Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, has announced that she will not seek re-election in 2026.
“For more than three decades, I have had the privilege of a lifetime serving the people of New York City in the United States Congress,” she wrote. “After much reflection, I have decided that this will be my last term in Congress. This was not an easy decision, but I believe that the time is right for me to move on and for a new generation of leaders to step forward.”
Velázquez is known for her support for veterans and their families, her leadership on the Small Business Committee, and her commitment to working class communities both in New York and Puerto Rico.
Born in Yabucoa, Velázquez cares deeply about her native Puerto Rico.
Velázquez on Puerto Rico status
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez’s views on Puerto Rico’s political status have evolved over her career, reflecting both her personal convictions and the changing realities of U.S.–Puerto Rico relations. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Velázquez spoke of a perceived Puerto Rican compact of free association with the United States and advocated preserving and upgrading a theoretical “commonwealth” arrangement with features of both a state and a foreign country, as was common at the time among the leaders in the Popular Democratic Party, also known as the “commonwealth” party.
Did Puerto Rico Ever Have a Compact of Free Association?
Over time, analysis and court decisions clarified that Puerto Rico does not possess full sovereignty and that there is no binding bilateral compact; Congress retains plenary power over the territory of Puerto Rico. Velázquez bravely publicly acknowledged the colonial reality of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the U.S. and expressed dissatisfaction with its inequities and limits. In recent interviews and congressional statements, she called U.S. colonial control “an embarrassment” and recognized the psychological and economic dependence created by territorial status.
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Support for self-determination
In 2021, Velázquez, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and others, introduced the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act, promoting a status convention outside of Puerto Rico’s representative legislature to consider Puerto Rico’s political future. Unfortunately, the process proposed was criticized as being complex, lengthy, and lacking safeguards around the only status options that are possible under the U.S. Constitution. What’s more, by that time Puerto Rico had already voted for statehood several times in status votes on the Island. Self-determination had already taken place, and many observers considered the self-determination bill unnecessary at best, or simply a means of delaying statehood.
Not to be deterred, in 2022, she joined Reps. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, Darren Soto (D-FL), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and others to develop broad bipartisan support for the Puerto Rico Status Act (H.R. 8393). This compromise bill for the first time offered a proposed binding referendum on all the viable non-territorial choices: statehood, independence, or independence with free association. Not only did the bill commit Congress to action following the vote, it also recognized that an enhanced commonwealth is not a legally viable option.
Velázquez supported the PRSA, stating the bill “clearly defines Puerto Rico’s non-territorial options” and calls on Congress to facilitate Puerto Ricans’ right to decide their future. She continued to call for public education and nonpartisanship on this issue. She advocated for financial provisions for a possible transition to independence, possibly with a Compact of Free Association. She continued to advocate for continued U.S. citizenship for an independent Puerto Rico, in spite of the unlikelihood of this outcome, saying that it was “the bare minimum” Congress owed to Puerto Rico.
Velázquez moved over the years from supporting “enhanced commonwealth” to recognizing the territorial limitations and actively supporting a binding, congressionally led process to resolve Puerto Rico’s political status.
Championing Puerto Rico and the underserved
When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2016, Rep. Velázquez wore her heart on her sleeve, fighting tenaciously for resources for the battered island.
In 2017, she joined House Armed Services Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) in leading 145 Members of Congress on a letter to President Trump demanding that the Department of Defense deploy additional resources to aid recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
She was also a voice for Puerto Rico in demanding greater federal accountability for the economic effects of blackouts and related problems with Puerto Rico’s electric grid.
Rep. Velázquez was also a Congressional champion in bringing full coverage of the U.S. child tax credit to Puerto Rico in 2022.
In her announcement that she will not be seeking reelection, Rep. Velázquez reflected, “I do not yet know what the next chapter holds, but I know I will continue fighting for the city I love and for an end to Puerto Rico’s colonial status. Serving New York has been the honor of my life. I will always be grateful for the trust my constituents placed in me over all these years.”
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