Dear Neighbor,

This has been an eventful week.  As you may have seen, the House of Representatives convened this week, and I traveled back to Washington to vote on a fourth major COVID-19 bill.  It was important to me to return and cast my vote in support of the bill, and the trip provided many reminders of just how much COVID-19 has changed our lives – from the airport to the Capitol.  After I returned, I joined HISD and the Houston Food Bank at NRG Stadium to distribute food to see our community come together to provide support for those who need it, but also to witness the incredible need and loss our neighbors are experiencing.  We are all working through so many challenges, and the challenges we face are on my mind each day as I work for our district.

Here are a few examples from this week. 

Like the rest of our community, I watched as the price per barrel of oil dropped to historic lows this week, knowing from experience what that means here in the energy capital.  On Tuesday, I filed a bill in the House, which I had announced earlier this month: bipartisan, bicameral legislation to appropriate $3 billion for the Department of Energy to purchase oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  As the lead sponsor in the House, I was glad to lead nine of my House colleagues who cosponsored the bill and to see join Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota introduce the bill in the Senate.  We know, of course, that the disruption in the energy markets are complex and will not be solved by this legislation alone, but with this legislation Congress has an opportunity to provide relief for those who produce the energy we use every day and to make a strategic purchase that benefits all Americans. 

On Thursday, the House debated the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, a bipartisan relief bill providing $310 billion in additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), $75 billion in resources for hospitals, health systems, and frontline workers, and $25 billion for testing.  I was glad to support this bill that addresses critical issues in our community.  I shared my thoughts about the legislation right after the vote, and you can see it again here.

My colleagues and I are already at work on the next legislation.  It is important for us to provide assistance to state and local governments who have lost revenue and added expenses as a result of the pandemic.  While this sounds broad, it really means helping cities like Houston pay the people who work there – the police, firefighters, sanitation workers, and many others who take care of our community and keep us safe, especially in these uncertain times.  I am working closely with Mayor Turner to ensure that Congress addresses these issues in our next legislation.  And there is more.  As we move forward, we need to think about both short- and long-term needs.

This week, I wrote a letter asking for Houston’s unique transit and transportation needs be considered in the infrastructure bill we are drafting now.  I was glad my colleagues Representatives Al Green, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Sylvia Garcia joined in in advocating for our needs.

• Including a bipartisan technical fix in the next Coronavirus relief package that would make California and Texas doctors who work in rural and underserved hospitals eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).  
  
• Supporting an evidence- and science-based National Recovery Strategy that priorities continued mitigation and containment of COVID-19 with any efforts to reopen the economy.
  
• Ensuring that charitable nonprofits on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response effort are also eligible to receive relief.

I was glad to host my fourth Telephone Town Hall focused on COVID-19 with our neighbor Dr. Peter Hotez.  Dr. Hotez is one of the world’s leading medical experts, and I was grateful he took the time to answer questions that so many of us share.  His insights provided detailed and useful information for our community.  As we continue to face this unprecedented health crisis, I will continue working to do everything I can and ensure you receive the information you need.  You can listen to our telephone town hall here.

Dr. Peter Hotez and I at a Science, Space, Space, and Technology Committee Hearing in Washington, DC on March 5, 2020.

I am excited to share our new COVID-19 Community Resource Guide, which my team and I put together to highlight helpful information for our community all in one place.  As our district faces the many challenges related to COVID-19, I want to make it as easy as possible to navigate the various avenues of support available — from health care to nutrition to small business assistance — as well as answer some of the most frequently asked questions. I hope families across our district find these resources helpful, and my office will continue to provide assistance with any additional inquiries.

If you know of other resources that you think may be helpful to our neighbors, or would like to see anything else added to the resource guide, let us know by clicking below!

Our community has come together in support of each other in incredible ways again this year.  I was privileged to join a model collaboration between HISD and the Houston Food Bank at NRG Stadium yesterday to distribute food to families in need.  I was so glad to join leaders from across our community to distribute food to more than 5,000 families.  The line of cars approaching NRG was something most of us could not imagine just months ago, and the very real need for food will continue in the months ahead.  What the organizers have done is a testament to their caring and their commitment, and I am so proud to represent this community.

I am committed to working with everyone to find solutions to our most pressing needs and to chart a path forward together.   

My team and I are here to support our community as we face the many related COVID-19 challenges together.  These are trying times, but I want to be a resource for you and ensure you have the information you need as we face COVID-19 together.  You are always welcome to share your concerns by emailing me here, or by calling us at (713) 353-8680.

I am proud to represent you, and I am here to help you.

Best wishes,