Opinion | The Hill
By Mike Lawler

In recent months, we’ve witnessed a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents on our college campuses — culminating in the horrific scenes playing out at “elite” universities this spring. This wave of hatred, camouflaged as political activism, has sown division and left many Jewish students feeling unsafe. 

Just a week ago, I joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Education and the Workforce Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) at Columbia University to hear directly from Jewish students and to meet with members of Columbia’s administration. 

What I heard shocked me. 

Jewish students said they couldn’t attend classes without facing verbal or physical assault and harassment. 

Administration officials begged off of lax enforcement of campus policies, claiming negotiating with students was more productive than having consequences. 

And this has all led to where we find ourselves today. 

Non-enforcement of university policy and a twisted priority placed on not upsetting radical elements of student bodies across the country has allowed this extreme, hateful minority of students to hijack college and university campuses across the country for their own means. 

From California to New York, Illinois to Massachusetts and Ohio to Washington, D.C., these impromptu encampments of hatred have sprouted up. 

And all the while, their occupants have joined in antisemitic chants calling for the extermination of the state of Israel, carrying signs that read “Final Solution” and “Al-Qassam’s Next Targets,” and have expressed support for terrorist groups. 

Will we, as a country, root out and clamp down on these hate mongers, or will we let our country become a breeding ground for antisemitism? 

I know where I stand on this issue. 

Last October, shortly after Hamas’s horrific attack, I introduced the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which passed the House by a broad, bipartisan margin last night. 

It very clearly defines what antisemitism is, preventing the Department of Education from pretending it can’t be defined. It establishes that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism and its contemporary examples is the one to be used in enforcement of federal antidiscrimination laws. 

It would also expand the authority of the Department of Education to go after antisemitism on college campuses, forcing compliance with federal statutes on antisemitism, and preventing weak-kneed college and university administrators from tolerating this hatred on their campuses. 

Let me be clear. Never again is now. We cannot, as Congress, waver in our resolve and commitment to fighting hatred and antisemitism. 

History will judge us for what we do at this moment. And the question for the Senate is simple: Will you stand up to the radicals spouting antisemitism and calling for a genocide of the Israeli and Jewish people? 

I know what my answer is. And I know what our country’s answer must be. 

Mike Lawler represents New York’s 17th District.

Fox News
By Christopher Lopez

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., joined “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy” to criticize colleges for allowing antisemitic protests on its campuses “under the guise of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.”

Lawler’s criticism comes as students at elite college campuses across the nation are forming “Gaza Solidarity” encampments to call on their respective schools to either cut ties with or end their support of Israel.

The nationwide movement has spread to schools like Columbia, Yale, MIT, UC Berkeley, University of Southern California, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Virginia and others.

Lawler said, “Congress must act to crack down on it because these universities and college presidents and administrators are failing in their responsibility to keep these students safe, and to ensure that there is a free exchange of ideas, but based in truth and reality, and not antisemitic rhetoric, designed to threaten and target Jewish students.”

Gowdy then pointed to concerns over the use of “tax dollars or public moneys” funding colleges that either can’t or won’t condemn “racist, antisemitic activities.”

“Bottom line to me is, you need to be able to define what antisemitism is, enforce it and if schools are failing in the enforcement, then they need to be stripped of federal dollars, including student aid. And that’s why I introduced the Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act, which would defund institutions of higher learning,” Lawler said.

Lawler also insinuated these colleges would have “cracked down” right away if the ongoing protests were aimed at Blacks, Hispanics or members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Oftentimes it requires the power of the purse to get these institutions to act, and the threat of taking those federal dollars away, surely will cause many of them, to do what they should have been already doing, which is put an end to these protests because they’re not rooted in fact, they’re not rooted in reality, they’re rooted in antisemitism and the fact that these schools have allowed it to happen, knowing full well that if these were protests against Black people or protests against immigrants or protests against gay people, the schools rightly would have cracked down on it right away, but they are allowing it to happen under the guise of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, but we know what it is, it’s antisemitism at its core.”

Op Ed | Rockland County Times
By Mike Lawler

In a recent op-ed, my opponent Mondaire Jones flat-out lied about my record regarding the border crisis—a crisis that started on his watch and has been worsened by politicians he supports, like President Biden and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

While I have been actively involved in trying to secure our border while addressing the need for immigration reform as a co-author of the bipartisan Dignity Act for nearly a year, Mondaire Jones did nothing during his time in office to secure the border.

