During a town hall event on Sunday, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) spoke about the withholding of funds to certain higher education institutions over noncompliance with federal standards.
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00:002-8-0-0-3-0.
00:042-8-0-0-3-0.
00:10So, actually, let me address the office situation, because that's actually an important point.
00:28Folks, please, everybody came in here, whether you like me or not, whether you like my answers
00:34or not, just please try to abide by the rules so that everybody else has the opportunity
00:41and we can get through more questions.
00:44But just screaming and yelling at each other is not solving anything.
00:47So the fact is, with respect to the Rockland County Social Security Office, they shut it
00:54down in May of last year for renovations, and they told us it would be open by September.
01:03They didn't even start renovations until December.
01:07Then they told us it would be reopening this May, and now it's projected to be September.
01:15The failure to actually get this office renovated, obviously in a timely manner, is absurd.
01:23It's absolutely absurd.
01:26And the White Plains Office that has been subject to discussion.
01:32The White Plains Office is not a full Social Security Office.
01:35It is a field hearing office, and it was a massive space that they were under-utilizing.
01:41And so the Biden administration notified my office in December, in December, that they
01:47were shutting down that office.
01:49They were not going to renew the lease, which was come due this May.
01:56I have reached out to the administration repeatedly for the purpose of trying to come up with a solution
02:03to make sure that there is a field hearing office within vicinity.
02:08My goal, my objective, is to get the Rockland office when it is reopened, hopefully by September,
02:15when it is reopened in West Nyack, where we are, that it would also include a field hearing
02:21office so that everybody in our area has the ability to utilize that without having to travel.
02:27Now, 80-plus percent of the hearings are now virtual because technology obviously has been
02:35extremely helpful.
02:37But for those that need the physical location, my objective is to get a solution with the
02:44administration that includes using the Rockland office as a field hearing office for those
02:50who need it.
02:54Congressman, we do have the person who had the ticket that was pulled.
02:58I'm going to let her answer the question back here.
03:00Oh, sorry.
03:01Okay.
03:02Sorry.
03:03Okay.
03:04Okay.
03:05I just want to know what is your position on holding federal and federal
03:22funds back from institutions and trying to hold hostage big corporations.
03:35Can you...
03:37Withholding funds from...
03:41Are you talking about like colleges?
03:43Federal funds from our institutions of higher education.
03:52Oh, okay.
03:53Sorry.
03:54So, in the instance of the two most obvious examples of that have been Columbia and Harvard
04:05in the last few weeks.
04:08And from my vantage point, I have said from the very beginning that the issue of anti-Semitism
04:14on these college campuses is a major one.
04:20And if you look at federal law, Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act requires these institutions
04:35to enforce federal law and crack down on anti-Semitism.
04:41They have...
04:42They have, in large measure, failed in that responsibility.
04:48And so, I introduce legislation...
04:51You guys think Columbia and Harvard did a great job dealing with those college protests?
04:58Listen...
05:00Listen...
05:04Those institutions take federal dollars.
05:09They are, quote unquote, private institutions that take federal dollars and have...
05:16Yes, for research, but it is still federal taxpayer money.
05:20You are required...
05:22You are required...
05:24You are required to uphold federal law.
05:27Period.
05:28Full stop.
05:29There is no if, ands, or buts about that.
05:32And so, last Congress, I introduced legislation that absolutely would strip any of these institutions
05:39of higher learning of federal dollars if they promoted or sanctioned anti-Semitism on their campuses.
05:45Period.
05:46And, in addition, in addition, I introduced the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act to enforce Title VI.
05:58I also introduced a bill that would put a 10% tax on their endowments.
06:07Because the fact is, they should be using their endowments to lessen the cost of college.
06:12And they are not doing that effectively.
06:14And so, they should be taxed at a higher rate if they are acting as a hedge fund.
06:19Period.
06:20And I would think, for those that want to tax the rich, that you would want these institutions
06:24that are looking and acting like hedge funds to actually be taxed at a higher rate.
06:31Now, in addition to that, in addition to that, I would also say the flow of foreign dollars
06:38into our universities and institutions from countries like Qatar and China needs to be cracked down on.
06:46Because they are using those dollars to exert control over what is being taught in these institutions
06:53by endowing a chair.
06:55They are endowing a chair.
06:57I find it fascinating that you guys support this.
07:01It really is interesting.
07:02So, they are using federal dollars to actually endow chairs and teach certain curricula that
07:12undermines the United States and the free world.
07:16And that's fascinating that you support that.
07:20So, I have no problem with the administration withholding federal dollars, taxpayer money,
07:27to universities like Harvard and Columbia that have allowed anti-Semitism to run wild on their campuses.