George J. Hochbrueckner

Former Congressman (D-NY)

In his four terms [1987-1995] as the Congressman for the First District of New York, George J. Hochbrueckner distinguished himself as a leader on issues critical to Long Island and our nation such as defense conversion and environmental protection. Hochbrueckner utilized his technical training as an engineer to address these issues while serving on the House Armed Services and Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committees for eight years.<br /> <br /> With the end of the cold war and the changes in Europe, Hochbrueckner played a vital role on the Armed Services Committee. Hochbrueckner worked to maintain a strong defense and to protect Long Island’s economic community, which relied heavily on the defense industry. He led the successful battle in 1989 to provide funding for the Long Island built F-14D “Tomcat” fighter aircraft.<br /> <br /> Hochbrueckner helped organize the India Caucus in the U.S. Congress in order to improve the relationship between India and the United States. Hochbrueckner and his wife, Carol Ann visited India in 1994, where he met with Prime Minister Rao and conveyed President Clinton’s invitation to the Prime Minister to visit the United States. That visit was highly successful during which Hochbrueckner arranged for Prime Minister Rao to address a Joint-Session of Congress.<br /> <br /> As the only engineer on the House Armed Services Committee, he worked with defense-based firms nationally to diversify into producing commercial products in order to help make the U.S. more competitive in the world marketplace. As a leading Member of the Research and Development Sub-committee, Hochbrueckner was the key sponsor of the initial funding for a variety of leading edge technologies.<br /> Hochbrueckner has been a national leader in protecting the environment. Hochbrueckner authored landmark legislation to encourage recycling by creating markets for recycled materials and funding research for innovative ways to use recycled materials. In the wake of the Exxon Valdez incident, he worked to protect our environment from future oil spills. With the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, Hochbrueckner helped to write the tough oil spill prevention law. He also sponsored a bill that would require vessels transporting oil or hazardous materials to employ more sophisticated navigation systems. Hochbrueckner’s commitment to protecting the environment and our communities has had an impact nationally as well as on Long Island.<br /> <br /> Before being elected to Congress, Hochbrueckner served for ten years as a Member of the New York State Assembly representing a suburban Long Island district. In the Assembly, he served on the Education; Environmental Conservation; Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committees, and served as Chairman of the Real Property Taxation Committee. A highlight of his Assembly career was his authorship of the law that simplified and improved the ability of over-assessed property owners to successfully obtain property tax reductions.<br /> <br /> Hochbrueckner began his technical career in the U.S. Navy where he served for three years and was trained as an aviation electronics technician and served aboard several aircraft carriers. Following his honorable discharge in 1959, he attended SUNY Stony Brook, Hofstra and California State University, Northridge. While attending college part time, Mr. Hochbrueckner pursued full time on-the-job engineering training at Grumman, Litton, and Teledyne. He worked his way from technician to Sr. Engineer in 5 years and later earned the title of Research Scientist. A highlight of his engineering career was in his six year contribution to the design and maintenance of one of the major electronics units on the Grumman F-14 “TOMCAT” aircraft.