Food or fuel — this is the difficult choice many American families are having to make as prices continue to rise. For the first time in American history, the nationwide average for a gallon of regular gasoline surpassed $5.00.

Despite the Biden administration’s repeated attempts to shift blame onto Putin, energy producers, and even the consumer, it is clear what caused this: the anti-American-energy policies pushed by this Administration.

The solutions being offered by the White House include telling everyone to buy an electric car (in spite of supply chain issues), selling off our oil reserve through the mid-term elections, and telling everyone to embrace the high prices.

Republicans, on the other hand, continue to advocate for robust pro-American energy policies and a return to American energy dominance.

Texans stand ready to meet our nation’s energy demands, yet the Biden administration continues to allow Americans to suffer the consequences of their anti-American, leftist agenda. We must make a return to Trump-era energy policies and pursue energy independence.

Last week, in the wake of the tragic events in Uvalde, Democrats rushed a vote on two bills that would compromise Americans' Second Amendment right and make law-abiding citizens less safe.

The available data shows that the proposed gun control solutions are at best ineffective and often foster more violence. Many of the most violent, crime-ridden cities, including Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles, have the strictest gun regulations. We would be negligent as lawmakers to — in a well-intentioned desire to just ‘do something’ — force policies on the American people that actually make the situation worse.

It is clear to me that our nation is experiencing an epidemic of broken families, moral relativism, and societal decay. Our debates in Congress should reflect this. One of the leading indicators of violent crime among youth is the lack of a father figure in the home, which I pointed out during last week’s Oversight and Reform hearing on “gun violence.”

You can view my remarks HERE.

This Congress, I have had the privilege of serving on the Republican Study Committee’s Budget and Spending Task Force. Last week, we released our Fiscal Year 2023 Budget, aptly named the “Blueprint to Save America.”

Throughout history, great nations have typically crumbled from within, and one of the biggest causes is financial irresponsibility.

With a national debt of over $30 trillion dollars, or $242,985 per taxpayer, our country has yet another looming crisis that we are unprepared to handle.

Our adversaries are more than happy to let us self-destruct from economic collapse, and we must not let this happen. You can watch my remarks at the press conference HERE.

Over the weekend I hosted a send-off dinner for the individuals from the 27th Congressional District who were nominated and received appointments to a United States Service Academy.

Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of presenting the Congressional Student Citizenship Award to Heaven Star Benavidez and José Ángel Villarreal, both of Miller High School.

I also had the pleasure to present the Enlistment Recognition Program Certificate to students who decided to join our armed services. Those students are: Dylan Deedrick, Cesar Charles-Rodriguez, and Fabian Delgado.

Congratulations to the class of 2022 across the 27th district! We look forward to seeing you grow into productive members of our communities.

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