With organizing meetings going on throughout the week, the floor schedule was light this week, as it will be next week.  Good news, though!  When we reconvened on Tuesday, the House passed the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, H.R. 82, which repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), both of which unfairly reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have devoted their careers to public service, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, and federal employees.  Those who pay into Social Security should be guaranteed their full benefits upon retirement, but the WEP and GPO have created offsets that unfairly penalize certain workers.  Many of our neighbors have written to me about this bill, and I am glad to be a cosponsor of this legislation and to have helped bring H.R. 82 to the House floor for a vote.  Of course, I voted in favor of the bill, which passed by a vote of 327-75.  

The House also voted on the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2023, H.R. 5342, which, despite its name, would not lead to equal treatment but would instead modify and expand the formula for the Windfall Elimination Provision, cutting benefits for millions of Americans not currently affected by the WEP.  The bill would also leave the GPO provision intact, leaving hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries—half of whom are widows and widowers—to lose the entirety of their Social Security benefit.  For these reasons, I voted against H.R. 5342, which failed to pass the House by a vote of 175-225.  

The House also voted on the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, or H.R. 9495, which would empower the Department of Treasury to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit organization that the Treasury Department designates as a “terrorist supporting” organization.  The bill also postpones tax deadlines for U.S. citizens who are held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad.  While I support certain provisions in the bill, this bill grants the Secretary of the Treasury broad, unchecked authority to suspend 501(c)3 nonprofit status for nonprofit, religious, and advocacy groups on subjective determinations without cause, charges, or due process and to designate those nonprofit organizations as "terrorist supporting" if they provide broadly defined "material support" to a foreign terrorist organization, which is already prohibited under existing law.  With little time for debate and concerns about how such broad authority could be exercised, and hearing from many organizations and others opposed to the bill, I voted against it.  It failed to pass the House by a vote of 256-145.

Later in the week, the House took up the Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2024, H.R. 8446, which requires the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to update its list of critical minerals to include materials designated by the Department of Energy (DOE), including copper.  Currently, copper is the only mineral that is on DOE’s critical designation list but not on the USGS list.  In 2022, USGS excluded copper from its list because domestic production of copper helps mitigate any supply chain vulnerabilities.  Minerals on the USGS list have access to more federal benefits than those on the DOE list, including tax incentives and financial support.  Adding copper to the list could potentially funnel away resources from more at risk and critical mineral supply chains.  For these reasons, I voted against the bill which passed the House by a vote of 245-155.

On Thursday, the House also took up the Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources (HEATS) Act, H.R. 7409, which waives environmental permitting requirements for drilling for geothermal energy on some federal lands.  Under this bill, geothermal energy projects on private lands, or shared private/federal tracts with less than 50% federal share, would not need to obtain drilling permits from the Interior Department if the project was already approved by a state permit.  Geothermal energy is an important renewable energy source that uses the Earth’s natural heat to provide direct heating for buildings and generate electricity.  While I support geothermal energy, and have spoken with many proponents in our district, I voted against removing all federal permits on shared federal land, which would remove the federal government’s ability to ensure that geothermal operations are conducted safely and follow applicable environmental laws.  The bill passed the House by a vote of 225-181.

Finally, today, the House took up the FAFSA Deadline Act, H.R. 8932, which amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Department of Education to release the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form annually on October 1 instead of on January 1, as it is currently required by current law.  The FAFSA form allows students to apply for federal aid, providing millions of students the resources they need to further their education.  During the last application cycle, when the FAFSA form was simplified to improve accessibility, the new rollout was delayed and faced technical difficulties that impacted students across the country—preventing many from being able to complete the FAFSA through no fault of their own.  My colleagues and I have expressed our concerns to the Department of Education about last year’s troubled FAFSA rollout and hope to see a more streamlined process this upcoming application cycle.  As the new FAFSA application process continues to be improved, establishing an October 1 deadline moving forward would provide much-needed clarity and certainty to students and schools.  For these reasons, I voted in favor of the bill, which passed the House on a vote of 381-1.

As a reminder, you can always find a list of all the votes I have taken for the district on my website.

This week and during the October Work Period I co-sponsored several pieces of legislation important to our community, including:

• the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, H.R. 3238, to strengthen and expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit to finance nearly two million new affordable homes and better serve communities;
• the School Food Modernization Act, H.R. 4483, to allow schools to participate in a loan assistance program to help schools replace outdated kitchen equipment to improve the quality and nutrition of student meals;
• the Employer Participation in Repayment Act, H.R.9164, to make permanent a provision that allows employers to provide tax-free reimbursement for employees pay off their student loans under educational assistance programs; 
• a bill to rename the Veterans Affairs Center in Dallas, Texas, as the “Eddie Bernice Johnson VA Medical Center,” H.R.1344; and
• the Access to Contraception for Servicemembers and Dependents Act, H.R. 9865, to ensure members of the Armed Forces have access to contraception;
• a resolution expressing the sense that Congress should ensure that the U.S. Postal Service is not privatized and remains an independent establishment of the federal government, H.Res.439;
• a resolution censuring Representative Glen Clay Higgins of the 3rd Congressional District of Louisiana, H.Res.1500;
• a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of October as “National Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” H.Res.1558; and
• a resolution condemning the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and calling for Hamas and its leaders to immediately and unconditionally surrender and to release the hostages, including American citizens, H.Res.1537. 

