| Gary Ackerman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| U.S. Representative from New York's 5th Congressional District From: March 1, 1983 - Present | |||
| Predecessor | Ray McGrath | ||
| Successor | Incumbent (no successor) | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Democrat | ||
| Spouse(s) | Rita Gale Tewel | ||
| Religion | Jewish | ||
Gary Leonard Ackerman (born November 19, 1942) is a Democrat U.S. Representative for New York state's 5th Congressional District, which represents the North Shore of Long Island, Queens, and Northern Nassau County. He has voted with his Democrat colleagues 98.3% of the time in Congress [1] and holds liberal positions on abortion, energy, the environment, health care and gun control.
Ackerman has broken with the Democratic Party on Iran, when he introduced House Concurrent Resolution 362. Citing Iranian President Ahmadinejad's anti-Israeli statements and his support for Hezbollah and Hamas, it would impose sanctions against Iran and was criticized by the left as being a path to war. There are currently 280 cosponsors of the non-binding resolution.