Thomas Suozzi

In January 2020, Suozzi led the Long Island delegation in sending a letter to top national security officials asking them to investigate whether foreign countries are contributing to the rise of hate in the United States.

Suozzi lead the introduction for legislation, which then passed the House in December 2019, that would help to fully restore the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction], which was capped at $10,000 in 2017. According to CNN, Suozzi "has railed about the negative effect a 2017 cap on the state and local tax deduction has had on his Long Island district for years."

Suozzi cosponsored and helped pass the Climate Action Now Act, a bill that reverses President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Suozzi helped introduce the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act. This legislation encourages and incentivizes the deployment and production of cleaner, safer, and more sustainable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and geothermal.

Suozzi visited the United States southern border, twice, to inspect conditions at detention facilities housing migrants. As a first-generation American, Suozzi has opposed Trump Administration’s immigration policies. While he favors strong borders, he is committed to restoring American values to our debate on immigration.

Suozzi has said we need to “mend, not end,” the Affordable Care Act. He believes that we must build on President Obama’s signature law to expand access to healthcare and lower costs for all Americans.

In Washington, Suozzi has secured tens of millions of dollars for housing and other programs that would ease new veterans’ transition back to civilian life. He has also worked to combat the veteran suicide crisis across the United States by introducing and supporting legislation which would expand access to mental health for all veterans, regardless of discharge status.

Suozzi’s priorities for infrastructure reform include: waste and drinking water improvements; ensuring upgrades for the Long Island Railroad; increasing access and updates to Glen Cove Ferry and New York City public transit; stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund to improve local roads on Long Island; green energy production, electric vehicles, and the accompanying infrastructure to support them; public school modernization; and funding, expediting and advancing Gateway.

In 2019, the House passed Suozzi's resolution, H.Res.585, Reaffirming support for the Good Friday Agreement and other agreements to ensure a lasting peace in Northern Ireland." The House of Representatives has also passed Suozzi's resolution calling for concluding a "mutually agreeable, multi-year" defense cost-sharing deal with South Korea.

He is vice-chair of the Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, which consists of 22 Democrats and 22 Republicans. He is also the co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus, co-chair of the Quiet Skies Caucus, and is chairman of the United States Merchant Marine Academy’s Board of Visitors.

In June 2018, Suozzi won the unchallenged Democratic primary. In 2018, Suozzi defeated Republican Dan DeBono, future Trump Administration Chief Infrastructure Funding Officer and former trader and investment banker with an 18 point margin.

On Long Island, Suozzi has worked closely with gun violence prevention activist, Linda Beigel Schulman, who lost her son Scott in the tragic 2018 Parkland shootings. Together, they have held rallies, press conferences, and other events to emphasize that this should not be a partisan issue. This is about the safety of our communities and the lives of our loved ones.

OnL ong Island Suozzi has, since arriving to Congress in 2017, increased federal funding to protect and preserve the Long Island Sound by almost 500%. He has also secured tens of millions of dollars in funding increases to clean up the Navy-Grumman Plume while holding both the Navy and Northrop Grumman accountable.

In June 2016, Suozzi won a five-way Democratic primary in New York's 3rd congressional district. Suozzi received endorsements from The New York Times, Newsday, and The Island Now. He narrowly defeated Republican state Senator Jack Martins in the general election on November 8, 2016, and began representing New York's 3rd congressional district in the 115th United States Congress in January 2017.

After first working in the private sector as an attorney, Suozzi announced that he would seek a rematch against Mangano in 2013. He attacked Mangano for "presiding over a decline in the county", while also emphasizing that, while he was County Executive, Suozzi had eight years of balanced budgets and reduced crime. In November, Mangano easily defeated Suozzi, 59 percent to 41.

At the start of the 116th Congress and at Suozzi's urging, a congressional SALT working group was formed to explore the impact of limiting the SALT deduction and build consensus for a repeal of the limit.

Suozzi lost the 2009 county executive election to Ed Mangano by 286 votes out of 250,000 which were cast that year. In a post election editorial, "A Misguided Tax Revolt" The New York Times wrote: "Mr. Suozzi was elected in 2001 to pull Nassau out of a fiscal ditch, and he did over the hard-core opposition of an intransigent Republican minority. He brimmed with ideas to reinvigorate the local economy and was an early leader of the crusade to repair Albany’s rancid political culture. He had big plans for a third term, but they were whomped by the recession and a little-known Republican, Edward Mangano, who also ran for the newly invented Tax Revolt Party."

In 2008, Suozzi was named New York State Environmentalist of the Year by the League of Conservation Voters for sourcing "25 percent of the county’s energy from renewable sources, and he helped pass a $150 million bond program to preserve open space and protect Long Island Sound."

