Patchogue, NY - August 9, 2017 - Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) yesterday made the first stop of this month’s “NY-1 Economic Growth Tour”. Throughout August, Congressman Zeldin will be touring NY-1’s businesses, large and small, to meet with employers and employees and discuss their top priorities to grow their businesses here on Long Island and create more good paying, private sector jobs.
Rep. Zeldin kicked off the tour with a visit to Aeroflex Motion, part of Cobham Corporate North America. Cobham is a defense and aerospace manufacturing firm with a facility in Hauppauge, New York, that employees 136 workers, many of whom are NY-1 constituents. One of many great products it manufactures, this facility designs and builds actuators, advanced technology used for the Mars rover Curiosity.
During the visit, Congressman Zeldin learned more about the hard work done at this location, and discussed the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), which is vital to the education of our youth and the future of our country in a 21st century workforce. This education prepares students to pursue good paying jobs, which contribute to the growth of our economy, while increasing innovation, a necessary requirement for the United States to remain competitive in the global marketplace. In the last Congress, Rep. Zeldin helped pass the STEM Education Act of 2015 (H.R. 1020), which provides federal funding to increase STEM programs in our schools. In the 115th Congress, Rep. Zeldin announced $998,750 in funding had been granted to Stony Brook University from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide scholarship support for students entering the STEM fields. In addition, he announced that NY-1 will be participating in the 2017 Congressional App Challenge, which was created to encourage students to participate in and learn more about STEM.
Congressman Zeldin said, “Yesterday’s visit to Aeroflex was a great opportunity to meet with local job creators and hard working Long Islanders to discuss how we can work together to grow our local economy. We discussed STEM, which is absolutely vital in this regard, and I will continue my work in Congress to ensure these programs remain supported to better educate our students for generations to come. All throughout August, I have the privilege of touring our great district to meet with many of our area’s employers and their workforce to discuss ways we can improve the business climate and allow local commerce to flourish. These individuals are the greatest drivers of our economy and understand what needs to get done to give them every opportunity to succeed and thrive in a 21st century economy.”