Dear Neighbor,

It was good to be home in the district this week.  I began the week celebrating Independence Day with friends and neighbors across the district.  Like so many of you, I was horrified to return home to learn of the shooting at the Fourth of July Parade in Highland Park, Illinois.  Once again, gun violence has devastated Americans coming together in community.  My heart is with the people of Highland Park.  While I have been proud to report to you about the progress we have made in recent weeks on common-sense gun safety, but there is much more work to do.

I hope you will join me later this month for a town hall meeting on Gun Violence Prevention on Monday, July 25 with Houston Police Chief Troy Finner; Dr. Cedric Dark, MD MPH FACEP; and Moms Demand Action Former Texas Chapter Lead Norri Leder.  More details below. Make sure to RSVP.

Although I was at home in Houston this week, I spent much of the week on legislative work.  On Thursday, I introduced the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022, H.R. 8297, with Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08).  The bill prohibits any person acting under color of state law, including private parties, from interfering with Americans traveling for reproductive health care, which is protected by the constitutional right to travel.  You can read more about the bill and see the full text here.

I have heard from many of you about concerns following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs overturning Roe v. Wade.  As you likely know, lawmakers in several states, including here in Texas, are threatening to interfere with the constitutional right of Americans to travel freely and voluntarily within the United States for the purpose of obtaining abortion care. These efforts violate the fundamental rights guaranteed to all citizens.  Congress has the power and the responsibility to stop these efforts to deprive Americans of their constitutional rights.  I am glad to report to you that the House is moving quickly, and the full House will vote on my legislation on the House floor this week. 

On a related note, my colleague Congresswoman Norma Torres (CA-35) and I led 72 of our House colleagues in a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan urging the FTC to protect the data privacy of people seeking reproductive health care, including abortion care, by implementing safeguards to stop data brokers from collecting and selling data on an individual’s reproductive health care status or interest.  In some states, including Texas, state legislators have suggested an individual’s location and browsing data could be used against them to pursue prosecution for seeking an abortion, even outside of their state.  To view the full text of the letter, click here. 

While I was home this week, I enjoyed being out and about in the district, visiting with neighbors in many places while trying to escape the record heat.  On Thursday I met with the leaders of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast to discuss the effects that S.B. 8 and the Dobbs decision have had on their people seeking reproductive health care in our community and the challenges people are facing here.  

On Wednesday, I met with the Houston Coalition Against Hate to discuss their work and the rise of hate incidents in our community and across our country.

I also met with ConocoPhillips’ Managing Director of Low Carbon Technologies to discuss carbon capture and storage and low-carbon hydrogen projects and the work they are doing with others. 

I had several other meetings on line and on the telephone this week, including a meeting with Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown to discuss matters relating to pipeline safety, technology, and rulemaking.

In March of last year, I voted for the American Rescue Plan Act to deliver direct relief to the American people as we continued to face challenges of COVID-19.  Recently, the Joint Economic Committee released a new report highlighting how the tax credits included in the American Rescue Plan Act lowered healthcare costs for families and helped a record number of people enroll in health insurance.  For Texas, this legislation helped 921,000 new people enroll in Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans, including 32,000 people in TX-07!  For more information on the impact of the American Rescue Plan Act’s tax credits on TX-07, click here. 

I will be back in Washington this week.  The House will vote on several important bills, including the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Active Shooter Alert Act of 2022, the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, and my bill, the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act. 

And Eid Mubarak to our neighbors celebrating Eid Al Adha.  May this Eid bring you new hope and opportunities. 

As always, I am honored to represent you and I am here to help you.  Please call my office at (713) 353-8680 or (202) 225-2571 or email me at fletcher.house.gov/contact at any time to ask for assistance or share your thoughts.  My team and I look forward to hearing from you.

With best wishes,