Dear Neighbor,

I just concluded a telephone town hall with many of our neighbors discussing their experiences with the Texas Winter Storm.  For those of you who joined, thank you for sharing your time and your story.  I am grateful to hear your thoughts about how to address the many lasting challenges the winter storm brought to light and how I can help you.  My team and I have compiled a list of resources for those who need help in the aftermath of the storm, which you can access here.

In this moment of great need for our community, I am also grateful for the leadership, response, and compassion from all levels of leadership in our community, including President Joe Biden.  I was glad to accompany the President and First Lady in their visit to Houston on Friday and show them the extent of devastation and need, as well as our incredible community that’s working to help get people back on their feet.

We are committed at all levels of government to respond to the immediate and long-term challenges from the winter storm.  I know that a large concern for our community is about bad actors who are willing to take advantage of people who are in need through scams, that’s why this week I called on Federal Trade Commission Acting Chair Rebecca Slaughter to coordinate with local law enforcement to identify, stop, and hold fraudsters accountable during this time.

We are also working to make sure a disaster like this never happens again.  If you haven’t had a chance to respond to our Winter Storm Survey, you can click the link below and send in your thoughts, experiences, and ideas with me.  

Of course, the winter storm disaster was coupled by another, year-long crisis: the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As a part of President Biden’s visit on Friday, we toured the mass vaccination center at NRG Park.  The center at NRG Park is a partnership of federal, state, and local government working together—one that comes at a critical moment for our community and our country.  I was glad to preview the site last Monday with Judge Hidalgo, Mayor Turner, several of my colleagues in our Houston Congressional delegation and other Houston leaders, and to see it in operation on Friday with the President and First Lady during their visit to the site.

The center will vaccinate people using the Harris County and City of Houston vaccination waitlists.  Those 65 and older living in high-risk ZIP codes will have top priority.  People 65 and older, and those 60 and older with chronic health conditions, are also able to sign up.  To register for the county waitlist, visit the vaccination link on ReadyHarris.org or call 832-927-8787.  To register for the City of Houston waitlist, visit the Houston Health Department's NRG Park COVID-19 vaccine waitlist online or by call 832-393-4301.  You can register at both.

The City and County have established a formula to prioritize those at high risk from the waitlists.  In our district, zip code 77036 has been put on the priority list. 

This joint federal, state, and local effort to ramp up vaccinations could not come at a more critical time.  More than 500,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 in the last year, including more than 3,000 here in Harris County.  This week, flags flew at half-staff in our country’s Capitol in recognition and mourning of this tragic milestone.  I joined my colleagues there for a candlelight memorial last Tuesday.

The House of Representatives took a major step forward this week in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.  Early Saturday morning, we passed H.R. 1319, The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.  This legislation implements President Biden’s plan to address both the health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

I was proud to work on key provisions of this legislation as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee—including the provisions to establish a national vaccination program, expand national testing efforts, ramp up health services for underserved communities, and more.  I am also proud that my bill, the Expand Medicaid Now Act, to incentivize states that have not yet expanded Medicaid (including Texas) to do so passed the House as a part of The American Recue Plan Act.

Key provisions in The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 include:

• Providing families an additional direct payment of $1,400 per person—bringing the total relief payment to $2,000 per person in combination with the year-end relief package.
• Making the child tax credit fully refundable and increases its size for 2021.
• Establishing a national COVID-19 vaccination program and increasing vaccinations across the country.  The bill provides more than $20 billion to establish a national COVID-19 vaccination program and improves the administration and distribution of vaccinations.
• Scaling up COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and mitigation, in order to stop the spread of the virus.  The bill provides $51 billion to expand testing, contact tracing, and mitigation and related activities.
• Providing nearly $130 billion to help K-12 schools re-open safely.  The bill makes nearly $130 billion available to states and school districts for immediate and long-term relief so they can work with public health experts to safely re-open schools and make up for lost time in the classroom.
• Helping bridge the digital divide by providing $7.6 billion to expand internet connectivity to students and communities.
• Extending unemployment benefits.  The bill extends the federal supplemental unemployment benefit through August 29 and increases the weekly supplemental benefit from the current $300 per week to $400 per week.
• Providing $26 billion for emergency rental assistance to help ensure struggling families continue to have a safe place to live during this pandemic.
• Makomg key investments in food security.  In response to persistent hunger in communities across the country, this bill helps combat increasing food insecurity with key investments in SNAP, WIC, Pandemic EBT and other critical nutrition assistance.

The House also worked on other key issues this week.  We passed H.R. 803, the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act, legislation to conserve public lands and waters.  We also voted to pass H.R. 5, The Equality Act, to protect our LGBTQ+ neighbors from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.  I was proud to co-sponsor this legislation.

I also joined my colleagues in sending several letters to the administration on other important matters, including:

• A letter led to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking for an USDA disaster declaration in Texas;
• A letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky requesting that the vaccine distribution formula be corrected so that the most recent census data is used to ensure that the correct doses of vaccines are delivered to the state of Texas; and
• A letter to Secretary of State Blinken asking to promote the importance of human rights in the bilateral US-Turkey partnership as the Biden administration engages with President Erdogan's government;

Our Texas delegation also sent a letter to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion calling on the credit reporting agencies to not accept nonpayment reports from TX utilities in the ERCOT footprint until issues relating to the high energy costs from the winter storm are addressed.

In the Energy and Commerce Telecom Subcommittee, we held an important hearing examining the role of traditional media platforms—broadcasters & cable networks—in disseminating disinformation and extremist content to Americans.  You can watch the hearing here.

In the House Science, Space, & Technology Committee, we held a hearing to examine the future of scientific research in the wake of COVID-19, which you can watch here.

Happening this week: Staff from our TX-07 district office will be holding virtual pop-up hours on Thursday, March 4 from 4:00-5:30pm to answer your questions about navigating unemployment, the IRS, FEMA, immigration, and other federal agencies!  You can sign up for an appointment here.

Next Monday, March 8, 2021 at 6:00pm: I am hosting a COVID-19 Telephone Town Hall focused on vaccines.  As Congress and the new administration ramp up vaccine distribution, I want to make sure all your questions are answered.  I will be joined by representatives from the Texas Department of State Health Services and Harris County Public Health. 

This town hall was postponed from its original date on February 18, when many of us were out of power or recovering from the Winter Storm.  If you previously submitted an RSVP for this telephone town hall, you are already registered for this one.  If you have not RSVP’d and would like to join, you can SIGN UP HERE to make sure you are on the call.

At the end of another eventful week, I am proud to represent you, and I am here to help you.  Please do not hesitate to call me to share your thoughts and concerns or to let me know how my team and I can help.  You can email here, or call my office at (713) 353-8680 any time.

Best wishes,