Dear Neighbor,
It’s back to school time, and back to Washington for me. Congress will reconvene on Tuesday for a very busy September session. I’m glad to share a few highlights of the August Work Period and thoughts on the month ahead below. |
It has been great to be home in Houston over the last several weeks. While it was hotter than all of us would have liked, it was great to spend time visiting with people all across the district. I’ve met with constituents and community leaders in our district offices in Houston and Sugar Land, toured offices, schools, and facilities in the district, joined community members in service projects, cut ribbons, held roundtable discussions, participated in community conversations, and celebrated the arrival of federal funding I obtained for our district.
The photos here show some of the things I’ve been able to do at home in Houston. |
I was thrilled to join West U Mayor Susan Sample and all the West U City Council members to announce $2.5 million in federal funding to replace approximately 2,400 linear feet of pre-1939 cast iron potable water distribution lines located on Milton Street, which have exceeded their lifespan. The waterlines serve as a main artery from the City’s pump station that feeds its overall water distribution system. These much-needed improvements will have a real impact on the residents of West University Place by preempting significant repair costs as well as water supply disruption.
And it was a delight to join Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston Public Library Executive Director Dr. Rhea Lawson at the Alief-Huntington Library in the new Alief Community Center to announce $2 million in federal funding I secured as a Community Funded Project for the Houston Public Library’s (HPL) Digi-Lit Project. The Digi-Lit Project will be used as an extension of HPL’s Learning Link Library Card Program, which allows students at participating school districts—including Alief Independent School District (Alief ISD) and Houston Independent School District (HISD)—to check out books, use online tools, and access other services for free at all HPL locations and Wi-Fi-enabled locations, wherever they are. The funding will greatly expand the number of e-books, streaming videos, and other digital resources for early literacy and for students in grades K-12. It will also allow access to thousands of educational videos for all ages that teachers can use in the classroom. |
One highlight in recent weeks was joining the team at Igloo to cut the ribbon on their new distribution facility (a little bit west of the district in Brookshire). Igloo’s growth and investment in this new facility gave us the opportunity to celebrate the triumph of American ingenuity and the strength of American manufacturing.
Starting in 1947 with an idea and the first metal coolers to take clean water to the worksite (pictured here!), Igloo has sent products from here across the country and around the world. As you have heard from me before, in recent years, Congress and the Biden administration have worked to implement strategies to revitalize American manufacturing, create good-paying American jobs, strengthen American supply chains, and accelerate the industries of the future. We call this our “Make It in America” Agenda. And it is working.
At the end of last year, American manufacturing growth began outpacing the rest of the world. In July, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that our home state of Texas is the top state for new manufacturing jobs, with 86,000 new positions added from January 2021 to May 2023.
In the last Congress, we passed transformative laws to foster investment and innovation in America, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. I was glad to work on these bills as they made their way through Congress and to vote for them to ensure the United States remains a beacon for excellence in science, technology, engineering, and innovation. And that the things we dream up, we make right here at home. And this event gave us a chance to focus on that: An idea that has become an icon, made in America. |
On a related note, the transformative laws that the 117th Congress passed and President Biden signed into law, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the PACT Act, and more, present unprecedented opportunities for investment in communities across the country.
To help keep our community informed about, and well positioned for, these opportunities, we have created a new position in our office for a grants manager. This summer, I was glad to welcome our new grants manager Dottie Hall to the team. She is already at work meeting people across the community and connecting our neighbors with information about federal grants and resources, and providing regular updates on new and upcoming federal funding opportunities.
In August, we hosted a webinar with representatives from the Department of Commerce and more than three dozen local governments and organizations about some of the new grant programs and application process (pictured above). I’m excited about this important work, and glad to have Dottie on our team! |
Speaking of our district team, I’m glad to share a few pictures highlighting the work they have been doing at home and in Washington over the last few weeks. |
During the work period, I cosponsored a few pieces of legislation important to our community, including: - The Computer Science for All Act, H.R. 4174, to provide $250 million in new grants to support a diverse technology pipeline in pre-K through grade 12 education;
- The Resources for Victims of Gun Violence Act, H.R. 3962, to establish an advisory council to help victims of gun violence get access to resources, programs, and benefits; and
- The Addressing Digestive Distress in Stomachs of Our Youth (ADD SOY) Act, H.R. 1619, to make soy milk available under the National School Lunch Program to children in public schools who require an alternative to cow’s milk.
