Long Island’s congressional delegation, considered among the most bipartisan groups in Congress, met this week in Nassau County to discuss cooperation, gridlock in Washington and the challenges of legislating in a polarized climate.

Reps. Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen participated in the Long Island Association’s “What’s New in Washington” event in Woodbury, speaking before more than 700 business and government leaders.

The members highlighted their efforts to work across the aisle, despite mounting national partisanship.

“The problem is the environment is so toxic in Washington DC, and the leaders on both sides are really only focused on winning the majority…People sign up for problem solvers to try and find common ground. And we're trying all the time to break through the toxicity that exists,” said Rep. Suozzi.

Rep. LaLota echoed that sentiment.

“We do live in a very polarizing time. It is much easier just to adopt word for word whatever your party's platform is, whatever your party's leader is saying at the time. It is much more difficult to find the nuance to get the things done that we want to get done, it is much more difficult to work with someone across the aisle.”

Rep. Garbarino said the group still makes bipartisan progress but acknowledged backlash.

“It’s definitely not as great as it used to be, as Nick just talked about, but there are still things that we can and are working on.”

Rep. Gillen emphasized that constituent needs, not party lines, guide her approach.

“We're really focused on serving the best interests of our constituents. We have a lot of common things that we're concerned about, infrastructure is certainly one of them, and I know for me, every single bill that I do, I always bring a Republican along with me, every single bill of mine is bipartisan.”

While the group touted bipartisan cooperation, they also acknowledged significant disagreements, including issues involving the conflict in Iran, the Department of Homeland Security, the actions of ICE and economic policy.