Dear John xxxxxx,

December 2022: Congresswoman Velázquez End of the Year Update

In this issue:

•  A Note from Congresswoman Velázquez
•  Community Funding
•  Inflation Reduction Act
•  Reproductive Rights
•  Gun Violence
•  Puerto Rico
•  Fighting Climate Change

A Note from Congresswoman Velázquez

 
Dear Neighbor,

As this year comes to an end, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what we have accomplished for New York’s working families.

Throughout this year, I’ve listened to your calls and read your mail, and I appreciate each one of you who took the time to make your voice heard. I have worked with my colleagues in Congress and the Biden Administration to uplift working families, protect constitutional rights, and find solutions to problems that face New Yorkers and our nation. It is time that we reflect on the tremendous progress that New York City has made and look to the future to build upon this progress. In the next Congress, I will continue to work with my colleagues to help create a more just and equitable New York City.

Below you’ll find updates on my latest work in Congress. As always, please contact my office with questions, concerns, or to share your opinion.

 
Sincerely,

Nydia M. Velázquez

1. $750,000 for the Acquisition of a building in the Bushwick, Brooklyn neighborhood to create the Brooklyn Center for Social Justice, Entrepreneurship and the Arts (BCSEA),
2. $1,800,453 for the Arab-American Family Support Center in collaboration with the Academy of Medical & Public Health Services, Brooklyn, NY for immigrant mental health initiative services, including equipment,
3. $1,025,000 for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy in collaboration with NYC H20 (Ridgewood/Highland Park), Greater Ridgewood Youth Council, and St. Ann’s Warehouse youth education and stewardship initiative programs,
4. $750,000 for the Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) Barrio Affordable Solar,
5. $1,100,000 for the Grand Street Settlement 80 Pitt Street Community Center Renovation to make capital improvements within the Community Center,
6. $300,000 for the Loisaida, New York, NY for an environmental and community science program to promote a climate workforce development & entrepreneurship,
7. $800,000 for the Make the Road New York, Brooklyn, NY in collaboration with Bangladeshi American Community Development & Youth Services for adult literacy programs and services, including the purchase of equipment, to improve economic outcomes,
8. $2,000,000 for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, New York, NY to renovate an existing kitchen and office spaces, bathrooms, patient room doors, and replacement of surveillance cameras at Woodhull Mental and Medical Center in North Brooklyn,
9. $1,000,000 for the North Brooklyn Anti-Violence Initiative in collaboration with St. Nicks Alliance, Riseboro and The Wick/Los Sures which will help to prevent violence and improve the quality-of-life in North Brooklyn with innovative strategies,
10. $750,000 for the NYCHA ADA Accessibility and Security Lighting Project at Borinquen Plaza and Red Hook East and West,
11. $300,000 for the Good Old Lower East Side (Goles) Public Housing Leadership Academy to train emerging leaders in Lower East Side public housing,
12. $750,000 for Evergreen Exchange in coordination with Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation for a business assistance program Resilient Recovery: Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront,
13. $1,500,000 for the St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY nursing simulation lab for the education of future nurses in coordination with The Brooklyn Hospital Center,
14. $1,200,000 for the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg Inc., Brooklyn, NY in collaboration with Henry Street Settlement will provide social services initiative connecting families to assistance to reduce poverty and improve economic independence,
15. $2,000,000 for the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY for facilities and equipment to increase access to colorectal cancer screenings.

Inflation Reduction Act

Congresswoman Velázquez knows how tough inflation has been on working families in her district and that’s why she worked with Congressional Democrats and President Biden to take major action to reduce inflation.

After months of negotiations, Democrats introduced and ultimately signed into law The Inflation Reduction Act. This once in-a-generational piece of legislation will make an historic down payment on deficit reduction to fight inflation, invest in domestic energy production, and is the single biggest investment in history to fight the climate crisis. The bill will also finally

Affordable Care Act program for three years through 2025.

Congresswoman Velázquez was proud to support this monumental piece of legislation not only for what it will do nationally, but in her district as well.

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act constituents in Congresswoman Velázquez’s District will see the following benefits:

-           The average enrollee is expected to save $1,426 in premiums starting next year.

-           A family in the district with two adults, two children, and a household income of

-           $75,000 could save $2,832 on their premiums next year.

-           A household of two adults over the age of 60 with a joint income of $70,000 could save $8,868 on their premiums next year.

-           Medicare beneficiary in the district enrolled in a standard drug plan would have saved an estimated $250 in out-of-pocket costs.

-           Monthly copayments for insulin products will be capped at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries.

For more information on the investments the Inflation Reduction Act makes, click here.

Reproductive Rights

Congresswoman Velázquez has always been a fierce advocate and fighter for reproductive rights and this year, was no different.

In June, the radical right-wing Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision Roe v. Wade, taking away one’s right to bodily autonomy. The decision resulted in fifty years of legal precedent being ignored and stripped a fundamental right away from Americans across the country. Congresswoman Velázquez would get to work fighting back against this decision.

In the House, she voted in favor of the Women's Health Protection Act, which establishes a statutory right for health care providers to offer abortion services to patients. It would also prohibit states from imposing restrictions on abortion care. She also voted in support of the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, a bill that addresses recent efforts by state legislatures to punish Americans traveling to other states for reproductive health care. The bill would ensure no person acting under state law could prevent, restrict, or otherwise retaliate against a person traveling across state lines for lawful abortion services.

