Ensuring Safety for All
Hudson Valley families deserve to feel safe when they walk the streets of their neighborhood or take a trip downtown. When our brave first responders are equipped with the resources they need for their around-the-clock work, we’re all safer. That’s why I champion legislation like the Invest to Protect Act that will provide more funding for law enforcement departments that serve smaller communities and will keep fighting every day to deliver the federal funding and support that our heroes deserve.
BOLSTERING PUBLIC SAFETY IN DUTCHESS COUNTY
Earlier this year, I joined with Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati, Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino, and Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi to announce our joint work to bolster public safety in Dutchess County. That includes my fight for over $2.3 million in federal funding to invest in cutting-edge technology upgrades that will help develop a consolidated two-way public safety radio system for first responders throughout the entire county to improve emergency response coordination and cut down on crime by modernizing the Sheriff’s Office’s Analysis and Real Time Crime Intelligence Center.
Only months after that, I helped secure over $3 million in federal funding for the county to crack down on hate crimes, protect domestic violence and sexual assault survivors and prosecute perpetrators, and boost capacity for DNA testing of evidence. I was proud to deliver the $375,000 in federal funding necessary for the Town of Poughkeepsie to hire more officers to create a brand new Community Policing Unit that is dedicated to community outreach, addressing chronic crime issues like larceny, and remediating quality of life issues within the community.
“This funding is evidence of Congressman Ryan’s strong commitment to public safety, and will go a long way towards helping law enforcement deal with the many issues facing our communities today. I would like to take this time to thank Congressman Ryan not only for this, but for all of his efforts in support of law enforcement and community safety.”
- Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati
My plan to boost safety in Dutchess County also includes fighting for funding for critical construction projects and updates at Poughkeepsie’s Hooker Avenue fire station and at Arlington’s 50-year-old fire station 4. This funding would build on the $240,920 I secured for Arlington to to complete crucial firehouse safety improvements at the nearly 70-year-old Rochdale firehouse and to bolster its technical rescue training, the $324,450 for the Poughkeepsie Fire Department to invest in critical new breathing equipment, the $67,061 for the Beacon Fire Department to invest in new radio equipment, and the $500,000 for Tivoli to overhaul its over 100-year-old firehouse.
SUPERCHARGING SAFETY EFFORTS IN ORANGE COUNTY
This summer, I also joined with Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, Sheriff Paul Arteta, and Commissioner of Emergency Services Peter Cirigliano to announce our work to create safer communities throughout Orange County. I’m working to secure $1,023,405 in federal funding for critical upgrades to the Orange County Emergency Operations Center, including a state-of-the-art Real-time Intelligence Center, and an additional $785,000 to purchase 200 body-worn cameras for corrections officers at the Orange County Jail. This would build on the $300,000 I secured in 2023 for the Middletown Police Department.
Investing in highly-skilled emergency response workforces is critical to keeping our families safe in any crisis. The $82,076 that I delivered for the Esopus Fire District will go a long way for continuing to field top-notch firecrews. Neighboring Rifton’s firefighters will benefit from the $500,000 that I secured for the overhaul of its firehouse and the nearby Kripplebush Fire District will use the $114,285 I secured for safety and operations improvements.
FIGHTING TO END GUN VIOLENCE
Our country has too many politicians who only send “thoughts and prayers” every time we lose another life to the gun violence epidemic. Enough. I’ve heard from countless kids and parents across the Hudson Valley who face the constant anxiety of whether they will be safe each day at school. As a father myself, this is also personal for me. I’m fighting every single day to stop these heartbreaks and end the gun violence epidemic once and for all.
Critical to this is getting the weapons that I carried in combat out of our communities. I’m proud to cosponsor the Assault Weapons Ban and Ethan’s Law for safe gun storage. I will keep pushing for common sense gun reform like the Enhanced Background Checks Act, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, and the Stopping the Fraudulent Sales of Firearms Act to keep illicit guns out of the hands of criminals who shouldn’t have them.
I’m fighting to crackdown on illicit guns to prevent them from reaching the streets in the first place through bills that ban ghost and zombie guns - guns that can be illegally sold and assembled through discarded or makeshift parts - and close the bump stock loophole.
Every day, I will keep working to ensure our kids are safe at school and families in our communities are safe from gun violence.
COMBATING THE FENTANYL CRISIS
Drug addiction is tearing Hudson Valley families apart with heartwrenching frequency – I’m fighting to end the cycle of addiction and overdoses. I’m leading a crackdown on deadly fentanyl at the source by pushing to get the Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act, the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, and the END FENTANYL Act passed into law.
I’m also pushing to ensure that our border agents and local law enforcement officers have the resources they need to prevent the flow of fentanyl into our communities. I introduced the Public Safety and Community Support Act to direct federal funding for our local law enforcement departments to disrupt the cycle of addiction and arrest and reduce the risk of overdoses through pre-arrest diversion and deflection programs that will keep everyone in our communities safer. I’m proud to have secured over $1.25 million in federal funding for Orange and Dutchess county communities to combat youth drug use and prevent our kids from falling into the spiral of addiction in the first place.
I’ve made repeated calls to increase funding to harden our border security and for our border patrol to combat the trafficking of illicit fentanyl into our country. I’m proud to cosponsor the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Rural and Remote Hiring and Retention Strategy Act of 2023
Invest to Protect Act to ensure that our nation’s borders are secured by a highly-trained, top-notch workforce.
I will keep fighting every day to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl across our border and into our communities.