Nydia Velazquez: Legislative Record
Nydia Velazquez has compiled an extensive legislative record over 17 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. According to GovTrack, she has been the primary sponsor of 18 enacted bills and has sponsored approximately 496 bills across her career . The Center for Effective Lawmaking ranked her sixth among all 196 House Democrats in the 115th Congress for legislative effectiveness . Her legislative activity has concentrated in the areas of commerce, health, education, finance, and Puerto Rico affairs .
Committee Assignments
Velazquez's committee portfolio has remained stable throughout her tenure. She has served on the House Small Business Committee since her arrival in Congress, holding the position of Ranking Member beginning in 1998 and Chairwoman during periods of Democratic majority rule in the 110th, 111th, 116th, and 117th Congresses . In the 119th Congress, she serves as Ranking Member . She has simultaneously held a senior seat on the House Financial Services Committee, where she is the most senior New York member and serves on the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance . She has also served on the House Committee on Natural Resources, where her subcommittee assignments include Energy and Mineral Resources and Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs .
Major Legislative Accomplishments
Among the bills Velazquez has shepherded into law, several stand out for their scope. The PPP and Bank Fraud Enforcement Harmonization Act of 2022 (H.R. 7352) strengthened enforcement tools against fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program . The Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act (PRRADA, H.R. 1192) closed a loophole that exempted Puerto Rico's bankruptcy proceedings from conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements applied elsewhere under federal law . She also secured the passage of a private relief bill for Ravidath Lawrence Ragbir (H.R. 1191), granting the immigration activist legal permanent status . The Violence Against Women Veterans Act (H.R. 3867) extended protections to women who served in the armed forces .
Small Business Legislation
The bulk of Velazquez's legislative output has focused on the Small Business Administration and its programs. She played a central role in designing and overseeing the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic . She has introduced legislation to expand SBA lending authority, including measures to increase loan guarantee percentages under the 7(a) program for businesses in Puerto Rico . She has authored bills to improve the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs 7. In the 119th Congress, her sponsored legislation includes the 7(a) Program Risk Oversight Act (H.R. 9691), the Investing in the American Dream Act (H.R. 8563), and a bill to provide re-entry entrepreneurship counseling for incarcerated individuals (H.R. 9491) 7.
Puerto Rico-Related Legislation
Velazquez has been among the most prolific authors of Puerto Rico-focused bills in Congress. She introduced the Puerto Rico Small Business Assistance Act (H.R. 2488) in 2017 to channel SBA resources toward the island's struggling economy . She successfully amended the National Defense Authorization Act to allow federal agencies to count contracts awarded to Puerto Rican firms at double their value toward statutory small business contracting goals . She authored the COUNT Victims Act to establish federal procedures for counting fatalities after natural disasters, a measure prompted by the controversy over Hurricane Maria's death toll . She also introduced the National Commission of the Federal Response to Natural Disasters in Puerto Rico Act to investigate the federal response to Hurricane Maria . In September 2025, she unveiled a package of five bills to strengthen disaster response, reform flood insurance, and protect consumers from price gouging during emergencies .
Housing Legislation
On housing, Velazquez introduced the Public Housing Emergency Response Act, proposing $70 billion nationally for public housing capital repairs . She authored multiple iterations of the Landlord Accountability Act targeting abuses in the Section 8 program . In the 119th Congress, she secured provisions in the Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) to recognize housing cooperatives as eligible for federal housing programs and to require congressional oversight of court-appointed monitors at public housing authorities . That legislation passed the House and headed to the President's desk in 2026 .
Immigration Legislation
Velazquez authored the American Promise Act to prevent deportation of Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure beneficiaries . In 2019, she introduced a private bill to grant legal permanent status to Ravi Ragbir . In 2025, she introduced the No Masks for ICE Act (prohibiting facial coverings during immigration enforcement actions) and led a delegation letter urging New York's state government to pass the New York for All Act .
Voting Record
Velazquez voted in favor of both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in December 2019, characterizing the withholding of military aid to Ukraine as an abuse of power . She voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 . She supported the Build Back Better Act, highlighting its $5 billion investment in SBA programs .
Caucus Memberships
Velazquez is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (which she chaired during the 111th Congress), the Congressional Asian American Pacific Caucus, the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, the Urban Caucus, and the Democratic Caucus .