security officials—with the September 11, 2001, attacks in mind—to use retired law enforcement officers as screeners at New York airports and he pressed President Bush to make good on his promise to provide New York with US$20 billion in additional 9/11 disaster aid. In 2011, Ackerman voted to extend expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act and voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012. State and local issues Ackerman participated in forcing the State of Hawaii to change its law that forbade blind individuals from bringing their guide dogs with them to the islands. The Congressman chaired an investigation and bipartisan hearing into whether New York City and Long Island officials properly used the spraying of Malathion during the West Nile virus outbreak. He also obtained federal funds to combat a return of the virus. Committee assignments Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia (Ranking Member) Caucus memberships Congressional Arts Caucus Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans Personal life Ackerman, who sports a white carnation boutonnière each day, lives on a houseboat named the Unsinkable II while in Washington, D.C. and otherwise resides in Roslyn Heights in Nassau County with his wife Rita, having moved there from a home in Jamaica Estates, Queens that sold for US$1 million in 2008. The Ackermans have three children: Lauren, Corey, and Ari. Ackerman is an amateur photographer, an avid stamp collector, and a boating enthusiast. He is also an Eagle Scout. At the 2006 meeting of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), Ackerman was unanimously elected to serve as the executive of the organization. Ackerman was named an honorary graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy for his continued support of the service academy located in Kings Point, New York. Ackerman also has a street named after him located in Central Islip, New York. Sexual assault accusation In the 1960s, Ackerman served as director of the Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp. In 2019, a former camper filed a lawsuit accusing Ackerman of fondling him and forcing him to perform oral sex on Ackerman. The alleged abuse occurred in 1966, when Ackerman was 23 and the accuser was 17. Ackerman denied any wrongdoing but