In the News

Army Corps projects like Houston Ship Channel expansion uncertain under GOP spending bill

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The future of Army Corps projects along the Texas Gulf Coast, like the overhaul of flood control systems around Houston and the widening of the Houston Ship Channel, are in question after House Republicans on Tuesday passed a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through September.  Their bill calls for reducing the Army Corps of Engineers' construction budget by $1.4…

Women’s clothing is often more expensive — and it’s partly due to tariffs

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Even tariffs on imported clothing can have a gender bias. A bill from two Democratic representatives would investigate the “pink tariff,” which encompasses the higher tax rates on imported items classified as women’s goods. The bill, reintroduced this session by Reps. Lizzie Fletcher of Texas and Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, would ask the Treasury Department to study these “pink…

Trump’s layoffs could hinder disaster response in Texas as hurricane season nears, critics warn

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After a series of severe hurricanes hit the Texas Gulf Coast and other U.S. coastlines last summer, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was nearing its limits. The agency was so strained, said Michael Coen, then its chief of staff, that it had to bring in officials from other federal agencies to help coordinate relief efforts in what would be the third costliest hurricane season on…

Congressional Art Competition Offers TX-07 High School Students a Chance to Showcase Talent in U.S. Capitol

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Each spring, the Congressional Art Competition provides high school students across the country, including those in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District (TX-07), represented by Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, with a unique opportunity to have their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol. This nationwide contest, established in 1982, recognizes and encourages artistic talent among…

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher urges halt to medical research cuts in Texas

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Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) led all Democrats in the Texas Delegation, February 14, in a letter to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Acting Director Matthew J. Memoli, M.D., M.S., requesting that the NIH withdraw changes to funding caps for research grants to allow lifesaving medical research to continue throughout the state. “Texas is home to multiple…

'A disaster in itself': Texas politicians react to Trump's plan to cut disaster spending

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Politicians in Hurricane-battered Houston were less than enthused Thursday evening after news broke of the Trump administration's plan to cut the vast majority of staff at a federal office tasked with disaster recovery. First reported on by the New York Times, U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to fire as many as 84% of the workers employed by The Office of Community…

‘They’re Coming After Birth Control’: Rep. Lizzie Fletcher on the Fight for Contraceptive Rights

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Earlier this month, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, a Democrat from Houston, reintroduced legislation that would guarantee patients the right to obtain and use birth control and healthcare providers the right to provide and share information about it.  In theory, the legislation should be easy to pass: About 65 percent of U.S. women aged 15-49 use some form of contraception, and the…

Rallying for Reproductive Resistance with Judy Chu and Lizzie Fletcher

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On this episode of Madam Congress, DWC Reproductive Health Care Task Force Co-Chair & Liaison Judy Chu and DWC Member Lizzie Fletcher break down the fight for reproductive freedom. Republicans have continuously threatened reproductive health care—but Congresswoman Fletcher and Chu explain that DWC members will always fight for a woman’s right to her own body and to health care. The…

Texas Democrats sound off about proposed NIH cuts to MD Anderson as many Republicans stay quiet

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For years Republicans and Democrats alike have touted the medical breakthroughs at Texas medical research institutions like MD Anderson and Baylor College of Medicine. But after President Donald Trump announced a policy change at the National Institutes of Health last week that would slash federal funding for those Houston institutions by tens of millions of dollars, Texas Democrats find…

Senator Capito; Congresswoman Fletcher Receive Inaugural Wireless Leadership Awards

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ARLINGTON, VA – Today, the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) Foundation announced U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) as recipients of its inaugural Wireless Leadership Awards. Senator Capito and Congresswoman Fletcher received the awards during the annual Wireless Women’s Leadership Luncheon in Washington, D.C., hosted by the WIA…