question, whether he believed 8 with Eliot Spitzer's comment about Mayor 9 Bloomberg being ethically and morally wrong in 10 questioning, dare questioning the Governor's 11 policy change. 12 I was also mentioning how it seems 13 whenever Republicans disagree, somehow there's 14 an insinuation that it's racial. You know, 15 I'm reading on one of the blogs right now -- 16 and this is a wonderful tool to have -- it 17 says: "Dear Neighbors: 18 "Like many of you, we are opposed 19 to Governor Spitzer's proposed rule which 20 would force county clerks to issue driver's 21 licenses to undocumented immigrants without 22 the Social Security card. 23 "But rather than just complain 24 about it, please join us in a petition 25 campaign asking Governor Spitzer to reverse

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(518) 371-8910 1 his position on this important issue. Please 2 sign the petition, have your neighbor sign it, 3 if time permits, and return it to us at the 4 following address." 5 And it goes: "In our view, a 6 driver's license is a privilege, not a right. 7 Those immigrants who cannot prove that they 8 are here legally should not be extended the 9 privilege. It's that simple." 10 And this petition drive and the 11 language came from a number of candidates, two 12 candidates, who are running on the Democrat 13 line in Schenectady, a Mr. Jasenski and a 14 Mr. Godlewski, who are running for the county 15 legislature. They're Democrats. 16 So Republicans and Democrats should 17 have the right to oppose the Governor's policy 18 concerning the licenses. 19 But what also is troubling to me is 20 we're granting this privilege to those who are 21 here illegally, plain and simple. On our 22 Senate ID that comes off my driver's license, 23 the same picture. My concern, again, it goes 24 back to illegality. 25 You know, most of us in this room,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Bruno mentioned it, my grandparents 2 came from Greece as immigrants. My 3 grandfathers came at age 16 and 17. They came 4 to this country legally, waited their turn, 5 sought the American dream, saw a license as a 6 privilege, saw the right to vote as a 7 privilege that they had to earn, coming here 8 legally. 9 And I think this is what's 10 troublesome to myself and to 72 percent of the 11 people of the State of New York, that we're 12 talking about people not being here legally 13 and extending them privileges that so many 14 generations and those who went and fought wars 15 have fought for to protect the right to vote, 16 the privilege to have a license, and many of 17 these other things. 18 So I would urge my friends, and my 19 expectation is hopefully before the evening is 20 over that this will be a bipartisan support of 21 the legislation rejecting Governor Spitzer's 22 ill-conceived and just, quite honestly, 23 wrongheaded regulations. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you, Senator Skelos.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Rath. 2 SENATOR RATH: Thank you, Madam 3 President. 4 I rise to bring a perspective from 5 the western end of New York State, the several 6 of us from the western end. 7 My district does extend all the way 8 over to the Niagara River. Leaning large and 9 tall at the Niagara River entrance from Fort 10 Erie, Canada, to Buffalo, New York, is the 11 Peace Bridge. Almost in the shadow of the 12 Peace Bridge is a suburb of Buffalo, an old 13 steel town called Lackawanna. Sound familiar? 14 The Lackawanna Six, the terrorist cell? 15 We have been advised that it's not 16 correct, not fair, inappropriate to be 17 thinking in terms of any linkage of our 18 concern about driver's licenses and people who 19 are here to do us ill. But let's take a look 20 at immigration policies of other countries. 21 If you're at all familiar with 22 Canada, at all familiar with Toronto, you know 23 of the huge international culture that is 24 Toronto. If you know anything about the 25 Toronto airport, you don't want to fly in and

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(518) 371-8910 1 out of there because it is so full of so many 2 people. 3 Let me tell you, when you go across 4 the Peace Bridge from Buffalo to Canada, you 5 are asked: "Where were you born?" You say 6 Buffalo, you say Syracuse, you say Manhattan. 7 "Fine, you go ahead." 8 You come back into the United 9 States from Canada, and you are asked "Where 10 were you born, and may I see your driver's 11 license?" Because you're not let back into 12 New York State unless -- and the United 13 States; not just New York State, the United 14 States -- unless you show your driver's 15 license. 16 This is a very valuable document to 17 people in my district, in my community, 18 throughout Western New York, because we go 19 back and forth across the border all the time. 20 I'm chairman of Tourism. The 21 discussion in the tourism community about the 22 economic disadvantage of not being able to use 23 our driver's licenses as a form of 24 identification has been rampant ever since the 25 discussion of REAL ID started.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But let's not go there about the 2 economic concerns, let's stay on the safety 3 concern and look at what that bridge is. 4 There are four bridges, three of them very 5 busy. Three of them in Senator Maziarz's 6 district, Senator Thompson's district, and one 7 of them in the Buffalo area, Senator 8 Thompson's district also. 9 Those bridges can be lined up for 10 two to three hours on a busy weekend. The 11 Canadians had several of us there, Assembly 12 and Senate people, a month or so ago to see 13 how busy those borders are. Can someone slip 14 through on a forged document? I'm sure they 15 can. I'm sure they could. 16 How can we prevent this at our 17 borders? It's a serious, serious issue. When 18 you live in a border community, you are 19 poignantly aware of how serious it is. 20 Senator Leibell urged us to err, if 21 necessary, on the side of caution. Let us go 22 slowly. Do we not want to give immigrants, 23 bona fide immigrants who are working here in 24 our fields in Niagara County and Genesee 25 County, picking beans, picking fruit, doing

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(518) 371-8910 1 what they do -- no, we don't want to 2 disadvantage them. Do we want to talk of how 3 we could help them, what we could do? Sure, 4 I'm willing to come and sit and work on that. 5 But to do something so quickly and 6 with so little preparation and so little 7 discussion seems very ill-advised. And if we 8 do have to err, let us err on the side of 9 caution until we can work this thing through. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you, Senator Rath. 13 Senator Connor. 14 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Madam 15 President. 16 You know, securing the nation's 17 borders is obviously a huge problem and a 18 controversial problem throughout the country. 19 It's not New York's problem. 20 Madam President, they had an 21 article in the paper a couple of weeks ago 22 about a town that straddles the border, the 23 community hall has a line painted down it. 24 Everybody uses it. You want to cross the 25 border, you go to that town, one side of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 town, no fences. 2 Yes, legally, you're supposed to 3 walk way up wherever and check in as you go 4 back and forth over the border with a box 5 there with a guy in it. You think people do 6 that? You think people in the community hall 7 check in, blocks away, before they go to the 8 other side of the community hall? No. I 9 think the library is split and shared too. 10 Securing the borders is a big 11 problem. I have a staff member whose family 12 has a house on a lake up there, and they 13 regularly get in a speed boat and go over to 14 Canada and come back and all. I say, "Well, 15 what do you do?" "Well, you're supposed to 16 phone in from the boat, say 'I'm coming 17 over.'" There's no check. 18 So, I mean, who are we kidding? 19 Our New York State driver's license is going 20 to stop a determined terrorist from getting 21 into New York State or into the country? 22 And I'm not in favor of those 23 people getting into the country. But we're 24 pretending here, we're pretending to be doing 25 something about a huge problem that concerns

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(518) 371-8910 1 the entire country and for which the federal 2 government has been unable to come up with a 3 solution. 4 You know, years and years ago -- 5 because the United States is unique. We're 6 one of the few countries, including 7 democracies, that doesn't have a national ID 8 card. And I remember that being proposed 30 9 or 40 years ago. You know who the big 10 opponents were in Washington? Conservative 11 Republicans. "Oh, Big Brother, they want to 12 give us all a national ID card, that's 13 terrible." 14 Well, I happen to believe that in 15 this country you have a right to privacy. You 16 don't have a right to anonymity. And I've 17 said that before as we've debated various 18 Penal Law provisions about identifying 19 yourself to police officers and so on. 20 So who are we kidding here? We're 21 exploiting the public in New York State by 22 feeding into their concerns about a national 23 problem and pretending that we can either do 24 something to make that better or make it worse 25 in New York State.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Our driver's license -- and by the 2 way, I've said this 20-some years ago. Social 3 Security numbers. When that law passed in the 4 thirties, and I think in reaction to a lot of 5 conservative concerns -- "oh, you're going to 6 give everybody a number" -- it says right in 7 the Social Security Law -- and I haven't 8 looked in there in about 10 years, but it says 9 in there the number shall be used for no other 10 purposes but Social Security and taxation. 11 Now, when I went to college, I had 12 a college ID with my Social Security number on 13 it. Almost every kid which America that went 14 to a school had an ID or a number, you used 15 the Social Security number. Illegally. For 16 decades. For decades. 17 Now we've backed off from that 18 approach. And you know what the funny thing 19 is? Not because it was against federal law. 20 Because a little thing called identity theft 21 reared its head in the last 15 or so years. 22 Although the Senate hasn't caught 23 up. We make our Senate employees fill out a 24 time sheet every two weeks in quadruplicate. 25 And every two weeks they put, in a

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(518) 371-8910 1 quadruplicate form -- you know, we rip off and 2 keep the yellow ones, they stack in a corner 3 in your office. It has every one of your 4 staff members' Social Security numbers on it. 5 It's a wonder we don't have a huge identity 6 theft problem around this Capitol. 7 Why do you need that? The 8 personnel office doesn't know their Social 9 Security number so they have to put it down 10 every two weeks on a quadruplicate form? Talk 11 about that with the administration of this 12 house. I've brought it up for the last couple 13 of years, and they go: "Oh, yeah." 14 The fact of the matter is Social 15 Security numbers should be used for Social 16 Security and tax purposes. Driver's licenses 17 should be used for driving. 18 What I want to know from a New York 19 driver's license is, the name on there is the 20 name of a real person, it's the only driver's 21 license he or she has, and they really live at 22 the address that's stated on the driver's 23 license. And their eye color and all the 24 other stuff is accurate. And they know how to 25 drive, they've passed a driving test, they've

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(518) 371-8910 1 taken the courses we require. 2 That's what we ought to be doing 3 with driver's licenses. And I don't give a 4 hoot if they're from Mars if they pass all 5 those things, because I want, when they get 6 behind the wheel and on the highway with me 7 and my family, to know they know how to drive 8 and they have insurance. 9 Because now people are out there -- 10 I'm not so sure they know how to drive that 11 well, and I certainly am sure they don't have 12 licenses or insurance. And that's a threat to 13 all of us. 14 And the federal government ought to 15 be doing something about securing the nation's 16 borders and figuring out how to deal with the 17 immigration problem. That's beyond us. And 18 anybody in this house is just engaging in huge 19 pretense if they claim that some bill we pass 20 here is going to secure the nation. 21 Because our driver's license is 22 good, no terrorists will be allowed in 23 New York State? Last time I looked, you could 24 drive here from Pennsylvania or New Jersey or 25 anywhere else in the country and you don't

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(518) 371-8910 1 show any ID when you across into New York or 2 New York City. 3 So how are we more secure? We're 4 talking about people having driver's licenses 5 who are already here. They're here. Nobody 6 is getting a New York driver's license so they 7 can get into the country. 8 So it's just who are we playing to? 9 Of course the public, they're frustrated about 10 the inability of the federal government to 11 secure the borders. It feeds into other 12 angers about who might be taking whose job. 13 But that's unworthy of this house. 14 The procedure for getting a 15 driver's license the Governor has proposed is 16 better than what we've had. A Social Security 17 card is a piece of paper. There's no photo on 18 it, there's a number on it. 19 And a lot of misleading stuff is 20 being put out in the press by people who 21 should know better and put out on this floor 22 by people who should know better. 23 Voting. The only requirement in 24 New York law concerning citizenship is you 25 check off the box, under oath, that says "I am

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(518) 371-8910 1 a New York citizen." 2 You do not have to -- wrong about 3 HAVA. I am surprised that a member here that 4 I thought knew HAVA -- the HAVA law that we 5 passed and you voted for -- and you voted for, 6 Senator Flanagan -- the HAVA law we passed 7 said that a newly registered voter by mail who 8 has never showed ID before shall be notified 9 and when they go to vote for the first time 10 shall present one of the following IDs: 11 Driver's license or a DMV nondriver photo ID, 12 or other current and valid photo 13 identification. 14 Oh, you know, the one that says you 15 work at the A&P, that will do. It's got your 16 picture on it. Does it say you're a citizen? 17 No. Or a copy of a current utility bill, bank 18 statement, government check, paycheck, or any 19 other government document that has the name 20 and address of the voter. 21 You can show them something from 22 the INS to notify them to get out of the 23 country. It will have a return address from 24 the government, and it will have their name 25 and address.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Or if you want to avoid that, you 2 can mail in with your application a copy of 3 your driver's license or nondriver photo ID or 4 the last four digits -- last four digits -- of 5 your Social Security number. 6 Now, they can't check you out with 7 the last four digits. They don't check you 8 out. The Board of Elections doesn't check 9 citizen status. Maybe we ought to fashion 10 some way that we can. But again, that's 11 beyond the State of New York. We're the 12 victim of a federal government that can't 13 secure the entire country. 14 Or a copy of a utility bill or bank 15 statement or government paycheck. So, you 16 know, if you send them in a copy of your ConEd 17 bill, what's that prove? Your name and 18 address and at that address you have 19 electricity or gas. That's good enough to 20 vote. 21 So it's totally phony to scare 22 people in New York State or to make 23 irresponsible political charges that somehow 24 or other, under this change in the processing 25 for driver's licenses, that people will be

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(518) 371-8910 1 able to vote who can't vote now. 2 And in fact, why a driver's 3 license? It's not proof -- under the Pataki 4 regime, it's not proof of citizenship. A 5 legal immigrant with a green card or a visa 6 could get a driver's license, get a Social 7 Security number if they have the kind of visa 8 that says you can work or a green card. And 9 you can get a driver's license. 10 Still, you can't go vote with it. 11 It's a felony. You're not a citizen. 12 Enforcement -- and believe me, I've had 13 Election Law cases over the years and I've had 14 a subscribing witness to a petition in court 15 finally admit they weren't a citizen. 16 By the way, this individual was a 17 registered Republican. And a registered 18 Democrat. With two different birth dates. 19 You see, she could get paid to carry petitions 20 for candidates in either party. 21 And finally, after a series of 22 questions because she has history of these 23 multiple registrations going back 15 years, 24 the judge leaned over and said: "Madam, are 25 you a citizen? You've been getting signatures

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(518) 371-8910 1 for 15 years as a Republican and as a 2 Democrat. Are you a citizen?" She said "No." 3 Her testimony ended there, when he 4 gave her her Miranda rights and told her to go 5 get a lawyer. 6 (Laughter.) 7 SENATOR CONNOR: But you know 8 what -- by the way, the signatures got tossed, 9 both parties. 10 But our DAs have to take that 11 seriously. It's not a cute little old Tammany 12 Hall war story from the 19th century. It's a 13 felony. And if there were a few prosecutions, 14 people wouldn't do it. 15 But it has nothing, nothing to do 16 with the driver's license. And this new 17 driver's license -- and it frankly is shocking 18 and, to me, scandalous to scare the voters and 19 have newspaper stories that, ah, people are 20 going to vote illegally because of this. 21 Our voter registration system 22 depends 99 percent on voluntary compliance 23 with the law. As do many other areas of our 24 law. Or, as I said, hey, our whole tax 25 system, IRS, depends on voluntary compliance.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Only they got auditors. Our voter system 2 depends on voluntary compliance, frankly, 3 without the auditors. 4 But I really think we've got to 5 tone this down. It sounds great, you got a 6 great issue, 72 percent. Let's tell the truth 7 to the people. It's not so frightening. 8 And I certainly won't feel any more 9 secure if you had to take a blood test to get 10 a driver's license. Because the country's 11 borders aren't secure, and the state's 12 certainly aren't. So who are we kidding here? 13 You telling me a terrorist can't drive up from 14 Delaware or some other state because our 15 driver's license is so secure? 16 Madam President, I'm going to vote 17 no on this bill. It doesn't address a real 18 problem the federal government better get 19 around to addressing, the real problem of 20 immigration. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. 23 Senator Parker. 24 SENATOR PARKER: On the bill, 25 Madam President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 2 you. Senator Parker on the bill. 3 SENATOR PARKER: It seems like 4 here we go again with us trying to diagnose 5 and solve the problem of the Mayflower complex 6 in this chamber. And it seems that the 7 Mayflower complex means that people believe 8 their family came here on the Mayflower and no 9 one else has any rights or access to any 10 privileges that the United States has to 11 offer. And I think that's really deplorable. 12 This legislation is racist. This 13 legislation is anti-immigrant. I think that 14 we should save ourselves the embarrassment of 15 having to vote on it and pull it off the floor 16 right now, frankly. 17 But let me just tell you the facts. 18 And the fact is we all care about security. 19 And it's nice to hear about upstate borders 20 and, you know, somebody, you know, blowing up 21 a corn silo up someplace in Lawrence County, 22 and that's cute. But at the end of the day, 23 we're the ones who live in New York City. 24 And, you know, I remember 9/11 25 because that was an important day for me. I

