Velázquez E-Update 

In this issue:
A Note from Congresswoman Velázquez

Fighting for Healthcare

Standing Against Dangerous Immigration Enforcement

Supporting Small Business

Advocating for the People of Puerto Rico

Advancing Environmental Resilience

A Note from Congresswoman Velázquez

Dear neighbors,

As we approach the new year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the work we have done in 2025. Some of the highlights of my work in Congress this year are outlined in this newsletter.

Throughout the year, my office and I responded rapidly to the constantly changing political landscape. Reacting to attacks on healthcare and food benefits, dangerous immigration enforcement, economic upheaval caused by tariffs, and much more. During this challenging time, I will always maintain a steadfast focus on standing up for the needs of our community.

In the new year, I will be focused on continuing to advocate on behalf of working people, families, small businesses, and New York’s Seventh Congressional District. Lastly, I would like to wish you and your family happy holidays and new year.

Sincerely,

Nydia M. Velázquez

Fighting for Healthcare

Protecting access to affordable healthcare has been a critical aspect of Rep. Velázquez’s work this year. In July, Republicans “Big Beautiful Bill” made major cuts to Medicaid that could result in as many as 1.3 million New Yorkers losing their healthcare. Later in the year, Democrats began working to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025, which will cause health insurance costs to balloon for 140,000 New Yorkers, potentially putting access to care entirely out of reach for those people.

Rep. Velázquez worked vigorously to stop these healthcare cuts. Beginning as early as the first week of Trump’s term, she organized a healthcare rally, and continued through the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which she voted against and decried as “a bill that sells out working families across the country… mak[ing] Americans sicker, hungrier, and poorer.”

When the legislation passed, a community response was necessary to protect healthcare. To do this, Rep. Velázquez hosted a roundtable with health care workers, patients, and other community members to chart a path forward for healthcare in the district. Then, Democrats continued fighting for healthcare through an extension of the ACA subsidies. This fight resulted in the government shutdown because Republicans did not extend this important credit that makes healthcare affordable.

Rep. Velázquez hosting a healthcare roundtable at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center

Rep. Velázquez also spent the year pushing back against developments that could undermine healthcare infrastructure. This has included, for example, cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants and changes to federal recommendations that have undermined trust in vaccines. Responding to these issues, Rep. Velázquez urged the NIH to restore its grants to avoid shortfalls for NIH-sponsored research institutions and universities. As co-chair of the Congressional Hepatitis Caucus, she also called on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to maintain recommendations for hepatitis vaccinations, which have been associated with a 95% decrease in infections among babies. These steps are key in preserving trust and participation in our healthcare system.

In the new year, making healthcare affordable for every member of our community and protecting healthcare infrastructure will remain a top priority.

Standing Against Dangerous Immigration Enforcement

This year has been marked by increasingly brazen immigration enforcement, tearing families apart and sowing fear in our communities. Rep. Velázquez worked to protect communities through legislation, congressional oversight, casework, and advocacy.

Rep. Velázquez led the way in efforts to hold federal immigration agents accountable by introducing two pieces of legislation. The first bill, the No Masks for ICE Act, would prevent agents from wearing face coverings during enforcement activity and the second bill, the Police Not ICE Act, would prevent federal agents from identifying themselves as police or local law enforcement officers. Rep. Velázquez also led a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul calling for passage of the New York for All Act, which would prohibit state and local officials from working with federal immigration enforcement. Each of these bills is key in ensuring that communities do not live in confusion and fear of aggressive and anonymous immigration enforcement.

Rep. Velázquez rallies on behalf of a New Yorker detained by immigration enforcement

Over the course of the year, it became apparent that individuals were being held in inhumane conditions, including at 26 Federal Plaza and the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City. Rep. Velázquez carried out frequent congressional oversight at these sites and in immigration courts, federal officials often blocked her from carrying out this oversight. Despite this interference, her efforts contributed to uncovering inadequate conditions in detention centers which a federal judge described as causing “a very serious threat of continuing irreparable injury,” leading to a ruling requiring that conditions at detention centers be improved.

Rep. Velázquez attempts to conduct congressional oversight at the Metropolitan Detention Center

In addition to responding to these immediate challenges, it is critical to find permanent solutions for our immigrant neighbors, colleagues, and friends. To that end, Rep. Velázquez hosted community roundtables in Brooklyn and Queens to provide space for local service providers, advocates, experts, and policymakers to gather and chart a path forward. Rep. Velázquez was also proud to lead reintroduction of The American Dream and Promise Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for individuals with temporary status; a step toward finding permanent solutions for a more humane and just immigration system.

Rep. Velázquez will continue to stand up for the immigrant communities in New York City as long as this aggressive enforcement continues.

Supporting Small Business

In 2025, Rep. Velázquez continued her work as ranking member of the House Committee on Small Business. The Committee advanced legislation to help a wide range of businesses grow and be successful. However, much time was also spent responding to the effects of the Trump administration’s tariff policies, which have had an outsized impact on small businesses.

