Meeting with neighbors and community leaders is always a highlight when I am home, and I was able to do a lot of it.  I was glad to have an opportunity to sit down and visit with Houston Mayor John Whitmire to discuss how we can work together for Houston, and how I can continue to help the city fund its priorities, including infrastructure and public safety, through Congressional appropriations and federal grants.  We had a great visit at City Hall, and I look forward to working with Mayor Whitmire and his team.

It was great to have the chance to share updates and insights on what is happening in Washington with people across the district.  I was glad to speak at the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce’s Beltway Briefing, where I shared my thoughts, answered questions, and visited with community members from across Texas’ most diverse county.  I was also glad to share my perspective on this Congress and answer questions on a wide range of topics with the Houston Business Forum. 

March is Women’s History Month, so I was glad to be home for Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones' Women's History Luncheon.  I was honored to share my thoughts with the group and to hear from women leaders in our community about where we are and where we are going.  I loved the chance to connect with so many women from our community this month!

Thinking about both past and future, I was glad to join the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) to distribute menstrual products to the nurse at Energized for STEM Academy as part of NCJW’s Period Project.  This is such important work, and I am working on legislative ideas to help address the challenges this project seeks to address. 

Another highlight: a walking tour of Gulfton with community leaders.  I was thrilled to share last month that the City of Houston will receive a federal grant of $43,438,830 to construct and repair sidewalks, improve drainage, and plant trees and vegetation in Gulfton and Kashmere Gardens.  This project will benefit more than 37,000 residents in the Gulfton area.  Gulfton is a vibrant part of Texas' Seventh Congressional District and I was glad to join Houston Public Works Director Carol Haddock; Gulfton Citizens Advisory Council President Tammy Rodriguez; Elijah Williams, Senior Advisor for Infrastructure for the City of Houston; Nadia Martinez, Secretary of the Gulfton Super Neighborhood Council; Barry Ward, Executive Director of Trees for Houston; and other community leaders on a glorious day to walk through the neighborhood and discuss what kinds of improvements this important investment can provide for Gulfton residents and how to engage the Gulfton community to design the best possible project.  I am so grateful for the strong partnership that brought this plan and this critical federal grant to our community and I look forward to continuing our work together to bring more investments and improvements home.

Speaking of infrastructure investments, I was also delighted to join Alief community leaders to announce $1,200,000 in federal funding for the Reconnect Alief study to allow Harris County to develop a plan for safe pedestrian and cycling connections, parks and greenspace, and roadway safety features between communities on both sides of the Westpark Tollway in Alief.  The project is part of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and I was glad to join Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones, Alief ISD Superintendent Dr. Anthony Mays, Harris County Toll Road Authority Roberto Treviño, Westchase District CEO Irma Sanchez, and representatives from the office of City Council Member Tiffany Thomas to share the news and talk about next steps.  Transportation and transportation infrastructure should connect—not divide—communities, and this federal funding does just that.  Harris County will receive $1,200,000 million from the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program for the “Reconnect Alief” project.  This grant will fund the study of how to reconnect communities along the Westpark Tollway in Alief.  The Harris County Toll Road Authority is re-imagining the Westpark Tollway to bridge this very diverse and disadvantaged community.  This study will complement those efforts and create a list of recommended projects—bicycle-pedestrian, transit, parks and open spaces, art, and roadway safety—for future investment.

While I spent a lot of time out visiting with people in the district, I was also glad to spend a little time in my district office to connect with our district team and to meet with and talk to people and organizations working for our community. 

Our team has been hard at work, and I am glad to report that we have now resolved more than 13,500 matters for TX-07 residents.  I was thrilled to be able to host a Taxpayer Problem Solving Day with the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate in our Central Houston office this week.  Constituents received direct assistance with their tax questions and problems with the team from the Taxpayer Advocate service, great partners who have helped our district team resolve more than 1,000 matters with the IRS.  Please note: if you missed the event and need assistance with a tax-related issue, the IRS is hosting special Saturday hours at specific Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs).  The special Saturday openings will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 13 and May 18.  No appointment is necessary and you can find more information and a list of locations here.

Although I was in Houston for the District Work Period, I continued to work on new legislation and letters.

I co-sponsored a bill to make our communities safer from gun violence, the Destroy Zombie Guns Act (H.R. 7746), a common-sense bill to ensure that when guns are returned for the purposes of destruction—like at the gun buyback events we have had in our community recently—that the guns are actually destroyed, not resold as parts.  This is an important part of keeping our communities safe. I joined my colleagues in sending letters on issues important to our community, including a letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administrator Alan Davidson encouraging the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to prioritize internet affordability in its review of state Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) plans.  I also joined colleagues in sending a letter to the to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking commissioners to consider several factors, including impacts on seniors, individuals on fixed-income, and students living in apartments, condominiums, public housing, and other multi-tenant buildings, when evaluating recently proposed ban on certain billing arrangements in those multifamily dwellings.  I also joined an amicus brief on behalf of Members of Congress in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States cases to the Supreme Court, to address whether the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) preempts state law that bans abortion even in emergencies that present a serious threat to a patient’s health.

In addition to the many events we attended together, our TX-07 district team attended several events across the district, including religious celebrations, a ribbon cutting with the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce in Richmond, and a kickoff event for Goodwill’s Clean Tech Accelerator, which will teach employability and technical skills for jobs involving solar and storage, electric vehicle charging, heat pumps, and energy efficiency.

And in Washington, our team had more than three dozen meetings with constituents and advocates, including those pictured below with representatives from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the Galveston Bay Foundation, and Allstate and National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. 

The annual Congressional Art Competition is happening now!  High school artists in TX-07 can submit their art for the competition and a chance to have it displayed in the U.S. Capitol or our district office for the next year.  To learn more, please click here and please share with any district students who might be interested. 

Save the date!  I will host a telephone town hall next Wednesday to review the first quarter of the year in Congress.  You can sign up here to participate. 

The House will be back in session next week.  Before returning to Washington, I will join my colleagues on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy Subcommittee for a site visit and field hearing on LNG in Louisiana and Texas.  We will then head back to Washington Tuesday with several important and pressing matters to address.  I’ll report back next week on the week’s developments.

As always, 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,