Suozzi declared that he was running for Governor of New York in the Democratic primary against Eliot Spitzer on February 25, 2006. The bid appeared from the start to be somewhat of a long shot given Spitzer's reputation as a "corporate crusader", though Suozzi often pointed out that he prevailed as a long shot before when he first ran for Nassau County Executive. During the campaign, Suozzi pointed to his experience as a Chief Executive with the campaign slogan being, "I can do it, because I’ve done it”.

On June 13, 2006, Suozzi spoke before the New York State Conference of Mayors along with Spitzer and John Faso. Suozzi received a standing ovation by the crowd of mayors. On July 6, 2006, Suozzi announced to his followers that he had collected enough petitions to place himself on the ballot in the primary against Spitzer. He claimed victory to the press in the debate on July 25, 2006 with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer held at Pace University. He stated he had presidential aspirations during the course of this debate.

On August 7, 2006, Suozzi announced after much speculation that he would not seek an independent line were he to lose the primary to Spitzer.

While in office, Suozzi cut spending and reduced borrowing and debt. He also oversaw 11 county bond upgrades over the course of two years, eliminated deficits in Nassau, and accumulated surpluses. In 2005, Governing Magazine named Suozzi one of its Public Officials of the Year, calling him "the man who spearheaded Nassau County, New York's, remarkable turnaround from the brink of fiscal disaster." According to The New York Times, Suozzi garnered praise for social services like his "no wrong door" program, which centralized access to social services.

In 2004, Suozzi launched the "Fix Albany" campaign which aimed to root out corruption in the New York State government. At the time, The New York Times Editorial Board, wrote an op-ed titled "Thomas Suozzi's Excellent Idea."

In 2004, Georgina Morgenstern, a former Nassau County planning department employee, alleged Suozzi and Chief Deputy County Executive Anthony Cancellieri used county employees, resources and functions for illegal fundraising. Morgenstern said she was retaliated against and terminated without due process, and she subsequently filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. Suozzi was dismissed from the case and a federal jury in Central Islip rejected Morgenstern's claim that she was fired in retaliation for her criticism of Suozzi.

Suozzi was the County Executive of Nassau County, New York, in office from 2002 to 2009. He was first elected to the post in 2001 after four terms as mayor of Glen Cove, New York. In 2006, he ran unsuccessfully against Eliot Spitzer for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New York. Suozzi was narrowly defeated for re-election in 2009 by Republican nominee Ed Mangano, and in a rematch in 2013 was again defeated, this time by a much larger margin of 59% to 41%. He was first elected to United States House of Representatives in 2016 and then reelected in 2018.

Suozzi was elected Nassau County Executive in 2001, becoming the first Democrat elected to the position in traditionally Republican Nassau in 30 years. He assumed office in the midst of a fiscal crisis. By 1999, Nassau was on the brink of financial collapse: the county faced a $300 million annual deficit, was billions of dollars in debt, and its credit rating had sunk to one level above junk status. According to The New York Times, he "earned high marks from independent institutions for his signature achievement, the resuscitation of Nassau's finances."

In 2000, Glen Cove won first place in the New York Conference of Mayors’ Main Street Award for its downtown revitalization efforts, while Suozzi was Mayor.

In 1998, the city demolished and redeveloped the defunct Li Tungsten Refinery grounds, a federal superfund site.

He was recognized by then-Vice President Al Gore for the city's environmental cleanup efforts and Glen Cove was awarded the Brownfields Award in 1998.

As mayor, Suozzi focused on environmental cleanup of commercial and industrial sites in Glen Cove. A focal point of his administration was redeveloping brownfield and superfund sites. In 1994, the Glen Cove incinerator was permanently closed and dismantled. Under Suozzi's tenure, Glen Cove was also given a credit rating of A-3. At the time, this was the cities highest rating since the 1970s. Suozzi also helped to revitalize downtown Glen Cove by building a new city hall, courthouse, police station, EMS building, new sidewalks, new street lamps, and construction of a multilevel parking garage.

In 1993, Suozzi was elected mayor of Glen Cove, New York. He was in that municipality's mayoral office for four terms.

Thomas Richard Suozzi (/ˈ s w ɒ z i / ; born August 31, 1962), an American politician, who was trained as an attorney and Certified Public Accountant, is the U.S. Representative for New York's 3rd district.

The son of former Glen Cove mayor Joseph A. Suozzi, Thomas Suozzi was born on August 31, 1962 in Glen Cove. His father, Joseph, was born in Italy and his mother, Marguerite, is of Irish and English descent. The youngest of five siblings, Tom Suozzi attended Catholic schools, graduating from Chaminade High School, Boston College, and Fordham University School of Law. He is trained as both a lawyer and a CPA. Suozzi and his wife, Helene, have three children.