At the beginning of October, I led an effort with Congressman Wesley Hunt (TX-38) and ten of our colleagues in the Texas Delegation to urge House leaders to bring a bill providing for supplemental funding for disaster aid to the House floor as soon as possible to meet the great needs people across the country impacted by the recent storms, including Texans still recovering from Hurricane Beryl.  

I joined my colleagues in sending several other letters recently on issues important to our community, including: 

• a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark requesting that the DOJ use its authority to monitor the State of Texas’ actions affecting constitutional voting rights and federal civil rights in its five most populous counties through early voting and election day;
• a letter to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson expressing concern over reports of Texas officials compromising ballot secrecy of voters in the State of Texas;
• a letter to House and Senate leaders urging immediate bipartisan relief to the proposed cuts to physician reimbursement under Medicare Part B;
• a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Becerra expressing concern about Johnson & Johnson’s plan to transition to a rebate model for select 340B drugs, which would create significant financial challenges and administrative burdens for safety-net hospitals and patients; 
• a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) urging CMS to improve access to inpatient rehabilitation hospital care in Medicare Advantage;
• a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urging it to use an upgraded female crash test dummy in the same capacity and regularity as the other dummies to reduce women’s injuries in automobile accidents;
• a letter to Senate and House Armed Services Committee leaders urging them to remove the harmful, anti-equality provisions in the final negotiated National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025;
• a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to strike provisions in the House Commerce, Justice, Sciences, and Related Agencies appropriations bill that interfere with the accuracy of the U.S. Census Bureau;
• a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel urging the IRS to expand Direct File for the 9 million U.S. citizens who live abroad; and
• a letter to the Department of Education urging it to establish guidance for outdoor activities and indoor classroom temperatures and to strengthen the federal response to extreme heat.

I always enjoy welcoming fellow Texans to my office in Washington.  This week, I was glad to welcome members of the Texas Farm Bureau who were in town to talk about their experiences in Texas this year and the urgent need to pass the Farm Bill, which has not been completed as quickly as it should have been and is compounding hardships for farmers in Texas and across the country.

In Washington, Team TX-07 held nearly a dozen meetings with constituents and groups advocating on their behalf.  Back home in the district, our team was out and about across the district, helping constituents and attending community events, including Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce's State of the Schools event and the Greater Houston Partnership's State of the Texas Medical Center event, both pictured below.

Do you need health insurance?  The Affordable Care Act health care marketplace is now open!  Learn more and apply for health insurance for 2025 during the open enrollment period at HealthCare.gov.  If you don't already have health insurance through a job, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or another source that provides health coverage, you can find coverage through the marketplace, where more than 20 million Americans get their health insurance.

Don't wait—to have insurance beginning January 1, 2025, you'll need to apply by December 15, 2024!

As I hope you know, our district team and I are committed to supporting neighbors across our district who need assistance from or are experiencing difficulties with a federal agency, such as the IRS or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.  

Recently, Team TX-07 helped our neighbor Cristina get her benefits from the Social Security Administration, which she explains below:

“I contacted Congresswoman Fletcher’s office due to my problem that I had with Social Security.  I have been trying since 2022 about a retirement back pay they owed me until 2023.  I have been in and out of the office over and over again, but all I got was promises that I would get it after I had given them all the paperwork needed.  After a long wait, it was already 2024, I asked and wrote Ms. Fletcher’s office and with no problem, [Constituent Advocate Fatimah] in her office sent the letter to them and right away, about two weeks after, I finally received my retirement back pay.  I really appreciate the help.”

If you would like assistance with a federal agency, or know someone who would, click here for more information about how we may be able to help. 

November is National Veterans and Military Families Month and I want to hear from you about the veterans’ issues that are top of mind for you.  I hope you will fill out my survey at this link and let me know your thoughts. 

On Thursday, November 21, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Team TX-07 will host a constituent services pop-up at the Alief Neighborhood Center where residents will have an opportunity to learn more about the services our office offers and to talk to our Constituent Advocates.  Hope you’ll stop by! 

The House will continue its work in Washington next week, where we will continue with legislating and organizing for the next Congress.  I look forward to sharing an update with you at the end of the week. 

Until then, please remember that I am proud to represent you and I am here 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 share your thoughts. 

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,