And, of course, I am now reviewing many more I discussed with constituents in recent weeks.
I also joined my colleagues in sending several letters on issues important to our community, including: - a letter with leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus urging the administration to extend the 60-day re-registration period for more than 330,000 current beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, many of whom live in our area;
- a letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member James Risch urging him to release his hold on $75 million in United Nations Relief and Works Agency funding toward food assistance for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza;
- a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraging the administration to take executive action to provide relief to high-skilled employment-based visa holders;
- a letter to Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose supporting TxDOT’s application to study three proposed intercity passenger rail routes to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development Program;
- a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure urging CMS to ensure wheelchair-bound individuals suffering from a spinal cord injury have appropriate access to exoskeleton technology; and
- a letter to CMS Administrator Brooks-LaSure urging CMS to work with Texas to institute a pause on the Medicaid disenrollment process after whistleblower letters from Texas Health and Human Services employees revealed 80,000 people lost coverage in error, and calling for a corrective action plan to ensure compliance with federal rules.
I am glad to report that, after we sent the first letter listed here, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it is extending from 60 days to 18 months the periods to re-register for TPS under the designations of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan. |
The Houston Southwest Social Security Office has relocated to a new location in TX-07 at 13302 Westheimer Road, moving from 10703 Stancliff Road. Social Security office hours are from 9 AM until 4 PM, Monday through Friday. Most Social Security services, however, do not require you to visit an office, and are available online at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing toll-free, 1-800-772-1213. People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call Social Security’s TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.
Veterans who deployed to a combat zone, never enrolled in VA health care, and left active duty between September 11, 2001 and October 1, 2013 are now eligible to enroll directly in VA health care. This special enrollment period provides veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other combat zones the opportunity to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. Even if this care is not needed now, it could be needed in the future – and once you’re enrolled, you have access for life. But don’t wait. The deadline is September 30, 2023.
Go to VA.gov/PACT and apply today. For more information about how the PACT Act is helping veterans and their survivors, visit VA’s PACT Act Dashboard. To apply for care or benefits today, visit VA.gov/PACT or call 1-800-MYVA411. |
This week, I am headed back to Washington for legislative business. As you may know, or may have seen recently in the news, the government’s fiscal year ends on September 30. That means that government funding will run out on September 30 unless Congress passes legislation appropriating the funds for the next fiscal year.
Typically, the House and the Senate pass 12 different bills appropriating federal funds, and after negotiation, pass final bills that are signed into law to fund the government each year. The Senate has passed its 12 bills out of its appropriations committee, on a bipartisan—and sometimes unanimous—basis. The story in the House, however, is quite different. The House bills are not bipartisan, and contain extreme provisions that would impose hardships in all kinds of ways—from program cuts to policy changes.
House Democratic leaders and President Biden have urged Congress to pass a short-term measure to maintain funding for the federal government at the current spending levels—called a continuing resolution, or CR for short. We have passed such a resolution several times during my tenure while the full and final appropriations legislation is negotiated in and between the House and the Senate, and I support doing so now. It is essential that we work together to keep our government funded, operational, and functioning. I’ll keep you posted.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of 9/11. It is a day of remembrance and service across the country. We honor the memories and the heroism of our fellow Americans who died that day, and in the days that followed, and those who responded to the horrific attack on our country. We honor their families. And we remember that, despite our differences, we are—and should be—united as Americans in protecting, defending, and serving our country and its highest ideals. |
The Weekly Wrap Up will return this week to keep you updated on events in Congress. Please call my office at (713) 353-8680 or (202) 225-2571 or email here at any time to ask for assistance or share your thoughts. I am proud to represent you and I am here to help you. I look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes, |
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