This week, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) held a Community Conversation on public safety and hate crimes.  The event featured State Representative Gene Wu (HD-137); Yasar Bashir, Assistant Chief, Houston Police Department; Dena Marks, Senior Associate Director, Anti-Defamation League; Niloufar Hafizi, Civic Engagement Director, Emgage; and Dr. James Dixon, Houston Branch President, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  

“Along with our community in Houston, I am deeply concerned about the rise in hate crimes in our community and across our country,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “Hate, bigotry, and discrimination are an affront to our values as Houstonians and as Americans.  Hate crimes and incidents speak to many of the challenges we face today—and the failures these attacks represent for our community.  It was clear that people in our district want to talk about these issues, and they want to come together to address them.  I am so grateful for the work and the partnership of our panelists, and I thank them, as well as our neighbors, for sharing their thoughtful perspectives in our Community Conversation.” 

Last year, Congresswoman Fletcher advocated for nearly $1 million in funding for the Houston Police Department Advocates for Violent Crime Victims. She secured the funding and voted for the funding bill in March 2022, which President Biden signed into law.  

In the 117^th Congress, she has co-sponsored and voted for several bills and resolutions concerning hate crimes, including the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, H.R. 55, to designate lynching as a federal hate crime, and the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, S. 937, to ensure better tracking and reporting of hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, both of which President Biden has signed into law, as well as a resolution condemning the terrorist attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.