news

“These first-responders and essential workers have kept our communities going under challenging circumstances, and they need to know we have their backs. Our legislation delivers that assurance and puts our region and nation on a more solid footing to weather this storm.” Read more »

AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko announced this afternoon that The Heroes Act—new COVID-19 crisis relief legislation that has now been introduced in the House—delivers an estimated $1.3 billion in crisis-response aid to New York’s Capital Region and a combined $49.5 billion to New York State overall. Under the bill:·     Local governments in Albany… Read more »

AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko has sent a stinging letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai detailing the agency’s chronic failures to correctly map and support New York households with limited broadband access. The letter includes testimonials from dozens of teachers, students, parents and small business owners across NY-20 who are struggling as a… Read more »

AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko highlighted research institutions in the Capital Region that have joined in the federal response to combat COVID-19 during a recent bipartisan roundtable held by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The committee examined agencies and authorities within its jurisdiction that could advance science and technology-based solutions to… Read more »

AMSTERDAM, NY—Representatives Paul D. Tonko celebrated news today that an EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant has been awarded to Montgomery County totaling $300,000 that will be used towards cleanup and economic redevelopment of local brownfield sites. “Not only do unaddressed brownfields negatively impact our regional economy, they often pose a threat to our environmental and public… Read more »

AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko announced this morning that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will award grants to support seven public housing authorities in the Capital Region affected by the COVID-19 pandemic totaling $1,959,663. “Every American deserves access to safe, affordable housing,” Congressman Tonko said. “These grants funded through… Read more »

AMSTERDAM, NY—Representatives Paul D. Tonko and Jerrold Nadler led a bipartisan letter from Members of the New York Congressional delegation to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) requesting that any future COVID-19 response legislation address the needs and priorities of America's cultural sites, many of which call New York home. "Museums, zoos,… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman James E. Clyburn, House Majority Whip and Chairman of the House Democratic Rural Broadband Task Force, and Congressman Frank Pallone, Chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee, along with 10 members of the Rural Broadband Task Force and Energy & Commerce Committee, today announced the House Democratic Plan to Connect All Americans to Affordable… Read more »

Washington, DC—United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Congressman Joe Kennedy III (D-MA-04), along with Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); and Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA-06), Paul Tonko (D-NY-20), John Katko (R-NY-24) and 68 of their Senate and House colleagues, sent a letter to Congressional leadership requesting emergency… Read more »

AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko introduced legislation today in the House of Representatives that would fund research to study the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has on the mental health of Americans, and more specifically, health care providers. “Every one of us has felt the burden of this crisis. Our frontline workers have been coping with many weeks of exposure to the… Read more »