Congress Candidate Liz Berney Speaks At NST

The North Shore Towers Shareholders Association hosted a meeting that featured Congress candidate Liz Berney on Wednesday, August 20.
Currently running for the seat held by Congressmember Gary Ackerman in the fifth district, Berney has been working as an attorney for about 30 years, working on cases involving things such as security fraud and consumer safety. Among the cases that she has worked on have been representing investors of Enron, injured consumers during the litigation for the Ford Explorer/Firestone Tire, and Mattel lead paint litigation.
Berney said that there were three main reasons involving Ackerman’s work that influenced her to run. They were his support for Palestinian Authority funding, a vote against honoring Christmas and Ackerman not being one of the Congressmembers to write a letter to Mattel asking for a nationwide toy withdrawal when one of their products was found to have a high lead content.
Among the qualities that Berney, a resident of Great Neck who formerly lived in Queens, said that she can bring to the office are a sense of fairness, a willingness to hear different sides, listen and investigate the issues, and common sense.
One of the issues that Berney spoke about was the energy crisis. Since she said the biggest issue involves fueling cars, she is in favor of requiring all new cars to become flex fuel. Berney said that the estimated cost of accomplishing this would be $100 a car and that gas stations would also need to have pumps offering alternative fuels.
As the floor was opened up to residents to bring up topics of concern, Berney was asked about her feelings on immigration.
“I definitely feel that we need to secure our borders,” Berney said, adding that the distinction needs to be made between who is coming to the United States to contribute to the country and who is coming to destroy it.
Berney also said that, although it is important to teach other languages in schools, English should be the national language. She is also in favor of eliminating line item vetoes.
Stem cell research was brought up. Berney said that she feels it is “worthwhile” to do if it can save lives.
Berney was questioned on her thoughts towards Roe vs. Wade. She said that she is pro-choice but feels there needs to be a modification when it comes to determining viability. This is because scientific developments have changed survival rates for babies born at earlier stages.
Berney, who is also a violinist, is a mother of three and grandmother of one. To find out more about her campaign and goals, visit www.lizberney.com.