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Dear Neighbor,

I hope you had a great summer and I want to wish all of our NY-16 families a happy back to school! Team Bowman has been busy in our NY-16 community and excited to keep fighting for everyone when Congress comes back in session. 

But before we check out what we’ve been up to this month, I wanted to let you know I wrote an open letter to students personally offering myself and my office as a resource to any student struggling. I know what it means to struggle in school, and I want to be available to every NY-16 student and beyond.

We kicked off the month with our Veterans Roundtable, where my team and I shared information about expanded benefit eligibility from the PACT Act to ensure veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances got the healthcare and benefits they deserve. Thank you to everyone who attended! Spending time with veterans from our NY-16 community is always a pleasure. If you need help with VA benefits, make sure to reach out to my office at the contact info below.

My team and I then went to visit the Northeast STEM Starter Academy summer program in Mount Vernon where they’re giving students the tools they need to explore new skills and subjects like coding and robotics. As a former educator, I love seeing STEM programs like this one in our community. We need to make sure that every student has access to extracurricular opportunities where they can thrive.

The next week, I traveled to Florida with the Congressional School Safety and Security Caucus for a school safety tour led by the families of survivors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the site of the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history. The building has been untouched since the day of the shooting, and it was devastating to walk the halls and see desks turned over and backpacks left behind. The senseless violence in our schools has to end, our children deserve to feel safe and protected in the classroom. It’s our responsibility to act now and finally pass federal gun reform. 

With the deadline to resume payments on student loans approaching, I signed onto a letter with over 80 of my colleagues in the House and Senate urging the Biden administration to keep their promise to cancel student debt for working and middle class families by early 2024. To support folks with student loan debt, a new program was just released called the SAVE Program. It ensures monthly payments are based on your income, and not the amount of debt, and you can sign up here.

Our NY-16 community has also been welcoming new community members. Throughout the month, I’ve been working on getting the best outcomes possible for the migrants and asylum seekers joining us. An important part of that process is making sure that our state has everything we need to support the migrants, which is why Governor Kathy Hochul and I called on President Biden to direct more resources for migrant support to New York. I also went to visit migrants in emergency housing at hotels throughout Westchester to hear from them directly about their stories and needs. We owe it to them to be good neighbors and support them however we can. 

And last weekend after spending some time with my family, I traveled to Investfest in Atlanta, where I joined a panel on reparations for Black Americans. Reparations are about acknowledging our history and fighting for equity and justice and I’m proud to support the movement and thankful for spaces where we get to come together and celebrate our community’s wins and advocacy. 

September 15th is the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, and my office and I would love to celebrate the incredible Latino members of our NY-16 community. If you have someone you’d like to nominate, please submit a form here.

We’re always around to help you out with any federal agencies, and we’ll be hosting mobile constituent services in Hastings, Yonkers, New Rochelle, and Port Chester this month. But stay tuned - we’ll be coming to your neighborhood soon! If you need assistance with any federal agency at an earlier time you can always email us at Bowman.Casework@mail.house.gov, or call our office at the numbers below.

Peace and love,

Congressman Jamaal Bowman Ed.D.