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(518) 371-8910 1 was running for office for the first time. I 2 remember the look on the face of the people in 3 my campaign as they ran screaming from poll 4 sites and train stations and -- just really 5 people not knowing what to do. 6 I remember my campaign manager 7 running out of the office and getting in his 8 car and racing, trying to get there, because 9 his girlfriend worked in the building across 10 the street. 11 I remember my niece being with me 12 and breaking down in tears because she worked 13 in the building and was supposed to go to work 14 that day, and we had had an argument about her 15 coming to help me in my first election and she 16 decided at the last minute to come see me 17 instead of going to work. And she's here 18 exactly because of that. 19 So when people start talking about 20 this 9/11 thing, this is not no abstract 21 thing, these are not random people to me. 22 This is a girl named Bridget who I went to 23 school with since elementary school who worked 24 in the building and died that day. I have to 25 see her mother every day who still lives down

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(518) 371-8910 1 the block from me. 2 This is about, you know, Chief 3 Vernon Richard, who was a very close friend of 4 my family, who died that day, who was a 5 firefighter and died that day doing his job. 6 So when people play politics with 7 this very, very horrific thing, it really, 8 really, really sticks it to me. Because I 9 have -- you know, I can still smell the smell 10 of the flesh and the metal and everything that 11 we all who lived in city, you know -- and some 12 people whose districts live closer than I did. 13 And in Flatbush I can remember that smell. 14 I still have papers that floated 15 from the sky that day, burnt on the edges, 16 that landed on my lawn and scattered the 17 streets. And Flatbush, you know, is miles 18 away. 19 This is not a game. This is not a 20 political football and every time, you know, 21 you get uncomfortable you yell 9/11. These 22 are people's real lives. And if we really 23 cared about this, let's talk about what the 24 real facts are. 25 The fact of the matter is there are

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(518) 371-8910 1 people who are still very scared. And I'm 2 ashamed that my colleagues would prey on that 3 fear. And when I talk about that, I'm not 4 just talking about people upstate. My sister, 5 who lives across the street, had to quit her 6 job because she will not ride the train 7 anymore. Because right after that they had 8 the sarin [sic] scare and all that stuff, and 9 people were talking about being trapped in the 10 subways. She will not ride the train. 11 You know, these are real people. 12 These are not, you know, just, oh, something 13 may happen. These are real people and real 14 things that are going on. 15 So the fact is I care about 16 security too. I really want to see my 17 community, I want to see the state, I want to 18 see everybody's community who represents 19 people in this chamber, I want to see your 20 districts and your people and your 21 constituents safe like I want to see my family 22 safe. I really believe that. And I know you 23 do too. 24 And that's why I really applaud the 25 Governor on making this move, because really

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(518) 371-8910 1 this bill does part of the job of doing that. 2 And so you look at it, the fact of the matter 3 is that this bill -- I'm sorry, not this bill, 4 this executive order by the Governor is 5 attached to a number of initiatives by the 6 DMV. 7 So one of the things they're going 8 to be used is photo-recognition technology, 9 and that's going to be -- you know, the fact 10 is that technology is going to allow us to 11 match up photos so we can make sure that one 12 person/one license is the rule of the DMV. 13 Right? 14 And at the end of the day, as many 15 of my colleagues have indicated, a driver's 16 license should be simply that, a license for 17 driving. We want to make sure that people, 18 you know, have good eyesight, they can see the 19 road, they read the signs, that they know the 20 signals, that they can understand, you know, 21 how the traffic flow runs. 22 We'd like to make them eligible to 23 receive insurance. Right? What we know from 24 AAA is that an unlicensed driver is five times 25 more likely to be involved in a fatal accident

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(518) 371-8910 1 than a licensed driver. And so we want people 2 to be licensed in part because we want them to 3 be safe. 4 We understand that the fact of the 5 matter is is that not only will there be photo 6 comparison and recognition technology but 7 there will also be document verification. 8 So, you know, I don't want to 9 disagree with my colleagues too much, but the 10 reality is despite this executive order, 11 somebody who does not have a Social Security 12 card cannot walk into the DMV today or 13 tomorrow and get a license on the spot. It's 14 impossible, because of the system. 15 First of all, they haven't even 16 started phasing in system for about another 17 month and a half. Right? Or two months. And 18 they will phase it in over time, and the 19 technology will be available. 20 But also document verification will 21 be part of this new system, where they will 22 collect foreign passports, they will collect 23 one of 40 other documents that has to be 24 attached to your foreign passport in order for 25 you to meet the requirements.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And they will be, you know, going 2 through and verifying and doing authentication 3 on people's backgrounds and who they are. 4 Right? Not no big homeland security thing, 5 just to make sure that Kevin Parker's photo in 6 here is that Kevin Parker is who Kevin Parker 7 says, Madam Chair. That's what this license 8 is for. That's the process that the DMV will 9 be going through. 10 And so, you know, many of us have 11 taken foreign trips. If you haven't taken 12 one, let me suggest that you do. And when you 13 come back into the country, or even when you 14 go to another country, what you'll see 15 oftentimes is they take your passport and they 16 slide it through a little machine, and 17 something pops up on the screen with your 18 information on it. 19 Those verification workstations are 20 going shortly to be available at the DMV. 21 That's an important security feature so we can 22 help verify information. Not every foreign 23 passport has those kinds of features on them, 24 and in those cases documents will be collected 25 and over a six-to-eight-week period they will

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(518) 371-8910 1 be analyzed and they will be auth -- I should 2 stop using that word -- they'll be verified, 3 to make sure that those documents are in fact 4 real documents. 5 And in the cases where somebody 6 presents a document that is a forged document, 7 they will be turned over to the authorities 8 for prosecution. As they should. 9 We should be making citizenship the 10 goal of our immigration policy. But frankly 11 that is outside the purview of this chamber, 12 outside the authority of the state government. 13 And frankly, the President has totally messed 14 up the INS. 15 And so yes, when you talk about 16 people who have applied and been naturalized, 17 what you have forgotten is that those people 18 applied 10 and 15 years ago, which is pretty 19 much the waiting time that it takes for 20 somebody to become a citizen of this country. 21 If you don't know, check with INS. Because at 22 the end of the day, we have a slow and 23 ambiguous path to citizenship in this country. 24 Very slow, very ambiguous. And it changes 25 every week.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And so, I mean, for us to fool 2 ourselves and act like, you know, just go 3 apply, become a citizen, you know, is 4 ridiculous. And I'm somebody who advocates 5 being a citizen. 6 In fact, on Saturday at Brooklyn 7 College I'm cosponsoring something with CUNY 8 to do an immigration citizenship drive in my 9 district. Those of you who would like to come 10 and help people gain the American dream, come 11 on by. Because, you know, that's an important 12 function in terms of the leadership in our 13 districts. We ought to be encouraging people 14 to become citizens. 15 But we also ought to be realistic 16 about what happens every single day, and that 17 people are applying and INS is losing their 18 documents, they have appointments and, you 19 know, they give them the wrong day. And, I 20 mean, I've heard it all in terms of the broken 21 system that the INS has. 22 And we certainly shouldn't be 23 punishing people who are trying to simply make 24 a living, people who are trying to take their 25 children to school, people who are trying to

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(518) 371-8910 1 use a vehicle for work. We shouldn't be 2 penalizing those people because we have not 3 created a clear and fast and unambiguous path 4 to citizenship. 5 But the fact is is that this 6 executive order by the Governor saves money. 7 And I've often heard from my colleagues in 8 this chamber that we ought to put more money 9 in the pockets of our citizens. I agree. And 10 specifically on the issue of driver's 11 insurance, I mean, car insurance in this state 12 is astronomical, particularly in the five 13 boroughs. And the opportunity to put 14 $121 million back in the hands of the citizens 15 of New York State is an opportunity I don't 16 think that any of us should pass on. And so, 17 you know, we really ought to make sure that we 18 do that. 19 We are not just simply saying no 20 Social Security number, no Social Security 21 cards. We're switching out an ineffective 22 means of identification, simply a card with a 23 name and a number on it, for something that is 24 actually used by our Department of Homeland 25 Security every single day.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So it's interesting to me that 2 people who are worried about homeland security 3 have not petitioned the federal government to 4 say passports are not good, everybody coming 5 from another country ought to have a Social 6 Security number. Even though, of course, they 7 couldn't, because they're from another 8 country. But being that you think the Social 9 Security number is the Holy Grail of identity 10 documents. 11 But the reality is that a Social 12 Security card does not have a biometric, it 13 doesn't have a photo. It's not necessarily -- 14 you know, it's a flimsy little piece of paper 15 with a name and a number on it. You know? 16 And certainly a passport, even a foreign 17 passport that we are going to great lengths to 18 verify certainly provides more security than 19 we did. 20 This bill unfortunately -- and the 21 fact of the matter is that this bill 22 represents a failure of leadership. It 23 represents a failure of leadership. And 24 really what I'm hearing my colleagues across 25 the aisle say to me is that you know what, we

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(518) 371-8910 1 have failed to do the things we can do in the 2 State of New York to make New Yorkers safer, 3 and so we're going to scapegoat the Governor 4 and immigrants because of our failure of 5 leadership. 6 The fact of the matter is that the 7 folks on the other side of the aisle have 8 failed to come up with a real solution to how 9 we deal with first responders. We have right 10 now significantly less cops than we did the 11 morning of September 10, 2001. And we know 12 that police officers are our number-one first 13 responders. 14 Where are we on that? Where's the 15 leadership to make sure there are police 16 officers, you know, in the streets of New York 17 City where, if you want to talk about a 18 terrorist attack, that's where the Brooklyn 19 Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Empire State 20 Building, Radio City Music Hall BAM, you know, 21 Marina del Rey -- I mean, we have lot of 22 historical sites in New York City that frankly 23 don't have the protection that they ought to 24 have simply because we haven't provided the 25 kind of incentives that we need.

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(518) 371-8910 1 You think that a cop standing on a 2 beat for $25,000 can't get a bribe, and if I'm 3 going to blow up something, I can't pay off a 4 cop making 25 grand? We have clerical 5 assistants in here making more than 25 grand, 6 and we're asking people to protect our lives 7 every day for 25 grand and a couple of 8 benefits? I mean, we need to do better than 9 that. And we're a better state than that. 10 The reality is that, you know, the 11 fact of the matter is that this legislation 12 today represents a failure of leadership for 13 the Republicans in the State of New York to 14 talk to their Republican president and get 15 more homeland security dollars. 16 Don't tell me that Wyoming gets 17 more money per capita than New York State, you 18 know, because -- and we have a Republican 19 Majority Leader in the Senate, Madam Chair, 20 and we have been impotent to get money from 21 their president who they endorsed and who they 22 elected to bring money here to protect, while 23 you're going to lecture me about the safety 24 and security of the people in this state. 25 This is a failure of leadership.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And, further, this bill is a 2 failure of leadership because you failed to do 3 the one piece that the Governor asked you to 4 do to make this a more secure document. Which 5 is if you wanted to bring a bill to the floor 6 today, you should have brought a bill that 7 makes a residency requirement for a driver's 8 license. Which we currently don't have and we 9 need to do by law. And we need to do it 10 legislatively. 11 And so, you know, if we bring that 12 bill to the floor, that will even help make 13 this state more secure than it is as we stand 14 here. But currently it's not, because you 15 haven't done that. And we need to bring this 16 bill to the floor in a real way. 17 I mean, the reality is from a 18 terrorist perspective if you have a diabolical 19 plot to blow up a corporate headquarters and 20 you're going to fill a truck with explosives 21 and you've going to drive this truck into a 22 lobby and detonate yourself, Madam President, 23 why would you let not having a driver's 24 license stop you from doing that? 25 So you're going to load the truck

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(518) 371-8910 1 up, you know, you've got your route, you're 2 going to run this thing in, you've said all 3 your prayers, you're ready to blow up yourself 4 up and take this corporate monster down -- 5 and, right, you know what, don't have a valid 6 ID. My bad. Maybe next week. Maybe I'll go 7 to another state. I mean, it's absolutely 8 ridiculous. 9 And we all know that the folks who 10 were involved, these horrendous men who were 11 involved in the terrorist act on 9/11 all were 12 here within the confines of the law. They had 13 done nothing illegal until that point. All 14 their documents were in order, they had -- in 15 fact, the only reason why we knew who they 16 were was because they had driver's licenses 17 and had other forms of ID. 18 You know, the fact of the matter is 19 this. From a law enforcement perspective, 20 creating an opportunity for people to get a 21 driver's license is frankly the best thing to 22 do for law enforcement. Why? Because the 23 best database for law enforcement -- point 24 blank, period -- are the 50 databases of the 25 DMVs of the country. Point blank. That's it.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And so, you know, more often -- and 2 some of you were in law enforcement and you 3 know how many times did you go to DMV. But 4 you can't go to DMV if those records aren't 5 there. If you don't have people who have 6 signed up to get driver's licenses. 7 And so, you know, if we really are 8 interested in protecting ourselves, we'll do 9 what is important, which is make sure that 10 people are on the grid, make sure that we can 11 start with a photo and an address and some 12 approximation of where people's locations are. 13 Malcolm Smith talked about that 14 earlier in the case of this pedophile who was 15 recently attacked [sic]. 16 And then the other point I wanted 17 to make was about the 9/11 Commission. 18 Because, you know, there's been lots of talk 19 about the 9/11 Commission and what they said 20 and what they didn't say. But in fact one of 21 the things that they did say in their fact 22 sheet was "We did not make any recommendations 23 to state governments about which individuals 24 should or should not be issued a driver's 25 license. We did not make any recommendations

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(518) 371-8910 1 about licenses for undocumented aliens." 2 They said it was irrelevant. It 3 was irrelevant. Providing licenses and access 4 for people to drive their cars to and from 5 work and to and from school and to use their 6 license to drive a truck or a cab or something 7 like that is irrelevant to the security of 8 this nation. 9 And if we really want to make this 10 country more secure, we really ought to do the 11 things that we know works. Provide more money 12 for first responders. We should make sure 13 there's a residency requirement for the 14 driver's license in the State of New York. 15 And we should continue to support the Governor 16 and make sure there's a proper appropriation 17 this coming session for the DMV so we can 18 secure all the document scans and the right 19 personnel so that we can continue to do the 20 kind of background checks that we ought to. 21 But certainly I don't think that it 22 is appropriate for our city, our state, or our 23 municipal governments to be supplementing the 24 role of INS. INS needs to do its own job, and 25 they need to fix their own house. And they

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(518) 371-8910 1 should not be asking us, on top of all the 2 other unfunded mandates that we get as a state 3 government, they should not be asking us to 4 also do the job of INS. It's not our job. 5 Let them do that. And they should do it. I'm 6 not saying don't do their job; they should do 7 it. But they ought to let us, in fact, do the 8 jobs that we need to. 9 I guess lastly, to hear my 10 colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk 11 about process, I couldn't have asked for this 12 in my wildest dreams. Couldn't have asked for 13 it in my wildest dreams. Because I've never 14 heard so much conversation about process in my 15 life. 16 In the five years I've been here, 17 it wasn't until this year, when we got a 18 Democratic governor, that in fact we had our 19 first public hearing regarding any issue of 20 significance from the Majority in the Senate. 21 I mean, not on any of the things that were 22 important. 23 In fact, in 2002, when Governor 24 Pataki changed the rule and started requiring 25 it -- the rule was actually in place from a

