Marilyn O'Grady of Garden City officially announced her candidacy for the 4th Congressional District (C.D.) June 26. O'Grady, who admits she's mounting a "vigorous" campaign, said she believes that by applying her experience as a medical doctor, small business owner, teacher and community leader she can solve the issues the area currently faces, particularly the fight against terrorism.

New York's 4th C.D. is comprised of parts of the Towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead. With 373,131 voters, 164,536 are registered Republicans, 122,947 are registered Democrats and 73,062 are registered voters with no political party affiliation. The district is currently under the jurisdiction of Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy.

Raised in Bellmore, O'Grady is one of five children. A graduate of Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville, she received her bachelor's degree in toxicology and her master's degree in pharmacology/toxicology from St. John's University. She then went on to receive her medical degree from the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. She's lived with her husband, John, in Garden City for the past 23 years.

"This district needs someone whose life experiences, values and ideas are shared by the vast majority of Long Islanders," O'Grady said.

"In Congress, what I'd like to do is help President Bush in his fight against terrorism. Ever since Sept. 11, here in Garden City, we have all suffered the effects of the terrorist attacks on our country. My effort in Congress will be to help President Bush in maintaining our defense, strengthening our rules on immigration so that we are not subject to attack by foreign terrorists."

Specifically, she vows to improve homeland security measures by strengthening immigration laws to keep terrorists from freely entering the country. O'Grady said she'd apply her background in toxicology in aiding President Bush's efforts at home to stop bio-terrorist attacks.

O'Grady supports the idea of a moratorium on immigration for a period of time sufficient enough to allow Tom Ridge, who's in charge of Homeland Security, and his new office to become fully operational to protect the shores from attack in the future. "I support ending all visits and immigration with countries such as Iran and Iraq, sponsors of terrorism," she said.

Town of Hempstead Councilman Joe Kearney, O'Grady's campaign chairman, said she's a "perfect fit" for Congress because of her life history and experience. "She's not a product of any machine. She's not beholden to any interest group," he said.

Kearney, who showed his support as a citizen and a Republican leader in Garden City, added, "She's an independent voice who will speak her mind. Her primary concern is the welfare and benefit of the people in the 4th District. I'm here as a citizen and a Republican leader in Garden City to give her my support. She will bring honor, independence and credibility from the 4th to Washington.

"The incumbent, simply put, although a nice lady, has done nothing for the people of this district. She's an unwitting pawn of the National Democratic Party who doesn't speak for this district. Marilyn O'Grady will."

Issues O'Grady Vows To Address

O'Grady has been privately practicing ophthalmology in Nassau County for the past 16 years and is currently serving on the medical staff at Winthrop-University Hospital, the Long Island Surgicenter and the Nassau County Medical Center. She strongly believes the biggest problem in today's system is that "the patient is losing power."

She wants to change the tax laws to empower working-class people to fully deduct health insurance costs that they purchase. She also wants to provide wider choices for health insurance so that patients can choose from a greater variety of health insurance plans to fit their needs - not the needs of their employer or insurance company. O'Grady said she supports giving senior citizens more choice in obtaining a prescription drug benefit for Medicare as proposed in Congress.

As a seasoned health care professional, O'Grady said, "This issue is very important to me. Health care needs have many problems in the system right now and I plan to address those problems by giving the patient the power back that they have been losing in health care."

O'Grady strongly supports education and credits her success in life toward the opportunities her education provided. "Our children's successes in life are dependent on their obtaining a quality education," she said. As a former teacher of both graduate and undergraduate students at St. John's University and the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, O'Grady urges more competition in education to force failing public schools to improve their performance. "I propose a $1,000 tax-credit system for those who choose to send their children to parochial or public schools. This tax credit would be $1,000 per child and could pay for any legitimate expenses such as a computer, books, tutoring and tuition." O'Grady believes there is a need on Long Island to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. "Currently, New York State has the nation's toughest gun control laws. Now, the 4th Congressional District needs someone in Congress who will strengthen federal laws against those criminals who dare violate the trust of our community by possessing or using an illegal firearm especially to commit a crime," she said. At the federal level O'Grady said she wants to strengthen procedures to ensure families that streets are safe from violent criminals. As a physician, O'Grady has been a small business owner for over a decade. In this capacity, she said she's dealt with all levels of government and has seen first hand the need to reduce the tax burden on businesses and families. "I will fight to permanently and fully eliminate the death tax, the marriage tax, Social Security tax for seniors and reduce the capital gains tax from 20 to 15 percent," she said. A pro-life Republican, O'Grady is a practicing Roman Catholic in Garden City and a board member of the Long Island Catholic League. She'd vote to ban partial birth abortions, taxpayer funding of abortions and favors parental consent of teenage girls to get an abortion. O'Grady believes the Social Security Trust Fund is not for politicians' use. It is a safeguard for millions of citizens and in some cases, their only source of income. "I support the repeal of the Social Security Tax and a permanent 'lockbox' on the Social Security Trust Fund," she said.

A firm supporter of the State of Israel, O'Grady believes it is more important than ever to bring stability to the situation in Israel and firmly establish Israeli rule in that region. "In the current climate of our nation in our fight against terror, we must stand with Israel and never reward terrorism," she said.

Also expected to run in an upcoming primary is Steven Irace, also of Garden City; Al Skorski of Hempstead; and Dan Frisa of Westbury, who lost to McCarthy back in 1996. According to a source at Republican headquarters, the party has not endorsed any of the four candidates, which leads to an open primary.