Dear Neighbor,

As the year comes to a close, I am glad to share this update with you. It has been an eventful year for us all, and certainly in the 117th Congress, which has been very productive.

I was glad to share my thoughts on the highlights and challenges of the year and to answer your questions at our final Telephone Town Hall of the year last Tuesday evening.  Thank you to the more than 2,000 people who joined.  If you missed it, you can still see some of the highlights in my forthcoming Annual Report, which I will send out soon.

The House convened briefly this week to take a few important votes. 

The House passed a resolution, H.Res. 851, to hold our former colleague and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.  I voted in favor of this resolution to preserve the power of the House of Representatives to conduct oversight.

The House also voted to pass the Combating International Islamophobia Act, H.R. 5665, to address the rise in incidents of Islamophobia worldwide.  This legislation requires the State Department to create a Special Envoy for monitoring and combating Islamophobia, and include state-sponsored Islamophobic violence and impunity in the Department’s annual human rights reports. 

Finally, the House concurred in Senate Resolution, S.J. Res. 33, to increase the debt limit.  I voted for this resolution to protect the full faith and credit of the United States and pay the debts that are currently owed.  A useful analogy here is a credit card bill.  This vote was one to pay the bill already due, not to increase the credit limit on the card.

This week, I introduced the Stopping Abortion Bounties Act with Congressman Tom Malinowski (NJ-07), a response to Texas Senate Bill 8, the Texas Heartbeat Act, that creates a private right of action allowing ‘‘any person’’ (other than a state or local government actor) to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps or intends to help a person obtain an abortion in violation of S.B. 8’s terms—effectively, after approximately six weeks of pregnancy—and incentivizes those claimants to sue by providing a bounty of at least $10,000 per defendant.

S.B. 8 is an affront to all Texans.  This radical law is wholly incompatible with our civil justice system—creating new rules, applying them to S.B. 8 cases alone, making them all but impossible to defend—and it is a threat to the very foundations of our society with its bounty system.  If enacted, the Stopping Abortion Bounties Act would impose a 100% federal tax on any bounty award obtained under S.B. 8 or legislation like it, and direct the revenues raised from the tax to a fund within the Department of Treasury that would reimburse any organization or individual ordered to pay the bounty.

The full text of our bill can be found here.

On another issue important to Texans, I sent a letter with Congressman Marc Veasey (TX-33) to President Biden opposing recent calls to reinstate a ban on crude oil exports as a way to help reduce the price of gasoline.  Our letter shares our perspective, as representatives for many people involved in the exploration, transportation, and refining of oil and gas products, that an export ban would be counterproductive to efforts to lower gasoline prices and to ensure our energy independence.  To read our full letter, click here. 

This week, I was glad to visit with constituents, speak to groups in our community, and catch up with my team as we approach the end of the year. 

During the week, I had the opportunity to focus on some infrastructure projects and the impacts of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).  I was glad to meet with representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Harris County Flood Control District to check out the progress on Project Brays.  Projects like these can soon get a big boost from the IIJA, with $500 million slated to come to Texas for bridge repair and replacement alone and $17 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers for projects.

I also joined representatives from Houston Public Works and West Harris County Regional Water Authority to tour Segment C of the Surface Water Supply Project, which will provide surface water to residents in West Harris County and North Fort Bend County through 55 miles of large diameter pipeline.  The IIJA will send $2.9 billion to Texas over the next five years for water infrastructure projects like this one. 

You may recall that after receiving numerous concerns from many of you earlier this year, I asked the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) to investigate mail service disruptions, stolen or lost mail, and burglarized mailboxes in our district.  The USPS OIG recently issued a report on the results of its audit. 

The issues identified in the investigation are concerning, and I am grateful for the work and cooperation of the Inspector General’s Office as well as our local Postal District Manager.  The recommendations are to be implemented by the end of this year.  I look forward to seeing the recommendations implemented and improved service for our community.

I’m happy to announce Rebecca Bi as our district’s winner of the 2021 Congressional App Challenge!  Rebecca’s app, Homisaf, is designed to detect motion for homeowners and can send alerts to the app user’s email address.  It is a creative and important contribution to keeping our community safe.  I was so glad to get to tell her this week – her enthusiasm, creativity, and resourcefulness are so inspiring.  I congratulate her on this accomplishment and look forward to seeing what she does next!

Speaking of student achievement…. Reading at grade level is a critical metric for a lifetime of success!  By incorporating reading into daily activity, students can build the tools for lifelong learning.  I am inviting elementary students and their parents across Texas’ Seventh Congressional District to take part in my new reading challenge!  Learn more and download the log sheet at  fletcher.house.gov/little-learners!

COVID-19 cases are on the rise, and the Omicron variant is spreading quickly.  Doctors at Houston Methodist have said the omicron variant now accounts for 82% of new symptomatic cases through today—becoming the majority of new cases there in less than three weeks. A lot of research is still underway to help us understand this variant, but this data shows it is very contagious.  It is spreading quickly, and it is on us to help stop the spread--and reduce the strain on our neighbors who work in health care.  There are so many of them in TX-07 who have been fighting this virus for so long.

Once again, it’s important to mask up!  And health experts have told us the BEST way to protect yourself, your loved ones, and our community is to get vaccinated and to get boosted.  The vaccine is free and available at sites across our area, see the Houston-Harris County sites here.  You can find information in many languages, maps, and other resources.

As the year comes to a close, this will be my last weekly wrap up for 2021.  Our office will close at the end of this week until the first of next year, but our team will be available to help you.  Please call my office at (713) 353-8680 or (202) 225-2571 or email here at any time to ask for assistance or to share your thoughts. 

As always, I am proud to represent you and I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in the new year!