Gary L. Ackerman
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Gary Leonard Ackerman (born November 19, 1942) is an American retired politician and former
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from New York, serving from 1983 to 2013. He is a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
. 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.


Early life, education, and early career

Ackerman was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, the son of Eva (née Barnett) and Max Ackerman. His grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland. He was raised in Flushing, Queens. He attended local public schools,
Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of t ...
and graduated from Queens College in 1965. After college, Ackerman became a New York City School teacher where he taught social studies, mathematics, and journalism to junior high school students in Queens. Following the birth of his first child in 1969, Ackerman petitioned the New York City Board of Education for an unpaid
leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...
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. In what was to be a forerunner of the
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a United States labor law requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. The FMLA was a major part of President Bill C ...
, then teacher Ackerman successfully sued the Board in a landmark case which established the right of either parent to receive unpaid leave for
child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
. 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 in
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
called ''The Flushing Tribune'' which soon became the ''
Queens Tribune The ''Queens Tribune'' was a free weekly newspaper founded as the monthly ''Flushing Tribune'' in February 1970 by Gary Ackerman. The ''Tribune'' was a member of the New York Press Association. From 1989 to 2002, the paper was owned by News Comm ...
''. Ackerman served as its editor and publisher.


New York Senate

Ackerman was a member of the New York State Senate from 1979 to 1983, sitting in the 183rd, 184th and
185th New York State Legislature The 185th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5, 1983, to December 31, 1984, during the first and second years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Backgr ...
s.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal died on January 4, 1983. Ackerman won the special election with a plurality of 49%. In 1984, he won re-election to a full term with 69% of the vote. In 1986, he won re-election with 77%, and was unopposed in 1988 and 1990. After redistricting, he ran in
New York's 5th congressional district The 5th congressional district of New York is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives, represented by Democrat Gregory Meeks. The district is located in Queens. A plurality of the district's population is Africa ...
. He won the Democratic primary with 60%, and the general election with 52% against Republican county legislator Allan E. Binder. In 1994, he won re-election with 55% of the vote. Since then, he has won re-election with at least 63% of the vote. 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.


Tenure

Ackerman was the Congressional delegate to the United Nations. In addition, he was the ranking Democrat on the Congressional Caucus on
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and Indian Americans. In 2002, he was awarded
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
's third highest civilian award, the
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
for his contributions as member of the India Caucus in the Congress. 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 the Catholic 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 This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...
. Ackerman received an "A" on the
Drum Major Institute The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI) is a non-profit American progressive think tank and community action group. The group was founded in 1961 in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. It later became defunct until it was relaunched ...
's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues. Ackerman was also a member of the Cuba Democracy Caucus and is currently the head of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP). Ackerman has missed voting on 80 occasions pertaining to a variety of issues, including the Pension Protection Act, the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act, and the Honoring the Contributions of Catholic Schools. In June 2001, Ackerman honored King Christian X of Denmark for his wearing a
yellow badge Yellow badges (or yellow patches), also referred to as Jewish badges (german: Judenstern, lit=Jew's star), are badges that Jews were ordered to wear at various times during the Middle Ages by some caliphates, at various times during the Medieva ...
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.


Health

Among Ackerman's significant legislative undertakings, was the passage of his Baby AIDS amendment to the
Ryan White Care Act The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (Ryan White CARE Act), ), was an act of the United States Congress and is the largest federally funded program in the United States for people living with HIV/AIDS. In exchange for State ...
. The measure requires mandatory HIV testing of newborns and disclosure of the results to the mother. 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 a
Mad Cow Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of t ...
disaster in the United States. His legislation fell on deaf ears until December 2003, when his warning became prophetic and the Bush Administration—among those who had opposed the bill—finally imposed his ban through regulation. Ackerman was also successful in getting Medicare to cover testing for prostate cancer. In addition, Ackerman sponsored the first federal legislation to ban the use of handheld
cell phones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
while driving.


Finance

Law of the land is Ackerman's measure requiring banks and financial companies to notify consumers when negative information is placed on their
credit report :''This article deals with the general concept of the term credit history. For detailed information about the same topic in the United States, see Credit score in the United States.'' A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repa ...
s. Ackerman also sponsored legislation which is now law that in the wake of the
Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional compani ...
,
WorldCom MCI, Inc. (subsequently Worldcom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. Worldcom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunic ...
and other corporate scandals, prohibits accounting firms from consulting for the companies they audit. On October 3, 2008, Ackerman voted in favor of the
Troubled Asset Relief Program The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President ...
. On January 8, 2009, Ackerman introduced a bill to order the Securities and Exchange Commission to re-institute the
uptick rule The uptick rule is a trading restriction that states that short selling a stock is allowed only on an uptick. For the rule to be satisfied, the short must be either at a price above the last traded price of the security, or at the last traded pric ...
, limiting the circumstances under which traders can sell stock short. On February 4, 2009, Ackerman criticized SEC Officials over the handling of tips given to them about the Bernie 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?"


