Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi, in a fiery speech on the House floor after being sworn back into Congress, told his fellow lawmakers to “Wake Up!”
“Mr. Speaker, on the night of my election victory, I promised the people of Long Island in Queens I would deliver a simple message to this chamber: Wake up!” said Suozzi, who recently won a run-off in New York’s 3rd Congressional District to fill the seat vacated by the ouster of former Rep. George Santos.
“The people are sick and tired of the finger-pointing and the petty partisan bickering. They want us to work together. They want you guys to work together, too. What are you doing?" Suozzi said Wednesday.
“I know there are so many good people in this chamber on both sides of the aisle, but people are worried about the cost of living. They’re worried about the chaos at the border. They’re worried about Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine. They look to Congress, and what do they see? The extremists get all the attention. We’re letting ourselves be bullied by our base. We aren’t getting anything done. We need less chaos and more common sense the last few months,” he added.
Suozzi’s victory cuts into House Republicans’ slim majority — Democrats now have 16 seats from New York with Republicans holding 10.
Suozzi urged lawmakers to work together.
"While I might be the only one being sworn in today, what if we all see this as a fresh start? What if we all took this chance to break some of our bad habits? What if today we remembered why we ran for office in the first place? Let's get back into the solutions business," he said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.