East Hampton
To the Editor:
I read with interest Mr. Garcia’s claims regarding Rep. Lee Zeldin in your article (“Zeldin for governor? County GOP chairman looks to draft congressman for statehouse run in ’22”).
First, a fact check reveals that Mr. Garcia’s claims about Mr. Zeldin’s “accomplishments” during the pandemic are either false or exaggerated. Mr. Garcia claims that Rep. Zeldin “delivered $283 million to Suffolk County as well as 2 million pieces of PPE.” First, Zeldin had nothing to do with the $257 million (not $283 million) delivered to Suffolk County through the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic). The emergency relief allocated was strictly determined by a fixed Treasury Department formula based solely on population size.
Regarding PPE: Zeldin obtained 1.2 million (not 2 million) pieces of PPE, the exact same amount acquired and distributed by Stony Brook Medical School graduates, who didn’t have the power of Congress and connections to POTUS behind them.
Further, Rep. Lee Zeldin has been utterly unfazed by 500,000 American deaths, rampant unemployment, struggling families, folding businesses, bankrupt state and local governments. The proof? He has voted three times against bills that would provide desperately needed economic relief to help working families and communities struggling to make ends meet and to pay government employees including firefighters, police, and teachers. He voted twice against the HEROES Act—in May and October 2020—and this past weekend, he also voted NO to Biden’s Rescue American Plan Act of 2021.
Mr. Zeldin’s inexcusable and cruel disregard has deepened and extended the suffering of families and businesses in Long Island and throughout the nation. His one-time acquisition of PPE could never compensate for all the pain he’s wrought.
Jacquelyn Gavron
cofounder, LeeZeldinRecord.com
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