This week, the House spent most of the week debating H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act.  Incorporating more than two dozen separate energy-related bills into one, debate on this bill and 37 proposed amendments took up most of the time the House was in session.  As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I had considered several of the included bills before – voting in favor of some and against others.

I spoke on the floor about the bill and expressed my disappointment in how the bill came together—without meaningful bipartisan input—and how the debate played out.  In my view, the bill represented a simplified and partisan effort rather than the important one we must undertake when it comes to crafting smart, durable energy policy.  As I said to my colleagues, I agree that it is time for Congress to work not only to lower energy costs (the bill’s title) but also to strengthen our energy security, ensure and enable domestic energy production of all kinds, and secure our energy future.  H.R. 1 does not do that.  It contains unworkable provisions that create unrealistic deadlines, threaten our national security, and repeal key environmental and public health protections and programs, including the historic work that we did in the last Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act.  For these reasons, I could not vote for it. 

You can hear my remarks on the House floor by clicking here or below.

It is time we put policy over politics and focus on crafting smart energy policy, and I am ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do so.  You can read more about the bill and my concerns about it on my website. 

While this took up most of the week, the House also passed several bills under suspension of the rules on a widely bipartisan basis:

• H.Con.Res. 15, which authorizes the use of the Capitol Grounds for the National Peace Officers Memorial Service and the National Honor Guard and Pipe Band Exhibition;
• H.R. 1107, the PRC Is Not a Developing Country Act, which requires the Department of State to take actions to stop China from being classified as a developing country by international organizations;
• H.R. 1154, the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, which invokes sanctions and revokes the passports of those involved in criminal organ harvesting and trafficking; and
• H.R. 1189, the Undersea Cable Control Act, which seeks to prevent foreign adversaries from acquiring goods and technologies capable of supporting the construction, maintenance, or operation of undersea cable projects.

This week, with my colleagues Congressman Joe Neguse (CO-02) and Congresswoman Angie Craig (MN-02), I reintroduced the Reforming Broadband Connectivity Act.   The Universal Service Fund (USF), a subsidiary of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), supports programs that increase broadband access in communities and expands access to affordable broadband service for underserved families, schools, and libraries.

It is largely funded by fees imposed on landlines, but as the use of landlines continues to decline, declining revenues threaten the long-term health of the program and jeopardize affordable broadband access.  It also disproportionately places the revenue-raising on seniors—who are significantly more likely to use a landline than younger adults.  The Reforming Broadband Connectivity Act directs the FCC to reform the contributions system, considering the fairness and relative burden any changes in fees will have on consumers and businesses, as well as the impact and proposed changes the contributions system will have on seniors.

This week, I also co-sponsored several pieces of legislation on issues important to our community, including:

• H.R. 12, the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would create a federal statutory right for health care providers to provide abortion care free from bans and restrictions that impede access and protect the ability to travel out of state for abortion care;
• H.R. 1838 the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights (Global HER) Act, to allow entities receiving U.S. global assistance to provide safe abortion care using their own funds, in keeping with current U.S. laws and those of their respective countries, permanently repealing the Global Gag Rule;
• H.Res. 269, the Transgender Bill of Rights, a resolution recognizing that it is the duty of the federal government to develop and implement comprehensive protections for the rights of transgender and nonbinary people and ensure their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security; and
• H.Con.Res.32, a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of International Transgender Day of Visibility, to encourage the observation of International Transgender Day of Visibility with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities, celebrate the accomplishments and leadership of transgender individuals, and recognize the bravery of the transgender community in the fight for equal dignity and respect.

As I have mentioned before, we are in the heart of appropriations now, and I sent several letters to the House Appropriations Committee and various subcommittees:

• requesting the inclusion of report language requiring all data and methods used to prescribe chargeable premium rates for properties insurable by the National Flood Insurance Program under Risk Rating 2.0 be made available publicly;
• requesting robust funding for the Executive Office for Immigration Review to increase adjudicatory and case processing capacity to decrease the backlog of immigration cases; and
• requesting at least $45 million for the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery program for victims of Hurricane Harvey that were previously and inappropriately barred from receiving these funds.

In addition to these letters originating in my office, I signed many letters authored by my colleagues in support of other important community priorities.

It’s always good to see Houstonians on the Hill.  This week, I was thrilled that one of the featured speakers at our weekly New Democrat Coalition meeting was our neighbor Michael Skelly, who shared his insights on our energy future and the opportunities and challenges ahead.  It was great to see him there and to welcome him to my office.

Throughout the week, I had the chance to visit in the office with many people who were in D.C. to talk about the issues that matter to them and to our community, including among them the sisters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Texas Access to Justice Commission, The Economic Alliance Houston Port Region, the Houston Apartment Association, and more!

I returned home last night, just in time to welcome Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, to Houston today for a visit with the Texas Railroad Commission about orphaned wells.  I was glad to have the opportunity to visit with Secretary Haaland and Railroad Commission leaders and staff about Texas’ efforts to clean up orphaned wells and the federal investments multiplying our state’s ability to do so.  You may have heard me talking about the bill I introduced, the REGROW Act, which became law as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). 

Thanks to the IIJA and the Department of Interior’s quick work rolling out the program, Texas was the first state to plug sites using the funds and has plugged more than 250 wells with them over the last year.  RRC Executive Director called the funds a “game changer for the state” during our meeting today.  This is the kind of work that matters to people across our state, and right here in Houston, which we saw when we visited orphaned wells slated for plugging soon in Northeast Houston.

Back home in Houston, Team TX-07 attended the Texas Education Association’s information session about its takeover of HISD at Delmar Stadium, celebrated with community members at the new HOPE Alief Clinic Ribbon Cutting, attended the Houston Rotary Club meeting with an update from METRO Chair Sanjay Ramabhadran, and honored Vietnam War Veterans along with staffers from our Houston congressional delegation at the City of Houston’s Vietnam War Veterans Day ceremony.

I am glad to be home for a district work period, and look forward to meeting with neighbors and being out and about in the district. 

First up, our rescheduled TX-07 Town Hall in Sugar Land this Tuesday, April 4, at 6:00p.m.  I’m looking forward to providing a congressional update and answering your questions.  I hope you will join us, and that you will send me the questions you would like to hear answered.  You can RSVP and ask questions on the RSVP form here.

Next week is our deadline for summer internships.  Students must submit their completed applications by the end of the day on Friday, April 7.  Learn more and fill out the form here.