After drawing criticism that he had not bucked his party on any major issue as a freshman, Arcuri voted against the Democratic cap-and-trade energy legislation in June 2009.

Arcuri supports abortion rights and opposes gun control. He has voiced support for the war in Afghanistan, while he has backed what he terms "a responsible and realistic" plan to redeploy American troops from Iraq.

Health-Care Reform

Arcuri was one of a handful of House Democrats, many of them from competitive districts, who opposed the Democratic health-reform effort, which was enacted in March 2010.

Arcuri said he opposed the bill because it would raise insurance premiums on high-end, so-called Cadillac plans, failed to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, would end up putting more people on Medicaid and failed to slash the costs of Medicaid and Medicare.

"My greatest fear is that under this legislation middle class families and senior citizens in my district will see their insurance premiums sky-rocket even more and that small businesses will be forced to cut costs by either slashing benefits or laying-off employees," Arcuri said.

At one time, Arcuri seemed to support government run-public option as part of House Democratic reform efforts. But he has voiced concerns about the impact of a potential employer mandate on small businesses.

The Economy

In response to the 2008-2009 economic downturn, Arcuri voted for both the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill in fall 2008 and the $787 billion economic stimulus package in February 2009. On the financial rescue measure, he warned of another Great Depression if Congress did not act. "I am not 100 percent happy with this legislation and I'm gravely disappointed that we even had to consider such a rescue," Arcuri said, "but inaction is simply not an option."

The congressman used a similar rationale in supporting the February 2009 stimulus package, though he lamented that the legislation did not contain more funding for state infrastructure projects."The truth is we need to get the economy moving again, and this approach, although not perfect, is a step in the right direction," he said then.

Education

One of Arcuri's first achievements in the House was the passage of the College Student Relief Act, of which he was an original co-sponsor.

His participation was partly the result of an effort by Democratic leaders to involve freshman lawmakers in the drafting and passage of priority legislation, giving them early notches on their resume when running for re-election.

The bill, which was later incorporated into a broader higher education measure, cut subsidized student loan rates in half. Arcuri also supported legislation to increase federal financial aid for college, including the popular Pell Grants.

New York Regional Interconnect

On the local level, Arcuri came into office pledging to fight against the construction of the New York Regional Interconnect, a 190-mile electrical transmission line that would cut through his district.

Aimed at increasing electrical capacity and bringing down energy rates, the NYRI became one of the most divisive issues in the state. Arcuri appeared to score a major victory in April 2009, when the NYRI withdrew its application to the state.

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