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(518) 371-8910 1 paper perspective, but it wasn't being 2 enforced at the DMV. But when they changed 3 the rule and many of us made objections to it, 4 I didn't hear any calls for public hearings 5 then on your side. I didn't see anybody 6 jumping up and saying: Well, this is a 7 significant change to the law and you're now 8 enforcing something that you hadn't enforced, 9 Madam President. So, you know, why are we 10 doing this now? 11 And, I mean, at the end of the day 12 I would love to see lots of public hearings on 13 lots of issues -- 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Excuse 15 me. 16 Senator Flanagan, why do you rise? 17 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Madam 18 President, would Senator Parker yield? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 20 you. Senator Parker, do you yield to Senator 21 Flanagan for a question? 22 SENATOR PARKER: I am almost at 23 the close of my comments. And when I do that, 24 I would love to yield for Senator Flanagan. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you. The Senator does not want to yield at 2 this time. 3 SENATOR PARKER: May I continue, 4 Madam President? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: You 6 have the floor. You may continue. 7 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you. 8 I mean, in fact, if people wanted 9 to talk about -- I mean, if you want to talk 10 about the process and not being informed and 11 not being involved, I've had a bill that 12 actually does what the Governor has done in 13 the executive order. I've had that bill for 14 at least three or four years, and I haven't 15 been able to get it reported out of committee. 16 I haven't been able to get anybody to even 17 give me a real face-to-face conversation about 18 the bill. And I'm not even talking about 19 passing it; let's at least have a 20 conversation. 21 Let's bring some bills to the floor 22 that you disagree with that we can debate and 23 let fail, as opposed to just seeing, you know, 24 the Republican Majority's bills come up day 25 after day after day after day that you know

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(518) 371-8910 1 are going to pass because you have the numbers 2 and, whether we like it or not, you just ram 3 them down our throats without any kind of 4 conversation. 5 If you want to talk about the 6 failure of Albany, that is what the failure of 7 Albany is. And the fact of the matter is this 8 bill represents, you know, a continued 9 tradition of that failure. 10 I mean, so I'd like to see some 11 public hearings. I'm glad that people are now 12 all of a sudden concerned with the 13 Constitution. Because I know when Senator 14 Balboni had a bill that was a homeland 15 security bill that actually made exemptions to 16 the Constitution and to the Bill of Rights, 17 people voted for it and people weren't 18 concerned about that. It was like, oh, don't 19 worry about it, they'll settle it in court. 20 Now all of a sudden everybody's concerned 21 about, you know, protecting the Constitution. 22 And so I'm glad to see that it's a 23 brand-new day here in Albany. I look forward 24 to more public hearings on some issues of 25 relevance that don't deal with the Governor

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(518) 371-8910 1 but in fact go to the point of helping the 2 young people in the state, that go towards 3 helping the seniors of the state, that go 4 towards protecting working families in this 5 state. And I look forward to joining with you 6 to make sure that this continues to be the 7 most secure state in this great United States. 8 Thank you, Madam President. I'll 9 yield if the Senator wants to ask. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 11 Flanagan, do you continue to ask a question? 12 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Yes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 14 Parker, do you yield? 15 SENATOR PARKER: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 17 Senator yields. 18 SENATOR FLANAGAN: You made at 19 least four or five references to the fact this 20 is an executive order. You are aware that 21 this is not an executive order. This is a 22 policy that's -- 23 SENATOR PARKER: A policy change 24 at the DMV. Excuse me, I misspoke. It is a 25 policy change of the DMV.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FLANAGAN: And do you 2 think it's appropriate for DMV to share 3 information with law enforcement agencies? 4 SENATOR PARKER: I think that 5 when DMV thinks it's appropriate, they should 6 share information with law enforcement. And 7 actually, my understanding is that they do all 8 of the time. 9 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Did you attend 10 the hearing that was chaired by Senator Libous 11 and Senator Leibell? 12 SENATOR PARKER: I did not. 13 SENATOR FLANAGAN: During the 14 testimony Commissioner Swarts talked about how 15 well they worked with law enforcement agencies 16 but said that they would not provide 17 information to them unless they were being 18 told to do so through a court order. 19 Do you believe that that's a sound 20 policy, or should they voluntarily provide 21 information? Because you did talk about 22 safety and security. 23 SENATOR PARKER: Well, first, I 24 understand that that is in fact the case 25 naturally on the issue of immigration. So

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(518) 371-8910 1 yes, I do think it's a sound policy as it 2 relates to immigration. That is in fact not 3 just a policy of Commissioner Swarts but has 4 also been the policy of Mayor Bloomberg and 5 the administration in the City of New York. 6 SENATOR FLANAGAN: So you agree 7 with the administration policy that the only 8 time they'll supply this information -- they 9 won't do it voluntarily, but they'll do it 10 through a court order? 11 SENATOR PARKER: That immigration 12 information should be obtained that way, yes, 13 I do agree. 14 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I would just 15 make one comment. This is really not normal 16 for me to do this, but I'm going to make a 17 point of personal privilege in relation to the 18 some of the comments you made. 19 I'm extremely offended by part of 20 your comments, and I take umbrage at what you 21 said in two respects. One, I don't represent 22 St. Lawrence County, but a couple of my 23 colleagues do. You invoked September 11th, 24 talked about the passion and the people you 25 knew who died. Please don't denigrate any one

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(518) 371-8910 1 of my colleagues on either side of the aisle 2 when you reference St. Lawrence County and the 3 corn silo and how that's some type of cute 4 reference. 5 To belittle one area of the state 6 and to suggest that somehow New York City has 7 a higher place when it comes to safety and 8 security is exactly what you're accusing 9 everyone else of doing. 10 And I'm a sponsor of this bill. I 11 will match my integrity and my record with 12 anybody in this chamber as to whether or not 13 someone is racist. I'm proud of this 14 legislation. You don't have to like it. I 15 don't call you a racist, and I don't expect 16 you to call me one in return. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 18 Krueger. 19 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 20 if I could respond. 21 Because if you think that St. 22 Lawrence County has the same kind of terror 23 threat as New York City or Brooklyn or Queens, 24 then you must agree with the President and 25 those people in Homeland Security who give

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(518) 371-8910 1 more money to Wyoming than New York. Which is 2 why I guess Republicans haven't done their job 3 in making sure that New York State gets the 4 money it needs for homeland security. Because 5 the reality is it doesn't. 6 And if you tell me that the 7 Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building 8 and, you know, Radio City Hall and the Statue 9 of Liberty have the same value as, you know -- 10 I mean, what? I mean, tell me something 11 that's up there that is going to be of real 12 historic value that's going to make the 13 terrorist target. None of those things -- 14 they don't exist in the same kind of way. And 15 that's -- 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 17 Wright. 18 SENATOR PARKER: And I'm sorry 19 that -- 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 21 Parker. Senator Parker. Excuse me. 22 Senator Wright, why do you rise? 23 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Madam 24 President. Because I have the honor of 25 representing St. Lawrence County, and I've sad

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(518) 371-8910 1 sat here very quietly listening to my 2 colleague demonstrate his lack of knowledge. 3 But I will point out that one of 4 the primary security issues in St. Lawrence 5 County is the hydro facility located at 6 Messina, the hydro facility that provides 7 power to the City of New York and all the 8 other institutions that the Senator 9 articulated. 10 So in truth and in fact, we deserve 11 the same kind of protection, the same kind of 12 representation that any other district in this 13 state is entitled to. 14 And I agree with my colleague 15 Senator Flanagan. We're here to debate an 16 issue, not to be insulted about who we 17 represent or how we represent them. 18 Thank you, Madam President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 20 you. 21 SENATOR PARKER: If I can 22 continue. 23 And I'm sorry that everybody is so 24 personally offended, but certainly I'm glad 25 that no one thinks that it's offensive when

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(518) 371-8910 1 you bring things to the floor -- 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 3 DeFrancisco. 4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would 5 Senator Parker entertain a question? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 7 you. Senator Parker, would you yield to 8 Senator DeFrancisco? 9 SENATOR PARKER: Yes. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Yes, 11 the Senator yields. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would you 13 be personally offended if someone called you a 14 racist? 15 SENATOR PARKER: If I was a 16 racist, no. And if I made racist statements, 17 no. If I produced racist legislation on the 18 floor of the New York State Senate, no. 19 I would say, you know what, if 20 somebody's calling me that, maybe I should 21 look at my legislation and the impact of my 22 legislation and then make a determination on 23 how I felt. 24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So you 25 wouldn't be offended.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR PARKER: I said -- I 2 answered that question already. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. 4 Can you answer another question for me? 5 SENATOR PARKER: Yes. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Can you 7 tell me -- you've been talking about this is a 8 bill against immigrants and so forth. Can you 9 tell me the difference between someone who is 10 an undocumented immigrant and an illegal 11 immigrant? 12 Because I've heard that distinction 13 being made, and I can't quite understand it. 14 So could you enlighten me? 15 SENATOR PARKER: It's interesting 16 that all of a sudden this becomes about 17 immigration. And if it wasn't about 18 immigration, then why are we talking about 19 this? 20 I mean, at the end of the day 21 everybody in this room -- you can play 22 politics, you can play fancy talk with the 23 words, but at the end of the day we all know 24 that this affects approximately 152,000 people 25 in the State of New York, some of them

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(518) 371-8910 1 undocumented, some of whom are undocumented 2 may in fact -- may or may not be -- 3 undocumented simply means you don't have the 4 documents that people are asking for. Which 5 does not necessarily mean that you are 6 illegal. 7 So if I didn't have a Social 8 Security card, if I didn't have a driver's 9 license, I would be undocumented. Despite the 10 fact that I'm legal, because I'm a naturalized 11 citizen of the United States. So if you want 12 to know the difference, that's the difference. 13 But it's interesting that we need 14 to make these differences given the fact that 15 this is not an immigration thing, as everybody 16 has said. But at the end of the day, we all 17 know who this affects. 18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Could I ask 19 him one more question, please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you, Senator DeFrancisco. 22 Senator Parker, do you yield? 23 SENATOR PARKER: I do yield. 24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So if I'm 25 driving a motor vehicle and I don't have a

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(518) 371-8910 1 license, I'm not an illegal driver, I'm an 2 undocumented driver? 3 (Laughter.) 4 SENATOR PARKER: Again, Senator, 5 that's a matter of semantics. But I just gave 6 you a very clear example. And hopefully -- 7 let me say it slower so you can follow me. I, 8 Kevin Parker, am a naturalized citizen -- 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Point of 10 personal privilege. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you. Senator DeFrancisco, point of personal 13 privilege. 14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: You know, 15 do you have to say everything sarcastic about 16 every other member like you're going to say it 17 slowly just so we understand it? 18 SENATOR PARKER: I said something 19 to you; you apparently didn't understand it. 20 SENATOR DUANE: Madam 21 President -- 22 SENATOR PARKER: Let me say -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 24 Parker. Senator Parker. 25 SENATOR DUANE: Let's

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(518) 371-8910 1 depersonalize, Madam President, please. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 3 Duane, your comment, your point? 4 SENATOR DUANE: A point of order, 5 Madam President. 6 I think we should depersonalize 7 everything and just try to get back to the 8 actual facts of the legislation. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 10 you. 11 Senator Parker, have you completed 12 your remarks? We have other speakers. 13 SENATOR PARKER: Oh, I have not 14 completed my remarks. 15 Because, you know, there's been a 16 number of things -- and again, I'm sorry 17 everybody is so thin-skinned that they are -- 18 you know, they're hurt by my comments. But I 19 have a lot of people in my district and a lot 20 of people in the state who are hurt by this 21 legislation and who are hurt by the comments 22 made in here. And somebody has to speak truth 23 to power. 24 And the reality is -- the reality 25 is is that if in fact the power plant in

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(518) 371-8910 1 St. Lawrence County is so vital to our energy 2 supply, then Senator Wright, I expect you to 3 lead a delegation this week to Washington, 4 D.C., and demand that we get dollar for dollar 5 what Wyoming gets for homeland security and 6 put that money into St. Lawrence County and 7 make sure my power supply is done, because 8 when I go to BAM, I don't want the lights 9 going out on me. 10 And so I'm saying that -- you know, 11 like I said, this is a failure of leadership. 12 And I really would look to see some real 13 leadership on this issue. And you can't come 14 and say you are for homeland security and not 15 in fact do all the other things that relate to 16 homeland security, like getting homeland 17 security dollars, like making sure that our 18 police officers are getting the money that 19 they need. 20 Thank you very much. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 22 Liz Krueger. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 24 Madam President. On the bill. 25 Well, there's a lot of passion here

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(518) 371-8910 1 in this room tonight on all sides. But I do 2 want to just quickly want to go over some of 3 the facts again for the record so that I can 4 say afterwards that I listened to the whole 5 debate, that I evaluated the arguments made on 6 both sides, and that I was sure that my 7 decision to vote against this bill was done 8 with thought and with analysis. 9 Security is everyone's concern. 10 There is no one who represents any citizen of 11 the State of New York who isn't concerned 12 about security in their own communities and 13 across the State of New York. 14 This is not a bill about 9/11. As 15 it has been said several times, the 9/11 16 Commission made it clear that driver's 17 licenses, held or not held by the people who 18 were terrorists who committed that heinous 19 act, were irrelevant to what took place that 20 day, although the existence of driver's 21 licenses for some of the terrorists did allow 22 our government officials to track their 23 identity after the fact. 24 And I suppose that's the point I 25 want to make here, that this is not a debate

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(518) 371-8910 1 about security from a homeland security 2 perspective. 3 We had our previous colleague, 4 Senator Michael Balboni, come and speak to us 5 the other day and go over, from his analysis 6 as the deputy secretary for the State of 7 New York responsible for homeland security, 8 why in fact the Governor's proposal to ensure 9 that we had a stricter process for reviewing 10 people's eligibility for a driver's license in 11 New York State, while also recognizing the 12 importance of having everyone who may in fact 13 be driving in the State of New York in a 14 database was in fact in the best interests of 15 security of this state and of the people of 16 this state. 17 So when I talk about security and 18 driver's licenses, I'm looking at the facts 19 that drivers who don't have driver's licenses 20 contribute five times as many deadly accidents 21 as licensed drivers. And so that an 22 unlicensed driver is in fact a security risk 23 to all of us every day when we're out there on 24 the streets of whatever district we represent, 25 whether we are in cars driving or in my

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(518) 371-8910 1 district, where you're more likely to be 2 walking across the street with cars coming at 3 you. 4 We want to have the people who are 5 driving in the state of New York to have -- 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Excuse 7 me, Senator. 8 Senator Nozzolio, why do you rise? 9 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 10 President, will Senator Krueger yield to a 11 question? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 13 you. Senator Krueger, do you yield to a 14 question? 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: After I 16 complete my statements I'd be happy to yield, 17 Madam President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 19 you. The Senator refuses to yield at this 20 time. 21 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: She is not 22 yielding to a question? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: She is 24 not yielding. 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: As soon as

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(518) 371-8910 1 I've finished. Thank you, Madam President. 2 The Senator will still be here when I'm done. 3 So I'm concerned with the security 4 of making sure that everyone behind the wheel 5 of car has been tested, has been licensed, has 6 been reviewed and by law is supposed to have 7 insurance. I feel that there's stronger 8 security, and security experts seem to agree 9 with us that having everyone in a database 10 having been reviewed with actual 11 documentation -- 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Excuse 13 me. Senator Nozzolio, why do you rise? 14 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 15 President, will Senator Krueger yield to a 16 question? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 18 you. Senator Krueger, will you yield to a 19 question? 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: As soon as 21 I complete my comments, I'll be happy to take 22 as many questions as Senator Nozzolio likes. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: No, the 24 Senator refuses to yield to a question. 25 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam

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(518) 371-8910 1 President, the record reflects that Senator 2 Krueger again refuses to yield to a question? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Yes, 4 Senator Krueger has refused. 5 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 6 Madam President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 8 you. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Certainly. 10 Thank you, Madam President. 11 So again, the proposal as it has 12 been laid out by the Governor, through the DMV 13 policy change, is to ensure that everyone has 14 to submit documentation in order to get a 15 driver's license. In fact, if they are a 16 noncitizen, they have to submit a passport 17 from another country which is a much more 18 restrictive requirement than we place on 19 anyone today. 20 And in fact, under the proposal as 21 laid out by the Governor and by Senator 22 Balboni, there will be a new proposal process 23 in place at the DMV for having a document 24 verification unit, document scanning 25 workstations, photo-comparison technology,

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(518) 371-8910 1 and, they hope -- again, if we move 2 legislation -- a residency requirement in 3 New York State. 4 We need to make sure that the facts 5 of this debate here tonight confirm what the 6 actual issue is. The State of New York had a 7 policy of allowing people who did not have 8 citizenship to get driver's licenses up until 9 a few years ago. We are not just going back 10 to that system, but we are building into place 11 a much stricter process for requiring 12 documentation. 13 Now, I suspect that not everyone 14 who's not here legally will go forward and get 15 themselves a driver's license. I suspect that 16 if you're one of the small, small percentage 17 of people who are here in this country who 18 intend to do harm to this country, you're not 19 likely to be the one who goes in to declare 20 yourself with evidence to a government agency. 21 And so I think it's important that 22 the record reflect that the type of security 23 that we're debating tonight is actually the 24 security for people who come in contact with 25 automobiles throughout the State of New York,

