Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Newsletters [Messages From AOC]

Dear Community Members of NY-14,

Happy Vijayadashami to all who celebrate! I hope this auspicious occasion brings joy and light to you, your family, and your community.

As our community continues to recover from Hurricane Ida, please note that there’s still time to apply for disaster assistance before the deadline on Monday, December 6th, 2021. I understand that for some the application process has been frustrating, and many of you received less than you’re owed. As such, you can find more information below about legal assistance and appeals processes for disaster relief. Please also note that our office is able to submit an inquiry about the status of your appeal, or inquire about any delays that you might be experiencing. So far, in Bronx and Queens Counties, 25,442 people have registered, $24 million has been approved in housing assistance, and $3 million has been approved in other assistance. 

In other news, I visited Rikers to follow-up on reports of a humanitarian crisis taking place at the prison.We are utilizing all federal resources to assist the city and state in immediately reducing the population at Rikers, and strongly believe that we must close and decarcerate Rikers now. Read our full statement here. 

I was also honored to welcome the First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, to the PS 83 Annex School in the Bronx. Educators and support staff at the school, who are now in their third school year of teaching during a pandemic, discussed the challenges of transitioning back to in-person learning. We’re incredibly grateful for our educators and support staff who have been working extra hard to keep students connected to learning over the past year and a half.

Back in D.C., negotiations are in the works to pass the President’s Build Back Better Agenda. Progressives, including myself, will not vote for a bipartisan infrastructure deal unless we also pass critical pieces of the President’s Agenda  — which contains funding for free community college, Medicare expansion, universal pre-K, climate action, and more. We discussed this during our joint town hall last week with Representative Jared Huffman. If you missed it, you can watch it in English (with ASL interpretation) here, or in Nepali, Bangla, or Mandarin.   

Below, we’ve also included updates on the Child Tax Credit, the Congressional App Challenge, Service Academy Nominations, and updates from D.C. As always, please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any questions or if we can be of any other assistance. We also encourage constituent feedback, and welcome any comments or concerns you may have. You can reach our office by sending a message HERE or by calling 718-662-5970. 

In Service,

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Did you apply for disaster assistance through FEMA, but disagreed with the determination that they made about the amount of aid you would receive? If so, you have 60 days from the time you received your letter to send FEMA an appeal. Specialists at the FEMA Helpline can give you advice on what to include in your appeal letter and provide information on many other topics beyond appeals. Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 or VRS (Video Relay Service). Lines are open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. Learn more about the appeals process here.

You can also visit a Disaster Recovery Center and meet face-to-face with FEMA staff and representatives of other federal and state agencies who can provide information about disaster assistance. Visit the Bronx or Queens locations, which are both open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM:

1. Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse, E., Academic Building C, BRONX, NY 10451
2. Queens College, 152-45 Melbourne Ave, FLUSHING, NY 11367

Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is now available to New Yorkers in Bronx and Queens Counties who lost their jobs as a direct result of Hurricane Ida. The deadline for filing for DUA benefits is November 18, 2021. 

To apply for disaster unemployment assistance, those affected by Hurricane Ida and have lost their job or income should file a claim by calling The NYS DOL at 1-866-642-7227. More information here.

Do you have children under 18 but have yet to receive an Advance Child Tax Credit payment? You must sign up by November 15th to receive it this year. You are eligible for payments even if you are incarcerated, experiencing homelessness, or have no income. 

• If you’ve already filed a 2019 or 2020 tax return, there’s no further action needed. 
• If you haven’t filed a tax return for 2019 or 2020 yet, but are required to do so based on your income, file your taxes using NYC Free Tax Prep. 
• If your income is below the following, then you are not required to file a return. However, you can still get the Child Tax Credit payments by submitting the necessary tax information though GetCTC in English, GetCTC in Spanish, or NYC Free Tax Prep. 
  • $12,400 (individual filer)
  • $18,650 (heads of households)
  • $24,800 (joint filers) 

Questions? Call our office at 718-662-5970 for more info.

Submit your application for the Congressional App Challenge by November 1st! Every year, this nationwide competition allows middle and high school students from across the country to compete against their peers by creating and exhibiting their software application, or “app”, for mobile, tablet, or computer devices on a platform of their choice. If you live or go to school in NY-14, you can submit your app as an individual or group!

Service Academy nomination applications are also due on November 1st. Representative Ocasio-Cortez may nominate candidates for appointment to all the service academies except for the Coast Guard Academy, which does not require a congressional appointment. To request a Service Academy Nomination, please complete a nomination file. Find more information on our website.

Letter to Senate Leadership on Protecting Pathway to Citizenship

We led a letter with Representatives Lou Correa, Chuy Garcia, Adriano Espaillat, and more that 40 additional Members explaining why we should disregard the Parliamentarian’s advice on immigration reform. The Senate Parlimentarian, who advises on Senate procedure, has blocked two attempts by Senate Democrats to establish a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in their reconciliation bill. However, legally speaking, the parliamentarian’s advice is just that — advice. That’s why Congress needs to move forward despite the Parlimentarian’s recommendation. We’ve been waiting for decades for a pathway to citizenship. Congress can’t give up now. Read the full letter here.

Four of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s NDAA Amendments Pass House

Representative Ocasio-Cortez introduced seven amendments that collectively sought to end U.S. practices that have contributed to human rights abuses, and four of them passed the House. One amendment would block the sale of weapons to the Saudi unit that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while the other three address human rights abuses in Colombia.

Extending Pandemic Unemployment Assistance 

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez introduced a bill to extend all federal pandemic unemployment insurance through February 1, 2022.  If passed, benefits would be retroactive to September 6.  The bill text is available here.