Albany, New York – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik joined The Paul Vandenburgh Show to discuss her commitment to restoring the Constitutional rights of New Yorkers in the face of Hochul’s unconstitutional gun ban. Stefanik also slammed one-party Democrat rule, which has created crisis after crisis for the American people and bred a culture of corruption in Washington and Albany.
Listen to the full interview here.
Highlights from the interview include:
On Restoring the Constitutional Rights of New Yorkers:
“This is one very important step closer to ending Kathy Hochul’s assault on our Second Amendment rights and restoring the Constitutional rights of New Yorkers. Let's take a step back and remember that this law was absolutely rushed through in the dark of night in response to the Supreme Court's correct decision that the concealed-carry process in New York State was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decision was a win for all New Yorkers.”
“I'm so excited to work with all of the Second Amendment supporters and Constitutional conservatives in this district, and all New Yorkers to stand up for our Constitutional rights. We intend to support this effort to take this all the way to the Supreme Court, like we did with the concealed carry issue.”
“I believe that Democrats are going to do everything they can to shred Constitutional rights. While it takes time to work through the legal process, ultimately if this is decided by the Supreme Court, I believe that they will rule in favor of the Constitution and rule in favor of the rights of New Yorkers. We're going to do everything we can to ensure [for] law-abiding gun owners in New York State that our constitutional rights are respected. In the case of concealed carry, we did have to take that all the way to the Supreme Court, and ultimately, the Constitution prevailed.”
On Hochul’s Pay-to-Play Scheme at the Expense of New York Taxpayers:
“I never thought we could have a worse governor than Andrew Cuomo, but Kathy Hochul is even worse. The corruption continues to reign supreme in the Albany Democrat ecosystem…it's not only unethical and illegal, but it's also the taxpayers footing the bill. The reality of this pay for play scandal…[New York] taxpayers paid more for COVID tests than any of the other…states across the country. At the same time, [the suppliers] were also top donors to Kathy Hochul’s campaign, so this is pay to play.”
“We have to end this culture of corruption. It's a cesspool in Albany, and it has been for years.”
On the Impact of One-Party Democrat Rule:
“People are seeing the results of single-party Democrat rule in both Albany and Washington. What they're seeing specifically in New York State is a crime crisis, a corruption crisis, a tax crisis, an economic crisis, a mass population exodus.”
“Kathy Hochul had an opportunity to attempt to fix bail reform. I believe it should be fully repealed. She blew it. She's had an opportunity to rewrite the ship when it comes to cutting taxes, [but] no. They are doubling down and increasing spending and increasing taxes for everyday New Yorkers.”
On Biden’s Inflation Crisis:
“[Inflation is] the number one issue when I travel throughout my district. Across the country, the top issue is inflation, and it's really crushing family budgets. I will tell you that families in my district are hardworking families. They’re on very limited incomes, and when it comes to the grocery store prices, the prices of utilities, the prices of anything, they continue to go up and up and up and essentially it's a pay cut. It can be considered a tax on every American.”
“Voters are smart, they know it is a direct result of trillions and trillions of dollars that single-party Democrat rule has spent of taxpayer dollars in Washington.”
“One of the pledges of House Republicans when we earn back the House…is to rein in spending and stop the runaway trillions of dollars in spending and bring the budget back toward balance.”
On Calling for Transparency for Democrat Corruption:
“This is one of the untold stories of Nancy Pelosi's time in Congress and her leadership. She has profited as a sitting elected official, as the Speaker of the House. She knows and controls what legislation is coming to the floor and it is pay-to-play again…She has profited off of being an elected official, which should be taken up by the Ethics Committee…She should be because she's about to be fired once and for all.”
“The American people are smart. They see this for what it is, they see that the Democrat leadership today is corrupt, whether it's Kathy Hochul or whether it's Nancy Pelosi or whether it's Joe Biden and his criminal family profiting through Hunter Biden, who is essentially profiting off of when his father was Vice President and still profiting off of his father as President.”
“100 percent transparency is a good thing…The fact that the Department of Justice and the FBI have slow-walked all of their investigations into Hunter Biden's illegal actions, that is corruption. We should absolutely have hearings related to Hunter Biden. The subpoenas are coming. One area that's really important for Congress is oversight. Democrats have done virtually no oversight, and Republicans will do oversight, and we will hold the government accountable.”
On Giving NY-21 a Seat at the Highest Levels:
“The committees [I serve on] are a great fit for my district. I'm a very senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, I'm a senior member on the House Intelligence Committee, and I'm on the Education and Workforce Committee…I will stay on those committees and I'm intending to run as the Conference Chair for the Republicans in the majority. That would be the highest ranking Republican New York member since Jack Kemp, and I will tell you, New Yorkers and my constituents deserve a seat at the highest level, and I'm always going to advocate for them and deliver results.”
On Demanding Accountability for the FBI’s Involvement in the Schoharie Limo Crash:
“I was the only member of Congress who really grilled Chris Wray, or even asked any questions about the FBI’s culpability in that horrific tragic limo crash, where families have lost their loved ones and they are still grieving, still mourning, still asking for answers.”
“The reason why the FBI has potential culpability is the owner of the limousine company, according to the reporting, was a longtime FBI informant. So that means all of the not abiding by the law, all of the tickets, not abiding by the New York State DOT regulations, the FBI was aware of that. And my concern as I’ve seen with the FBI, they try to sweep this under the rug.”
“I will not hesitate to use subpoenas on behalf of constituents in my district and on behalf of those families who absolutely deserve answers. This is an area where I’m going to be dogged in getting results, getting transparency, and getting those answers that those families deserve. Yes, the FBI has an ongoing investigation, [but] they’re refusing to publicly release it, they’re not releasing it to Congress. That’s going to change come January when the subpoenas are issued.”
