On the recordDecember 13, 2023
I rise this morning to salute a good friend, a gentleman with one of the biggest hearts I have ever met. Doc McGann was a piece of the very community that I grew up in back home on Long Island in a small village called Island Park. Back home in Island Park, one of the beacons of our community is our local firehouse, and Doc McGann served that fire department for 72 years. He served as chief of our department from 1963 to 1964 and had the opportunity to serve every rank in that department. Even in his elder years, he was a calm voice, someone who gave the younger members advice on how to serve their community. He was active in our Church of Sacred Heart. He was the executive leader of the Island Park, Lido, Point Lookout Republican Committee. In that capacity, in 1980, he was one of the architects that sent an unknown guy from a small village of 6,000 people by the name of Alfonse D'Amato to the United States Senate. Mr. Speaker, 42 years later, he helped send another guy from a village of 6,000 to the United States House of Representatives, that being me. He was married to his lovely wife, Gerri, for 66 years. He leaves behind four children: Danny, Kevin, Kerrie, and Jackie. He is the proud grandfather and great-grandfather of beautiful children. Today, I salute Doc McGann. When he died just less than a month ago, a piece of Island Park died with him. Recognizing Brian Sullivan on His Retirement
