Representative Lizzie Fletcher

Dear Neighbor,

It was another busy week in Washington, and I’m glad to share this week’s update with you.

The House started off the week by voting on the E-BRIDGE Act, (H.R. 1752), which would authorize the Economic Development Administration to award grants for high-speed broadband projects to public-private partnerships. We also voted on the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, (H.R. 886), to provide additional funding and make technical improvements to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program. I voted in favor of both of these bills, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

On Tuesday, the House considered the Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies (USE IT) Act of 2023, (H.R. 6276). This bill requires the Office of Management Budget and the General Services Administration to enact a minimum “building utilization rate” of 60 percent for federal agencies over the course of the year. While I support efficiency, this arbitrary bill lacks the thoughtful approach required to utilization and fails to take into consideration the needs of each agency. At the same time, it requires employees to be in office at least 5 days per week to be counted toward the total occupancy of the building, which unnecessarily penalizes federal agencies that allow their employees to have more flexible work arrangements and fails to recognize the importance of field work. Many federal employees’ responsibilities require them devote time to field work—like food safety inspectors, TSA supervisors, park rangers, firefighters, Border Patrol agents, and law enforcement officers, and many more. For these reasons I voted against this bill, but it passed the House by a vote of 217-203.

The House also voted this week on a resolution denouncing the Biden administration’s immigration policies (H.Res. 1065). I support efforts to address our broken immigration system and border security by enacting comprehensive immigration reform and sound policy to make our border safe and secure. Unfortunately, this resolution does not do that – in fact, it does nothing more than malign the Biden administration. I voted against it, but it passed the House by a vote of 226-193.

You may have seen or heard in the news that the House considered the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7251), a bill the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed unanimously last week following a hearing with national security officials, and which I wrote about in last week’s update. The bill requires any application operating in the U.S. that is found to be controlled by a foreign adversary, including TikTok, to be divested from that foreign adversary within six months of the bill’s enactment.

Our government has a long history of limiting foreign ownership of entities operating in the United States to protect our national security—and that includes foreign ownership of critical public utilities, particularly in the telecommunications sector. The bipartisan Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act follows that precedent, addressing the immediate national security risks posed by foreign adversary-controlled apps, including TikTok, and establishing a framework to protect Americans from foreign adversary-controlled apps going forward. This framework requires apps operated by a company controlled by a foreign adversary to be divested from foreign adversary control.

It is important to know that this legislation does not ban TikTok, rather it requires its parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok to an American company or another headquartered in a non-adversarial country. As long as that process occurs, Americans can continue to use TikTok with no interruption in service.

As I mentioned last week, apps collect tremendous amounts of sensitive personal data on their users, including name, age, phone number and email address, IP address, physical location, other personal data, and potentially much more. Congress has been working on legislation to protect the data privacy of all Americans from all apps, regardless of ownership, and that must continue to be a top priority of this Congress.

While work continues on a comprehensive bill for data privacy and security protection, this bill focuses on the national security concerns of apps that are subject to the control of foreign adversaries, including TikTok. As presented, this bill will preserve Americans’ ability to use the service while protecting our data and national security. For these reasons, President Biden has stated he supports this legislation and would sign it into law.

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

the Scientific Integrity Act, H.R. 4893, to set clear, enforceable standards for federal agencies and federally funded research to keep public science independent from political or special interest influence;
the Air America Act of 2023, H.R. 6049, to grant Air America employees who conducted life-saving search and rescue missions for the United States from 1950-1976, the federal retirement credit they rightfully deserve; and
the Panama Canal Zone Veterans Act of 2023, H.R. 2447, to provide veterans who were exposed to herbicides during their service in the Panama Canal Zone with the health care and benefits they rightfully deserve.

I also am an original co-sponsor of a resolution filed this week important to many in our community: a resolution reaffirming the House of Representatives’ support for a two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict, H.Res.1074. This bicameral resolution recognizes that Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in safety and security and to enjoy freedom, dignity, and prosperity and commits to working to ensure enduring peace and security of both Israelis and Palestinians. The resolution reaffirms the State of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state; recognizes Palestinians’ right to sovereignty and self-determination through a Palestinian state; supports a two-state solution as the best path to achieve lasting peace; and condemns all calls and actions that reject and undermine a two-state solution.

In addition to bills and resolutions, I joined my colleagues in a letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough, expressing concerns with the and amendment that was included in the Senate-passed appropriations bill for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, and urging the VA to protect veterans from gun violence.

Finally, I led our Harris County delegation in sending a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUD) asking it to grant the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD’s) request for an extension of time to use federal disaster recovery and mitigation funds from Hurricane Harvey. This extension will allow GLO and HCFCD to complete critical risk reduction projects for our most vulnerable communities. I am glad that our entire Harris County delegation—Representatives Babin, Crenshaw, Garcia, Green, Hunt, Jackson Lee, Luttrell, and Nehls—joined me in sending this important letter that will make it possible to continue vital work on flood mitigation in Harris County.

