Last Thursday, I watched from Washington as a rapid and unexpected storm hit Houston and Southeast Texas—a storm that included a derecho, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and high winds.  The storm left behind halved houses, shattered skyscrapers, uprooted trees, downed power lines, and much more, destroying homes and buildings and leaving nearly a million people without power.  We’ve seen our share—more than our share—of huge storms in Houston. But this one was different. And devastating.

I was able to get home on Friday to see hard-hit areas in the district and visit with our local leaders responding to the storms.  Once again, our community is responding to this extreme weather event with compassion and competence.  And we’re seeing again how much leadership matters.  I am grateful to the first responders and the local leaders in our community who are helping our community respond and recover.  We are reminded how important it is to have leaders who are caring and collaborative.  

In less than 24 hours, President Biden signed a Presidential Disaster Declaration.  Upon receiving the request from Governor Greg Abbott, President Biden did not stop to ask whether Texas is a red state or a blue state.  Of course, this is what we all expect and deserve.  But we have seen that not all elected officials—and not even all candidates for President—operate this way.  It is a reminder of the stakes of this year’s election, as well as a reminder of how important it is to elect people to every office who will approach governing collaboratively and constructively.  

We know all too well that the recovery process will be long and will require continued collaboration.  I will work with my team to do all we can to support those efforts, to support our community, and to ensure we have the tools and resources necessary for recovery, rebuilding, and healing.

Together, we can do anything,