This has been a particularly chaotic and unusual week in the House of Representatives.  Much of the drama related to the national security funding legislation that has been the topic of discussion for the last six months and pending before the House without a vote for the last two months.  I have heard from many of you about the need for the United States to assist our allies in Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and provide humanitarian assistance around the world.  Yet efforts to provide assistance for our democratic allies—and fud our own national security—has been thwarted by members of the House.  As House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries conveyed in a letter this week that summarizes the issues and the position of the House Democratic Caucus, the appeasement of aggression will get us nowhere.  He described the moment for Speaker Johnson as his “Chamberlain or Churchill” moment, and we feel the gravity of this moment in our caucus and I know people do across our community.

I am glad to report that, after a particularly dramatic week full of unusual procedural events, the House voted today to consider four separate bills that, together, comprise a package of appropriations bills to fund our national security priorities.  Three of these bills provide much-needed aid to our allies: the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 8035), which provides more than $60 billion to address the conflict in Ukraine and assist our regional partners in countering Russia’s aggression; the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 8034), which provides more than $26 billion in aid to Israel’s defense against Iran and its proxies and $9.15 billion for humanitarian assistance for people in Gaza as well as other vulnerable populations around the world; and the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 8036), which provides more than $8 billion to secure the Indo-Pacific region and support integrated deterrence against the People’s Republic of China.  The fourth is the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act (H.R. 8038), to authorize the President to impose comprehensive sanctions against Iran, Russia, and China—including the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act and a modified version of the TikTok legislation that passed the House earlier this year.  

Since October, President Biden has requested, and I have supported, emergency funding for pressing national security needs, including assistance for our allies Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and humanitarian aid in Gaza around the world.  Although I would have preferred for Speaker Johnson to let the House vote on the bill that the Senate already passed two months ago, these four bills present an opportunity to send critical aid to our allies and bolster our national security.  For these reasons, I voted in favor of the resolution to allow for consideration of these critical bills.  (As I have explained in prior emails, it is unusual for members of the party in the minority to vote to advance what we call “the Rule.”  There is a long history, but this is the second time this Congress that Democrats have voted in favor of a Rule to bring urgent legislation to the floor when the Republican majority’s votes would not be enough to bring the bill to the House for consideration.)  The bills are scheduled for a vote in the House tomorrow.

After Iran’s attacks last weekend, and months of escalating violence from Iranian proxies, the House took up a series of bills aimed at deterring Iran’s influence this week.  On Monday, the House voted on the No U.S. Financing for Iran Act of 2023 (H.R. 5921), to direct the Department of the Treasury to oppose International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance for Iran; the Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act of 2023 (H.R. 5923), to impose restrictions on accounts in the U.S. belonging to Chinese financial institutions that conduct transactions involving petroleum from Iran; and a resolution to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to terminate the tax-exempt status of terrorist supporting organizations (H.R. 6408).  I voted for each of these bills, which passed the House under suspension of the rules with broad bipartisan support.

On Tuesday, the House voted on the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act of 2023 (H.R. 6015), to require the Administration to issue regulations ensuring humanitarian exceptions built into U.S. sanctions on Iran do not facilitate global terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and the Iran Sanctions Accountability Act of 2023 (H.R. 6245), to require the Administration to report to Congress on funds and assets controlled by Iranian leadership; the Strengthening Tools to Counter the Use of Human Shields Act (H.R. 5917), to reinstate sanctions against anyone involved in the use of civilians as human shields in conflict zones; the Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act (H.R. 5917), to impose sanctions on perpetrators who illicitly produce and traffic captagon, an addictive, stimulant drug; the No Technology for Terror Act (H.R. 6603), to codify existing export controls to restrict the transfer of U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle technology to Iran; the No Paydays to Hostage Takers Act (H.R. 5826), to deter foreign governments from hostage-taking or wrongfully detaining U.S. nationals by denying their diplomats entrance to into the U.S.; the Solidify Iran Sanctions Act  (H.R. 3033), to reauthorize permanently the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, which is set to expire by the end of 2026; a resolution expressing the sense of the House that the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic; and a resolution encouraging the European Union to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.  These suspension bills and resolutions all passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

On Wednesday, the House voted on (1) the Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act (H.R. 6046), to redesignate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and reinstate sanctions on the group; (2) the Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act (H.R. 4691), to establish new congressional procedures to hinder the President’s ability to use diplomatic engagement with Iran; (3) the Iran Counterterrorism Act (H.R. 6323), to delay for up to 60 days any sanctions waiver issued by the Administration against Iran’s petroleum and financial sectors which prohibits the Administration from reissuing new or similar sanctions waiver on Iran, and (4) and a bill to rescind existing sanctions waiver and licenses involved in the 2023 U.S.-Iran diplomatic prisoner’s exchange deal (H.R. 5947).  After consultation with my colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee and other relevant committees, I voted against these bills because the Houthis are already designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the President and the bill does not include exemptions for life-saving work, penalizing humanitarian assistance in Houthi-controlled territories, the new precedent set in these bills for Congressional review would set a troublesome precedent—especially considering this Congress—and hinder U.S. diplomatic relations.  Finally, on Thursday, the House voted on a resolution condemning Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel (H.Res. 1143), in response to Iran’s unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel last Saturday.  I voted in favor of the resolution, which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

