Combating Hate and Protecting the American Dream on Long Island
By: Laura A. Gillen
This year, as our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, we reflect on our incredible story and the promise of the American Dream. Since its founding, the United States has stood as a beacon of religious freedom, economic opportunity, and safety for people of all backgrounds to raise families and achieve even greater success. Long Island exemplifies that promise. However, the alarming spike in intolerance, antisemitism, and an unsustainable cost of living has threatened our core American values of safety, faith, and prosperity.
To protect the American Dream for the next 250 years on Long Island and nationwide, we must take action to preserve its foundation. This includes protecting freedom of religion and all Americans’ right to pray and gather in safety and security. It also includes protecting our children’s right to a good education, attend school, and build a successful future without facing hate and discrimination. Finally, it must be affordable to raise a family and prosper in our free-market system, which has allowed generations of Americans to advance and prosper.
Religious freedom is a cornerstone of our nation’s founding and way of life. However, over the past few years, we have witnessed an alarming, unacceptable rise in hate crimes and antisemitism. We’ve seen this in our own backyard, with violence against Jewish New Yorkers on public transit and in synagogues. Antisemitic vandalism has also defaced our parks and train stations. Synagogues, yeshivas, and Jewish community centers have been forced to take on increased costs to fortify their buildings as extreme anti-Israel voices on the right and left fan the flames of hate.
I consider it my sacred duty as a Representative and as an American to stand against hate and defend my constituents. I have worked tirelessly in Congress to confront antisemitism head-on and bring more federal security funding back to Long Island. I’ve proudly delivered more than $4 million in federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding to safeguard faith-based institutions in Nassau County. My office worked hand-in-hand with our congregations to apply for and secure these grants, including synagogues and organizations throughout the Five Towns. I also helped introduce the bipartisan Jewish American Security Act with Representatives Mike Lawler and Dan Goldman to provide a record-level $1 billion annually for this program and give law enforcement more tools to stamp out hate. The freedom of religion is a constitutional right, and no American should have to live or worship in fear.
Tragically, we’ve also seen many students face antisemitic and extreme anti-Israel harassment at colleges and universities, including Columbia and Cooper Union. Since October 7th, Jewish students on college campuses across the country have endured an unprecedented wave of hostility and vitriol from anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protestors. We cannot allow our educational institutions and engines of opportunity to become dangerous hotbeds of hate.
In Congress, I’ve led bipartisan legislation alongside Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik to hold universities accountable when they fail to uphold civil rights and protect Jewish students. I’ve also pushed for strong federal action to curb hate speech on social media and strengthen protections for students who are victims of targeted antisemitism. Our children deserve the chance to succeed and realize their potential in a safe environment.
Ultimately, our neighbors deserve to feel safe in their communities and have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. To keep the American Dream alive on Long Island, it must be affordable to live here, raise a family, start a business, and thrive. To deliver relief from rising costs, I introduced the bipartisan Cost of Living Tax Cut Act to lower federal income taxes for Long Island families and others in high-cost regions. This legislation fairly accounts for Long Island’s cost of living, which is 32% above the national average, so families keep more of what they earn. I’m also continuing the fight to end unfair double taxation by permanently restoring the full state and local tax (SALT) deduction. To support our entrepreneurs, I continue to champion policies that eliminate burdensome red tape, increase access to capital, and empower local businesses. Long Islanders should have a strong floor to support themselves and no ceiling on their success.
For 250 years, the promise of the American Dream has been built on our fundamental values of democracy, religious freedom, and the opportunity to achieve economic prosperity. Today, the troubling rise of antisemitism and threats to financial freedom undermine that promise. As your representative, I will never stop fighting to combat hate, make life more affordable, and preserve the promise of the American Dream for this and future generations of Long Islanders. n
Congresswoman Laura Gillen is currently serving her first term in Congress representing the people of New York’s Fourth Congressional District. Rep. Gillen is a Baldwin native and lives with her family in Rockville Centre. In 2017, she became the first Democrat to be elected Hempstead Town Supervisor in 112 years. In Congress, she serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, sitting on the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, Subcommittee on Aviation, and Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. You can reach Rep. Gillen by visiting: https://gillen.house.gov/contact.