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(518) 371-8910 1 all the counties of the State of New York, 2 each and every day, whether they are drivers 3 or whether they are pedestrians. And that 4 what is important to remember here is you need 5 to follow the details of the proposal. 6 I think that the Governor has done 7 a decent job at giving us the evidence and 8 arguments for his case. I think the fact that 9 we have security experts from this state and 10 around the country who have come out to 11 support this plan highlights that point. I 12 think the fact that some people seem to choose 13 to make this issue one of a perception -- 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Excuse 15 me. Senator Nozzolio, why do you rise? 16 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 17 President, is Senator Krueger's statement 18 completed enough so that she can find the time 19 to yield to a question? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you. Senator Krueger, will you now answer a 22 question from Senator Nozzolio? 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Since 24 apparently the Senator is on a very strict 25 timeline, I will yield to a question and then

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(518) 371-8910 1 go back to my comments. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 3 you. The Senator yields. 4 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 5 President, thank you. 6 Could Senator Krueger explain to 7 this body whether the license that will be 8 provided under Governor Spitzer's proposal to 9 illegal aliens will in fact designate that the 10 person who holds that license is here 11 illegally? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 13 Krueger. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: My 15 understanding is that if you cannot prove that 16 you have a United States Social Security 17 number, that you will need to submit a 18 passport from your home country. 19 So if you do not have a green card 20 or a visa which would already allow you to get 21 a driver's license, but you wish to get a 22 driver's license, that you will need to submit 23 a passport from your home country and that 24 there will be a thorough review on the 25 validity of that passport and other documents

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(518) 371-8910 1 you might be asked for before you got the 2 driver's license, and that information would 3 all be in the DMV database. 4 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 5 President, will Senator Krueger continue to 6 yield? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 8 you, Senator Krueger. Do you continue to 9 yield? 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I 11 will. 12 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 13 President, does this proposal by Governor 14 Spitzer require an illegal alien who obtains a 15 driver's license under his proposal to carry 16 with them their passport, their lease, other 17 documentation that was required for them to 18 obtain this license? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 20 Krueger. 21 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: My 22 understanding is once you are approved for a 23 driver's license, what you actually kept with 24 you on your person for purposes of driving 25 would be a driver's license.

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(518) 371-8910 1 All a driver's license is for is to 2 document your legal right to be behind the 3 wheel of a car. 4 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 5 President, through you, that as I understand 6 Senator Krueger's answer, that there will be 7 no requirement that anyone who obtains this 8 driver's license under this specific 9 circumstance, even though they're here 10 illegally, when stopped by a law enforcement 11 officer, that law enforcement officer will 12 have no knowledge of whether this person is in 13 fact an illegal immigrant, illegal alien or 14 another member of the driving public. There's 15 no difference in the license. 16 Is that not correct, Senator 17 Krueger? 18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I 19 believe you are correct, Senator, that the 20 purpose of a driver's license is only for 21 confirmation of whether you have the legal 22 right to be driving and that if you were 23 stopped by a law enforcement officer for 24 violation of a driving law, that they would 25 use the driver's license as they would for me.

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(518) 371-8910 1 If law enforcement was stopping me 2 for some other reason not related to my 3 violation of a traffic law, then as they might 4 today for me or for you ask for other forms of 5 ID, because the topic in hand was not were you 6 driving in violation of New York State driving 7 law. 8 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 9 President, will Senator Krueger continue to 10 yield? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Do you 12 continue to yield, Senator Krueger? 13 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Certainly, 14 Madam President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 16 Senator yields. 17 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Senator 18 Krueger, it was my understanding you in your 19 remarks indicated that those who are 20 unlicensed in fact had a higher incidence or 21 level of violations. Would you explain that? 22 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes. There 23 has been data produced by both the AAA and by 24 various DMVs that people who are unlicensed 25 drivers are almost four times -- excuse me,

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(518) 371-8910 1 let me reread that. According to the AAA, the 2 unlicensed drivers are almost five times more 3 likely to be in a deadly crash than licensed 4 drivers. 5 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 6 President, if I may continue, through you. 7 Does that not mean, Senator 8 Krueger, that the individuals who are the 9 statistics you are mentioning in fact at one 10 point had a driver's license? They in fact 11 are driving illegally because of a suspension 12 or other violation of law, as opposed to not 13 having a license in the first place, never 14 taking a driver's test, never having that 15 license in the very first instance? 16 In other words, what you're 17 suggesting is a statistic that applies not to 18 those who don't have driver's licenses but 19 those who have violated the laws and had their 20 license in fact suspended; is that not 21 correct? 22 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: No, that is 23 not my understanding, Senator Nozzolio. 24 That the research was done on just 25 whether you did not have a driver's license.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The same way as the reasons you might not have 2 a driver's license might or might not relate 3 to your legal status in this country. 4 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Senator 5 Krueger, that may not be your understanding, 6 but I think you need to look beneath the 7 statistics you're citing -- 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm sorry, 9 Madam President, is there a question? 10 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Senator 11 Krueger, I shall ask you, then, through the 12 chair. 13 Senator Krueger, in citing those 14 statistics, can she document for us are those 15 statistics of drivers who have in fact been 16 suspended and therefore demonstrate a poor 17 driving record, or they're in fact drivers who 18 never had a license in the first place? Which 19 is it, Senator Krueger? 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Madam 21 President, I believe it's probably a 22 combination. 23 We know of course that after we 24 changed New York State driver's law under 25 Governor Pataki, significant numbers of

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(518) 371-8910 1 immigrants lost their driver's licenses. So 2 they might be situations where they once this 3 a driver's license, then we took that driver's 4 license away. 5 And now the Governor is hoping to 6 be able to put them back into the system, back 7 into the database with much stronger review 8 and verification of who they are and their 9 documents, whether it be U.S. documents 10 showing that they've got legal status or a 11 passport from their home country. 12 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 13 President, still through you, it just doesn't 14 make sense to me that all nonlicensed drivers 15 who never had a license in the first place 16 would have the same type of statistics that in 17 fact Senator Krueger is citing for those who 18 never received a license. Those who are 19 violating the law are going to have a higher 20 incidence of statistical violations of those 21 driving laws. 22 And in fact, is not Senator Krueger 23 aware of those county clerks who have cited 24 this statistic time and again as being a 25 fallacy of the incident level for driving?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR L. KRUEGER: I suppose 2 that the Senator and I can agree to disagree 3 on specific data here tonight, and we could 4 both go back and pull more data for a future 5 discussion. 6 I will stand by my argument that 7 having people who are driving cars have 8 driver's licenses, having taken tests, being 9 in our database, being able to track whether 10 or not they have been bad drivers and in fact 11 should have their licenses removed and their 12 privilege of being drivers taken away from 13 them if in fact they prove to be bad drivers 14 who don't follow our laws, is still in the 15 best interests of the public. 16 It is better to have the 17 information. It is better to be able to hold 18 people to standards and ID them. And it is 19 better to be able to have a situation where 20 they can be found and penalized if they in 21 fact are violating our driver's laws. 22 In regards to the follow-up part of 23 his question, which I believe related to 24 county clerks, some of whom are publicly in 25 disagreement of this DMV policy and some of

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(518) 371-8910 1 whom are not, what's clear to me, from the 2 information I've been provided, that they 3 don't have the legal authority to disobey 4 these policies. 5 There are plenty of us who don't 6 like plenty of the laws that do get passed in 7 the State of New York, whether we're 8 legislators or elected officials as county 9 clerks or private citizens. We're always 10 going to have some people who disagree with 11 the laws that we pass. 12 I think there is no one in this 13 room who have taken an oath of office to be 14 State Senators, who take very seriously their 15 responsibilities and their rights to pass 16 laws, who would disagree with the statement 17 that we expect people to follow the law even 18 if they don't think they like the law. 19 Thank you, Madam President. I'll 20 close. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. 23 Senator Golden. 24 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, Madam 25 President. I've heard an awful lot here

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(518) 371-8910 1 today. Pretty amazing. I've heard the Bible 2 quoted. I've heard racism charges. I've 3 heard them talk about it's not in the law. 4 You know, my father and my mother, 5 they came here as immigrants. And they waited 6 through the process, and they raised eight 7 kids, and they lived the American dream. And 8 what we're seeing here today is to all of 9 those that waited in line, for all of those 10 that are waiting to have and to make the 11 American dream, we're going to say no, we're 12 going to change that, we're going to give 13 illegal aliens the gold standard of licenses 14 here in the State of New York and welcome 15 them. My poor father would turn in his grave 16 to listen to this. 17 But we'll have to listen. We'll 18 have to listen to arguments here that do not 19 work. And we can see, when you're losing the 20 argument, you'll almost stoop to anything. 21 And that's sad. 22 Because it is in the law of the 23 State of New York. And it is about 9/11. And 24 it is about illegal aliens, not hardworking 25 immigrants that came to this country and

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(518) 371-8910 1 worked their way through so that they could 2 reach the American dream. 3 We see this policy in Tennessee and 4 in North Carolina where it was tried, and they 5 rescinded it. And one would ask, why did they 6 rescind it? They rescinded it because it 7 didn't work. They rescinded it because 8 illegal aliens from around the country were 9 going to those states and getting legal 10 documents, legal licenses, and going back to 11 their states. 12 In the state of New Jersey they 13 were running down illegal immigrants to 14 Tennessee, and they were getting them a 15 license and they were getting them back within 16 24 hours, all for the cost of $950 each. 17 The federal government arrested the 18 individuals that were doing that. And they 19 rescinded both of those programs in both North 20 Carolina and in Tennessee. 21 I've heard conversations from 2000 22 years ago in the Bible to eight states in this 23 great country. It's not about the Holy Land, 24 it's not about eight states, it's about the 25 State of New York where we are about to issue

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(518) 371-8910 1 New York State licenses, the gold standard of 2 licenses, to illegal immigrants. 3 I don't know -- Mohammed Atta, 4 which we've heard today a couple of times, at 5 least mention of the terrorists that attacked 6 on 9/11 -- in Florida, when stopped without a 7 license, recognized how important that 8 document was to have a license. And 18 out of 9 the 19 went out and got 38 documents, licenses 10 and state ID cards. 11 And the 9/11 Commission stated that 12 we had to do something about our licenses here 13 in the State of New York. And guess what? 14 The federal government passed the REAL ID Act 15 so that we would never see the carnage and the 16 death and the loss of life that we've seen on 17 9/11. And we paid the price here in this 18 state: 3,000 people killed in this great 19 state. Families that are still going through 20 this and will go through this for the rest of 21 their lives, year after year after year. 22 I haven't talked to one 9/11 parent 23 that has agreed with this policy. They are 24 sickened by this, because it's the wrong thing 25 to do.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The REAL ID Act said that we have 2 to implement this by 2010. And it has to be 3 completed by 2013. And yes, there are changes 4 going on on a regular basis into that act. 5 But I think everybody here knows that this 6 state will not be in compliance with the REAL 7 ID Act. 8 So what does that mean? It means 9 we can't get into buildings with our New York 10 State license, we can't get on airplanes with 11 our New York State license. But yet if you 12 are a citizen here, you will be required to 13 give your Social Security number. But if 14 you're not, we don't need your Social Security 15 number. So there's an extra burden placed on 16 the citizens of this great nation. 17 The 9/11 Commission knows full well 18 that there are illegal immigrants here and 19 behind those illegal immigrants there are some 20 that are terrorists, and they want to do harm 21 to our nation. And there are sleeper cells 22 right here in this state. And we want to go 23 and give the gold standard to some of our 24 sleeper cells. 25 I quoted Tennessee and North

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(518) 371-8910 1 Carolina. I've heard about voting. People 2 want to say it's not about voting. Oh, it's 3 definitely about voting. It's about giving an 4 opportunity for tens of thousands of illegal 5 immigrants to go and vote, not only here in 6 this state but I believe it's also going on in 7 other states, like in California, there is an 8 effort afoot to do this. 9 We heard about a policy here in 10 New York. I guess it's okay to have 50 11 different policies around the nation. 12 New Jersey, you have your policy. Vermont, 13 you have your immigration policy. Everybody, 14 have a different policy. 15 Hillary Clinton doesn't think there 16 should be 50 different policies. She believes 17 it should be the federal government's 18 responsibility. 19 I've heard Richard Clarke. For 20 every terror expert that I've heard -- and 21 I've only heard two so far -- there are 10 or 22 15 that have come out against this program. 23 And I'm talking about real terrorist experts. 24 It only takes one terrorist, and 25 that one terrorist only has to be right once.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Why? We were thumb down on New York State 2 license. If anything, we should thank the 3 Governor for enhancing the license and we 4 should ask him to continue to enhance this 5 license by continuing to make sure no illegal 6 immigrants get this license and that the 7 Social Security number is required and that we 8 not only have the facial scan but we have an 9 iris scan or a fingerprint so that we can 10 increase the value of that license. So that 11 we can protect this citizenry of this great 12 state. 13 I love these arguments. I give you 14 kudos. But you know what? Seventy-two 15 percent of this great state, they say you're 16 wrong. Police departments up and down the 17 State of New York, they say you're wrong. 18 County clerks up and down the State of 19 New york say you're wrong. And the majority 20 of the state and the majority of this nation 21 say this is a wrongheaded policy. 22 Madam President, I hope that this 23 bill goes on to be law. And I hope that the 24 Governor recognizes who elected him and why 25 they elected him to be the governor of this

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(518) 371-8910 1 state. And I'm hoping that the Governor of 2 the State of New York will listen to the 3 72 percent of the people of this great state 4 and will rethink his policy and do what the 5 people that elected him to do will do. 6 Ladies and gentlemen, this is not 7 something we should argue about. This is a 8 no-brainer. This is about real policy, and 9 it's about lives, about lives that can be 10 lost. I hope that the Governor does that. 11 Thank you, Madam President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 13 you, Senator Golden. 14 Any other Senator wishing to be 15 heard? 16 Senator Padavan, to close. 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: To close 18 debate. Thank you, Madam President. 19 It's been a long debate and a great 20 deal has been said, and I'm not going to try 21 and extend the time in which we've been in 22 this chamber any longer than necessary. But 23 there are just a few things that I'd like to 24 address. Most of them, actually, are matters 25 of fact.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Several of you, one after the 2 other, said this bill takes effect, the REAL 3 ID Act, in 2013. Where you got that from I 4 don't know. But it takes effect in May of 5 2008. Now, a state can ask for an extension 6 for a year, but they have to submit a plan by 7 February of 2008 as to what they're going to 8 do to implement the federal REAL ID Act. 9 There's no question about that. If you doubt 10 it, look it up. If you want to, I'll give you 11 copies of it. 12 Several of you have said that 13 nowhere in the 9/11 Commission report or study 14 did they say anything about driver's licenses. 15 They said it multiple times. But most 16 importantly, in their recommendations under 17 the general heading of "Immigration Law and 18 Enforcement," "Secure identification should 19 begin in the United States. The federal 20 government should set standards for the 21 issuance of birth certificates and sources of 22 identification such as driver's licenses." 23 And so they did, the federal REAL 24 ID Act. 25 "Fraud in identification documents

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(518) 371-8910 1 is no longer just a problem of theft. At many 2 entry points to vulnerable facilities 3 including gates for boarding aircraft, sources 4 of identification are the last opportunity to 5 settler that people are who they say they 6 are." 7 That's in the 9/11 report. There 8 is no doubt, no matter how you feel about this 9 issue, that the bottom line is that what the 10 Governor has recommended, through the DMV 11 commissioner, is in direct violation of the 12 REAL ID Act requirement. That is a fact. And 13 you can dance all around it, up, down and 14 sideways. 15 Now, personally I have not been in 16 one night called a racist, a what? A 17 demagogue. Thank you so much, Senator. 18 (Laughter.) 19 SENATOR PADAVAN: Maybe you'd 20 like to add to that. 21 (Laughter.) 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: A fearmonger, a 23 demagogue, a racist all in one night, as the 24 prime sponsor of this bill. 25 But you know, Senator Schneiderman