This week, our Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology voted unanimously to refer the following bills to protect American communication networks from foreign adversaries and bad actors to the full committee for consideration:

the Countering CCP Drones Act (H.R. 2864), to prohibit certain DJI Technologies equipment in U.S. communications infrastructure;
the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (H.R. 820), to require the FCC to annually publish a list of entities with equity ownership from foreign adversary countries, like the People’s Republic of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia;
the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks (FUTURE Networks) Act (H.R. 1513), to require the FCC to establish a 6G Task Force to develop a report on sixth-generation wireless technology; and
the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act (H.R. 7589), to require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study of the national security risks posed by routers, modems, or devices that are designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by companies owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction of the above foreign-adversary countries.

On Tuesday, I joined fellow Texan Representative Henry Cuellar (TX-28) and several other members of Congress at a press conference announcing the creation of the Democrats for Border Security Task Force. I look forward to working together to advance meaningful, common-sense solutions to address border security and our broken immigration system.

There were lots of Houstonians in D.C. this week and it was great seeing so many familiar faces! I was glad to join Houstonian Anne Chao for a meeting with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries about the National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. In the last Congress, we established a study commission to draft a report to Congress on the creation of the museum on the National Mall. There is a lot of enthusiasm in our district for this effort, and I am glad to help in the effort. Some other highlights of the week pictured below included in-office meetings with Dr. Esmaeil Porsa CEO of Harris Health and incoming chair of the Front Line Hospital Alliance; Dr. Tina Petersen, Executive Director of Harris County Flood Control District; Dr. Sherif Zaafran, President of the Texas Medical Board; members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee from Houston; and members of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Houston Chapter.

After coming home from Washington this week, I had the chance to address the Bellaire Southwest Houston Rotary Club meeting to give an update on Congressional matters and to answer questions. I also had a chance to tour the HOPE Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), which opened its new health center on Bellaire Boulevard a year ago this month. Our legislative director and my senior health policy advisor Anne-Marie joined us to learn more about the work the HOPE Clinic is doing to provide health care services to all people. It’s really amazing: HOPE Clinic provides services in 30 different languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Burmese, Arabic, and Spanish. I left inspired and grateful for the work and the visionary leadership of the HOPE Clinic’s founders, board members, leaders, staff, and supporters.

In Washington it's what is known as “Fly-in Season.” That means lots of associations, groups, and organizations are making their annual visits to Capitol Hill and to our office in Washington! This week, Team TX-07 had more than three dozen meetings, including those pictured below with representatives of: Cemvita; the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association; the International Association of Fire Chiefs (including Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña!); Gulf Coast Water Authority; the U.S. Trotting Associations; the Asian American Hotel Owners Association; Combined Arms; and the Houston Apartment Association.

And in Houston, our team was out and about in the community, and in the office helping constituents. Among the highlights, our Constituent Advocate Sara attended Gulfton Area Management District’s annual March on Crime.

Very exciting news this week! On Wednesday, I got to share the news that the Department of Transportation has awarded the City of Houston $43,438,830 from

its Neighborhood Access and Equity Program for important projects in Gulfton and Kashmere Gardens. The Neighborhood Access and Equity Program is one Congress established in the Inflation Reduction Action (IRA), which I voted for and President Biden signed into law in 2022.

Gulfton is a vibrant part of Texas' Seventh Congressional District. This $43 million grant will fund the construction and repair of sidewalks, creation of green stormwater infrastructure as well as curb and gutter drainage, and the planting of tree canopy cover in Gulfton, benefitting more than 37,000 residents in the neighborhood. It will enhance multi-modal accessibility and improve the overall well-being for members of the community, enabling people to travel safely to and from work, school, and other destinations and make our community safer and more accessible.

I was glad to partner with City and community leaders in Gulfton to advocate for this grant, and I look forward to continuing our work together to bring improvements of all kinds back home. You can hear more about this in my interview with Houston Public Media.

Speaking of the Inflation Reduction Act–the IRA also provided the IRS with long-term funding for the agency to transform its operations and improve taxpayer service. This week, the IRS launched the new Direct File Pilot Program, including a Spanish version of the free tax-filing service.

Direct File provides a free, secure option for taxpayers with simple tax situations in 12 states–including Texas–to file their taxes directly with the IRS. Direct File is easy to use, with no hidden junk fees, and works as well on a smartphone as it does on a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer. Direct File shows taxpayers the math so they can be sure that their return is accurate, and they are getting the refund they are entitled to. Live customer service support is also available for Direct File users. Initial users have saved hundreds of dollars and reported that the tool is simple and straightforward to use. To check your eligibility, visit directfile.irs.gov.

The House will reconvene next week. The next government funding deadline is Friday, March 22, and the House is expected to vote on the second set of six appropriations bills for fiscal year 2024, including funding for the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. House Republican leadership also announced that next week is “energy week” and the House will vote on legislation related to energy and the environment. Our Energy and Commerce Committee is also slated for a full-day markup on Wednesday, so it will be a full week. I will report back to you at the end of it!

Until then, please don’t hesitate to 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 am proud to represent you, I am here to help you, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,