KINGSTON – As the U.S. Senate was busy this week with the impeachment trial of President Trump, Congressman Antonio Delgado (D, NY-19) was home in the district touting some of the economic victories Thursday during his first year to a packed room at the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual congressional update breakfast meeting.
The freshman lawmaker bemoaned the crippling partisanship that is ongoing in the ruling houses of the nation’s legislative bodies. “We are living in some very divided and partisan times. Democratic norms, like mutual toleration, are eroding. We are treating our partisan rivals like enemies and traders. I can’t engage in that. It is not helpful for our democracy. We have got to be better. We just got to figure out a way to see each other for who we are; we are all Americans here,” he said.
Delgado said he traveled to many farms and small businesses in 2019 to get their input about the regional economy.
“I made a point to connect with these individuals, organizations and business owners to understand the needs of communities on the ground,” he said.
The Rhinebeck resident said he helped introduce more than two dozen bills last year, and two became law, including Family Farm Relief Act, which helps with the eligibility to seek Chapter 12 relief by reorganizing debt that would be lifted from $3 million to $12 million.
“We are the home of 5,000 farms throughout the district and a great many of our farms are family farms,” he said. “We worked very hard to make sure we maintain the economic integrity of our district, and preserving our family farms is exactly about doing that.”
