Larry talks to Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis about the current landscape of political violence in the United States of America

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis is serving her third term representing New York’s 11th Congressional District which encompasses Staten Island and parts of Southern Brooklyn. Malliotakis is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means and throughout her tenure she has been focused on making America’s cities safe again, securing the southern border, tackling inflation to strengthen our economy and unleashing America’s energy potential.Malliotakis’ office has resolved over 21,000 constituent cases, helped 193 immigrants become United States citizens, and delivered over $220 million to the district including federal funding for the NYPD, U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York, local sewer projects, several area hospitals, and the St. George Theatre. Malliotakis delivered on her promise to secure New York’s fair share of federal mass transit funding as a previous member of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure with her vote for the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).  Over $100 million has already been committed to NY-11 from the IIJA for various projects including the rehabilitation of bridges over the Staten Island Expressway, Gowanus Expressway, and dredging in Arthur Kill Terminal. Malliotakis also worked to get the Staten Island Seawall Project back on track after costly redesign requests made by the city caused years of delays and has ensured the federal share of the project will be fully funded to completion alleviating the financial burden on the city and state.  As a previous member of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs, Malliotakis has been a strong voice for American values overseas, reducing our reliance on China and against the spread of communism in Central and South America.  She has stood up for our allies, such as Greece, Cyprus, and Israel against neighboring authoritarian regimes.  Malliotakis successfully inserted language into the National Defense Authorization Act requiring more transparency regarding Iran’s nefarious activities on U.S. soil and helped pass a bipartisan amendment establishing congressional oversight on any sale of F-16 fighter jets and military equipment to Turkey.  Prior to Congress, Malliotakis spent five terms in the New York State Assembly where she fought to restore ethics in Albany, expand transit service in her district, improve programs for senior citizens, reform education, better New York’s economic climate and help her community rebuild after Hurricane Sandy.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a podcast from WOR. Here's Larry Mente with.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
More of the WR Saturday Morning Show. The assassination of
conservative influencer Charlie Kirk has put the tone of our
politics in the spotlight. Would toning it down a little
save lives? We ask New York Congresswoman Nicole Malatakis. We've

(00:24):
had a lot of political violence over the last year,
and I was wondering if you feel like there is
any way, and I know this is going to be
a big topic on Capitol Hill, if there is any
way to tamp down the political rhetoric.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Look, I think each of us has to be responsible
for the things that we say and do in political forum,
not just elected officials but civilians as well. But certainly
in when you're an elected office, you have a responsibility
to set an example. I choose not to engage in
that trite type of vitriol. I don't go after my

(00:58):
colleagues's personal or name call or or lie and misrepresent
what they voted for. I mean, this is things that
we're seeing right when people go out there and say
that Republicans are stripping Medicaid from all these people, which
is simply not true. That is a dangerous rhetoric, right,
It could lead to something horrific happening in the future

(01:21):
when people go out there and call somebody racist or
a Nazi or a fascist. That has turned from debate
on policy to hateful rhetoric and spreading these types of
this hate and lies is really I think what got

(01:42):
us in this to this point. And we can never
be a nation where people are afraid to speak their view,
to present their side their opinion, and unfortunately it seems
to be happening here in the United States. I mean,
this is a country where where freedom of speech is
fundament mental to our nation and people cannot fear for

(02:04):
their lives when they're discussing issues that affect national policy.
And we see this happening in other countries and look
at their forms of government, look how destroyed their countries are.
That is why we need to make sure that we
preserve that here in the United States. But that yes,
we do it in a respectful manner, and I believe
Republicans are right on debate. We do win on merit,

(02:28):
and there's no reason to be engaging in the way
that could be heated rhetoric. I think we just need
to take a step back here. We need to actually
think about where we were as a country on September twelfth,
two thousand and one. How we were brought together. We
were all Americans, and we were unified. And I think

(02:50):
that I certainly missed those days when we were a
unified nation. I think it's difficult now because there's just
different ways people want to take our country in different paths,
and I think that has really I think made people
feel very passionate, but we still can never express that

(03:11):
with hatred and violence. It needs to be done in
a respectful manner on debate and merit.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
I will say this that because they're in the opposition
right now, because they're in the minority, most of what
I'm talking about is from the democratic side. When you
call people, as you mentioned Nazis, authoritarianism, when you talk
about the threat to democracy, they are all triggering words.
I mean, you're talking about a takeover of the government.

(03:39):
When they talk about Donald Trump trying to fight crime,
that he's going to come in and take over cities,
and that he's going to send troops to the streets
of cities, those are images that call to authoritarian governments
and back even to Nazism. That stuff is dangerous, and.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Nicole, it's absolutely dangerou and you hear it. You hear
it a lot when you compare Ice to the Gestapo.
I mean, give me a break. I mean, this is like,
this is terrible stuff. But but the truth is and
and let's let's let's also point out how it diminishes history,
right yep, good point. When you just throw around the
term Nazi, or when AOC compared what was happening at

(04:21):
the border to concentration camps to talk about diminishing history
and the Holocaust, I mean, it is, it is atrocious
and it should not happen. It is so irresponsible coming
from an elected official in particular. Look, I just hope
that people take a step back and and see that
everybody's responsible. You know. Unfortunately, politicians are so encouraged to

(04:45):
get you know, more clicks, more likes, more donations online,
you know, and I think that sometimes they're motivated by
the wrong thing.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Which makes it more evil, Nicole, that makes it more sinister.
Representative Nicole Meliotakas, thanks so much, US representative for New
York's eleventh congressional district in Staten Island and southern Brooklyn.
This has been a podcast from wor