I was glad to join neighbors and community leaders today at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center for the groundbreaking for the new JCC expansion.  It was a beautiful day to recognize the importance of community and connection, and to look ahead to the exciting future for this pillar of our community. 

On Friday, I hosted a Small Business Webinar with Small Business Administration (SBA) Houston Director Tim Jeffcoat.  I hope the webinar provided a helpful overview and answers to the many questions we received about the newest round to PPP loans.  If you were unable to participate, you can download SBA Houston’s slides from the presentation here, and find helpful information in my SBA Resource Guide.  As always, you can contact my office if you have any questions.  As a reminder, the deadline to submit PPP loan applications is March 31. 

SBA Webinar with SBA Houston Director Tim Jeffcoat

In addition to these events, I had the chance to visit with people from across our community—from local restauranteurs and the Texas Restaurant Association to cub scout troops across the district—to hear their perspectives and to share mine on what is ahead in the 117th Congress.

Texas Restaurant Association Roundtable

In the 117th Congress, I have been appointed to serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee.  This Committee has broad jurisdiction over many issue areas of great importance to our community, including energy and health care.  We had our first meeting of the Congress this week, and are getting to work on the week ahead: “Road to Recovery: Ramping up COVID-19 Vaccines, Testing, and Medical Supply Chain” and “Safeguarding American Consumers: Fighting Fraud and Scans During the Pandemic.”

This week, I reintroduced my bill to stop surprise medical billing for COVID-19 tests, an issue I have heard about from many of you.  Congress has passed legislation both to end surprise medical billing and to ensure COVID-19 tests are accessible and free, but loopholes allow surprise bills for COVID-19 tests to continue.  My bill, the Stop COVID-19 Test Surprise Medical Bills Act, closes these loopholes to ensure COVID-19 tests are accessible and free and provides transparency in test pricing.

I also co-sponsored several bills this week, including:

• The Paycheck Fairness Act, to combat the gender pay gap and ensure equal pay for equal work;
• The Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act, to repeal the Global Gag Rule that prohibits foreign organizations from receiving U.S. global health assistance if they provide information, referrals, or services for legal abortion services or advocate for the legalization of abortion in their country;
• The Global Health Security Act, to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to promoting global health security;
• The Officer Eugene Goodman Congressional Gold Medal Act, to honor U.S. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, whose actions on January 6 led rioters away from the Senate floor; and
• A resolution honoring the life of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries sustained in the Capitol attack.  Officer Sicknick will lie in honor next week in the Capitol Rotunda.

In addition to co-sponsoring bills, I also joined colleagues in sending several letters to the Biden administration and to House leadership, including:

• A letter to President Biden expressing concerns about recent orders and actions relating to energy policy and the potential ban on leasing federal lands, both on shore and off shore, for oil and gas exploration; 
• A letter to President Biden urging the Administration to distribute COVID-19 vaccines directly to cities; 
• A letter to President Biden and HHS Secretary Becerra asking for access to the ACA be restored for DACA recipients; 
• A letter to President Biden asking his administration to take a number of actions to protect communities from PFAS contamination; and 
• A letter to Acting Attorney General of the United States Monty Wilkinson urging prosecutions to the fullest extent of the law for all those who took part in the insurrection on January 6th.

As we move forward with our work, Congress continues to respond to the January 6 attack on our Capitol and our country.  As I mentioned in my last report, both Congress and outside agencies are investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the attack and working to address the existing threats and their root causes.  This will be a critical part of the work we do in the months ahead and of my reports to you from Washington.

Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic is the first priority of this new Congress, and we have been working on legislation to respond to the pandemic.  This week, I also had the opportunity to meet virtually with the Biden administration’s COVID-19 team, including COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients and NIAID Director Dr. Tony Fauci.

Across the country, transmission of the virus seems to be slowing, with the number of new average cases 40 percent lower on Jan. 29 than at the U.S. peak three weeks earlier.  Across Texas, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all decreasing from record highs earlier this month.  And in Harris County, there have been more than 300,000 confirmed cases of COVID.  More than 261,177 patients in our region have recovered the virus, and the positivity rate has lowered slightly at 18.1 percent.  At the same time, experts warn that new COVID-19 variants are emerging that are highly contagious and could reverse these gains.

As you likely know, Harris County is working to deliver vaccines.  You can register for notifications about new appointments by subscribing to the HoustonRecovers option at AlertHouston. At this time, appointments are required for all vaccinations in Harris County, and new slots are not currently available.  Harris County Public Health is urging residents not to arrive at vaccination sites without an appointment.

It is important that all of us—including those who have been vaccinated—continue to wear masks, wash/sanitize hands, and keep distance to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Looking back, I am amazed at how quickly this month of January has gone, and how much has happened.  From what I am hearing, I know many of you feel the same.  These are difficult times for our country.  I am honored and proud to be your representative, and to do my part to ensure that we successfully address the many challenges before us now.

As always, please do not hesitate to call on me and my team if there is anything we can do to assist you or anything you want me to know.  You can email here or call (713) 353-8680 or (202) 225-2571 at any time.