U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks has always been a steadfast advocate for jobs in his southeast Queens district — a working- and middle-class community that reflects the beautiful diversity of New York City. For decades, he has championed initiatives that expand opportunity for his constituents. Recent examples include the effort to grow minority- and women-owned businesses through the $2.3 billion in contracts awarded at JFK Airport.
On the national stage, Meeks has been equally determined, challenging Trump administration policies that put the economy and jobs at risk. As the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Meeks criticized planned State Department layoffs, arguing that such cuts would undermine national security by stripping away essential talent.
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Now, Meeks and his colleagues face a new challenge: to ensure the Trump administration does not allow Nvidia to sell its most advanced chips, (currently the Blackwell and next generation Vera Rubin), which would signal a shift in export that puts our economy and national security at risk.
To preserve America’s leading position in the global AI race, we need leaders in Congress to remain vigilant and Rep. Meeks is uniquely positioned to do so. With his influential seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, he can help forge a unified, bipartisan approach to AI policy and reverse the administration’s misguided decision. Given his record of protecting American industries and jobs, he will almost certainly do just that.
The stakes are enormous. Penn Wharton estimates a 1.5% GDP increase by 2035 – gains that hinge on American companies maintaining their edge. When we ship advanced chips overseas to rivals, we effectively subsidize foreign innovation rather than investing in our own. Once these chips are exported, there’s no way to get them back. It’s like giving away a blueprint to victory in the AI arms race. But by pushing his colleagues to restore export restrictions, Rep. Meeks can safeguard not only U.S. national security but also American workers, innovators, and job creators.
Some argue that an open-door policy with the CCP on advanced chips will benefit a major American company like Nvidia and support the U.S. industry in the short term. But national security and economic experts warn that these chips won’t just be used. Instead, they will be reverse engineered, copied, and mass-produced to compete with U.S. companies.
In addition to potentially jeopardizing our economic future and position in the global AI market, Trump’s decision a mis-step by the Trump Administration to allow the export of Nvidia’s second-most-powerful chip to the CCP has other national security implications. According to the Department of Defense, the CCP is already using AI to power surveillance systems, military planning, or other capabilities that undermine American interests.
America’s AI advantage is real but fragile. According to RAND, U.S. companies currently have roughly ten times China’s compute capacity – the raw processing power that drives AI development. Chinese tech leaders know this. Tencent’s cloud vice president has called limited GPU access “the most severe problem” facing Chinese AI, and DeepSeek’s CEO has identified the same constraint. Why would we hand our competitors the very resource they need most?
These issues are close to home for Rep. Meeks and affect the work he has done in his own district. The industries powered by advanced chips — AI, aerospace, and next-generation engineering — are areas where Meeks has sought to create opportunities for students and workers in southeast Queens.
For instance, he has championed the JFK Aviation & Aerospace Academy, a program designed to prepare the next generation of aviation and aerospace professionals at York College’s campus. With a capacity to serve up to 700 students annually, the academy creates a direct pipeline to opportunities associated with the $19 billion JFK Airport redevelopment, ensuring that local youth can access high-growth STEM fields.
Now, he must work with his colleagues in Congress to take decisive steps to reverse the Trump administration’s strategic misstep. That begins with restoring export controls, demanding transparency around foreign chip purchasers, and convening bipartisan hearings to assess the full national-security and economic implications.
This is about more than chips. It is about the future of American innovation, the strength of our economy, and the ability of communities like southeast Queens to compete in a rapidly changing global economy. Representative Gregory Meeks is built for this moment. We are lucky to have him.
Dr. Carl Mack is former executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers.
