Adriano Espaillat

I urge you to please come back to us and give us what your plan is for this change.

I oppose this plan. I know that a number of my colleagues also oppose it. I will be leading a letter in opposition to it.

I believe that the CBSI is critical to the U.S. national interest and that we ought to continue to grow the program.

The Caribbean is, in fact, our third border, and we ought to direct necessary focus to the region.

I consistently hear of our allies in the region that they feel ignored by the U.S. because we have stepped away from the region.

The Trump budget, again, calls for eliminating capital improvement grants.

The administration had the gall to say that a major project of regional and national significance... is a State issue.

The Trump administration released a budget that will divest the Federal Government from infrastructure.

In New York City, funding through the New Starts program is absolutely vital for extending the Second Avenue subway.

I believe that an empty threat is not a threat at all.

I think there is a consensus that Maduro is a dictator.

The Dominican Republic lost one of its brightest stars this week, with the passing of singer and composer Froilan Antonio Jimenez, known in the artistic world as Anthony Rios. Rios' ascent was rapid due to his remarkable work ethic…

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund and its sister program, the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, are of vital importance to New York City and New York State and cities around the country really.

I am proposing a doubling of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative program.

We need to, again, reassert ourselves as the leader of the Americas and do so by assisting governments to provide good services and programs that will reduce the migration.

We must establish our leadership again, but we must do it by assisting those nations to address some of the fundamental reasons why there is a large exodus of families for the most part.

I urge this committee again to double the funding for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative for Fiscal year 2019.

The U.S. cannot again be a foreign power meddling in the affairs of another country.

It is imperative that the U.S. support the right of the Venezuelan people to freely and fairly elect their leaders.

And just keep in mind that as we begin to pay more attention to the border and Central and South America, drug dealers will shift their strategy to other borders.

We have abdicated our leadership role in that region and created a vacuum of leadership, and for that reason we have seen now recently how countries even like China have stepped in to plug that leadership gap that we have left unattended…

I think that we have turned our heads and our backs on that region for far too long, and they are really our backyard, and we should have an ongoing positive working relationship.

I recognize that that is tragic and that a lot of the funding that is going to help the Venezuelan people is being stopped at some of their border points.

I am in support of the Venezuelan people and their efforts to have transparent, democratic elections.

I urge the committee to include report language that funding be of a humanitarian nature and explicitly not intended for the use of military or state police efforts.