Press Releases

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released the following statement regarding news that the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico will examine the issuance of Puerto Rico's debt obligations:

"I commend the Board for taking the important step of investigating the disclosure and selling practices on all the underlying transactions of Puerto Rico's debt. This is the type of inquiry that I wanted to occur when PROMESA was enacted. To this end, Puerto Rico deserves a transparent and just restructuring process."

Washington, DC –Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) is partnering with local community leaders and representatives from the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office to host a workshop regarding "underground loan" scams that are prevalent in New York's Chinese American community.

The event comes after the recent collapse of a "Biao Hui" or underground lending club in New York. Losses totaled more than $20 million for an estimated 780 investors, marking it one of the largest such losses in recent memory.

Washington, DC –Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released the following statement in response to the House's passage of the misguided and harmful "Make America Secure Act", which allocates $1.6 billion in taxpayer funds for the building of a wall along the U.S. and Mexico border.

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) announced that multiple local early education centers within New York's 7th Congressional district have received multi-million dollar grants to boost their Head Start programs. The Head Start Program is a federal initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, and nutrition services to low-income children and their families.

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) urged the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) to consider adding additional entrance points to Brooklyn Bridge Park. In the wake of public support to increase park access, Velázquez wrote to Commissioner Polly Trottenberg stressing the importance of maximizing public access to the Park's fields, facilities and public events. Over 330,000 visitors pass through the park each week.

Washington, DC –Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released the following statement regarding Tweets issued by President Trump Wednesday morning calling for a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military:

Substance Linked to Health Defects in Prenatal Children

Washington, DC – As the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moves to reverse an Obama-era ban on a toxic pesticide, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) has introduced legislation to rid the chemical from fields across the country. Today, Velázquez introduced The Pesticide Protection Act of 2017, which bans from commerce Chlorpyrifos, a toxic chemical that has been linked to damaging and often irreversible health outcomes in workers, pregnant women and children.