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(518) 371-8910 1 said that Mayor Bloomberg didn't say what he 2 said. Well, I have his exact words. "I'm 3 really skeptical that we should be issuing 4 driver's licenses willy-nilly because it then 5 leads to lot of other problems in terms of 6 voter registration and other things. But it's 7 the Governor's call." 8 Now, I guess he's saying he doesn't 9 like what the Governor did. Not a guess, it's 10 a fact. So therefore, he's a racist too. A 11 fearmonger too. 12 Now, the REAL ID Act passed 13 overwhelmingly in the Congress, including our 14 two U.S. Senators, Schumer and Clinton. So I 15 guess they're racists or fearmongers as well. 16 We have a Congressman from Queens 17 who's been very active. I'll quote him. 18 Congressman Weiner said last week that he 19 feels Governor Eliot Spitzer's controversial 20 plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal 21 aliens would run afoul of the standardized 22 license requirements of the federal REAL ID 23 Act. He said this concerned him because he 24 didn't want New York City-issued licenses to 25 become second-class licenses. He voted for

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(518) 371-8910 1 it, and he -- now, if you want to identify him 2 as a racist, as a fearmonger or whatever, I 3 think that would be really a stretch. 4 None of these people are. And 5 neither am I. And you might disagree with the 6 facts of what we're presenting, which I think 7 is hard to do. You might disagree with the 8 direction in which we're trying to go. But 9 don't question our motivation. Don't do that. 10 Because you're wrong. 11 Now, when the Governor reacted to 12 the Mayor, this is what he said: "Mayor 13 Bloomberg, he's dead wrong. Factually wrong, 14 legally wrong, morally wrong, and ethically 15 wrong." So he questions the Mayor's morality 16 and his ethics. 17 And that's what you're doing here 18 tonight, several of you at least. And so I 19 guess you took the lead from the Governor in 20 the way you presented your arguments. Doesn't 21 make it right. 22 So, Madam President, I certainly 23 hope that this bill will pass on a bipartisan 24 basis. Hopefully the Assembly will take it up 25 at some point in time. It has a Democratic

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(518) 371-8910 1 sponsor in that house. 2 We hope that perhaps, in view of 3 what's going on here, that the Governor might 4 reconsider what he's doing. We hope something 5 positive comes out of all of this. 6 Thank you, Madam President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 8 you, Senator Padavan. 9 The debate is closed. The 10 Secretary will ring the bell and read the last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 18 DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: To explain 20 my aye vote on this legislation. 21 I am not going to repeat much of 22 what was said; it's been said over and over. 23 But the fact of the matter is a driver's 24 license is a privilege. It should be granted 25 to people who are following the laws of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 State of New York. 2 If they're not here legally, 3 they're not undocumented, they're illegally 4 here, and they should not be provided with 5 that privilege. If they're simply 6 undocumented, then get the documents and 7 become a legal resident of this country. 8 And if the system makes it very 9 difficult to get the documents, then work to 10 change the immigration system. But there is a 11 rule of law. And that rule of law applies to 12 everyone, not just people that are here 13 legally. 14 Secondly, Senator Padavan just 15 talked about the federal REAL ID Act which is 16 being violated. But our own statute of the 17 State of New York, 502 of the Vehicle and 18 Traffic Law, requires a Social Security number 19 to get a license. And that is a law, that's 20 not a policy. 21 And there's another reason why you 22 can vote for this bill. If you're here as a 23 legislator making laws, by voting against 24 this, based upon the Governor's policy, you 25 don't belong here. There's no reason to pass

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(518) 371-8910 1 laws if the Governor can just say "This one I 2 don't like, I'm going to change the policy." 3 So for all of those reasons and 4 many, many more, I'm going to vote aye and I 5 would urge this to be a bipartisan vote. When 6 Governor Pataki was wrong with his budget and 7 didn't give enough school aid, we as 8 Republicans overrode the veto. You should 9 override a bad policy of this Governor by 10 passing this legislation. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 13 you. Senator DeFrancisco will be recorded in 14 the affirmative. 15 Senator Alesi, to explain his vote. 16 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, Madam 17 President. 18 I did not join the debate because 19 not much more can be said about the 20 righteousness of this bill as far as I'm 21 concerned. 22 I would point out that the 23 Governor, early in his first several months, 24 clung very dearly to an over 70 percent 25 mandate that he believed he received from the

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(518) 371-8910 1 voting public I would only ask that he and 2 those that support him on this bill consider 3 the other mandate that is before us today, and 4 that is that more than 70 percent of the 5 residents and citizens of this state do not 6 believe in what is he trying to do with 7 illegal aliens receiving driver's licenses the 8 way he is prescribing. 9 I'm supporting the New York State 10 clerks. I'm supporting the over 70 percent of 11 my constituents that believe that the Governor 12 and those who would support him is wrong in 13 this issue. 14 And I vote for this bill for the 15 very simple reason that it is factually right, 16 it is legally right, it is morally right, and 17 it is ethically right. 18 I vote yes. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 20 Alesi will be recorded in the affirmative. 21 Senator Young, to explain her vote. 22 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam 23 President. 24 I enthusiastically vote yes on this 25 piece of legislation to block Governor

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(518) 371-8910 1 Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to 2 illegal aliens. 3 You know, I proudly come from a 4 district that also has corn silos, just like 5 Senator Wright's district. And not only do we 6 have corn silos, we have a lot of common 7 sense. And I can tell you without hesitation 8 that the vast majority of the people of my 9 district have the common sense to know that 10 the Governor's policy is wrong. It threatens 11 our safety, it threatens our security. 12 And I was just reading the 13 newspaper, some of the clips, and one of the 14 articles really stood out to me. It says 15 "Illegals Road Hazards: Two states fail the 16 test," and it talks about the fact that 17 North Carolina had this policy in place and 18 they withdrew it in four years. In Tennessee, 19 it took less than two years for them to 20 understand and realize the mistake that they 21 had made because of the rampant fraud, the 22 organized crime that was associated with 23 giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens. 24 So we should have the common sense 25 in this chamber to reject the Governor's plan.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I'll tell you what. I was elected, you 2 were elected, Governor Spitzer was elected to 3 represent the needs and the desires of the 4 people of this state. It's time that my 5 colleagues on the other side of the aisle and 6 Governor Spitzer listen to the people of this 7 state and stop this policy. 8 I vote yes. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 10 you. Senator Young will be recorded in the 11 affirmative. 12 Senator Diaz, to explain his vote. 13 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 14 President. 15 I'm voting against this bill based 16 on the recommendation made by Senator Bruno, 17 which says "I can understand the merits of 18 what the Governor is trying to do. We have 19 hundreds of thousands of aliens here, and I'm 20 not sure it serves the public good to deprive 21 them of their ability to go to school, to go 22 to work, to do the kinds of things that you 23 have to do to live a normal life." 24 And I'm also following the 25 recommendation made by Senator Nicholas Spano

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(518) 371-8910 1 when he introduced, on April 24, 2006, when he 2 introduced Bill 7388A, where he made four 3 recommendations: 4 One, acceptable proof of identity 5 shall include -- shall include -- a foreign 6 passport with or without visa stamps. Number 7 two, eligibility for a driver's license shall 8 not be conditioned on a particular immigration 9 status. Number three, a letter or form from 10 the United States Social Security 11 Administration stating that the applicant is 12 not eligible for a Social Security number 13 shall be accepted. And, number four, a 14 statement or form by a witness with a valid 15 New York driver's license attesting, under 16 penalty of perjury, to the identity and 17 address of the applicant will be accepted. 18 Based on Senator Bruno's 19 recommendation, and based on Senator Spano's 20 piece of legislation which he introduced here, 21 I am voting against this bill. Because if I 22 voted for it, if I vote for it, I'm voting 23 against the recommendation of Senator Bruno 24 and the bill that Senator Spano introduced. 25 And I don't want to go against

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Bruno. 2 (Laughter.) 3 SENATOR DIAZ: I don't want to go 4 against him. I want to go for him, and I want 5 to support that statement and I want to 6 support Senator Spano, who has a good heart, 7 who tried to do a good thing for the 8 immigrants of this state. 9 So I'm voting no. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 11 you. Senator Diaz will be recorded in the 12 negative. 13 Senator Stavisky, to explain her 14 vote. 15 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes, I thank 16 my colleague for his bipartisanship. And I 17 too want to add my negative vote on this bill 18 in a bipartisan way. 19 We've heard a lot of talk here 20 today about immigration. I don't think this 21 bill is about immigration. I think it's about 22 security. This is a bill to promote security 23 within New York State. 24 When former Senator Balboni spoke 25 to us last week, he made a very compelling

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(518) 371-8910 1 argument for security. And nobody can say 2 that he is soft on security. 3 It has nothing to do with 9/11. 4 Nothing. Absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. 5 This bill, in my opinion, does 6 nothing to promote security. I believe that 7 it is a one-house bill. We're going to see 8 the end of it within the next few minutes. 9 And let's start revisiting this issue 10 cooperatively and constructively without the 11 acrimony and without the hostilities. 12 And I vote no. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 14 you. Senator Stavisky will be recorded in the 15 negative. 16 Senator Schneiderman, to explain 17 his vote. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 19 Madam President. 20 I'm glad we're finally getting some 21 of this out on the record so that the 22 assertions of facts can be checked later. 23 As I indicated, I don't think the 24 facts are on the side of the proponents of 25 this bill. There has never been a requirement

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(518) 371-8910 1 that you have to produce a Social Security 2 number to get a -- indeed, the bill you just 3 voted for provides that people can get 4 driver's licenses, some people who don't have 5 Social Security numbers. That's always been 6 the law. 7 The REAL ID Act was unanimously 8 passed because it was attached to a must-do 9 appropriation bill having to do with the war 10 in Iraq and with emergency relief for the 11 victims of Hurricane Katrina. 12 I certainly, you know, urge all of 13 you to read all of the statements by the 9/11 14 Commission. 15 After the statements that Senator 16 Padavan cited, there was confusion, and a fact 17 sheet was issued by the commission saying: 18 "We did not make any recommendations to state 19 governments about which individuals should or 20 should not be issued a driver's license. We 21 did not make any recommendations about 22 licenses for undocumented aliens." It's just 23 wrong to suggest that they did it. All these 24 quotations out of context of other commentary 25 is irrelevant.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But finally -- finally, my friends, 2 I am not suggesting that anyone in this room 3 is a racist. But I would suggest that the 4 people you are supporting in this endeavor and 5 who are providing support for you, the people 6 from F.A.I.R. who you invited to the hearings, 7 are people who really you should be very 8 careful about who you're bringing into this 9 house. 10 We have an obligation to lead and 11 to be responsible. And the senior advisor to 12 F.A.I.R., Garrett Hardin -- again, this is the 13 group you invited in here -- when asked by 14 Tucker Carlson, a good conservative 15 commentator, why he supported eugenics, he 16 said: "What is your problem with that? 17 Should we subsidizing people with low IQs to 18 have as many children as possible and not 19 subsidizing those with high ones?" 20 There is racism out there. There 21 is anti-immigrant demagoguery out there. And 22 my only caution to you is let's be careful, as 23 we pursue the facts on this, not to bring it 24 in here. 25 This bill does not advance the

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(518) 371-8910 1 cause of public safety. This bill does not 2 advance the cause of antiterrorism. This bill 3 does not advance the cause of sane immigration 4 policy. I urge everyone to vote no. 5 Thank you, Madam President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 7 you. Senator Schneiderman will be recorded in 8 the negative. 9 Senator Marcellino, to explain his 10 vote. 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 12 Madam President. 13 We've heard a lot of things, as was 14 said before, some very harsh words on the 15 floor which I frankly never thought we'd hear, 16 but we've heard them. And I wish they would 17 not appear again. They don't deserve to be 18 said on the floor of this house for any 19 reason, for any purpose. It's wrong. 20 However, we've heard a lot of 21 interesting things today. One, we've heard a 22 quote that's from a former member of this 23 house stating that he would support this bill. 24 Let me read a quote when he voted for Senator 25 Padavan's bill in 2005.

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(518) 371-8910 1 "So here's the conflict" -- this is 2 from a transcript, the official transcript of 3 the Senate. "So here's the conflict. On the 4 one hand, Frank Padavan is absolutely correct. 5 This bill is what the federal government has 6 how said we must have. And in three years, if 7 we don't adopt this type of language, guess 8 what happens? Our driver's licenses will not 9 be usable for any federal purpose. That means 10 getting into a federal building, that means 11 getting on a plane, and that means doing 12 anything else." 13 He follows up, when he was 14 explaining his vote: "If you don't have a 15 secure driver's license system, you're much 16 more vulnerable as a society." 17 Those are direct quotes from 18 Senator Michael Balboni, at the time Senator 19 Michael Balboni. If you want to see that we 20 haven't taken them out of context, I'd be 21 happy to share this with you or copy them for 22 you so you can have this. 23 I also heard some very interesting 24 interpretation of the Bible from one of our 25 colleagues, who was equating the Jewish people

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(518) 371-8910 1 brought in slavery to Israel with illegal 2 aliens who snuck into this country. I don't 3 think my Jewish friends would appreciate the 4 comparison. I suggest we rethink that 5 interpretation of the Bible. 6 Thank you, Madam President. I vote 7 aye. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 9 Marcellino will be recorded in the 10 affirmative. 11 Senator Perkins, to explain his 12 vote. 13 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you very 14 much. I'm not going to be able to vote for 15 this legislation. 16 First of all, I want to commend the 17 Governor for his vision in presenting us with 18 this new policy. I think it is the right 19 policy at the right time. 20 I'm very concerned, as one whose 21 family has suffered a loss in 9/11 -- my 22 cousin, Clyde Frazier, Jr., was killed then. 23 And I'm very concerned about the fact that the 24 driving force, the driving argument with 25 respect to this legislation is about

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(518) 371-8910 1 terrorism. 2 The whole rationale is that 3 immigrants and terrorists somehow or other go 4 hand in hand. And I think that that type of 5 argument can only lead one to conclude that 6 this is a political hatemongering campaign 7 that has absolutely nothing to do with the 8 merits of the policy. 9 Especially when you consider the 10 fact that this is not a new policy, this has 11 been used in eight other states. There have 12 there have not been any terrorist reports 13 coming from those states in the implementation 14 of the policy there. 15 And so I cannot see how we can make 16 terrorist arguments about this particular 17 policy and then be so disingenuous and unfair 18 and insensitive as to bring in 9/11 as a part 19 of why we should not be using this new policy. 20 So I think that I can appreciate 21 some people's sensitivity about the passion 22 that may have been expressed, and maybe some 23 nerves touched. But nevertheless, it's a bad 24 piece of legislation that is driven by 25 arguments related to terrorism and coupling

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(518) 371-8910 1 terrorism with immigrants. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 3 you. Senator Perkins, how do you vote? 4 SENATOR PERKINS: I vote no. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 6 Perkins will be recorded in the negative. 7 Senator Parker, to explain his 8 vote. 9 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, Madam 10 President. 11 First, let me just apologize to any 12 of my colleagues who are offended by my 13 remarks. I certainly have a great 14 relationship with many of you on both sides of 15 the aisle and certainly was not trying to be 16 offensive. 17 However, I stand by the fact that I 18 think that the consequences of this 19 legislation, which is what I said, is racist 20 and I think is anti-immigrant. And I say that 21 exactly because we had this -- we've now 22 developed all this legislation after 9/11 when 23 we were attacked in a horrible manner by 24 people who were nonwhite. 25 But when Timothy McVeigh blew up

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(518) 371-8910 1 the building in Oklahoma, when the Unabomber 2 came out, I didn't see any legislation, I 3 didn't see anybody posting any pro-racial 4 profiling thing that said let's look out for 5 white men who are loners and let's gather them 6 and start interrogating them or let's, you 7 know, stop them from their privileges in the 8 United States. 9 And those are the kind of things, 10 the unintended consequences -- or intended, 11 for some people -- are in fact what makes this 12 problematic. 13 Let me applaud the Governor, 14 because the Governor has done the right thing. 15 I think, you know, that sometimes, yes, we are 16 supposed to be representatives of our 17 districts. And I think I am. My district is 18 overwhelming against this legislation and for 19 what the Governor has done. But they also 20 elect us to be leaders. 21 And so on one hand I am 22 representing my community, but I'm providing 23 leadership for the whole state on this issue, 24 because it's important for us to be able to 25 make the distinction, as I said, between

