By Michele Justic
Summer Slowdown? Not so for Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), whose Garden City office received a bomb threat on Friday, July 12. This was followed by the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13, followed by the RNC on July 15, not to mention the travel delays caused by the CrowdStrike outage, and finally hosting Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, all the while continuing to fight for his constituents and prepare for the 2024 Congressional and Presidential elections. The 5TJT was honored that the Congressman took some time to discuss the issues of the day.
As a member of the House-Knesset Parliamentary Friendship Group and a proud supporter of Israel, Congressman Anthony D’Esposito proudly attended the historic speech given by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress. Normally, Vice President Kamala Harris, who serves as president of the Senate, would traditionally sit behind foreign leaders, but she skipped the speech due to a pre-scheduled trip to a sorority event. Her absence set a tone, which Axios reports: “Roughly 100 House Democrats and 28 Senate Democrats were present in the chamber for the Israeli prime minister’s speech, meaning around half of both caucuses were absent…. Among the boycotters are former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).” Some Republicans have targeted Harris’ absence as a sign of disloyalty to an important ally.
Congressman D’Esposito notes, “Kamala’s absence speaks volumes. She is even further to the left than Joe Biden. You can tell by her history as prosecutor. She is pro-criminal and called for making sure to release protestors back onto the streets. She noted that she ‘understands the emotions of the protestors,’ those creating violence. You can see in the aerial look at the chamber, when certain members were clapping, others were sitting. [And some were absent.] That is the Party of my opponent, Laura Gillen.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu began his speech, “We meet today at a crossroads of history. Our world is in upheaval. In the Middle East, Iran’s axis of terror confronts America, Israel, and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life. For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together. Because when we stand together, something very simple happens. We win. They lose.”
Congressman D’Esposito explains why Speaker Mike Johnson invited the Prime Minister to speak. “The goal was to reiterate how important our partnership and relationship with Israel is. They are the key to peace in the Middle East. The U.S. needs to continue to provide all resources necessary to eradicate Hamas and proxies of Iran.
“It is important to hear from Netanyahu not only about the support America has given Israel. Plans are for the future. We need to be aware of the goals Israel has in this conflict, their plans to get the hostages home, to hopefully one day end all this violence and move forward. The Prime Minister did exactly that. He reminded us of the days following October 7. He spoke about specific individuals from IDF and the commitment they have and all they lost. The U.S. needs to continue providing funding for the Iron Dome, ammunition, and technical support—all that has been utilized to continue fighting. He made it very clear and didn’t hold back the strong message that protesting and calling for ‘Death to Israel and the U.S.’ will not be tolerated and called the protestors ‘useful idiots.’”
The Congressman noted the House plans to continue to investigate “educational institutions that cultivate a petri dish of hate and defund those hate-filled institutions.”
In his role on the parliamentary coalition with the Knesset, leaders share intelligence to get real information as to what Israel truly needs. He notes that he is committed in the House “to provide all that Israel needs to continue to fight this war.”
A week before, the Congressman was honored to participate in the Republican National Convention, where he also represented strong leadership and support for Israel. Thousands came to show their support for the GOP. Senator JD Vance of Ohio was selected as the Vice-Presidential candidate, potentially making him the third youngest vice president in history. JD Vance described his vision: “That’s the Republican Party of the next four years: United in our love for America and committed to free speech and the open exchange of ideas.”
After emotionally describing his experience facing an assassination attempt, former President Donald Trump remarked, “Together we will launch a new era of safety, prosperity, and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed. The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together or we fall apart…The entire Republican Party has formally adopted an agenda for America’s renewal.”
Congressman D’Esposito related: “The convention was exactly what the party needed—taking the opportunity to show that we have a unified focus on issues. We are not here to promote hate and protestors. When people in the 4th District sit at the dinner table, we give them the solutions to those problems. President Trump delivered great remarks. It was emotional as his first real speech following the assassination attempt. He and JD Vance are a great team and represent the values of the American people. JD represents the younger individuals in the party that embraces youth. It sends a message to people under 40 that they have a voice. Elected officials understand their concerns.”
As a retired NYPD detective who serves on the Homeland Security committee, Anthony D’Esposito has a particular interest in the investigation into what went wrong that led to the near-assassination of Donald Trump. Unlike many others, he is not willing to merely blame Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle for this failure. He notes “There were catastrophic failures on the day of the assassination attempt. To solely place blame on the secret service, I’m not willing to do that. I am going to get all the facts in front of me to understand what happened that day, what plans led up to it. We will make decisions based on facts, documents, audio and radio transmissions, and studying the interactions between state, local, and federal authorities. This week was just the beginning. This is a long-term investigation to make sure this never happens again. It was a threat not only to an individual but to our American Republic. We need to see whoever failed and if it was due to maliciousness or complacency. [We need to] make sure protocols on all levels are created to ensure this never happens again.”
Meanwhile, the Congressman continues to deliver on his promises to provide funding for his district. He was successful in allocating $30 million to different communities, with “a nice chunk to the Five Towns.” He is working through the appropriation process to deliver more funds back to the community.
As he actively engages in campaigning, he wants people to know that he has boots on the ground and serves as the voice of his people in Washington, D.C.
Michele Justic is managing content editor for the 5TJT.
