Nydia Velázquez

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Congressman Rob Bishop fought hard to ensure Puerto Rico had a way out of its fiscal mess.

the proposed provision authored by Representative Velazquez to expand certain disclosure requirements for professionals in the Title III case would be effective at avoiding conflicts of interest and creating greater transparency.

I would like to see language that defines essential services in a way so that we don't have this situation where extra money is going to the bondholders in the first years while we are still trying to recover from the hurricane.

That argument by both the Oversight Board and the government of Puerto Rico is a complete red herring.

But you can get consultants that will charge much less for the trip from San Juan to New York City. Five thousand?

This is an Administration that has proven again and again that it is not to be trusted.

No, our concern is getting access to the courts for the people of Puerto Rico, and access to tools.

So, what is your plan B if Puerto Rico doesn't get the money?

Yes. The residents of Puerto Rico would benefit from the information that an actual audit of the debt would provide.

The primary objective of these amendments is to streamline and simplify a debt adjustment process during emergency periods for Puerto Rico.

Congress should look to mechanisms adopted by many states that put limits on debt issuances.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you for coming here and shedding light of the struggle and the plight of the people of Puerto Rico for justice and equality.

The national leading advocate group, the coalition, slammed your approach.

You are denying access to raw data for researchers, for university researchers who have done extremely great research in demonstrating whether or not discrimination in lending still exists.

Congress specifically designed the Consumer Bureau to be an independent agency, like other Federal financial regulators, and it is clear that you are working to undermine the agency's ability to serve as an independent watchdog for…

After spending $27 million of taxpayers' money this will be the answer to all of the delays that they were facing?

While this delay is troubling, equally concerning is SBA's refusal to provide this committee answers to its legitimate oversight questions regarding this program.

SBA has unreasonably delayed implementing the women certification process, a process that is required by law.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep disappointment in the SBA's lack of responsiveness to this committee's inquiries regarding the Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Program and the SCORE program.

I have introduced H.R. 3490, the Small Business Lending Fairness Act, which will prohibit confessions of judgment at the Federal level in commercial lending practices.

We owe it to the entrepreneurs, as well as to the taxpayers at large, to ensure that these federally-backed finance programs are being run efficiently.

How can we, as members of Congress, be assured that you are doing everything you can to have the appropriate staff when the positions are not even being posted publicly?

The SBIC program is a vital source of capital to small businesses.

I am currently working on legislation that will expand this coverage.

I wanted to be on this Committee because in the Kansas City Metro area and the Third District in Kansas... entrepreneurship is baked into the DNA of the place.