In the battle for Long Island’s First Congressional district, the two candidates, Lee Zeldin (Republican) and incumbent Tim Bishop (Democrat) are butting heads on their different values and ideologies. In my recent interview with Congressman Tim Bishop, I learned that this fourth term running Congressman has plans that not only benefit the citizens of Long Island, but our nation as well.
Tim Bishop has many accomplishments in preserving and maintaining our environmentally sound landscape here on Long Island. He has helped pass several laws and has been a strong advocate in preserving our shore waters. This work includes blocking the Broadwater Energy plan, the Long Island Sound Preservation and Protection Act, and many other initiatives that you can find listed on his website at bishopforcongress.com.
The Broadwater Energy Plan, according to their website at www.broadwaterenergy.com, was a joint plan that Shell and TransCanada had promoted in order to build a floating facility in the middle of Long Island Sound to receive imports of liquefied natural gas. (This past April, Governor Paterson issued a resounding “no” to Broadwater, denying the necessary New York State approval for this project.) Tim Bishop does support limited off-shore drilling, but knows that there is “no way that we can possibly drill our way out of this [energy] problem.” He believes that the only way that we can get out of this crisis is by increasing our dependency on alternative sources of energy and strongly supports the creation of alternative energy businesses and green jobs for Long Island.
His opponent, Lee Zeldin, is a strong supporter of off-shore drilling and plans to drill as close as three miles off shore. While Zeldin complains about fuel costs, he seems to be more committed to environmentally unfriendly off-shore drilling, including oil exploration on Alaska’s North Slope and other places, than to explore other viable energy alternatives that will help to reduce energy costs for future years to come.
In addition to his numerous environmental laws he has supported, Tim Bishop promotes many other issues that confront Long Islanders on a daily basis. He wants to help the middle class families by lowering taxes and is a strong advocate for federal income tax reform, he is a supporter of women’s rights, and most importantly, he is a leading advocate for student welfare. As a former college administrator, Congressman Bishop supports innovative ways to lower the price of college tuition, including helping to increase financial aid and scholarship opportunities among college students.
One such act that Congressman Bishop supported was the College Cost Reduction Act. This act was established to increase scholarships, loans and financial aid to college students. Another act, Ensuring Continued Access to Students, helps families have access to loans that they need for college payments.
As our Congressman, Tim Bishop has been a consistent fighter for all of the citizens on many issues in our home district. He is a leader that has helped Long Islanders and has promoted our interests in many ways, including helping to lower taxes, decreasing college costs, protecting our environment, fighting against rising gas prices, protecting social security, and promoting affordable health insurance.
On a personal note, I found Congressman Bishop to be personable and was surprised at his easy accessibility (to a college student, no less) especially in light of the close proximity to Election Day. He has a genuine concern for the academic and financial issues that confront college students that surpasses his concern for winning the election. He was willing to set aside time to devote to answering my questions and his open and honest mannerism is certainly a welcome trait in an elected official.
You can contact Congressman Bishop’s campaign at bishopforcongress.com or visit his Congressional website at http://timbishop.house.gov/.
