Weekly Wrap Up

Dear Neighbor,

I write to you at the conclusion of another difficult week. I have heard from and connected with many of you this week. People across our community are in pain, deeply distressed by events unfolding across our country and around the world. As we continue to learn about and witness the barbarism of the Hamas attack in Israel, the deaths and injuries to innocent civilians in Israel and Gaza, and the brutality of war, we also see increased hate in the form of antisemitism and Islamophobia directed at people here at home.

Last weekend, Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, a beloved Pakistani and Muslim American pediatrician who had recently moved to our area, was stabbed to death outside of her apartment in Conroe, leaving her two young children and people across our community heartbroken and afraid. We do not yet know the motive for this attack, but we do know that Islamophobia and acts of violence against Muslim Americans are on the rise across our country, and this brutal murder makes people feel less safe and more isolated.

On Tuesday, we learned that the FBI recently thwarted a possible terrorist plot to attack the Jewish community in Houston, arresting a man in Houston who had researched methods and expressed support for killing Jews in our community. We learned this through the testimony of FBI Director Christoper Wray before a U.S. Senate committee. We don’t know all the details of this ongoing investigation, but we do know that antisemitic threats against Jews in the United States have reached historic levels in recent weeks—a nearly 400% increase compared to this time last year.

In this heightened environment, it is critical that we work together to ensure the safety of Jewish and Muslim families in our community. To that end, I requested and received a briefing from the FBI this week, and can report that the FBI Houston Field Office continues to monitor and collaborate with our local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and is in contact with Houston’s Jewish and Muslim community leaders to address concerns they have, specifically as it relates to civil rights and hate crimes.

Again this week, I have been visiting with people across our community who are working through feelings of grief, fear, anger, sadness, and isolation. People feel unseen, unheard, and alone. I want you to know that I see you. I hear you. I am reading your letters. I am seeing your phone messages. And I am feeling the pain and the weight of this moment, too.

And what I want to share with you most at the end of this long week is a request that you take a moment this week to reach out to your Jewish and Muslim friends, neighbors, and colleagues to let them know you care about them. You don’t have to have all the answers, or even know what to say exactly, but you can help by making sure they know that, at this time of deep pain and sadness and uncertainty, they are not alone. It’s one thing each of us can do. And it will make a difference.

The House reconvened this week on Wednesday to consider more appropriations bills and several resolutions related to members of Congress.

We were presented with a privileged resolution brought by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to censure Representative Rashida Tlaib (H.Res. 807) and also a privileged resolution brought by Representative Becca Balint (D-VT) to censure Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (H.Res. 610), as well as motions to table (i.e., indefinitely postpone) consideration of these bills.

Until recently, Congressional censure was reserved for cases of the most severe ethics violations by a member of Congress. It has been used rarely. So, on Wednesday, I went to the floor planning to vote to table both motions. I did vote to table the motion relating to Representative Tlaib, which passed 222-186, after which the motions relating to Representative Greene were withdrawn.

Next, the House considered a motion to expel New York Representative George Santos from the House of Representatives (H.Res. 773). As you likely know, Congressman Santos has been indicted in federal court in New York on felony criminal charges. The House Ethics Committee is also conducting an investigation of allegations, and is expected to announce its findings on or before November 17 of this year.

Expulsion is the most serious remedy against a member of the House, and it requires the yes votes of two-thirds of the body. In our history, the House has expelled only five members—three for joining the Confederacy as traitors to the Union and two after they were convicted of serious criminal offenses.

Representative Santos has been charged with serious criminal offenses, but he has not yet been convicted or found to have violated the House ethics rules. And while I believe that he likely has engaged in fraudulent conduct and ethical violations, and that his resignation would be appropriate, I voted against the resolution to expel because he has not yet been found guilty in court or in the House process which is reaching its conclusion. Like many of my colleagues who are also lawyers, I believe it would set a precedent for expulsion without due process that would ultimately harm the institution and our representative democracy.

I do believe, however, that this question will come before the House again if Representative Santos is found guilty of the court charges or ethics charges, and I would vote to expel him at that time.

The House also considered and passed several pieces of legislation focusing on holding Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran accountable for their actions to destabilize the Middle East including: (1) the Hamas International Financing Prevention Act (H.R. 340) to impose targeted sanctions on foreign entities and governments assisting Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or their affiliates, (2) resolution declaring it is the policy of the U.S. that a nuclear Iran is not acceptable (H.Res.559), and (3) the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act, H.R. 3774, to direct the President to impose secondary sanctions on foreign ports and refineries that process Iranian oil in violation of U.S. sanctions. I voted for each these bills, which passed the House on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis.

The House passed a resolution condemning the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education (H.Res.798). I voted for this resolution, which passed the House on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis. The resolution passed the Senate by a voice vote last week, and will now head to the President’s desk for signature.

Also on Thursday, the House voted on the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, H.R. 6126. If enacted, the bill would send $14.3 billion to Israel and purportedly pay for this spending with $14.5 billion in funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a cost estimate that H.R. 6126 would worsen the deficit because it would reduce the IRS’s capacity to collect revenue: the $14.3 billion of rescissions would reduce revenue collection by $26.8 billion over the next decade, resulting in a $12.5 billion net cost.

President Biden has requested, and I support, emergency assistance for our allies, Israel and Ukraine, and other national security priorities. This bill, however, represents a cynical political effort rather than the serious, bipartisan one we should undertake at this critical moment. By separating national security funding for our allies, conditioning funding, and eliminating humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations, including the Palestinian and Israeli civilians impacted by the violence of war, this bill fails to meet the moment and the needs of the people who are waiting on us to act. By failing to provide funding for humanitarian assistance, a moral and strategic imperative, the omissions in this bill undermine efforts for resolution and long-term peace in the region.

