New Windsor – A top priority of Congressmen Maurice Hinchey of Hurley, and John Hall of Dover Plains, is the push for universal health care.

The lawmakers, both Democrats in the Democrat-controlled Congress, told members of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce Monday that the United States is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of full health coverage for its citizens but it is far ahead in terms of the cost of health care.

Both lawmakers said that bipartisan support can be garnered to revamp the system.

On the local level, both Hinchey and Hall were enthusiastic about the future of Stewart Airport at Newburgh. Hall said the direct connection between I-84 and the Thruway at Newburgh will relieve traffic on local roads. “There’s a whole retail zone where you have retail traffic fighting with airport traffic and the airport traffic is going to get completely routed out of there and come in by a completely different route,” he said. That route will be the new Drury Lane/I-84 entrance into Stewart.

Hall also said was encouraged about the possibility of providing passenger rail service to Stewart.

There has been much talk in the past about running a spur from the Port Jervis Line in Salisbury Mills to the airport about three miles away. That would link Stewart with New York City and would be especially significant since the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will be taking over the airport this fall.

If the spur is not used, “we’re discussing a couple of different variations of light rail or high-speed rail to connect Stewart to New York City.”

Hinchey, meanwhile, said the operation of Stewart under privatization has not been productive. With the Port takeover, there will be more access to additional funding for projects, he said.

Hinchey was also critical of the state Department of Transportation, saying the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and he secured funding to convert New York Route 17 to Interstate 86 some 10 years ago, yet the state has delayed the project. He committed to having the conversion completed in the next few years.