Antonio Delgado

Madam Speaker, as I rise today for the last time as a Member of the 117th Congress, I must begin by thanking the people of New York's 19th Congressional District.

I thank them for trusting me to represent them in Washington. I thank them for every phone call they have placed to my office. I thank them for the hundreds of thousands of letters and emails they have sent to me. I thank them for coming to my town halls, and for scheduling meetings with me and my staff. Democracy is a two-way street, and their passionate engagement has helped me to be a more effective Representative.

I would also like to thank Lacey, my wife, and the love of my life, who has sacrificed so much since I decided to run for Congress more than four years ago. I want to thank Maxwell and Coltrane, my two sons, who drive my desire for positive change day in and day out.

I first addressed this Chamber in January of 2019. The longest government shutdown in our Nation's history had just ended, and I spoke about the need for Congress to live up to its charter as outlined in Article I. I said that Democrats and Republicans must work together to shoulder the sacred responsibilities entrusted to us by voters--and that we all must pledge to cast partisanship aside and be good stewards of the republic that we inherited from the generations that came before us.

Congress has done important work in the years since I gave that speech. We passed a once-in-a-generation investment in our Nation's infrastructure; we outlawed surprise medical billing; we delivered pandemic relief that helped America recover better economically than any of its peer nations. All in all, 18 of my bills were signed into law under two presidents--bills to provide emergency pandemic funding to municipalities of all sizes, to support underserved veterans, to provide loan forgiveness to small businesses and to protect family farms. I am proud of this record.

Over the past few years, I have tried to build a brand of politics that puts people before partisanship. I have made decisions based not on whether an idea comes from the right or left, but whether that idea is right or wrong. I fought tirelessly for those I represent; I listened to others before speaking; and I treated all people with love and respect.

Building a political movement based on love, respect, and humility will be the work I carry on in the years to come. The Capitol--this Chamber--is hallowed ground. I hope and pray that Congress will once again become a place where Representatives from every corner of this great country gather together not to emphasize their differences and use them for political gain, but to hash those differences out for the good of the people.

Representing New York's 19th District in Congress has been the greatest honor. But I have not done it alone and I want to acknowledge the incredible team that has made it all possible.

Several members of my team have been with me since day one.

My Chief of Staff, Jessie Andrews, is at the heart of my legislative success and has served our team as a sound and trusted leader.

Amanda DeSantis, my District Director, has logged tens of thousands of miles traversing NY-19 with me and on my behalf and shares my love of New York State and every corner of the district.

My Legislative Assistant, Matthew Gerson, with his intellectual curiosity and commitment to the veterans and small businesses in NY-19.

Vicky Perry has spearheaded my in-district programming--from Military Service Academy nominations to the Congressional Art Competition to our ``Antonio's Summer Superstars'' reading program.

Many others have joined along the way and brought immense value to the work.

My incredibly talented Legislative Director, Robert Dougherty. Christine Bienes, the best Scheduler in Congress. Jacob Salzmann, who accompanied me to countless events across the district. And the rest of my team in Washington and in-district for all their tireless work on behalf of my NY-19 constituents: Gabriela Foster, Sarah Bibeau, Max Prime, Chris Hanse, Daniel Wrenn, Natalie Lincoln, and Marques Grimes.

Madam Speaker, it is with a hopeful heart that I close out my time in Congress. I thank the residents of upstate New York for their love and support and to all who have been on this journey with me.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the past couple of years have been difficult on small businesses. COVID-19 upended life as we knew it. While America is turning a corner from the perspective of public health, the pandemic's aftershocks are still raising costs, scrambling supply chains, and disrupting labor markets.

That is what I heard from folks in Cooperstown last month when I invited the SBA administrator to tour Main Street with me. That is what I heard a few days ago when I visited small businesses in Tannersville in Greene County. That is what I regularly hear from small businessowners at my townhall meetings across the district. That is why Congress should be doing everything it can to reduce burdens on small business owners. That is what my bipartisan bill, the One Stop Shop for Small Business Compliance Act, would do.

In 1996, Congress passed a law requiring Federal agencies to publish easy-to-use regulation compliance guides for small businesses; a good idea that was poorly implemented.

The problem is, these guides are housed on different agency websites, making it difficult for small businesses to find and utilize them. If you want to find something for OSHA, you have to go to the OSHA website. If you want to find FTC's compliance guide, you go look around at FTC.gov. These guides are scattered across countless government websites.

My bill is simple, it would require the Small Business Administrator's Office of the National Ombudsman to create a centralized website that houses all Federal agency compliance guides in one place.

By creating a one-stop-shop online, we make these guides more accessible for small business owners who often lack the resources to hire staff to focus on compliance issues. The platform would also list contact information for the appropriate agency staff who could provide regulatory assistance to small businesses.

Small businesses are essential elements of the economic and social fabric of upstate New York. I am proud to cosponsor this legislation which will make it easier, not harder, for folks back home to run their businesses and access resources from the Federal Government.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne for her partnership on this bipartisan, commonsense legislation. I thank Chairwoman Velazquez and Ranking Member Luetkemeyer for their support, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). On this day 60 years ago, when concurrent compact legislation ratified by Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Congress became law, the DRBC was born.

It was a seminal moment in water resource management: it marked the first time that the federal government and a consortium of states formed a regional body to establish a coordinated approach to manage a river system. The DRBC--made up of the four governors and a senior U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official--work collectively to protect the basin's water quality and supply allocation, address droughts and flooding, and ensure that future generations can enjoy all that the river has to offer.

The Delaware River is the longest un-dammed river in the U.S. east of the Mississippi. It provides drinking water for more than 17 million Americans. Its watershed generates $25 billion in annual economic activity and contributes $21 billion worth of ecosystem goods and services each year. It's critically important that we protect this precious resource.

That's why I started the first-ever Congressional Delaware River Watershed Caucus with my colleague, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Our caucus supports conservation efforts for the basin and raises the profile of this ecological gem and economic driver. I look forward to continuing to work with the DRBC on our shared goals, and I congratulate the Commission on 60 years of outstanding work.