These past few weeks have been challenging, to say the least.  We’re all grappling with a lot—in Texas and across the country.  Here in Houston, we are on the other side of Hurricane Beryl, but people across our community are still struggling, trying to recover.  Some people here are still without power in a brutal heat, some are losing power again, and just about everyone is worried about what might happen next time.

With all that going on, last weekend was 713 Day—July 13—a day dedicated to celebrating all things Houston and what makes our hometown so great, marked by our first of our many area codes, 713.  I know no one would put summer weather on the list of those things that make the 713, the 281, the 832, and the 346 great.  But what we have seen after the storm—true to form—is that the people who live here, who are helping each other through yet another disaster, are what makes this town one to love.  I am so proud to represent this community in Congress.  

And these recent weeks have also reminded us how important the work we do in Congress is—from funding flood mitigation efforts to tackling climate change and everything in between.  

Which brings me back to how important it is to elect people who will take their jobs seriously, move our country forward, and be there for our communities in times of crisis.  Hurricane Beryl made clear again how lucky and grateful I am to work with incredible partners across the city, county, state, and federal government—many of whom this group has helped elect.

We all have elections on our minds these days.  November will be here before we know it.  And this week’s Republican National Convention made clearer the stakes in the election.  We have seen the transformation of the Republican Party into the Party of Trump.  We see it clearly in the nominee for Vice President, JD Vance.  Someone who once called Trump “noxious” and potentially “America’s Hitler” is now his running mate.  And the blueprint for the next four years is laid out in Project 2025.  You’ll hear more from me and others about Project 2025 because we all need to know what the Trump-Vance campaign plans to do if they win in November.

It’s a dystopian vision for the future of our country.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  That’s where we come in.  I believe now more than ever that we can win the White House, hold the Senate, and take back the House in November.  I do.  But I know we can only do that if we all work together.  If we spread the word about what Project 2025 means for our country.  And if we work together to win this race in #TX07 and to elect Democrats around the state and across the country.

If these last few weeks have shown us anything, it is how important it is that we come together—across our community, our state, and our country—to do the work that needs to be done.  Thanks for all you do.  Let’s keep it going from now to November.

Together, we can do anything,