Gary Ackerman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York | |
| In office March 1, 1983 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin S. Rosenthal |
| Succeeded by | Grace Meng (redistricted) |
| Constituency | 7th district (1983–1993) 5th district (1993–2013) |
| Member of theNew York Senate from the12th district | |
| In office January 1, 1979 – March 1, 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Jack E. Bronston |
| Succeeded by | Leonard Stavisky |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gary Leonard Ackerman (1942-11-19)November 19, 1942 (age 83) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Queens College (BA) |
Ackerman on a House resolution in remembrance of theSeptember 11 attacks. Recorded September 11, 2008 | |
Gary Leonard Ackerman (born November 19, 1942) is an American retired politician and formerU.S. representative from New York, serving from 1983 to 2013. He is a member of theDemocratic Party. On March 15, 2012, Ackerman announced that he would retire at the end of the 112th Congress on January 3, 2013, after fifteen terms, and would not seek re-election in November 2012.
Ackerman was born inBrooklyn, the son of Eva (née Barnett) and Max Ackerman. His grandparents wereJewish immigrants from Russia and Poland.[1][2] He was raised inFlushing, Queens. He attended local public schools,Brooklyn Technical High School and graduated fromQueens College in 1965. After college, Ackerman became a New York City School teacher where he taughtsocial studies, mathematics, and journalism to junior high school students in Queens.
Following the birth of his first child in 1969, Ackerman petitioned theNew York City Board of Education for an unpaidleave of absence to spend time with his newborn daughter but his request was denied, under then existing policy which reserved unpaid "maternity-child care" leave to women only.[3] In what was to be a forerunner of theFamily and Medical Leave Act of 1993, then teacher Ackerman successfully sued the board in a landmark case which established the right of either parent to receive unpaid leave forchild care.[4] A quarter of a century later, now a congressman, Ackerman in the House–Senate Conference Committee, signed the report of the Family and Medical Leave Act which became the law of the land.
Ackerman's second career move occurred in 1970, when he left teaching to start a weekly community newspaper inQueens calledThe Flushing Tribune which soon became theQueens Tribune. Ackerman served as its editor and publisher.
Ackerman was a member of theNew York State Senate from 1979 to 1983, sitting in the183rd,184th and185th New York State Legislatures.
Incumbent Democratic U.S. congressmanBenjamin Rosenthal died on January 4, 1983. Ackerman won the special election with a plurality of 49%.[5] In 1984, he won re-election to a full term with 69% of the vote.[6] In 1986, he won re-election with 77%, and was unopposed in 1988 and 1990. After redistricting, he ran inNew York's 5th congressional district. He won the Democratic primary with 60%,[7] and the general election with 52% against Republican county legislator Allan E. Binder.[8] In 1994, he won re-election with 55% of the vote.[9] Since then, he has won re-election with at least 63% of the vote.[10]
On March 15, 2012, Ackerman announced that he would retire at the end of the 112th Congress on January 3, 2013, after fifteen terms, and would not seek re-election in November 2012.
Ackerman was theCongressional delegate to the United Nations.[when?] In addition, he was the ranking Democrat on the Congressional Caucus onIndia andIndian Americans.[when?] In 2002, he was awardedIndia's third highest civilian award, thePadma Bhushan for his contributions as member of the India Caucus in the Congress.[citation needed]
Ackerman was one of only 22 Congressman and one of 2 Democrats from New York to vote against a resolution calling for the protection of the symbols and traditions of Christmas. The resolution, which did not include language that would protect the symbols of other religious holidays, passed 401–22 in the House in December 2005. In April 2003 theCatholic League for religious and civil rights attacked Ackerman for voting against a non-binding resolution that would have declared a day of prayer in recognition of the U.S.war in Iraq.
Ackerman received an "A" on theDrum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.[11] Ackerman was also a member of theCuba Democracy Caucus and is currently the head of theInternational Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP).
Ackerman has missed voting on 80 occasions pertaining to a variety of issues, including thePension Protection Act, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act, and the Honoring the Contributions ofCatholic Schools.[12][13]
In June 2001, Ackerman honored King Christian X of Denmark for his wearing ayellow badge armband during World War II in support of the Danish Jews who had been ordered by the Nazi occupation to wear yellow badges, although Jews in Denmark were never forced to wear an armband, and the story is merely a legend.[14]
Among Ackerman's significant legislative undertakings, was the passage of his Baby AIDSamendment to theRyan White Care Act. The measure requires mandatory HIV testing of newborns and disclosure of the results to the mother.[15]
Ackerman championed the issue of newborn testing after discovering that 45 states, including New York, tested babies for HIV but used the data solely to track the prevalence of the disease in the population, and did not disclose the results to the mothers. As a result, thousands of mothers brought their infants home from the hospital, never aware that their children had tested positive for HIV. Ackerman stopped the anonymous testing from being reinstated in years that followed.
Ackerman also scored a victory in his efforts to ban downed animals from being sold as meat in supermarkets, restaurants and butcher stores. For a decade, Ackerman warned that use of such livestock was not only inhumane treatment of animals but also risked causing aMad Cow disaster in the United States. His legislation fell on deaf ears until December 2003, when his warning became prophetic and theBush Administration—among those who had opposed the bill—finally imposed his ban through regulation.
Ackerman was also successful in gettingMedicare to cover testing forprostate cancer.
In addition, Ackerman sponsored the first federal legislation to ban the use of handheldcell phones while driving.