Congresswoman Velázquez will continue to fight for abortion rights, and she is determined to work with her Democratic colleagues to ensure that this basic right is recognized.

During her time in Congress Congresswoman Velázquez has been a staunch advocate for reproductive health care for all. Unfortunately, more than 270 million people around the world have an unmet need for family planning using modern contraception, and in the United States 19 million women of reproductive age live in an area with a lack of reasonable access in their county to a health center that offers the full range of contraceptive methods. Therefore, Congresswoman Velázquez introduced a Resolution in Support of World Contraception Day that expresses support for global and domestic access to contraception and encourages Congress and the Administration to study contraceptive deserts and ways federal policy can address the issue.

Gun Violence

For far too long, gun violence has plagued New York’s communities, causing pain and suffering for countless New Yorkers. 

Congresswoman Velázquez for decades has been a staunch advocate for strict gun control measures that would keep tools of war off our streets. In this year alone there was 607 mass shootings in the United States which is the second most in our nation’s history. Congresswoman Velázquez and her Democratic colleagues said enough is enough. She was proud to support the Assault Weapons Ban Act of 2022 which would ban the sale, import, manufacture, or transfer of certain semiautomatic weapons, bump stock-type devices, and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices.

In addition to the Assault Weapons Ban Act, Congress worked to come up with a bipartisan solution to make our communities safer. Congresswoman Velázquez was proud to vote for the Safer Communities Act which aims to combat gun violence and includes provisions that will improve access to mental health care and help equip schools with the resources necessary to keep schools safe. The Safer Communities Act was signed into law over the summer, but Congresswoman Velázquez knows there is still more that needs to be done to keep tools of war out of our communities.

In New York City, easy access to ghost gun blueprints makes these untraceable weapons more accessible to bad actors and more likely to show up in our neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. Congresswoman Velázquez signed onto a letter calling on President Biden to undo a Trump-era rule that weakened export controls designed to prevent computer files for the 3D-printing of firearms from being available on the internet and ending up in the wrong hands. Congresswoman Velázquez will continue to work in Congress to ensure tools of war are kept out of our communities.

 

Puerto Rico

As systemic inequities continue to affect Puerto Ricans on the Island, the Congresswoman has remained a strong and vocal advocate for the people of Puerto Rico.

For decades, solving the Puerto Rican colonial conundrum has been at a standstill. However, after months of negotiations, the Congresswoman came into an agreement on a way forward to decolonize Puerto Rico called the Puerto Rico Status Act. This proposal was crafted after public input from the people of Puerto Rico and is a bill that will finally give the people ability to decide their political future. This crucial piece of legislation was recently passed by the House in an historic vote for the people of Puerto Rico. As one of the negotiators of the bill Congresswoman Velázquez was proud to support this legislation which was a monumental step forward for the people of Puerto Rico.
 

During the debate on this bill Congresswoman Velázquez gave a speech in support of the Puerto Rico Status Act. You can watch her full speech here.  

As Puerto Rico was getting ready to remember the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans had to prepare for the threat of Hurricane Fiona. Due to insufficient action to fix the issues lingering from Hurricane Maria, the island was left vulnerable to Hurricane Fiona. In the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona, Congresswoman Velázquez got to work in assisting the island in its road to recovery. She led a letter to Congressional leadership requesting Congress pass an emergency funding bill to support Puerto Rico’s response to Hurricane Fiona that includes $1 billion for the Nutrition Assistance Program. Congresswoman Velázquez also urged President Biden to issue a Major Disaster Declaration for all of Puerto Rico’s municipalities in response to Hurricane Fiona. Congresswoman Velázquez introduced a bipartisan piece of legislation that required the Department of Homeland Security to waive the Jones Act for vessels that provided disaster relief to Puerto Rico.

 

Fighting Climate Change

Congresswoman Velázquez has been a fierce advocate for new and innovative ways to fight the growing consequences of climate change.

This summer, Congresswoman Velázquez led ten Members of Congress in sending a letter to the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to urge the department to phase out agricultural pesticides on National Wildlife Refuges through a rulemaking process. In the past, pesticides were heavily relied upon and seen as a panacea to agricultural challenges. This is not the case any longer; increasing scientific awareness of the real risks to ecosystems from pesticides means this tool no longer serves its intended purpose.

Earlier this year Congress passed the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which made an historic investment in new ways to build green infrastructure. Congresswoman Velázquez was proud to announce that New York received $257,806,980 to provide New Yorkers with additional green transportation options, ease congestion in local communities and reduce carbon pollution across the state. This grant not only benefited the climate, but it will also help to reduce America’s reliance on foreign energy and protect working families from rising costs.

During the negotiations of a government funding bill, Senator Joe Manchin attempted to sneak in detrimental permitting changes on oil pipelines. Congresswoman Velázquez was proud to stand with her colleagues in sending a letter to leadership to not include the dirty permitting deal in the government funding bill. These provisions would’ve significantly and disproportionately impact low-income communities, Indigenous communities, and communities of color.

With the end of 2022 marking the end of the 117th Congress, Congresswoman Velázquez was able to get a lot accomplished for the people of New York’s Seventh District. Below you can see some of the ways the Congresswoman served through constituents her offices has aided, bills she has supported, and federal funds that she has brought to her district.  

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