Newsletters

We hope you had a joyful Easter holiday with your friends and family. This week I traveled to Texas as part of a congressional fact-finding mission to get a first-hand look at the chaotic situation that is spiraling out of control on America’s southern border. Like many of you, I have been following disturbing news reports about the growing illegal immigration crisis that began almost immediately after President Biden was sworn in, and I can tell you that things are even worse than we’ve been told.

Speaker Pelosi’s playbook for running the House of Representatives is beginning to look a lot like the classic movie Groundhog Day – another week, another package of controversial, outside-the-mainstream bills fast-tracked through Congress without committee hearings, no opportunity for Republicans to offer amendments, and rubber-stamped by a partisan majority.

Dear Friend, These last couple of weeks in Washington have been a whirlwind of activity, most of it bad for American families, businesses and taxpayers. Last week we told you about the massive spending bill Democrats approved on a largely party-line vote. That budget-busting, $1.9 trillion package was fast-tracked through the House with little debate, and under strict procedures that did not allow for consideration of any Republican amendments – including one I filed to try and re-instate the Keystone XL Pipeline. Just 9 percent of this bloated Washington goodie-bag was set aside for pandemic related health care needs – yet it contained hundreds of billions of dollars to bailout big spending states like Illinois, more than a billion dollars for Amtrak, millions more for museums and taxpayer subsidized art – and even earmarks for a bridge in New York and a subway tunnel in San Francisco. It also contained a number of policy riders that have nothing to do with COVID, such as a massive minimum wage hike that will hammer employers already struggling under the weight of government lockdowns. I am opposed to this legislation and shared my concerns in a letter to our Senators this week now that the ball is in their court. You can read that letter here.

The House of Representatives did not convene for legislative activity this week, so I spent time holding several well-attended listening sessions across the district to hear what folks had to say. More on that later. I also received my subcommittee assignments on the House Natural Resources and Judiciary Committees, specialized panels that focus on specific areas of public policy within the larger framework of the full committees.