In fact, Mondaire Jones claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was a “racist institution” and that any Democrat who supported funding ICE needed to do some “soul-searching”. If that wasn’t radical enough, Jones also claimed that Border Patrol agents were guilty of “unfathomable cruelty” in doing their jobs to stem the flow of illegal immigration.

This isn’t the only inflammatory statement Mondaire has lodged against law enforcement, either, frequently calling our brave cops “white supremacists”, and more.

During his time in office, Mondaire Jones had ample opportunity to try and address the crisis at our Southern Border. Instead, he focused on trying to find ways to exacerbate it.

Mondaire Jones was a cosponsor of the “Reimagining Asylum Processing Act of 2021” – a bill which would have codified the current Catch and Release policies of the Biden Administration.

Worse still, the bill has a specific carve out for migrants who are a security risk, stating that the “least restrictive alternative to detention” must be imposed even if the “alien poses a security threat”.

In other words, Mondaire favors lawlessness and open borders. But it gets worse – Mondaire was an original cosponsor of the “Fair Adjudications for Immigrants Act”, which, despite the innocent-enough-sounding name, would actually prevent deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of a crime.

Let me be frank: If Mondaire Jones returns to Congress, he won’t quit until the whole country is one big Sanctuary City like New York. How is that working out?

While Mondaire gives Rockland County and the Hudson Valley lip service on what he wouldn’t do to fix the problem, I’ve been working since day one on real solutions.

From the Dignity Act, to H.R.2, to the funding in the recent bipartisan appropriations package (which Mondaire refused to support) that funded thousands of new Border Patrol agents, I’m going to keep ignoring the noise from a desperate, flailing campaign, and focus on delivering real results for the Hudson Valley.

The recent bipartisan appropriations package is a good example -we were able to secure, just in Community Project Funding, more than what Mondaire Jones brought back in CPF in his entire term.

You remember Mondaire’s failed tenure, right? He served for two years where fellow Democrats pushed him out before it was even over because they knew he was too radical for the Hudson Valley. So, he fled to Brooklyn to run there, and then lost again.

I’m going to remain focused on my job, and recommend Mondaire prep for his return to cable news as a talking head.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: [email protected]

Pearl River, NY – 4/18/2024… Today, the Lawler for Congress campaign launched RadicalMondaire.com detailing Mondaire Jones’ extreme record and rhetoric, including calls to ‘defund-the-police’, smearing border patrol and ICE agents, and lavishing praise on anti-Semites and socialists – painting the picture of a far-left radical dangerously out-of-touch with the Hudson Valley.

“Mondaire Jones is a radical whose support for dangerously out-of-touch policies and extreme rhetoric has made it more dangerous to serve in law enforcement and less safe to live in New York,” said Lawler for Congress strategist Chris Russell.  “Mr. Jones is on tape – in his own words – saying we need to ‘defund the police’ and release dangerous criminals from our prisons, and he also wrote a column calling for an end to cash bail.”

Russell said Jones’ record and rhetoric on immigration makes him an extremist on that issue as well.

“While illegal immigrants were pouring across our border at a record pace, Mondaire Jones was busy outlining ways he would ‘further New York as a Sanctuary City,’ attacking border patrol agents as guilty of ‘unfathomable cruelty’ and smearing ICE agents as ‘racist’,” added Russell.  “Make no mistake, Mondaire Jones is Eric Adams and Bill deBlasio on steroids.”  

Russell said the stark differences between Congressman Lawler and candidate Jones on the issues of public safety and immigration will be front and center in the 17th District congressional campaign.

“Congressman Lawler is well on his way to sweeping endorsements from law enforcement because the men and women in blue – and their families – don’t want a ‘defund-the-police’ radical like Mondaire Jones anywhere near elected office,” said Russell. “Instead, they want someone like Congressman Lawler who is delivering millions in local police funding, leading the fight to get rid of cashless bail, and fighting back against New York’s asinine Sanctuary State and City policies that have created a total mess in our region.” 

Learn more by visiting RadicalMondaire.com

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Jones voted, on average, 97% of the time with the “Squad” during his time in office, who all voted against the resolution condemning the phrase as antisemitic.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: [email protected]

Pearl River, NY – 4/17/2024… Today, the Lawler for Congress campaign slammed Mondaire Jones’ refusal to condemn the “Squad” for voting against a resolution that labeled the “From the River to the Sea” slogan as antisemitic.

“It’s no surprise that Mondaire Jones refuses to call out the Squad for voting against a resolution that labeled the ‘From the River to the Sea’ slogan as antisemitic,” said Lawler for Congress spokesman Chris Russell.  “The reason? Mr. Jones’ closest friends in Congress, like Jamaal Bowman, AOC, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, all voted against the resolution.”