Foreign policy and terrorism

On October 10, 2002, Ackerman was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the
invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
. Ackerman also convinced the Defense Department to stop garnishing wages from certain U.S. soldiers serving in the war against
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
. 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 impose sanctions against the Palestinian 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 to
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
to discuss
non-proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...
. Upon his return to
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, Ackerman became the first person since the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
to cross the
DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
(Demilitarized Zone). Enacted as well was his measure that prevents war criminals and human rights abusers who have perpetrated
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
,
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...
,
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
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 18,000
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
survivors and to investigate whether 3,300 former
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
soldiers now living in the U.S. and collecting German pensions are war criminals. Ackerman is also well known for his many missions to feed the starving people of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
and the Sudan and for playing a leading role in the rescue of Ethiopian 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 the
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
countries in an effort to help secure peace in the region. He also ventured to Kashmir 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 and
J Street J Street ( he, ג'יי סטריט) is a nonprofit liberal advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab–Israeli and Israeli–Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatica ...
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. Although the visit did not result in any official deal between the parties, questions regarding his ethics were raised. 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 the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
. The stamp was based on a photograph entitled '' Ground Zero Spirit''. In addition, the Congressman lobbied federal security officials—with the September 11, 2001 attacks in mind—to use retired
law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialists, local police officers, ...
s as screeners at New York airports and he pressed President
Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...
to make good on his promise to provide New York with US$20 billion in additional 9/11 disaster
aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...
. In 2011, Ackerman voted to extend expiring provisions of the
PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appro ...
and voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012.


State and local issues

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 and Long Island officials properly used the spraying of Malathion during the
West Nile virus West Nile virus (WNV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever. It is a member of the family '' Flaviviridae'', from the genus '' Flavivirus'', which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The v ...
outbreak. He also obtained federal funds to combat a return of the virus.


Committee assignments

*
Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
** Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises ** Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit * Committee on Foreign Affairs ** Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific ** Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia (Ranking Member)


Caucus memberships

*Congressional Arts Caucus *Congressional Caucus on
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and Indian Americans


Personal life

Ackerman, who sports a white
carnation ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' (), commonly known as the carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus''. It is likely native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years.Med ...
boutonnière A boutonnière () or buttonhole (British English) is a floral decoration, typically a single flower or bud, worn on the lapel of a tuxedo or suit jacket. While worn frequently in the past, boutonnières are now usually reserved for special oc ...
each day, lives on a houseboat named the ''Unsinkable II'' while in Washington, D.C. and otherwise resides in
Roslyn Heights Roslyn Heights is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Vi ...
in Nassau County with his wife Rita, having moved there from a home in
Jamaica Estates, Queens Jamaica Estates is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. Jamaica Estates is part of Queens Community District 8 and located in the northern portion of Jamaica. It is bounded by Union Turnpike to the north, Hillside Avenue to t ...
that sold for
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1 million in 2008. The Ackermans have three children: Lauren, Corey, and Ari. Ackerman is an amateur photographer, an avid stamp collector, and a boating enthusiast. He is also an
Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle S ...
. At the 2006 meeting of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), Ackerman was unanimously elected to serve as the executive of the organization. Ackerman was named an honorary graduate of the
United States Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serve as officers in the United States Merchant ...
for his continued support of the service academy located in
Kings Point, New York Kings Point is a village located on the Great Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 5,005 at the 2010 census. History The Village of Ki ...
. Ackerman also has a street named after him located in
Central Islip, New York Central Islip is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 34,450 at the 2010 census. History and overview Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the ...
.


Sexual assault accusation

In the 1960s, Ackerman served as director of the Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp. In 2019, a former camper filed a lawsuit accusing Ackerman of fondling him and forcing him to perform oral sex on Ackerman. 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 the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service.


See also

* List of Jewish members of the United States Congress


References


External links


Ackerman at Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerman, Gary 1942 births Living people Queens College, City University of New York alumni Editors of New York (state) newspapers Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives People from Roslyn Heights, New York People from Flushing, Queens Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Brooklyn Technical High School alumni 21st-century American politicians People from Jamaica Estates, Queens Jewish American state legislators in New York (state) 21st-century American Jews