Law of the land is Ackerman's measure requiring banks and financial companies to notify consumers when negative information is placed on theircredit reports. Ackerman also sponsored legislation which is now law that in the wake of theEnron,WorldCom and other corporate scandals, prohibits accounting firms from consulting for the companies they audit.
On October 3, 2008, Ackerman voted in favor of theTroubled Asset Relief Program.[16]
On January 8, 2009, Ackerman introduced a bill to order theSecurities and Exchange Commission to re-institute theuptick rule, limiting the circumstances under which traders can sell stock short.
On February 4, 2009, Ackerman criticizedSEC Officials over the handling of tips given to them about theBernie Madoff scandal. Ackerman believed that he was reflecting the public's opinion, saying: "How are they supposed to have confidence that if somebody goes to you with a complaint—gives it to you on a silver platter with all the investigations, with all the numbers, with all of the data, telling you exactly what he did, how he did it, and why he did it and how he knows that—and after a period after half a dozen or eight years, you don't know anything?"[17]
On October 10, 2002, Ackerman was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing theinvasion of Iraq.
Ackerman also convinced theDefense Department to stop garnishing wages from certain U.S. soldiers serving in the war againstIraq. Although troops who serve in combat zones are not required to pay federal taxes, many soldiers had failed to be granted the exemption.
Other highlights include the Congressman authoring legislation that required President George W. Bush to imposesanctions against thePalestinian Authority for not complying with peace agreements it signed with the U.S. and Israel.
In his capacity as the then chairman of the Asia Subcommittee, Ackerman made history in the 1990s by traveling toNorth Korea to discussnon-proliferation. Upon his return toSouth Korea, Ackerman became the first person since theKorean War to cross theDMZ (Demilitarized Zone).
Enacted as well was his measure that preventswar criminals and human rights abusers who have perpetratedgenocide,torture,terrorism or other atrocities, from entering the U.S. and deports those who have slipped in.
He convinced the German government to establish a US$110 million fund to compensate 18,000Holocaust survivors and to investigate whether 3,300 formerNazi soldiers now living in the U.S. and collecting German pensions are war criminals.[citation needed]
Ackerman is also well known for his many missions to feed the starving people ofEthiopia and theSudan and for playing a leading role in the rescue ofEthiopian Jews and aiding their emigration to Israel. Active in the Middle East peace process, Ackerman has met with the current and most past Israeli prime ministers and the heads of all theArab countries in an effort to help secure peace in the region. He also ventured toKashmir enduring sub-freezing winter temperatures in an attempt to secure the release of four western hostages.
In January 2011, Ackerman criticized Jewish organizations including the Jewish Voice for Peace andJ Street for their perspective of what actions had to be taken for a lasting Mideast peace.
On January 12, 2009, Ackerman admitted to arranging a visit between Israeli officials and a defense contractor at the same time he was investing in that contractor.[18] Although the visit did not result in any official deal between the parties, questions regarding his ethics were raised.[19]
Ackerman was also successful in getting enacted, his bill that created the"Heroes" postage stamp, the revenue from which helps the families of rescue workers killed or permanently disabled while responding to theSeptember 11 attacks. The stamp was based on a photograph entitledGround Zero Spirit. In addition, the Congressman lobbied federal security officials—with the September 11, 2001, attacks in mind—to use retiredlaw enforcement officers as screeners atNew York airports and he pressed PresidentBush to make good on his promise to provide New York with US$20 billion in additional 9/11 disasteraid.
In 2011, Ackerman voted to extend expiring provisions of thePATRIOT Act[20] and voted in favor of theNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012.[21]
Ackerman participated in forcing the State of Hawaii to change its law that forbade blind individuals from bringing their guide dogs with them to the islands. The Congressman chaired an investigation and bipartisan hearing into whether New York City andLong Island officials properly used the spraying ofMalathion during theWest Nile virus outbreak. He also obtained federal funds to combat a return of the virus.
Ackerman, who sports a whitecarnationboutonnière each day, lives on ahouseboat named theUnsinkable II while in Washington, D.C., and otherwise resides inRoslyn Heights in Nassau County with his wife Rita, having moved there from a home inJamaica Estates, Queens that sold forUS$1 million in 2008.[22] The Ackermans have three children: Lauren, Corey, and Ari.[23] Ackerman is an amateur photographer, an avidstamp collector, and aboating enthusiast. He is also anEagle Scout.
At the 2006 meeting of theInternational Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), Ackerman was unanimously elected to serve as the executive of the organization.
Ackerman was named an honorary graduate of theUnited States Merchant Marine Academy for his continued support of the service academy located inKings Point, New York.
Ackerman also has a street named after him located inCentral Islip, New York.
In the 1960s, Ackerman served as director of the Ten Mile RiverBoy Scout Camp. In 2019, a former camper filed a lawsuit accusing Ackerman of fondling him and forcing him to perform oral sex on Ackerman.[24] The alleged abuse occurred in 1966, when Ackerman was 23 and the accuser was 17. Ackerman denied any wrongdoing but resigned from his position as a consultant for theSuffolk County Department of Civil Service.[25][26]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) 6–6–01. H.Con.Res. 145, Condemning The Recent Order by the Taliban Regime to Require Hindus in Afghanistan to wear Symbols identifying them as Hindus.| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 7th congressional district 1983–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 5th congressional district 1993–2013 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
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