We began the week on Monday with consideration of several bipartisan bills to name or rename post offices across the country.  While none were in Texas this time, these bills usually have broad bipartisan support, and they did this week.

Next, the House took up legislation titled the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (H.R. 8282), a bill to impose sanctions on individuals involved in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) efforts in response to the ICC’s application for arrest warrants of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over Israel’s military operations in Gaza.  Although I agree that the ICC’s application for arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials was deeply problematic, this overly broad bill is neither an effective nor useful long-term response.  As written, this bill could require sanctions against court staff, judges, witnesses, and U.S. allies and partners who provide even limited support to the court.  This bill risks impeding global investigations and preventing international cooperation, weakening foreign deterrence, and impacting those who rely on the ICC for justice.  For these reasons, I voted against the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 247-155-2.

This week, the House began consideration of the first of the twelve annual appropriations bills.  I am sorry to report that it appears House leaders have learned absolutely nothing from last year’s protracted and contentious appropriations process.  Rather than work in a bipartisan way to fund military construction projects and provide essential funding for servicemembers, veterans, and their families, House Republicans again brought to the floor this week a bill that politicizes our military and fails our servicemembers, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025 (H.R. 8580). 

Just like last year, the overall spending level was set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (H.R. 3746).  And just like last year, House Republicans put a bill on the floor for consideration that is not consistent with the agreed spending levels in that law and that contains divisive and partisan provisions that fail our veterans, harm our military readiness, worsen the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families, and further limit women’s access to reproductive health care.  If enacted, H.R. 8580 would:

• Cut critical funding for military construction projects by more than $718 million compared to last year, worsening the quality of life and safety of U.S. servicemembers and their families and impacting our military readiness, recruitment, and retention;
• Cut more than $30 million in funding for military installation climate change and resilience projects, leaving our national security and servicemembers unable to adapt to rising sea levels and vulnerable to natural disasters;
• Further restrict women’s access to abortion by overturning a VA rule that allows servicemembers, veterans, and families access to abortion and abortion counseling;
• Prohibit the VA from providing gender-affirming care to our transgender veterans, which is critical for the health of our transgender veterans and undermine military recruitment;
• Restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and provide a license to discriminate against LGTBTQI+ veterans under the guise of religious freedom;
• Undermine the ability to keep guns out of the hands of those federally prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms who could cause harm to themselves or others; and
• Repeat the same tactics attempted by House Republicans last year to include partisan changes to existing laws, known as “riders,” that disenfranchise and hurt our veterans.

Our servicemembers and veterans have fought bravely and made sacrifices for our freedom, and as lawmakers, it is critical that we protect theirs.  For these reasons, I voted against the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 209-197.

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

This week, one of my legislative priorities was to advance the Right to Contraception Act, H.R. 4121, a bill to protect the right of Americans to use birth control.  As Whip of the Pro-Choice Caucus, I worked to build support for a discharge petition, a procedural device that requires the Speaker of the House to bring the bill to the floor once it has 218 signatures.  Why do this, and why this week?  Today marks the 59th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, which gave married couples the right to use birth control.  (It wasn’t until five years later in a different case that the Supreme Court said unmarried people had this right, too.)  Most Americans have relied on these protections and the right to make decisions about whether, when, and how to use birth control.  But two years ago in the Dobbs v. Jackson case, one opinion suggested that the Griswold case and the right to make these personal, private decisions should be revisited.  And now we see threats to take away this right from state legislatures and some members of Congress.  We passed this bill in the last Congress but Senate Republicans blocked consideration in the Senate.  And during the House vote, 195 of my Republican colleagues voted against it.  That position to restrict access to contraception does not reflect views of the vast majority of Americans.  Eight in 10 Americans support the Right to Contraception Act – across demographic and party lines.  I am an original cosponsor of the Right to Contraception Act and was glad to help lead the effort to get this discharge petition.  I joined the bill’s lead sponsors, our Whip Katherine Clark, and advocates at a press conference this week to talk about the issue and encourage our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to sign on to our petition.

