Democrats Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen join GOP in censuring Rep. Al Green

Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) on Thursday were the only New York Democrats to join Republicans in censuring Rep. Al Green (D-Texas). 

Green, an 11-term congressman, was publicly reprimanded in a censure resolution approved in a 224-198-2 vote. He was removed from the House chamber Tuesday night for disrupting in protest during President Donald Trump’s speech before a joint session of Congress. 

Suozzi and Gillen represent districts covering all of Nassau County, where Trump won last November despite registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans. They crossed party lines, joining Suffolk County Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-Sayville) and Nick LaLota (R-Amityville). 

Gillen and Suozzi said they needed to hold Green, the 28th member of Congress in history to be censured, to the “same standard” of behavior they would a Republican.

“I just voted to censure a fellow Democrat in Congress,” Suozzi said in an emailed statement. “Instead of focusing on protecting Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, and instead of addressing rising costs, fixing immigration, and Ukraine, too many Americans are talking about a member of Congress being removed from the chamber. This is not helpful.”

He went on to say: “I’m serious about building bipartisan coalitions to tackle these pressing concerns. It’s the only way. Both parties must hold themselves to the same standards we expect from the other side. I am angry about plenty that the President is doing and what he said the other night, but the punch, counterpunch is not working.”

Gillen, in an emailed statement, said: “The American people expect their Representatives to hold themselves to a certain level of decorum on the House Floor. If I expect the other side of the aisle to do that, I have to hold my Democratic colleagues to the same standard.”

She added that today’s vote took up time that “could have spent addressing the pressing issues my constituents care about on Long Island: lowering costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and fixing our broken immigration system.”

Suozzi’s 3rd District stretches from northern Queens across Nassau’s North Shore, edging into the northern side of Suffolk County. Gillen’s 4th District is entirely in Nassau spanning the central section of the county and all of the South Shore.

Political strategist Hank Sheinkopf, who has worked for Democrats, said their votes “prove that getting reelected is more important than ethics and party loyalty.” 

“They are worried they can lose their seats because both of those seats were held by Republicans before,” Sheinkopf said in a telephone interview with Newsday. “So that’s more important than standing up for a fellow Democrat. In other words, there’s no difference between what they did and what the Republicans did.” 

When asked about political worries, Gillen spokesperson Vidhya Jeyadev said the vote reflects where the majority of her constituents would be on this issue. A spokesperson for Suozzi did not immediately return an email when asked the same question.

Last November, Suozzi won 52% of the vote against his Republican challenger Mike LiPetri. Gillen defeated  incumbent Rep. Anthony D’Esposito with 51% of the vote.

Both Suozzi and Gillen have vowed to work with Trump on securing the border with Mexico and repealing the cap on state and local tax exemptions known as SALT that Trump imposed during his first term as president.

Other Democrats in favor of censure were California Reps. Ami Bera and Jim Costa, Ed Case of Hawaii, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Jared Moskowitz of Florida.