The Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce held their Fall Luncheon on Monday September 23 at Castle Senior Living in Plainview. John Casal, president of the chamber of commerce, opened the meeting of the chamber, what he referred to as the "single unifying voice of business and industry for our community" by naming some initiatives, accomplishments and goals of the chamber.

According to Casal, the chamber created a new logo and identity for the chamber and its new member companies, has hosted over a dozen meetings for members and has sponsored the Memorial Day parade for many years and will continue for years to come. The chamber also hosts www.Plainview-oldbethpage.com and are in the midst of updating and revising this resource, which receives hundreds of visitors a week, and has been working diligently on a newsletter that will be distributed to the 2,000 businesses that call our community home. The chamber also works with the local school district and sponsors an essay scholarship program for the high school students who live in the community and aspire to higher education. The POB chamber is also a member of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, which represents over 6,000 business people and 55 different chambers and this year will present the citizen of the year award honoring an individual who exemplifies the Plainview Old Bethpage Community spirit. Each year, the chamber hosts a holiday party for members and the community sponsored by Astoria Federal and is in the process of creating a Chamber Information Center in a very visible Plainview-Old Bethpage institution.

"The Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce is the liaison between members and the business community creating a forum for all business concerns large and small," said Casal. "The mission of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce is to promote all member companies within our two hamlets, Plainview and Old Bethpage, as well as their immediate perimeters. The chamber should be the voice of the business community it represents and thus be the liaison between the members and town hall as well as the community at large... membership in the chamber of commerce is an investment in your business. It is the most effective tool for power networking, public relations, corporate exposure and increasing your company's bottom line while driving business to your door, all the while sending a message of community involvement and support."

Vicki Ellner, Community Relations director at Castle Senior Living, introduced Congressman Steve Israel, the meeting's first guest speaker. "The congressman has the vision to see things not as they are, but as they will be," said Ellner, who explained that due to redistricting, Israel would be representing Plainview, Old Bethpage, Woodbury and parts of Jericho, and Syosset.

Congressman Israel started by introducing himself to those in attendance. He was raised on the South Shore of Long Island and elected to the House in 2000. He has a reputation in his first term as a bipartisan and independent congressman, a term in which he focused on tax relief for middle class families, improving the quality of healthcare for women and seniors, strengthening education for children, and protecting the environment. Although he is new to Congress, Israel successfully guided to House and Senate passage over $30 million in appropriations to expand jobs, reduce crime, and protect the environment throughout New York's second Congressional District.

Israel then recounted the events of September 11 from a politician's standpoint as he was in Washington D.C. as the events transpired. After the attacks, Israel was selected by the Democratic Congressional Leadership to the Democratic Caucus Homeland Security Task Force where he has taken a leading role on the subcommittees dealing with infrastructure sabotage and responses to bioterrorism. He also organized the Suffolk Task Force on Emergency Preparedness, planning a coordinated reaction to emergencies within his district by fire departments, police forces, emergency medical teams, hospitals, health professionals and school administrators. Israel accompanied President Bush to Ground Zero three days after the attack, and has worked on a bipartisan basis with the White House to strengthen defense and rebuild New York's economy.

"I have cast hundreds of votes as a member of Congress and most members of Congress are never required to vote on whether to send young people into battle," said Israel. "In my first 22 months as a member of Congress, I will have to face that decision twice - giving the president the authority to use force in Iraq and after September 11."

Israel said that when he entered Congress, he was told that he was not going to get anything accomplished during his first term - a statement he wanted to prove wrong. "I am very proud that in my first term I passed the Israel-Johnson Amendment, which affects seniors. Eighty-five thousand Long Island senior citizens have been kicked out of their Medicare HMOs. One out of every ten senior citizens in our community is skipping their medications because they can't afford it," said Israel. "Seniors are making choices between food and medicine. Seventeen percent of America's doctors are not taking Medicare patients because they can't afford to. We airdrop medicine on our allies in Afghanistan - we don't want to have to airdrop medicine in Plainview and Old Bethpage. I passed the bi-partisan amendment, which would bring those Medicare HMOs back by increasing the federal reimbursement to Medicare HMOs. I was told that it would never get done, but we did it."

Israel encouraged those who are part of an organization or a business group and seeking some federal assistance, to contact his office at 631-665-7333. "I look forward to working closely with everybody here, listening to you, representing you and working for you as your employee if I go back to Congress on January 3," said Israel.

Next, Casal introduced State Senator Kemp Hannon, the second guest speaker at the recent meeting.

"I get a chance to represent 300,000 people in the State Government of New York, a government that has become an increasingly exciting government just in regard to the health care area that I am involved in on a day-to-day basis," said Hannon, who was elected to the State Senate in November 1989 Previously he was the Republican Floor Leader in the Assembly, serving as the minority leader Pro Tem.

Hannon, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, serves on several other committees, including Labor and Codes. As chair of Health, Hannon has authored and sponsored legislation having a significant effect on New Yorkers' health care. Hannon is also the Senate Chair of the Health Budget Subcommittee for the Legislature's Budget Conference Committee System.

In 2000, the senator created legislation, the "Patient Health Information and Quality Improvement Act of 2000" (also known as Physician Profiling), to improve patient access to information about health care providers, and to improve quality care. The law requires the profiling of doctors, hospitals and health care plans, creates a patient safety center with its primary goal to reduce medical errors, and closes existing loopholes in the reporting of practitioner misconduct.

Thanks to Blue Angel Diner, North Fork Bank, John Casal, Old Bethpage Village Restoration, Astoria Federal and Fairway for their generous donations of door prizes.

The next meeting of the Plainview Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce will be October 16 at Chestnut Grove in Plainview. For more information about the Plainview Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce please call 932-3779.