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

• the Judicial Ethics Enforcement Act of 2024, H.R. 8098, to create an Office of the Inspector General within the judicial branch and empower the inspector general to conduct investigations of alleged violations of the Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States; 
• the Prime Minister Golda Meir Commemorative Coin Act, H.R. 987, to direct the Treasury Secretary to mint coins in honor of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and the 75th anniversary of U.S.-Israel relations;
• a resolution expressing support for the designation of the month of May 2024 as "Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Awareness Month, H.Res. 1260; and
• a resolution expressing support for the designation of June 7, 2024 as "National Gun Violence Awareness Day" and June 2024 as "National Gun Violence Awareness Month," H.Res 1271. 

On Tuesday, our Energy & Commerce Energy Subcommittee held a hearing titled “Powering AI: Examining America’s Energy and Technology Future.”  We discussed the recent explosion of growth in artificial intelligence (AI) and new power generation that will be required to power new data centers.  These data centers create new challenges to meet the increased demand for power on a larger scale.  The Electric Power Research Institute expects these data centers to be as high as 9% of domestic electricity demand by 2030.  AI queries are estimated to require ten times the electricity of a traditional google query.  While the fast-paced growth in the AI industry is exciting, it will exacerbate existing issues we have repeatedly discussed in this committee on deploying power generation to meet our energy needs.

I asked our witnesses about the need for permitting reform to get more power generation to market to support this growth. (Today, it can take 10 years, on average, to site, permit, and build a new transmission line.)  To see our discussion, you can click here.  

This week, President Biden invited members of Congress to the White House for the annual congressional picnic.  It was the first time I have been able to attend, and I was glad to be there to visit with colleagues from both sides of the aisle, members of the cabinet and White House team, and some very special current Houston residents, the Artemis II Crew!

It was a short week in Washington, but I was glad to have the chance to meet with Houstonians in my office on a variety of topics, from health care to how we develop geothermal energy, including representatives from the U.S. Oncology Network, Breakthrough T1D (formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes RF (JDRF)), and Geothermal Rising. 

The team met up with other Houstonians on the Hill throughout the week.  See below!

In Washington, Team TX-07 participated in more than two dozen meetings with people from home and people representing their interests, including National Public Radio (NPR), the United Nations Association, McKesson, FAWCO, Amegy Bank, teachHouston at the University of Houston, Sam Houston University, and Enterprise Products.

And in Houston, Team TX-07 continued its work for constituents and attended several community events, including the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s Pride in Business event, a memorial at NASA Johnson Space Center for George Abbey, and a prayer service in support of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. 

On Tuesday, President Biden announced new executive actions to secure the border.  The actions will bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum when high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed the U.S.’s ability to respond, making it easier for immigration officers to remove those without a lawful basis to remain in the United States and reducing the burden on Border Patrol agents.  Under these actions, asylum processing and legal migration will continue unimpeded at official ports of entry.  These actions are not permanent and will be lifted once the number of migrants crossing the border between points of entry returns to manageable levels.  You can read the official White House statement and summary here.

As you may recall, earlier this year, a bipartisan group of members of the Senate, with assistance from the White House, reached a bipartisan agreement to make substantive reforms to U.S. immigration laws and increase funding for border protection.  As soon as the agreement was announced, however, House and Senate Republicans, at the urging of former President Trump, rejected the agreement and said it would not be considered.  The executive actions announced this week will provide temporary relief to our border communities, but Congress must do its job to address the range of challenges and pass legislation with comprehensive immigration reform to address our broken immigration system and increase border security.  The failure of one of political will, not of ideas for solutions.  There are plenty of good ideas to address these challenges—and a lot of input from people in our community. 

Hurricane season is here, and I know people across the community are preparing and wondering what this hurricane season will bring.  On Tuesday, June 18, I will hold a webinar with representatives of the National Weather Service, FEMA, and TDEM to review this year’s hurricane outlook and share tips to prepare for this hurricane season.  You can sign up here. 

The House will be back in session next week, and I will be back in Washington.  As of today, the House is slated to consider the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  Yesterday, we observed the 80th anniversary D-Day, honoring and remembering the courage and commitment of U.S. and Allied troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight the Nazis and to restore peace to Europe and the world.  I hope that the NDAA presented to Congress next week will reflect the bipartisan history of support for our American servicemembers and our leadership in the world.  I will, of course, report back next week.

As always, 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,