[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 201 (Tuesday, December 2, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H4974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                          AMERICA NEEDS UNITY

  (Mr. Latimer of New York was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, in today's edition of Politico, there is a 
story about Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman setting up systems 
on the border between Nassau County and neighboring New York City, 
ostensibly to protect Nassau residents from the criminal element coming 
from their city neighbors.
  That is one way for a suburb to act toward the city next door, 
although it may make it more difficult for the Long Island Mets fans to 
get to Citi Field or the Queens fans of the New York Islanders to get 
to UBS Arena. There is another way.
  North of New York City, Westchester County and its border 
communities--Yonkers, Mt. Vernon, Pelham, and New Rochelle--work 
cooperatively and in harmony with the Bronx. New York City Bronx 
residents routinely visit New Roc City and Cross-County Shopping 
Center, and Westchester residents visit and work in Bay Plaza in the 
Bronx. The Woodlawn neighborhood, with associations and clubs, spans 
the line between the Bronx and Westchester. The Westchester Bee-Line 
public bus system takes passengers down to Fordham Road in the Bronx 
and back. The Montefiore Health System has hospitals in the Bronx and 
in Westchester and serves clients in between both.
  State senators Jamaal Bailey and Nathalia Fernandez join me in 
representing both sides of the city/county border between the Bronx, 
New York City, and Westchester County. The brave men and women of the 
NYPD in the 45th and the 47th precincts work together cooperatively 
with police from Westchester County and its cities to deter and prevent 
crime and apprehend criminals when crimes do occur.
  Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson and Westchester County 
Executive Ken Jenkins work together to advocate for the Penn Access 
project that benefits commuters from both counties. We don't need Big 
Brother intrusive facial recognition checkpoints. We have mutual 
respect and civic cooperation.
  Bruce Blakeman, in his quest for higher office, thinks that turning 
us into fearful suburbs that resent their urban neighbors is a way to 
win votes. I grew up in Mt. Vernon in Westchester County a half a block 
from the border with the Bronx.
  My whole life, not just my time in public service, has been about 
finding and working the common ground that unites us rather than 
feeding the anger and resentments that divide us. Politicians on the 
far fringes of each side desire divisions that they believe can lead to 
elective office, power, and status. It is a false and dangerous path.
  The dotted line that divides the city from the suburb is man-made. 
What we do on the Westchester/Bronx border and at any border anywhere 
is work together, and that is the prototype for the America that surely 
needs unity.
  Think about how much we are going to need that unity, all Americans 
working together, when we face the next existential threat to our 
freedom and democracy, as we did with Nazi Germany and militarized 
Japan. It is coming, and you know it.
  In the Bronx and Westchester, we will be ready. We encourage the 
Bruce Blakemans of the world to stop pandering and start building the 
cooperation we will need in the days to come.

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