“Mondaire Jones can try to hide from it, but he voted with these members, on average, over 97% of the time during his tenure in Congress,” concluded Russell.  “It’s no coincidence that he’s silent on their votes on this bill – it’s because deep down, he agrees with them.”  
 

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Mid Hudson News

PEARL RIVER- If you are searching for an answer from a federal agency and can’t get a timely answer, the first place to turn for help is the office of your Representative.  Congressman Mike Lawler’s office recently closed its 3,000 constituent service case.

“I’m thrilled that our team has closed over 3,000 cases in just 63 weeks, returning over 13.85 million dollars to constituents,” said Lawler.  “Our district staff are some of the best in the business, and I’m thankful for all of their hard work on behalf of the residents of New York’s 17th Congressional District.”

According to Lawler, cases have ranged from bringing constituents home safely from Israel after the October 7th attacks, to expediting passports for hundreds of families, including the opening of a new passport facility in the district, to helping those who came to the US for a brighter future, including spouses and family members of US citizens, acquire green cards, to advocating with the IRS to send long-awaited tax refunds, to securing long-awaited VA, Social Security, or Medicare benefits.

Lawler has two district offices, one located in Blue Hill Plaza in Pearl River and the other on McAlpine Avenue in Carmel.

Patch
By Lanning Taliaferro

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — $7.5 million in federal funding has been awarded to Putnam County for a pedestrian improvement project.

The funding will be used for a pedestrian improvement plan, including the replacement and installation of sidewalks, said Rep. Mike Lawler. “This project will improve accessibility and safety, improve connectedness, and improve ADA compliance. It would also result in additional mobility options near senior centers so that Putnam’s Golden Generation has access to amenities in towns around the county.”

Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne thanked Lawler for the funding in his State of the County speech March 7.

“Earlier this week, I received a call from Congressman Mike Lawler to inform me that the proposed $5.5 million for new construction and accessibility upgrades to sidewalks throughout Putnam County, was included in the House Appropriations Bill that passed yesterday. Thank you, Congressman for keeping Putnam a priority, and bringing home this critical funding,” he said.

The administration plans to design and construct multiple missing sidewalk links, including:

• Haviland Drive & Fairfield Drive in the Town of Patterson
• Farm to Market Road & NYS Route 311, Town of Southeast
• Peaceable Hill Road and Tonetta Lake Road, Town of Southeast/ Village of Brewster
• East Lake Blvd, Town of Carmel
• Baldwin Place Road, Town of Carmel
• Secor Road, Town of Carmel
• Upper & Lower Station Road, Town of Philipstown
• Fair Street, Village of Cold Spring

Michael Lewyn, an associate professor at Touro Law Center on Long Island and Director of the Institute on Land Use and Sustainable Development, told Patch that the impetus to accommodate pedestrians as well as cars has been growing in communities nationwide.

“There is at least some trend towards adding sidewalks,” he said. “1000 municipalities have adopted ‘complete streets’ policies which require them to make streets safe for all users (which include walkers and cyclists) — not just in the Northeast but even in car-oriented Sunbelt places. Some of those municipalities have built added sidewalk miles; however, in the absence of a national inventory it is hard to know how many cities have made significant efforts.”

Americans spend an average of $10,000 annually on their cars, plus tax dollars to build and maintain roads and the indirect costs of regulations designed to promote parking and other car-oriented infrastructure. When people feel compelled to drive because of transportation policies where streets are made just for automobiles, the costs of cars can start to look a lot like a government-imposed tax, he wrote in 2o22.

Opinion | Lohud
By Carl Fulgenzi

I was shocked to read the recent column by David McKay Wilson that tacitly attacked Rep. Mike Lawler for voting with all but one of his New York House colleagues to keep the government open and funded.

State and local law enforcement actually received over $58 million in additional funding in the bipartisan spending package, including in the 17th District, but that’s hardly covered in Wilson’s column.

Instead, Wilson chose to hone in on FBI and ATF budgets, claiming that there were massive cuts which would lead to drastic impacts on the day-to-day operations of the agencies.

The fact is — that’s just not true.

Over $620 million of the $654 million in cuts to the FBI came from eliminating one earmark that was secured by former Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama. That means roughly 95% of the cuts were from that single construction earmark being trimmed. I don’t know about the rest of the Hudson Valley, but for me, eliminating a $620+ million earmark for a building to a federal agency with a massive pre-existing budget to help enact spending cuts seems like common sense.

