NEW YORK –  Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) was the featured speaker at a recent fundraiser and reception in his honor in Manhattan.

Bilirakis, co-chair of the Hellenic Caucus and co-founder of the Congressional Hellenic-Israeli Alliance spoke about the community’s leading issues, including U.S. relations with Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, religious freedom in Turkey, and the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The son of retired Congressman Michael Bilirakis, he emphasized both being faithful to his conservative principles and to his willingness to “cross the aisle” and work with Democrats in areas where they share common ground in order to overcome the gridlock and dysfunction that prevails in Washington.

The large turnout of young professionals was co-chaired by George Giannopoulos, Nikolas Onoufriadis, Dean Koutras, and Marc Palladino. Endy Zemenides of HALC also helped organize the event.