Congress has a long history of passing emergency supplemental funding bills, and support for Israel, on a bipartisan basis and without conditions. At a moment like this, Democrats and Republicans must stand together to pass a bipartisan emergency aid bill without conditions. I expect the Senate to pass a different bill with aid for Israel and other allies that does not have any conditions attached and that includes humanitarian aid. I am ready to vote for such a bill.

(I will also note that demanding partisan offsets in return for national security and emergency aid set a dangerous precedent, especially for potential disaster in the future. In 2013, Republican demands for offsets led by Senator Cruz delayed Superstorm Sandy aid for months. Setting this precedent could prevent Houstonians from obtaining disaster recovery funding for our district when we need it most.)

In addition to all of these important matters, we also considered two appropriations bills this week, debating and voting until late in the evening. First, we considered the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2024, H.R. 4364. I voted against it because it decreases funding by 4.7 percent and undermines the progress Congress has made in recent years to be a more diverse and inclusive body, eliminating all funding for the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion, prohibiting funding across the Legislative Branch for diversity, equity, and inclusion training or implementation, and preventing the federal government from addressing discrimination against married same-sex couples.

On Thursday and Friday, the House considered several amendments brought forth by my Republican colleagues to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024, H.R. 4821. I voted against each of the amendments, which sought to completely cut or severely cut funding to critical programs like the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Endowment for the Arts. On Friday, we voted on final passage of the bill. The amendments included in this legislation and the bill itself would endanger public health, slash funding for our national parks, and eliminate key programs from the Inflation Reduction Act like the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which supports investments for communities to lower their carbon emissions and incentivize energy project development. It would also strip more than $66 million away from grants in Texas from the Clean Drinking Water Revolving Fund, making it harder for people to access clean and safe drinking water. For these reasons, I voted against the legislation.

As a reminder, you can find a list of all of the votes I have taken for the district on my website.

On Wednesday, President Biden and Vice President Harris announced that they will develop the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia in the United States. The White House Domestic Policy Council and the National Security Council will develop a comprehensive and strategic plan to protect Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim. As Islamophobic threats have increased this year, it is critical that we work to ensure the safety of our Muslim communities. No person in the United States should experience—or have to worry about experiencing—hatred because of how they pray, what they believe, or who they are.

This week, I co-sponsored several bills on issues important to our community, including:

A resolution Condemning the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 and the uprisings of recent years, including the 2018, 2019, and 2022 uprisings, and calling for justice for its victims, H.Res. 627; and
A resolution Honoring the 5th anniversary of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and the memory of the victims and condemning antisemitism, H.Res. 819

And I joined my colleagues in sending several letters also on issues important to our community, including:

A letter to Secretary Blinken requesting the State Department provide an urgent update on the evacuation efforts of Americans in Gaza;
A bipartisan letter to House Ways & Means Committee Leadership requesting the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hold a hearing on the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset; and
A letter to President Biden, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, and lead Democratic appropriators urging the rejection of any attempts to include anti-LGBTQI+ provisions in any Fiscal Year 2024 government funding.

On Thursday, I joined my colleagues on the Regional Leadership Council in a meeting with top officials at the U.S. Department of Commerce to discuss the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act. We are already seeing the impact of this legislation that we passed in the last Congress. Samsung has announced plans to build a $17 billion semiconductor fabrication plant just outside of Austin in Taylor, Texas. Just up the road in Sherman, Texas, Texas Instruments is in the early stages of a $30 billion CHIP project. So far, six projects totaling $61 billion in investment are expected to create 8,000 jobs in Texas alone.

I also joined my colleagues in the New Democrat Coalition in a meeting with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra to discuss initiatives to ensure Americans are treated fairly by banks, lenders, and other financial institutions.

And I joined my colleagues in the Democratic Caucus in a meeting with Ambassador John E. Herbst, who is a Senior Director at the Atlantic Council and the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine to discuss defending democracy in Ukraine.

In Washington, Team TX-07 met with constituents and advocates throughout the week, including leaders from the University of Houston Sugar Land College of Nursing; students from Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School; and representatives from the Community Associations Institute.

And at home in Houston, Team TX-07 was out and about, attending the Tanglewilde Park Ribbon Cutting with Mayor Sylvester Turner, State Representative Gene Wu, and members of the community; the swearing in of Judge Dora Olivo hosted by Fort Bend County Commissioner Dexter McCoy; and the Fort Bend County Senior Breakfast hosted by Sheriff Eric Fagan and Tax Assessor Carmen Turner.

As temperatures begin to drop, I want to make sure TX-07 residents know about the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) resources available. LIHEAP provides heating bill assistance and preventative services to help families maintain a warm and safe environment. LIHEAP funding can be used to help with heating bills, restore or prevent disconnection, repair or replace heating equipment, and install weatherization measures to help keep homes safe and warm.

The Biden administration has developed a new LIHEAP eligibility tool that allows households across the country to quickly identify whether they are eligible for LIHEAP assistance by inputting basic information like income and household size. The LIHEAP eligibility tool is available in English, Spanish, traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese. To find out whether you are eligible for help paying your energy bills from LIHEAP, click here or call the National Energy Assistance Referral hotline toll-free at 1-

866-674-6327.

The House will be back in session next week to vote on more appropriations bills. We are slated to consider the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024, H.R. 4820, and the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024, H.R. 4664.

And the week after next is the deadline for spring semester internship applications! Students interested in learning about public service and policy are encouraged to apply by November 17. The application is available on my website here.

I am proud to represent you and I am here to help you. 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 look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,