Rep. Velázquez pursued a variety of legislative priorities on the Committee. She worked on a bipartisan basis to pass an extension of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant program through the House and introduced legislation to authorize the program permanently. The program has been very successful in helping fuel technological innovation at startups and small businesses. Unfortunately, the legislation has been held up in the Republican-controlled Senate. Rep. Velázquez also advocated for her legislation to codify the “Rule of Two,” which helps ensure that small businesses can compete for federal contracts. The Committee also moved forward multiple bills related to Rep. Velázquez’s priority of easing access to capital for small businesses, especially those with employee-ownership models like co-operatives.

In committee hearings, constituent correspondence, and in reporting, small business owners have said that tariffs are hurting their operations and threatening their survival. Rep. Velázquez worked throughout the year to bring awareness to these concerns about the Trump administration’s policy. Rep. Velázquez argued that “chaotic trade policy is fueling inflation and making life unaffordable for small firms,” making it harder for businesses on Main Street to succeed.

Small businesses and Main Street remain the backbone of communities and economic growth across the country. It is vital that work continue in Congress to support these businesses through this turbulent time.

Advocating for the People of Puerto Rico

Being a voice for Puerto Rico in Congress has been a longstanding priority for Rep. Velázquez, this year she continued lifting up the needs of the Puerto Rican people through legislation, committee hearings, and congressional letters.

Congress’ involvement in Puerto Rico’s financial wellbeing is at the forefront of work supporting the island. At a hearing entitled Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Recovery Under PROMESA and the Road Ahead, Rep. Velázquez called out predatory lending practices undermining responsible debt management. She underlined the challenges created as GoldenTree, the lending company, continues to exploit the electrical grid which remains fragile and vulnerable to frequent outages and hurricanes. It has become, Rep. Velázquez argued in the hearing, a story of “GoldenTree versus the people of Puerto Rico,” and she will continue to use every opportunity to advocate for the people. To further support Puerto Rico’s fiscal stability, Rep. Velázquez joined Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Torres in advocating for the reinstatement of members of the Fiscal Oversight Board, who were removed by President Trump. It was later determined by a court that the removal ordered by President Trump was illegal.

Rep. Velázquez speaks on Puerto Rico’s fiscal recovery at a House Committee on Natural Resources hearing

Rep. Velázquez brought many important issues to the attention of federal agencies. Among these matters, Rep. Velázquez led a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calling for a stop to federal layoffs at the FDA San Juan Medical Products laboratory. In another letter, she requested a federal audit which resulted in $1 million of federal relief being distributed after it was incorrectly withheld. She led a letter to the Department of Energy urging the acceleration of solar installations under the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund program. She also led members in calling on the Financial Oversight and Management Board to address funding cuts that are destabilizing Puerto Rico’s nonprofits and threatening services for vulnerable families. These examples of advocacy work have given voice and provided solutions on Puerto Rico’s pressing challenges.

Military escalation in the Caribbean in recent months has raised new concerns in Puerto Rico. Rep. Velázquez demanded the Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth provide answers about DOD use of Puerto Rican infrastructure and the potential detonation of dangerous weapons on Vieques. In an op-ed, Rep. Velázquez argued that Puerto Rico should not be dragged into the DOD’s military actions.

Rep. Velázquez will continue advocating for the Puerto Rican people while ultimately seeking a path to self-determination.

Advancing Environmental Resilience

Environmental resilience included multiple important priorities this year, from preparing for natural disasters, to environmental stewardship projects in Brooklyn and Queens, and working to stop the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

In September, Rep. Velázquez introduced a disaster resilience package to help make sure families are neither overcharged nor underserved when hurricanes and other natural disasters hit. If passed, this package would improve FEMA response to impacted communities, reform flood insurance, and prevent airline price-gouging during disasters. This package is an important step in preparing for climate disasters that will inevitably intensify in coming years.

Further, Rep. Velázquez has long been a proponent of responsible work in the district to prepare climate challenges. For example, this year Rep. Velázquez hosted a Flood Solution Fair gathering experts on a wide range of topics from flood insurance to home improvement to provide the community with the resources needed to prepare. Federal funding for environmental projects, like the Gateway to Greenpoint project, which broke ground in October, reflect responsible management of climate challenges. Further, she has advocated strongly against the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project which would expand a Transco natural gas pipeline. This pipeline poses numerous risks including to the ecosystems in the New York/New Jersey harbor, by exposing residents to toxins, and undermining progress toward New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

Rep. Velázquez speaks at the Gateway to Greenpoint groundbreaking ceremony

As resilience and local stewardship are a top priority, it is also critical to maintain efforts to further broader efforts to prevent climate change. The 2009 Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “endangerment finding,” an important tool allowing regulation of emissions, has been threatened under the Trump administration. Rep. Velázquez led her New York colleagues in urging the agency to uphold its landmark environmental protections. Later in the year, as Congress considered undoing environmental regulations through the “SPEED Act,” Rep. Velázquez authored an op-ed outlining the importance of environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act. 

This year, Rep. Velázquez worked to advance environmental protections through every avenue available, and she works to prepare Brooklyn, Queens, and beyond for a climate resilient future.