Runaway federal spending has caused a massive spike in mortgage rates, credit card rates, inflation, and more since Joe Biden took office. I, for one, appreciate Lawler working in a bipartisan way to try and reduce spending.

But even while reducing spending, Lawler has been delivering the goods for our district.

For Fiscal Year 2024, Lawler was able to bring back almost $36 million in funding for projects all across the 17th District, including in Mount Pleasant.

Lawler was able to secure over $800,000 in funding to help us update our Police Department’s dispatch system – a critical upgrade that will help our cops protect our community and respond even quicker to calls.

Mondaire Jones, Lawler’s predecessor, has an incredibly questionable track record as it pertains to supporting law enforcement. Jones, who has been vocally supportive of the Defund The Police movement, failed to secure any community project funding for local law enforcement in his two years in office. Despite his public claims otherwise, Jones has called for the defunding of the police, supported ending qualified immunity, advocated for convicted and even incarcerated felons voting, and supported cashless bail.

My son left the NYPD because he was not allowed to be a Police Officer, a job he truly enjoyed when he started.

I think the contrast for voters is quite clear.

Lawler supports our cops locally, supports municipalities and police departments with funding, and wants to lock up criminals.

Jones wants to defund the police, let felons vote from prison, enact cashless bail nationwide, and make our communities less safe.

People should vote accordingly in November.

Carl Fulgenzi is supervisor for the town of Mount Pleasant.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: [email protected]

Pearl River, NY – 3/14/2024… Today, law enforcement leaders from across the Hudson Valley joined together in condemning Mondaire Jones for his false attacks and expressing their support for Congressman Lawler. Recently, Mondaire Jones has claimed the support of Hudson Valley law enforcement in the race for the 17th Congressional District.

“Congressman Lawler has supported law enforcement while in Congress, including in his hometown of Orangetown. Our members saw it first-hand when he was Deputy Town Supervisor of the Town of Orangetown and got the Department what was needed, we saw it when he was in Albany, and we have seen it in Washington D.C. time and time again. Most recently Congressmen Lawler assisted with getting 10 million dollars in seizure money out of bureaucratic red tape and to Police Departments and Sheriffs in the Hudson Valley,” said Larry Ayers and Patrick Casey, Rockland County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President and Public Information Officer. “Mondaire Jones can make up stories about budgets and appropriations, and play other political games, but when it comes to supporting law enforcement in the Hudson Valley, Congressman Mike Lawler has never wavered.”

“As much as Mondaire Jones would like to revise history, the public remembers that he is an original proponent of defunding the police. Our communities are less safe as a result of Mondaire’s progressive ideology,” stated Keith Olson, President of the Westchester APA. “Congressman Mike Lawler is, and always has been, a staunch supporter of law enforcement. For those who value public safety, Mike Lawler is the clear choice to represent NY’s 17th Congressional District.”

“Congressman Lawler has been a staunch supporter of law enforcement during his time in the Assembly and in Congress, and I’m thankful to have him as a partner in government. His backing of law enforcement has been unwavering, and it is thanks to his efforts that the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department received long overdue funds from a settlement,” said Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville. “Lawler’s track record of supporting and funding police in the Hudson Valley is clear – and anyone calling that into question is lying to the public.”

“Since well before his time in Congress, Mike Lawler has been a strong supporter of law enforcement. At every turn, he’s been readily available to speak with, meet with, and get a hold of – a model public servant in that regard. The recent attacks on him for voting for a bipartisan appropriations package are laughable – all but one of his colleagues from the House in New York voted yes on the same bill,” stated Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati. “Cops, their families, and our communities all know the truth – Congressman Mike Lawler is one of the strongest supporters of law enforcement in New York, and we’re lucky to have him representing us. Mondaire Jones, a strong supporter of the defund the police movement, would make the 17th District less safe.”

“Congressman Lawler is thankful for the strong backing of law enforcement from across the 17th District,” stated Lawler for Congress Campaign Manager Ciro Riccardi. “They know who has their back and who’s spreading misinformation and lies in an effort to get elected to a seat he abandoned.”

“Unlike Mondaire Jones, Congressman Lawler has actually supported law enforcement in the 17th District by bringing back Community Project Funding and by getting local police departments seizure funds they were due in less than a year – something Mondaire couldn’t accomplish in his full term,” concluded Riccardi. “Voters in the 17th District know the truth – Mike supports our police while Mondaire Jones wants to defund them – and those same voters will show Mondaire the door in 2024.”

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