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(518) 371-8910 1 somebody who is undocumented who may not have 2 a Social Security card or may not have a 3 driver's license or a passport and somebody 4 who is illegal, which may not in fact be the 5 same thing. 6 It is not our job, as people of the 7 State of New York generally, or the DMV of the 8 State of New York, to be INS, ICE, or the 9 Department of Homeland Security. They should 10 do that. 11 And I'm happy to go to Washington 12 with any one of my colleagues who are 13 interested in that and talk to the president, 14 talk to the head of Homeland Security, talk to 15 the INS to get a speedy and less ambiguous 16 process for citizenship and to make sure we 17 get the dollars that we need and deserve here 18 in New York State to protect everything from 19 people to silos. 20 So let's, you know, stop pretending 21 that this legislation does what it needs to. 22 We're adding document analysis, we're doing 23 scanning, this new policy -- 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 25 Parker, how do you vote?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR PARKER: This new policy 2 also includes making sure that we're doing 3 photo identification. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: How do 5 you vote, Senator? 6 SENATOR PARKER: And I'm voting 7 nay against this, because the policy of the 8 Governor is a good policy. 9 Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 11 you. Senator Parker will be recorded in the 12 negative. 13 Senator Seward, to explain his 14 vote. 15 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Madam 16 President. 17 Throughout this debate I would 18 agree with those who say that the issue of the 19 high number of illegal and undocumented 20 immigrants in this country is truly a federal 21 issue, and I call on the Congress and the 22 administration in Washington to deal with this 23 issue. There's no argument on that point. 24 But the question before us is, what 25 is an appropriate response as the State of

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(518) 371-8910 1 New York to the large number of illegal 2 immigrants in our state? 3 I would submit that the appropriate 4 response is not to relax the qualifications 5 and the requirements for obtaining a New York 6 State driver's license. It's contrary to what 7 other states are doing. It's totally contrary 8 to where the federal government is headed. 9 That's why I support this 10 legislation and will be voting aye. It is not 11 anti-immigrant. In fact, I would suggest that 12 the Governor's policy and recommendation here 13 is a real slap in the face to legal immigrants 14 who have come to this country legally and are 15 playing by the rules. The Governor's policy 16 is a slap in the face to those people. 17 And this legislation is not 18 hatemongering, it's an honest attempt to close 19 a loophole that the Governor is attempting to 20 create that will provide an opportunity for 21 those who are coming to this country to do us 22 harm. They can walk right through that 23 loophole that will be created. 24 So this is not hatemongering, it's 25 not anti-immigrant. This is a national

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(518) 371-8910 1 security issue. And I say that it's very 2 important that we move forward with this 3 legislation. I hope that the Governor will 4 see the light, I hope the Assembly will do the 5 same, so that this policy will not go into 6 effect. 7 It's an honest attempt to do the 8 right thing on those that are supporting this 9 legislation. I vote aye. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 11 you. Senator Seward will be recorded in the 12 affirmative. 13 Senator Montgomery, to explain her 14 vote. 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 16 President. Thank you. I'm going to explain 17 my vote. 18 I want to thank my colleagues for 19 this debate. I've listened carefully to both 20 sides, and I've gleaned a lot. And I have 21 also looked at what the Governor has proposed 22 and, further, I've had an opportunity to speak 23 with the former Senator who is now heading up 24 the state's Homeland Security Office. 25 And I trust him. I think that he

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(518) 371-8910 1 would not lead us wrong. I don't think he 2 would like lie to us just to satisfy the 3 wishes of the Governor, even though he does 4 work now with the Governor. 5 But he made it very clear and by 6 talking to him I understood clearly that the 7 issue that we're dealing with in terms of the 8 driver's license is that they have created a 9 much more secure process and mechanism and 10 product. And that we, by doing this, we will 11 end up being the state in the nation with the 12 most secure license. And so I really think 13 that this is an opportune time for us to move 14 in front of the pack, do the right thing. 15 And by all means it is totally, I 16 think, destructive, disruptive to have us 17 going around the state evoking the name of -- 18 someone even invoked the name of Mohammed 19 Atta. Of all things. What is this we're 20 talking about? 21 So we should be making sure that 22 our constituents -- I'm very happy when 23 farmers come to Brooklyn, and I'm very happy 24 when people from Brooklyn go wherever they go 25 throughout the state to visit the home of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Harriet Tubman and to see the beautiful Erie 2 Canal and appreciate the beauty of New York 3 State. We're one state, Madam President. 4 And this is a policy for our state. 5 It is a policy for securing, creating a more 6 secure driver's license. And so I hope that 7 all of us will stop talking about Mohammed 8 Atta and start talking about this opportunity 9 to bring our state together to create a 10 unified driver's license that we can have more 11 security from all of us in this room, all of 12 the citizens, and including illegal 13 immigrants. 14 So I'm voting no to this 15 legislation. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 17 you. Senator Montgomery will be recorded in 18 the negative. 19 The Secretary will announce the 20 results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 2167 are 23 Senators Adams, Breslin, Connor, Diaz, Dilan, 24 Gonzalez, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, 25 Montgomery, Onorato, Parker, Perkins, Sabini,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Sampson, Schneiderman, Serrano, Smith, 2 Stavisky. Also Senator Duane. 3 Ayes, 39. Nays, 19. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 5 bill is passed. 6 Senator Libous. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Madam President, 8 if we could return to the noncontroversial 9 calendar and take up Calendar Number 1914, 10 please. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1914, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 15 Print 6000, an act to amend the Tax Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 25 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Libous. 2 SENATOR LIBOUS: Madam President, 3 if we could recommit to the Committee on Rules 4 Calendar Number 2171, please. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: So 6 ordered. 7 Senator Libous. 8 SENATOR LIBOUS: Madam President, 9 there will be an immediate meeting of the 10 Labor Committee in the Majority Conference 11 Room. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 13 you. The Labor Committee will meet 14 immediately in the Senate Conference Room. 15 SENATOR LIBOUS: Madam President, 16 if we could return to reports of standing 17 committees. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Reports 19 of standing committees. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson, 22 from the Committee on Finance, reports the 23 following nominations: 24 As executive director of the 25 New York State Foundation for Science,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Technology and Innovation, Edward Reinfurt, of 2 Albany. 3 As a member of the New York State 4 Employment Relations Board, Barbara C. 5 Deinhardt, Esquire, of Brooklyn. 6 As a member of the New York State 7 Foundation for Science, Technology and 8 Innovation, Carter F. Bales, of Oyster Bay. 9 As a member of the Board of 10 Trustees of Cornell University, Elizabeth D. 11 Moore, of Sleepy Hollow Manor. 12 As members of the Advisory Council 13 on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, 14 Roy Kearse, of Amityville; William Magwood, of 15 Newburgh; Patrick McKenna, of Averill Park; 16 Paul N. Samuels, of New York City; and Pamela 17 G. Wilkes, of Voorheesville. 18 As members of the Advisory Council 19 to the Commission on Quality of Care and 20 Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, James 21 H. Bopp, of Garrison; Denise A. Figueroa, of 22 Cohoes; Anna Marie Lusins, of Oneonta; Andrea 23 Haenlin-Mott, of Cortland; Regis Obijiski, of 24 Kingston; William E. Reynolds, of Loudonville; 25 and Elizabeth Wickerham, of Saratoga Springs.

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(518) 371-8910 1 As members of the Mental Health 2 Services Council, Mantosh J. Dewan, M.D., of 3 Syracuse, and John V. Oldfield, Ph.D., of 4 Syracuse. 5 As a member of the Public Health 6 Council, Debra Fraser-Howze, of New York City. 7 As members of the Board of Visitors 8 of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, Lula 9 Fisher, of Queens Village, and Alfred Koral, 10 of Oakland Gardens. 11 As a member of the Board of 12 Visitors of the Rockland Children's 13 Psychiatric Center, George A. Hoehmann, of 14 Nanuet. 15 And as a member of the Board of 16 Visitors of the Sunmount Developmental 17 Disabilities Services Office, Richard W. 18 Bossert, Ph.D., of North River. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 20 O. Johnson. 21 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the 22 nominations. 23 SENATOR LIBOUS: Second. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you. The question is on the nominations as

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(518) 371-8910 1 read by the Secretary. All those in favor of 2 the nominations say aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: All 5 those opposed, nay. 6 (No response.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 8 Volker. 9 SENATOR VOLKER: Just one second, 10 if I might. I just want to say 11 congratulations to Ed Reinfurt. 12 It's been suggested by my 13 colleagues that I shouldn't speak very much, 14 but I just want to say congratulations to Ed 15 Reinfurt, who's a long-time friend. 16 And good luck in your new position. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 18 you. 19 Senator Perkins. 20 SENATOR PERKINS: You know, I 21 just want to take a moment to personally 22 congratulate all up there. But there's one 23 who is -- I must say he's more special than 24 the others by virtue of the fact that I have 25 the honor of being the State Senator in the

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(518) 371-8910 1 seat that he once held as the State Senator 2 from Harlem. It's Carl McCall. 3 And he actually gets credit for me 4 not only being here but starting my whole 5 career in the political process. So I just 6 wanted to thank him for his public service 7 and -- are you still up there? Oh, you 8 haven't done him yet. 9 Oh, I get a chance to say it again. 10 (Laughter.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you. 13 Senator Farley. 14 SENATOR FARLEY: Yeah, I thought 15 I had the wrong list also. 16 But I just want to say something on 17 behalf of Ed O'Malley Reinfurt -- his mother 18 was an O'Malley. 19 And I've known him for over 30 20 years. If anybody is eminently qualified for 21 this job, it's he. He has followed the 22 Legislature and seen us through thick and 23 thin. And he's taking on an incredibly 24 important job as this area and this state 25 becomes the high-tech center of the United

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(518) 371-8910 1 States equal with any other place. 2 And Ed Reinfurt will be a 3 magnificent nominee. And of all the people 4 that have been appointed or confirmed, I think 5 he's truly outstanding, and I support his 6 nomination. 7 Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 9 you. 10 I'd like to offer our 11 congratulations to Ed Reinfurt as the 12 executive director of the New York State 13 Foundation for Science, Technology and 14 Innovation. 15 Congratulations, Ed. 16 (Applause.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: I'd 18 also like to offer the congratulations of this 19 body to Barbara C. Deinhardt, who has just 20 been appointed to the New York State 21 Employment Relations Board. 22 Congratulations, Barbara. 23 (Applause.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 25 nominees are hereby confirmed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Farley, for a motion. 2 SENATOR FARLEY: Yeah, I have a 3 motion. 4 Madam President, I wish to call up 5 Senator Wright's bill, 3414, it's recalled 6 from the Assembly, and it's now at the desk. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1235, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 3414, an 11 act to amend the Penal Law. 12 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 13 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 14 this bill passed. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 16 Secretary will call the roll on 17 reconsideration of the vote. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 20 SENATOR FARLEY: I now move to 21 commit this bill to the Committee on Rules. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: So 23 ordered. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: Madam President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Libous. 2 SENATOR LIBOUS: There will be an 3 immediate meeting of the EnCon Committee in 4 the Majority Conference Room. Immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 6 you. The Environmental Conservation Committee 7 will meet in the Senate Conference Room 8 immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: 10 Senator Nozzolio. 11 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President, 12 there will be an immediate meeting of the 13 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference 14 Room. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: 16 Immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 17 the Majority Conference Room. 18 The Senate will stand at ease. 19 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 20 ease at 8:32 p.m.) 21 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 22 at 8:40 p.m.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 24 Senator Maltese. 25 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'd like to announce an immediate meeting of 2 the Crime and Corrections Committee in the 3 Majority Conference Room. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 5 There will be an immediate meeting of the 6 Crime and Corrections Committee in the 7 Majority Conference Room. 8 The Senate will stand at ease until 9 that committee is finished. 10 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 11 ease at 8:41 p.m.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 13 Griffo. 14 SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President, 15 there's an immediate meeting of the Finance 16 Committee in Room 332. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 18 Immediate meeting of the Finance Committee in 19 the Majority Conference Room. 20 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 21 at 10:27 p.m.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 Senate will come to order. 24 Senator Skelos. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could

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(518) 371-8910 1 return to reports of standing committees, I 2 believe there's a report of the Rules 3 Committee at the desk. I ask that it be read 4 at this time. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 8 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 9 following bills: 10 Senate Print 5745A, by Senator 11 Stachowski, an act to amend the Racing, 12 Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law; 13 6180A, by Senator Golden, an act to 14 amend the Military Law; 15 And Senate Print 6521, by Senator 16 Maziarz, an act to amend the Workers' 17 Compensation Law. 18 All bills ordered direct to third 19 reading. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All 21 bills directly to third reading. 22 Senator Skelos. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 24 move to accept the report of the Rules 25 Committee. And if we could take that up at

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(518) 371-8910 1 this time. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 motion is to accept the report of the Rules 4 Committee. All in favor say aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 7 Opposed, nay. 8 (No response.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 report is accepted. 11 The Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 13 Calendar Number 1604, Senator Stachowski moves 14 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 15 Assembly Bill Number 8224A and substitute it 16 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5745A, 17 Third Reading Calendar 1604. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 19 Substitution so ordered. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1604, by Member of the Assembly Quinn, 23 Assembly Print Number 8224A, an act to amend 24 the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read

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(518) 371-8910 1 the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 9 bill is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 2187, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6521, 12 an act to amend the Workers' Compensation Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Skelos. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 16 is there a message of necessity at the desk? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 18 is a message of necessity at the desk. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 21 favor of accepting the message say aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 24 Opposed, nay. 25 (No response.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 message is accepted. 3 The Secretary will read the last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 2188, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 6180A, 15 an act to amend the Military Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 19 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 3 if we could now go to the reports of standing 4 committees and take up the Finance Committee 5 report. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 7 reports of standing committees. 8 The Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Senator O. 10 Johnson, from the Committee on Finance, 11 reports the following nominations: 12 As member and chairman of the 13 Manhattan Transportation Authority, H. Dale 14 Hemmerdinger, of New York City. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 16 O. Johnson. 17 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the 18 nomination. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 20 Maltese. 21 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 22 realizing the lateness of the hour, at the 23 same time I want to say a word on behalf of 24 the nominee. 25 I have known Dale and members of

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(518) 371-8910 1 his family for some years now. He and his 2 sons have put into my community, in the 3 Glendale community, one of the largest 4 developments that we've ever had. 5 He has continued, from the very 6 inception, of turning an area of old knitting 7 mills and decrepit and decaying warehouses and 8 buildings into a thriving area, one of the 9 finest malls in Queens County and the City of 10 New York, probably, if not the finest. 11 He has indicated a willingness to 12 work with the community, has constantly met, 13 has donated part of the premises to the Queens 14 Symphony Orchestra, Bobby and the Strays, 15 groups, nonprofit groups, has in many cases 16 served as a venue for other nonprofit groups. 17 I want to say that I met with him 18 shortly after his nomination. He indicated an 19 interest to continue that spirit of 20 cooperation as chairman of the MTA. I know he 21 has big shoes to fill, following our good 22 friend and colleague Peter Kalikow. At the 23 same time, I think his experience and 24 background in business will serve him well in 25 this position.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I believe he will serve, as 2 he's indicated to the committee just now, that 3 he will meet with Senators and legislators 4 with interests and concerns. We've indicated 5 some of those interests as far as the 6 impending fare rise, and he's indicated that 7 he's willing to have an open mind and take a 8 look at the implementation and the timing of 9 those fare rises, if they ever take place. 10 I am very pleased to second the 11 nomination of Dale Hemmerdinger as a member 12 and chairman of the MTA. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 14 you, Senator Maltese. 15 Senator Skelos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 It's a rare occasion where I vote 19 against the nominee; I believe it's the 20 Governor's prerogative to make such 21 appointments. 22 However, I vote against this 23 nomination mainly as a protest to the MTA's 24 continuing policy of fare increases. For 25 those who ride the Long Island Railroad, Metro

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(518) 371-8910 1 North, this year the MTA is proposing a 2 6.5 percent yield increase. And what many 3 people do not understand, a yield increase 4 could means upwards of an 8 percent or more 5 increase in actual fares. 6 These proposed increases, which the 7 nominee has indicated he would not oppose when 8 I asked him most directly, come on top of a 9 25 percent increase in 2003 and at least a 10 5 percent increase and more, depending on 11 where you commuted from, in 2005. 12 Also, the nominee would not state 13 his opposition to the MTA's proposal beginning 14 in 2010 that there be an automatic fare 15 increase every two years. 16 The people of Long Island, I know 17 many on Metro North, while we're encouraging 18 people to get out of their cars, get on the 19 trains, increasing fares is going to be 20 absolutely counterproductive. 21 At this time, with a looming 22 billion-dollar surplus within the MTA, I have 23 to side with our comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, 24 Speaker Silver, who have indicated that this 25 is not an appropriate time for a fare

