Led by U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, and gun reform advocate Linda Beigel Schulman, over 500 women supporters attended the ”Women For Suozzi” brunch event on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, at the Chateau Briand in Carle Place, to support U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi’s run for re-election.
(Photos courtesy of the Office of U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi)
Laura Curran, the first woman Nassau County Executive, said Suozzi was the “rare elected official who leads with his heart,” and credited him with her entry into elected office.
“Tom gave me the courage, not just advice, but the courage to get off the sidelines, get my name on the ballot and actually run,” Curran said. “If it were not for Tom Suozzi, I would not have had the guts to run in the first place.”
Linda Beigel Schulman, the mother of Scott Beigel, the geography teacher and cross-country coach who was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shootings in Parkland, Fla. in 2018, spoke of how she values her relationship with the “non-political Tom Suozzi,” that surpasses the work they do together fighting for common-sense gun reform in Congress.
She said Suozzi has called her every year on Scott’s birthday, as well on Feb. 14, the anniversary of the shootings, “just to see how I was doing.” Schulman added, “Tom has supported me, made time to listen to me, guided and advised me, and stood by me as a person.”
North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth spoke of Tom’s work to benefit the Town and went on to speak of how important it was to her personally, as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, that “Tom has worked tirelessly and has stood up… for the Jewish people and against anti-Semitism.”
Congresswoman Rice, the first woman Nassau District Attorney, who served as the program’s emcee noted that in 2005, it was Suozzi who convinced her to run for Nassau County District Attorney against a popular, over a 30-year male incumbent.
“He did everything he could to help me and I am convinced that without him, I would have never become the first woman DA in Long Island’s history,” Rice said.
Letting the women attendees know that in the nation’s capital Suozzi “is one of everyone’s favorite Congressmen, on both sides of the aisle.” Rice remarked that “since being in Congress he has backed critical legislation to ensure equal pay for equal work, to protect our healthcare, and to guarantee equal legal rights under the United States Constitution.”
Rice did not limit her remarks to only Suozzi, she also spoke movingly of his late parents and their influence on him as someone who has “public service and the preservation of our democracy in his blood, in his bones, it’s who he is.”
She said of Suozzi’s wife, Helene, that she “is a brilliant, smart, committed, compassionate woman and she is more than an equal partner to Tom.”
“I am so grateful for all of you for being here for me. I need you, each of you, to help me in my campaign and I will do everything I can to help you and your families to live a great life here,” Suozzi said, praising each of the speakers and several women in the room.
Suozzi spoke of some of the issues faced by our country today. He pointed out that there still exists an institutional bias against women that starts in childhood when young girls are often not called upon in class and continue into adulthood.
“It is an honor and humbling to have such a fantastic and diverse group of women support me. Throughout my life, from my mother to my wife Helene, and our daughter Caroline, to all of the women I have had the privilege to work within my public service career, I have been driven by the influence of these great women,” Suozzi said following the event.
“It has only been through the partnership with many talented, smart, and accomplished women colleagues that I have achieved so many successes,” Suozzi continued. “Throughout my career, so many women in high-level positions on my team have driven me, motivated me, taught me, and encouraged me.”
“I am smart enough to know that I would not be where I am today without these women beside me.”
Each of the speakers, along with over a dozen testimonials in a printed journal, noted the decades-long list of examples of Suozzi, “getting things done.” From his days as Mayor of his hometown, Glen Cove to his eight years as the Nassau County Executive, to his more recent achievements in Congress, such as delivering much-needed funding for the Long Island Sound and the Navy Grumman plume, ensuring that a veterans mobile medical unit travels to the Town of North Hempstead and Glen Cove three times a week to serve the veterans of that area, and successfully fighting to pass critical legislation out of the House of Representatives to repeal the cap on local state and local tax (SALT) deductions that was enacted in the Republican budget, Suozzi continues to remain committed to “getting things done” for his constituents, Long Islanders, and all Americans.
Submitted by Suozzi for Congress 2020