This week, the House also considered a bill titled the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act (H.R. 4639) to prevent our intelligence agencies and law enforcement from purchasing Americans’ data from third parties.  While I agree with the principle in the title, and the importance of securing Americans’ data privacy, I voted against the bill as drafted because it does not protect our data from purchase by foreign adversaries or by the private sector and, therefore, fails to make a meaningful impact on Americans’ data security and threatens our national security.  Access to this commercially available data is critical to protect American personnel and capabilities, to understand the activities and capabilities of foreign governments, to detect dangerous cyber threats, to assist the victims of serious crimes like child exploitation, and to disrupt potential terrorist activity.  Although I voted against this bill, it passed the House by a vote of 219-199, pretty evenly split in the yeas and nays among Republicans and Democrats, which is fairly unusual around here.  Congress is still working on comprehensive data security legislation that would protect all Americans’ data and I support that effort.

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

In addition to all that happened in the House this week, the Senate voted this week to dismiss impeachment charges that the House majority presented against U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  House impeachment managers presented two articles of impeachment to the Senate—which I voted against but which passed the House along party lines—but the Senate found that the allegations fell short of the standard for impeachment and dismissed the proceeding.

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

• the Tax Fairness for Workers Act, H.R. 4963, to allow workers to deduct common work expenses, including union dues, restoring a deduction that was stripped in the 2017 tax reform legislation; 
• the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, H.R. 2955, to provide greater oversight and data transparency for institutional youth treatment programs by establishing a Federal Work Group on Youth Residential Programs; 
• the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2023, H.R. 4534, to require the Department of Health and Human Services to increase research on women and lung cancer, and improve access to lung cancer preventive services; and 
• the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act of 2023, H.R. 6571, to create a whole-of-government approach to mapping, monitoring, and strengthening American supply chains, which will increase jobs and lower costs for Americans. 

I also joined my colleagues in another letter to Speaker Johnson supporting an immediate funding extension for the Affordable Connectivity Program, a program the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act created that provides more than 23 million American households with discounted internet service.  1.7 million households in Texas and more than 32,000 households in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District use this program to connect to work, school, health care and other essential services.  The program is estimated to lose funding by mid-May. 

It’s always a highlight to visit with neighbors and constituents visiting Washington.  During this busy week, I was glad to have a chance to visit with some very special Houstonians and former Houstonians, including representatives from Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, and Trinity University, the Association for Clinical Oncology, representatives from EvGo, and members of the International Association of Drilling Contractors. I also loved getting to see members of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Forum program during their visit to the Capitol for a visit on the House steps.

I was glad to join my colleagues in the Regional Leadership Council for a meeting with U.S. Department of Energy Loan Program Office Director Jigar Shah, who I have enjoyed working with since his appointment—and not only because his family members live in our district!  Director Shah oversees the DOE’s Loan Program Office (LPO), which the Inflation Reduction Act significantly expanded in 2022 to finance large-scale private sector energy infrastructure projects.  Through the bill, the LPO received $11.7 billion, which can be leveraged to support issuing new loans and loan guarantees of more than $200 billion to help finance next-generation projects on the cutting edge of clean energy infrastructure and vehicle manufacturing.  We’ve seen it in TX-07: last September, Sunnova, which is headquartered in TX-07, received a $3 billion loan guarantee from the program.

Earlier in the week, I joined my colleagues in the New Democrat Coalition for a meeting with Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President and White House National Climate Advisor, where we discussed the administration’s implementation of various programs, including EV charging station infrastructure and offshore wind development.  

In Washington, Team TX-07 had a very busy week, participating in more than 40 meetings with constituents and advocates in our office!  Some highlights are pictured below, including meetings with representatives from the American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Preventive Medicine, College of American Pathologists, Water and Sewer Distributors of America, the Houston Zoo, Armenia Assembly, the American Turkic Business Council, Broker Action Coalition, Last Prisoner Project, and more.

And at home in the district, our team was hard at work assisting constituents and participating in meetings across our community, including the Gulfton SuperNeighborhood Meeting, the International Management District Public Safety Committee Meeting, West University and Harris County Flood Control’s Poor Farm Ditch town hall meeting, the Midtown Management District’s regular public safety meeting, and the Houston Alzheimer’s Association’s AWARE Luncheon—pictured below!

After the House adjourns, I will be back home in Houston.  I am looking forward to spending time next week in the district, where neighbors across our district will be celebrating Passover, Earth Day, Arbor Day, and much more!

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,