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(518) 371-8910 1 increase. 2 That being said, I will be voting 3 no on the nomination, if the record will so 4 indicate, although I do indicate to the 5 nominee that I do look forward, if confirmed, 6 to working with him in order to avoid fare 7 increases, improve service and certainly 8 security within our rail system. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 record will so reflect. 11 Senator Adams. 12 SENATOR ADAMS: Yeah, I rise to 13 support this nominee, but even more so to say 14 to the nominee that we spoke, during 15 conference and earlier, about some of the 16 issues around his membership. And I want to 17 say and I want to make it clear that I thought 18 it was unfair and it was wrong, and I wish I 19 could have communicated with him beforehand. 20 I don't have a problem with 21 individuals that are friends, no matter what 22 ethnicity you are, to come together, to 23 socialize. You know, I don't understand where 24 we get this belief that white men can't sit 25 down and be part of a group, as long as

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(518) 371-8910 1 they're not teaching hate, as long as they're 2 not trying to hurt individuals, as long as 3 they're not encouraging violence. 4 Groups come together. 5 African-Americans come together, Asians come 6 together, Italians come together. Groups come 7 together, they coalesce around what they're 8 familiar with. And I don't think it defines a 9 person's character because they decide they 10 want to be around friends and have some form 11 of associations. 12 And I think that some of the things 13 that was said was a smear on probably a person 14 that has a great character, probably have 15 great contributions to the city. And I want 16 to apologize for those that just haven't 17 matured to the level to state the mere fact 18 that you associate and you're with people who 19 have like minds or that you agree with is 20 interpreted the wrong way. 21 And I believe that this is an 22 excellent opportunity for us to have a person 23 part of the MTA that's going to bring a wealth 24 of knowledge and experience. I think the 25 Governor made the right decision. And I'm

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(518) 371-8910 1 going to write an op-ed to send a message 2 throughout the entire city that we have to 3 stop the process of believing that suffering 4 and pain is unique to only one particular 5 group. 6 We have men and women who were 7 Irish that came here and had to coalesce 8 together to survive. We have Asians, we have 9 Italians. All groups, when you come here to 10 America, you have to assimilate together until 11 you are able to find your footing. 12 And so it is not wrong for white 13 men to sit in a room, smoke a cigar, and have 14 jokes with each other. I do it with my 15 African-American friends. I know Hispanic 16 individuals that have Hispanic organizations. 17 It's not wrong. And I believe that you were 18 given a black eye for something that you 19 didn't do that was wrong. 20 And for those who interpret it as 21 wrong, I think they need to look inside their 22 own lives and see that we all coalesce among 23 people who we have like thoughts and like 24 things in common. 25 So again, I think the Governor made

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(518) 371-8910 1 the right decision. I welcome you on board to 2 the MTA. Continue doing the great things that 3 you're doing. And I hope that we will all 4 mature to the level that we don't view each 5 other differently because we don't quite 6 understand. 7 Congratulations to you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 9 you, Senator Adams. 10 Senator Marcellino. 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. I rise to second my colleague 13 Dean Skelos's comments. 14 You know, a person who picks up the 15 train where I live in Syosset spends 16 approximately $203 for a monthly ticket. They 17 get into the city, if they need to take a 18 subway, there's another $70 plus to ride the 19 subway. We're close to $300 now just for 20 transportation, just to get to work. Out of a 21 monthly paycheck, that's not a small amount of 22 money. 23 And if that's going to go up and 24 going to go up periodically, regularly, that's 25 going to far outstrip their ability to pay,

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(518) 371-8910 1 their ability to survive. Nobody's income is 2 going to increase as fast as those fare 3 increases are going to increase. 4 That has to be looked at, sir. You 5 have to take a hard look at that. You can't 6 follow on this one, you have to take a hard 7 look and find out how you can save that system 8 and save these people who have to use that 9 system. 10 Because what's happening is they're 11 being forced out of the trains where we want 12 them, they're being forced out of mass 13 transportation where we want them, and they're 14 being forced back into their cars where we 15 don't want them. 16 The Mayor is going through a whole 17 situation to try to bring in congestion 18 pricing to eliminate cars from the city, and 19 the MTA and the Long Island Railroad and Metro 20 North are going to a system which is going to 21 put people back in their cars. That's 22 ridiculous. It's got to stop. It's a cycle. 23 The Comptroller points out that the 24 goals that the MTA said they would achieve for 25 savings and whatever were only up to about

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(518) 371-8910 1 40 percent of what they said they could 2 achieve. They haven't even achieved their own 3 goals. Before we start looking at fare 4 increases and picking the pockets of the 5 riding public, we really ought to look back 6 into our own house and clean it up and start 7 fixing it. 8 I've been saying this for years. I 9 had problems when Prendergast was the 10 president of Long Island Railroad, and I had 11 problems with the previous president of the 12 railroad. It's just too darn much money. And 13 it's taking the working person out of the 14 train system. 15 And there is no competition, so 16 they can only go to the cars. And that's 17 impossible. That's just impossible. On Long 18 Island we don't have that much of a mass 19 transit. This amounts to mass transit, and 20 you're forcing people out. So I think that's 21 not a good thing. 22 Two hundred dollars, going up to 23 going up to over 216, plus the subway. God 24 forbid you need a cab; you got a problem. 25 We're taking people away.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So that with the other problems, 2 with the gap and the inability to solve that 3 situation -- we had a lady today at the 4 station where I live fall into the gap. A 5 60-year-old woman went into the gap. Signs 6 and everywhere, they still haven't solved the 7 problem as to how to fill up space between the 8 train and the platform on the Long Island 9 Railroad. This is after several years of 10 pushing. 11 It's frustrating, sir. It's 12 frustrating. And this has to change. This 13 has to stop. We need some movement in the 14 right direction. What I see is movement in 15 the wrong direction. 16 So respectfully, again, I make the 17 same offer as my colleague. We're more than 18 willing and more than happy to work with you 19 to come to some kind of conclusion in a 20 positive way for the working people, for the 21 riding public of our system. You talked about 22 cleanliness and all the rest of that, which is 23 another problem. I'll be more than happy to 24 work with you on this. 25 But just to let you know how

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(518) 371-8910 1 serious I feel on this issue and how strongly 2 I feel on this issue, I would like the record 3 to show that I will be voting no. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 5 record shall so reflect. 6 Senator Perkins. 7 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you very 8 much. 9 Welcome aboard. I want to express 10 my support for this nomination and my 11 appreciation for what I believe will be an 12 important leadership role that he will be 13 playing and has apparently shown his 14 willingness to play. 15 There's obviously a learning curve 16 that he will have to navigate, but I'm 17 confident, based on the conversations that 18 we've had both during the hearings and after, 19 that he's interested in doing a good job for 20 the people of the City of New York and 21 especially for those who use the public 22 transportation system. 23 He understands the role that he has 24 that play as a leader and is looking forward 25 to playing that role, and I want to commend

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(518) 371-8910 1 him for accepting this great task. This is 2 not an easy job. It's not even a glamorous 3 job. And I'm sure he'll find out sooner 4 rather than later, as he begins to encounter 5 his constituents, who generally speaking are 6 very vocal about how much they love the system 7 and how much they would like the system to be 8 responsive. 9 Clearly fare increases and other 10 related matters are of great importance, and 11 I'm looking forward to help him navigate 12 through this new role as our chairman of the 13 MTA. 14 I vote yes. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 16 Sabini. 17 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. On the nomination. 19 I want to thank Chairperson Libous 20 for moving this nomination and its subsequent 21 follow-through by the Finance Committee. 22 Mr. Hemmerdinger will be someone 23 who follows in a tradition of presidents of 24 the MTA of people who come out of a business 25 background, who understand that the MTA will

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(518) 371-8910 1 have people running it on a day-to-day basis 2 that are well-versed in transportation -- but 3 someone who will understand the financial 4 status of the MTA, someone who understands 5 that as a businessman the real purpose of our 6 transit system is to get people to work so 7 that the economy of the city and the suburbs 8 and downstate in the MTA region will continue 9 to flourish. Because if we can't get people 10 to work, we don't have any business going on 11 at all. 12 So there's always been that balance 13 between the chairman of the board and the 14 executive director, one sort of running 15 railroad and one saying, hey, there's a bigger 16 picture here; we have to worry about the 17 bottom line, but we also have to worry about 18 the healthy economy of our region. 19 Mr. Hemmerdinger and his family 20 have a long tradition of doing business in 21 New York, but doing business with a 22 conscience. He understands that New York City 23 is a diverse and vibrant place and that the 24 MTA is really the engine that keeps New York 25 City's economy going and the region's economy

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(518) 371-8910 1 going, coupled with the suburban railroads, 2 Metro North and the Long Island Railroad. 3 So I congratulate the Governor for 4 this nomination. I'll be voting in the 5 affirmative. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 7 Lanza. 8 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 I'd ask that the record simply 11 reflect that I cast my vote in the negative on 12 this nomination. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 14 record shall reflect. 15 Senator Fuschillo. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 I too ask that the record reflect 19 that I cast my vote in the negative on this 20 nomination. 21 I sat in on the Finance Committee 22 meeting. And while I applaud the nominee for 23 his successes in the private industry and 24 charitable endeavors, as Senator Maltese had 25 spelled out, I was remarkably surprised at his

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(518) 371-8910 1 lack of knowledge of current issues. 2 When specifically asked about the 3 gap and about fare increases, about congestion 4 pricing and other issues, other transportation 5 issues, the answers were very evasive. 6 This is an enormous task, and 7 on-the-job training really concerns me. I 8 agree with Senator Sabini that there's a long 9 tradition of very successful businessmen and 10 that he will be following that tradition, but 11 they had a greater understanding of the 12 metropolitan area and the transportation 13 issues that face this state and the Island, 14 where I represent. 15 We are facing enormous challenges 16 on how to move people. And the congestion 17 pricing is problematic for me as well. His 18 answers just did not instill any confidence in 19 me. And I hope that he's a quick study, 20 because we sorely need that in the 21 metropolitan area. 22 I'll be voting in the negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 24 record shall so reflect. 25 Senator Stachowski.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 2 President, I really wasn't going to say 3 anything on this nominee, but having sat 4 through his interview and having remembered 5 closely the interview of his predecessor, I 6 thought that he at least addressed the issues 7 with candor and honesty. 8 And the same kind of response, that 9 the chairman of the board is usually 10 responsible for mostly the business decisions 11 of the MTA, and we have somebody else that 12 runs the actual transit part. And to expect 13 him to know all the transit answers is kind of 14 an interesting reason to vote no. 15 I don't ever recall anybody voting 16 no during the previous administration's 17 nominees just because they weren't prepared. 18 And I don't think this member was not 19 prepared, I think he was prepared but was 20 blatantly honest about saying "I'd have to 21 look into this to get more detail." 22 He actually had some information on 23 the gap but not the total ins and the outs of 24 what they were going to do with the amount of 25 money that they have already announced they're

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(518) 371-8910 1 going to spend on it. 2 So I just find it interesting that 3 nobody took to that kind of selective decision 4 to vote no during the past 12 years of all the 5 people that came up, some of whom didn't know 6 what they were here for. All they knew is 7 that they were getting the job and that they 8 would catch up when they got there. 9 I would have to say that this 10 person will be a very capable leader. I think 11 that his background in business and his 12 success in business will bode us well in 13 heading up the board for the MTA. 14 And I thought that his comments on 15 trying to do everything he could to oppose any 16 type of rate increases at any chance he could, 17 but not being able to say for sure without 18 knowing the downside of just saying "I'm 19 against the current proposal," he said he 20 would have to look into it before he could 21 tell you if he could oppose the current 22 proposal, but would look for any other way of 23 doing whatever had to be done rather than 24 increase the fares. 25 So, I don't know, at least what

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(518) 371-8910 1 that's what I heard. I must have been sitting 2 in a different room. Or maybe it's my side of 3 the room heard it differently. 4 So with that, I'm glad to have the 5 opportunity to stand up and vote on behalf of 6 this person and say that I think the Governor 7 has made a great choice. And I think he'll do 8 a great job, and I look forward to working 9 with him in the future. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 12 Connor. 13 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 I want to congratulate the Governor 16 on this appointment. I have known Dale 17 Hemmerdinger I guess for 13 or 14 years. I 18 believe back when, he served I think it was on 19 the MAC board, first appointed by Senator 20 Ohrenstein, and I reappointed him when I was 21 leader. 22 That occasioned my getting to know 23 Dale and spent many different occasions and 24 learned that he is thoughtful. And I assure 25 my colleagues who are worried about the future

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(518) 371-8910 1 of the MTA and fare increases and so on that 2 Dale Hemmerdinger will think about this issue 3 in new and creative ways. 4 He is concerned about our city and 5 our region, its economy and the people who 6 live there. He's the kind of person who cares 7 about not just the prosperity of the business 8 community but how that affects everyday 9 New Yorkers, the average working people. 10 He will I know do -- I am confident 11 he will do a tremendous job as chairman of the 12 MTA. Again, I congratulate the Governor and 13 my colleagues who support this nomination, and 14 I wish Dale well. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 question is on the confirmation of the 18 nomination of H. Dale Hemmerdinger, as member 19 and chairman of the Metropolitan 20 Transportation Authority. All in favor 21 signify by saying aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All 24 those opposed. 25 (Response of "Nay.")

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 confirmation is approved. 3 We want to acknowledge that 4 Mr. Hemmerdinger is present tonight. Please 5 rise and accept our best wishes and 6 congratulations. 7 (Applause.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 9 Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: As Commissioner 11 of the Department of Economic Development, 12 Daniel C. Gundersen, of Buffalo. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 O. Johnson. 15 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the 16 nomination. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 18 Rath. 19 SENATOR RATH: Second the 20 nomination. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 nomination is moved and seconded. 23 The question is on the confirmation 24 and nomination of Dan Gundersen. 25 Senator Rath would like to speak?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR RATH: Yes, Mr. 2 President, I'd like to speak on the nomination 3 and congratulate the Governor. I believe he 4 made a very wise decision when he chose 5 Mr. Gundersen, as Mr. Gundersen is now a 6 resident of Western New York. 7 I would say that he has been as 8 responsive if not more responsive than many 9 public officials that I've had to deal with in 10 the last number of years, and has taken a 11 great deal of interest in the number-two 12 industry in the State of New York, which is 13 tourism, and of course recognizing that 14 Buffalo and Western New York sit on the 15 threshold of the great Canadian tourism world 16 as we go back and forth across our border. 17 So I look forward to working with 18 Mr. Gundersen. Welcome to being a resident of 19 Western New York. I'm sure you'll fall in 20 love with it and stay there for the rest of 21 your life, like many other folks have. 22 Thank you. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 24 you, Senator Rath. 25 Senator Thompson.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR THOMPSON: Well, let me 2 first just say thank you for recognizing me, 3 Mr. Chair. 4 Today is really exciting, or 5 tonight. This is really great that we're 6 finally confirming Dan Gundersen, who's been 7 working very, very hard, logging a lot of 8 miles on his car, working to serve so many 9 people in upstate New York. 10 And I'm excited about this 11 opportunity because Dan has -- he's very 12 qualified, coming from Pennsylvania. And we 13 need someone that's really going to focus on 14 Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, especially 15 Buffalo and Niagara Falls. And hopefully over 16 the next couple of years we'll see the fruits 17 of his labor through an improved upstate 18 economy. 19 This is a great opportunity, and 20 hopefully now he'll be able to finish building 21 his team of people and experts. And I think 22 now we also have to look at getting the rest 23 of that ship in the right direction for 24 upstate. 25 So I'm excited about him. We have

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(518) 371-8910 1 a lot of great expectations for Mr. Gundersen. 2 And it is good that he does live in Western 3 New York, but now it's about the results. At 4 the end of the day, the rhetoric gets us 5 moving, but the results is what makes a 6 difference. And I'm certain that Dan 7 Gundersen will do a very good job, and we're 8 willing to work with him to help the upstate 9 economy, because God knows we need help right 10 now. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 13 Stachowski. 14 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Just very 15 briefly, because it's late. 16 I just wanted to join with the 17 others that have seconded the nomination of 18 Dan Gundersen, having had the opportunity of 19 working with him already on some projects. 20 I'm very happy that he lives in 21 Western New York, and it's for the benefit of 22 everybody in both sides that he picked a place 23 in upstate to live to continue his work as 24 upstate head of the economic development. 25 We look forward to working with him

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(518) 371-8910 1 and getting a lot of things done, because we 2 have a lot of problems in upstate. There's a 3 lot of possibilities. And I think Dan is the 4 right man to find those possibilities and make 5 them work so we can turn around the upstate 6 economy and get jobs for the people that live 7 there. 8 Thank you. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 10 Seward. 11 SENATOR SEWARD: Mr. President, I 12 also rise to support the nomination of Dan 13 Gundersen to be the upstate person in terms of 14 economic development. 15 We certainly, as others have said, 16 we need help in the upstate region. This body 17 has passed the Upstate Now initiative. I know 18 Dan Gundersen has many ideas in terms of how 19 to revitalize upstate. The time now is for us 20 to mesh, come together, roll up our sleeves, 21 get to work. 22 I've been impressed already with 23 Dan Gundersen's availability, responsiveness. 24 He's traveled upstate, not only to the cities 25 that have been mentioned by my colleagues but

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(518) 371-8910 1 some of the rural small counties as well. 2 The time is now to come together, 3 do the job on behalf of the upstate economy. 4 I look forward with working with you, Dan, and 5 congratulations. I vote aye. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 7 question is on the confirmation of the 8 nomination of Daniel C. Gundersen, for the 9 office of Commissioner of the Department of 10 Economic Development. All in favor signify by 11 saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 confirmation is approved. 18 Dan Gundersen is present. We wish 19 you success and best wishes, Mr. Gundersen. 20 (Applause.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: As director of 24 the New York State Urban Development 25 Corporation, Patrick J. Foye, Esquire, of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Sands Point. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 3 O. Johnson. 4 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I move the 5 nomination. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 7 Nomination moved. 8 Senator Larkin. 9 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. I stand here to second the 11 nomination of Pat Foye. 12 In the short time we've had to deal 13 with him in the Hudson Valley, I've found that 14 he's open, willing to assist us in many, many 15 of our projects. He's shown a wide grasp of 16 what the Hudson Valley has and what needs to 17 be done. And in my honest opinion, I think 18 we'll be able to see greater things happen, 19 and I appreciate everything that Mr. Foye has 20 done. 21 And, Pat, I look forward to seeing 22 you next week. Thank you for taking the job. 23 I wouldn't want it. 24 (Laughter.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Fuschillo. 2 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you 3 very much, Mr. President. 4 I have on numerous occasions met 5 with Mr. Foye, and I must say to this body he 6 brings a tremendous understanding and 7 experience necessary for this job. 8 The economic development czar for 9 the region that he's going to represent is 10 critical to keep this state going strong, 11 especially on Long Island. 12 I look forward to working with you, 13 and I know you'll have a successful term in 14 your office. And I thank you, Pat, for taking 15 on this task. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 17 you, Senator Fuschillo. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 20 join with my colleague Senator Fuschillo in 21 supporting this nomination. 22 I do so because I believe, with 23 Pat -- and we will be meeting with him this 24 week, to discuss the economic needs of Long 25 Island. Long Island has been faring well in

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(518) 371-8910 1 terms of the economy, and certainly there has 2 to be an emphasis in improving our economy 3 upstate and throughout the entire state of 4 New York. 5 My concern is that in last year's 6 State of the State and budget, Governor 7 Spitzer really had no plan in terms of 8 maintaining the strength of Long Island, 9 growing it, and then discussing what 10 weaknesses are, what could potentially drag 11 down our economy on the Island, and how do we 12 prevent it. 13 I am confident that, with Pat, that 14 his knowledge of Long Island, the needs of 15 Long Island, that they will not be forgotten 16 in terms of this coming budget and future 17 budgets to make sure that we continue to have 18 the strong economy that we do. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 question is on the confirmation of the 21 nomination of Patrick J. Foye as director of 22 the New York State Urban Development 23 Corporation. All in favor say aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (No response.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 nomination is confirmed. 5 Mr. Foye is present. We extend our 6 congratulations and best wishes for success, 7 Mr. Foye. 8 (Applause.) 9 THE SECRETARY: As president of 10 the Urban Development Corporation, Avi Schick, 11 of Brooklyn. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 13 O. Johnson. 14 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the 15 nomination. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 nomination is moved. 18 The question is on the confirmation 19 of the nomination of Avi Schick to serve as 20 president of the Urban Development 21 Corporation. All in favor say aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 24 Opposed, nay. 25 (No response.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 confirmation is confirmed. 3 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 4 the State Board of Parole, Michael A. Hagler, 5 of Rochester. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 7 O. Johnson. 8 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I move the 9 nomination. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 nomination is moved. 12 The question is on the confirmation 13 of the nomination. All in favor say aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 16 Opposed, nay. 17 (No response.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 confirmation is approved. 20 I would now like to acknowledge, in 21 the gallery, Mr. Schick and Mr. Hagler. We 22 extend our congratulations to both of you, and 23 extend our best wishes. 24 (Applause.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 3 the Workers' Compensation Board, Zachary S. 4 Weiss, of White Plains. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 6 O. Johnson. 7 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Move the 8 nomination. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 nomination has been moved. The question is on 11 the confirmation of Zachary S. Weiss as a 12 member of the Workers' Compensation Board. 13 All in favor signify by saying aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 16 Opposed, nay. 17 (No response.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 confirmation is approved. 20 Is Mr. Weiss present? Our 21 congratulations to Mr. Weiss, and best wishes. 22 (Applause.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 24 Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: As a member of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the State University of New York Board of 2 Trustees, Carl T. Hayden, Esquire, of Elmira. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 4 O. Johnson. 5 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I move the 6 nomination. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 question is on the confirmation of the 9 nomination of Carl T. Hayden for an 10 appointment on the SUNY Board of Trustees. 11 All in favor say aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Mr. 17 Hayden's confirmation is approved. 18 Mr. Hayden, congratulations and our 19 best wishes. 20 (Applause.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 24 the State University of New York Board of 25 Trustees, H. Carl McCall, of New York City.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 2 O. Johnson. 3 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I move the 4 nomination. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 nomination is moved. 7 Senator Perkins. 8 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you. 9 I just want to express my support 10 for this nomination and my honor to be here to 11 be able to vote on someone who is a living 12 hero of mine, someone who I've known since 13 1976, when he was here. 14 And he's had an outstanding career 15 as a public servant as well as in the private 16 sector, as an elected official. And actually, 17 in that 1976 period he was involved in 18 education as a State Senator, particularly 19 with respect to what was known then as 20 District 5. 21 He's gone on to lend his expertise 22 on high levels with the New York City Board of 23 Education, and now on the highest level of all 24 as far as the state is concerned. 25 And at one time we were going to

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(518) 371-8910 1 make him our governor, but I guess now instead 2 we'll make him our chancellor -- on our board. 3 So thank you so much for your 4 public service and the opportunity that you've 5 given me to be here in support of you. 6 Thank you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 8 Parker. 9 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. On the nominee. 11 I want to just add my voice to the 12 chorus of those who are speaking on behalf of 13 H. Carl McCall, our former comptroller, 14 somebody who I think is an excellent choice 15 for this board. 16 There is really nobody in public 17 service with the kind of record and the kind 18 of background that he has. Those of us who 19 have entered public service, we only hope to 20 be what he has done, being an ordained 21 minister, being a State Senator, being a 22 corporate executive, somebody who has served 23 the United States government as an ambassador, 24 head of the New York City Board of Education, 25 on the board of the Division of Human Rights

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(518) 371-8910 1 here in the state. 2 And then as really the greatest 3 state comptroller we've had in this state 4 really since Alfred E. Smith, somebody who 5 doubled the state pension fund. There is 6 nobody here and none of us had in here not 7 going to benefit from the great work that he's 8 done. 9 I'm happy to see him in this new 10 role. I know that he will in fact make SUNY 11 perform in the way that it needs to. So I 12 want to congratulate him and congratulate the 13 Governor for making this important 14 appointment. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 16 Hassell-Thompson. 17 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 18 you, Mr. President. 19 I too rise to give congratulations 20 to H. Carl McCall and to thank him for his 21 many years of public service to the State of 22 New York and to all of us who, again, as 23 Senator Parker, says aspire to have the kind 24 of record and the kind of years of service, 25 the testament to a caring and dedicated and

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(518) 371-8910 1 committed man. 2 To H. Carl McCall, we thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 4 Stavisky. 5 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes, 6 Mr. President, I rise to congratulate both 7 Chancellor Hayden and former Senator McCall. 8 They bring an unusual breadth of 9 background to government, and I think we're 10 very fortunate to be able to utilize their 11 very unique experiences. 12 Chancellor Hayden served as 13 chancellor of the Regents, and Carl McCall has 14 an outstanding background both in the public 15 sector and the private sector -- his 16 experience as a State Senator, as an 17 ambassador, as a businessman, and as the 18 manager of our pension funds. 19 I congratulate the Governor on 20 these two appointments. They're going to, I 21 think, take the State University of New York 22 to new heights, and I wish them both the best 23 of luck. 24 Thank you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Marcellino. 2 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, 3 Mr. President, I rise to congratulate both 4 gentlemen on their achievement. 5 And I ask that they pay some 6 attention and particular attention to one of 7 the state universities that I represent in my 8 district, SUNY Old Westbury. The current 9 administration, led by Dr. Calvin Butts, doing 10 yeoman's work and doing the best they can to 11 try to move that college and move that 12 university into a real leadership in the SUNY 13 system, they can use a lot more help. 14 And I would ask that you pay some 15 attention to that and give them the help they 16 need so that that college can compete with 17 those around it more successfully than it is 18 already. They need your help, and I hope 19 you'll be there to give it to them. 20 I vote aye. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 question is on the confirmation of the 23 nomination of H. Carl McCall as a member of 24 the SUNY Board of Trustees. All in favor say 25 aye.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (Response of "Aye.") 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 3 Opposed, nay. 4 (No response.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 confirmation is approved. 7 We welcome back to the chamber Carl 8 McCall and wish him best wishes and 9 congratulations. 10 (Applause.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 14 the Workers' Compensation Board, Frances M. 15 Libous, of Binghamton. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 17 Libous. 18 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 19 pursuant to Rule 9, Section 1B, I ask 20 unanimous consent to be excused from voting on 21 this particular nominee because I have a 22 direct personal interest with the nomination. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without 24 objection, so ordered. 25 The Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: As members of the 2 New York Job Development Authority, Peter J. 3 Kiernan, of New York City, and Raymond Wayne 4 LeChase, of Webster. 5 As a public member of the State 6 Banking Board, P. Nicholas Kourides, of Rye. 7 As a member of the State Board of 8 Real Property Services, Edgar A. King, of 9 Schuylerville. 10 As a member of the Palisades 11 Interstate Park Commission, Samuel F. Pryor, 12 III, Esquire, of Bedford Hills. 13 As members of the Medical Advisory 14 Committee, John Angerosa, Jr., M.D., of 15 Scotia; Angela Diaz, M.D., of New York City; 16 and Dennis P. Norfleet, M.D., of Oswego. 17 As members of the Advisory Council 18 on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, 19 Gary Butchen, of Seaford; Peter Coleman, of 20 Staten Island; Otto C. Feliu, of Syracuse; 21 Karen A. Giles, of Altamont; Sherrie Gillette, 22 of Plattsburgh; Lynda Marlene Karig Hohmann, 23 Ph.D., M.D., of Albany; Katharine H. 24 Briar-Lawson, Ph.D., of Wynantskill; and 25 Kathleen A. Riddle, of Larchmont.

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(518) 371-8910 1 As members of the Advisory Council 2 to the Commission on Quality of Care and 3 Advocacy for Persons With Disabilities, 4 Deborah S. Lee, of Flushing; Jeffry Luria, of 5 Central Bridge; Mary Lou Mendez, of DeWitt; 6 and Loretta H. Murray, of Brooklyn. 7 As members of the Mental Health 8 Services Council, Sigfrido Benitez, of 9 New York City; Sherry R. Grenz, of Delmar; and 10 Paige A. Pierce, of Slingerlands. 11 As members of the Public Health 12 Council, Anne C. Beal, M.D., of New York City; 13 Jo Ivey Boufford, M.D., of New York City; and 14 Ellen L. Rautenberg, of New York City. 15 As members of the Board of Visitors 16 of the New York State Home for Veterans and 17 Their Dependents at Batavia, Anthony M. 18 Ferrarese, of New York City, and Wallace J. 19 Kornow, of Oakfield. 20 As members of the Board of Visitors 21 of the Bronx Psychiatric Center, Gerald M. 22 Friedman, of the Bronx; Sylvia Hershkowitz 23 Lask, of the Bronx; and Samuel Lopez, of the 24 Bronx. 25 As a member of the Board of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Visitors of the Broome Developmental 2 Disabilities Services Office, Alvern Gelder, 3 of Binghamton. 4 As members of the Board of Visitors 5 of the Central New York Developmental 6 Disabilities Services Office, Jane G. Allen, 7 of Brantingham; Eleanora L. Collins, of Rome; 8 Anna Maria DeRiemer-Gallay, of Ava; June C. 9 McCarrell, of Ilion; and Jeannine Nolan, of 10 Fayetteville. 11 As a member of the Board of 12 Visitors of the Rochester Psychiatric Center, 13 Eileen W. Farlow, of Rochester. 14 As a member of the Board of 15 Visitors of the Rockland Psychiatric Center, 16 James J. Farsetta, of New City. 17 As a member of the Board of 18 Visitors of the Rockland Children's 19 Psychiatric Center, Debrann A. Gianella, of 20 West Nyack. 21 And as a member of the Board of 22 Visitors of the Staten Island Developmental 23 Disabilities Services Office, Polly Panzella, 24 of Staten Island. 25 As members of the City University

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(518) 371-8910 1 of New York Board of Trustees, Hugo M. 2 Morales, M.D., of Yonkers, and Marc V. Shaw, 3 of New York City. 4 As members of the Adirondack Park 5 Agency, Richard S. Booth, of Ithaca; Frank L. 6 Mezzano, of Lake Pleasant; and Curtis F. 7 Stiles, of Tupper Lake. 8 As a trustee of the Power Authority 9 of the State of New York, D. Patrick Curley, 10 of Orchard Park. 11 As members of the Empire State 12 Plaza Art Commission, Louis Grachos, of 13 Buffalo, and Agnes Gund, of New York City. 14 As members of the New York 15 Convention Center Operating Corporation Board 16 of Directors, Stephen L. Drummond, of Queens 17 Village; E. Scott Gilbert, of New York City; 18 Carl H. Loewenson, Jr., of New York City; 19 Marc A. Ricks, of New York City; and Joseph E. 20 Spinnato, of Muttontown. 21 As members of the State Council on 22 the Arts, Laura L. Aswad, of New York City; 23 Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., of New York 24 City; Jeffrey Hayden Lynford, of Katonah; 25 Natalie Merchant, of Tivoli; and Marta Moreno

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(518) 371-8910 1 Vega, of the Bronx. 2 As a member of the Board of 3 Visitors of the New York State Home for 4 Veterans and Their Dependents at St. Albans, 5 Domenick Porcaro, of East Rockaway. 6 As a member of the State Board of 7 Parole, Lisa Beth Elovich, of Selkirk. 8 And as a member of the State 9 Council on the Arts, Henry Eltinge Breed, III, 10 of New York City. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 12 question is on the confirmation of the 13 nominees as read by the Secretary. All in 14 favor say aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 nominees are confirmed. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 23 move that we adopt the second Senate 24 Resolution Calendar in its entirety. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Resolution Calendar adoption, all in favor 2 signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (No response.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 9 Senator Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 11 in consultation with the Minority Leader, 12 Senator Bruno hands up the following notice of 13 committee changes and asks that it be filed in 14 the Journal. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 16 Accepted and ordered filed in the Journal. 17 Senator Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 19 there being no further business to come before 20 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned subject 21 to the call of the Majority Leader, 22 intervening days being legislative days. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 24 Senate stands adjourned subject to the call of 25 the Majority Leader, with intervening days

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(518) 371-8910 1 being legislative days. 2 The Senate stands adjourned. 3 (Whereupon, at 11:14 p.m., the 4 Senate adjourned.) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910