None of us will forget where we were twenty years ago, or the horrific images that ran across our TV screens.

Throughout schools, restaurants, offices, and homes, Americans watched with horror as our towers fell. While the tragedy and devastation rocked our country, many heroes ran towards the chaos to rescue their countrymen and fight the flames. It is those men and women, those heroes, who I choose to remember as we reflect on the 20^th Anniversary of September 11^th.

We must never forget the thousands of American citizens, firemen, police, military members, and first responders who lost their lives in the largest terrorist attack ever perpetrated on American soil. However, this did not cause America to break or bend.

We rose from the ashes of that attack and launched a two-decade-long crusade to achieve justice for the victims and to punish the jihadist radicals who slaughtered our fellow Americans. We sent a message that America will never cower in the face of evil.

On this day, I hope you will remember the sacrifices and legacies of all the fallen men and women who lost their lives that day and those that lost their lives in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their courage and strength allowed us to come together as a nation following the horror of that attack. God bless the fallen and all our heroes who answered the call.

Democrats are once again chasing the unicorn. Putting American tax dollars towards inefficient energy technology research that will never be able to replace the cheap energy provided by traditional energy sources provided by fossil fuels. Again, Democrats fail to include adequate funding to develop the next generation of nuclear reactors that give us the best chance of significantly curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

I submitted an amendment to improve the underlying bill. You can watch my markup remarks by clicking the video above.

On August 31, 2021, details of President Biden’s last telephone conversation with Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, were revealed to the public; those details indicated that, on July 23, 2021, the two leaders spoke for about 14 minutes.  During the course of this conversation, President Biden—having already highlighted the calamitous situation in Afghanistan, vis-à-vis government forces and the Taliban—importuned the Afghan leader to misrepresent the situation on the ground, in an effort to mislead the American public about the state of the conflict.  While I had been loath to invoke impeachment in the absence of a clear demonstration of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the standard established in the U.S. Constitution, I considered this act to have overstepped that line.  The Democrat majority, in the previous congress, impeached then-President Trump on far less substantive grounds; ironically, the standard they set—impeaching a president for remarks made during a telephone call with a foreign leader, in collusion to deceive the American public—is far more applicable to the circumstances of President Biden’s July telephone call.  Unless they are total hypocrites, I fully expect Democrats—following their own precedent—to support my resolution.

Recent Co-sponsored Legislation

• H.R. 5162 - To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that local educational agencies applying for certain Federal education funds post the curriculum for elementary and secondary schools online, and for other purposes.
• H.Res. 620 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding legislative provisions in the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and American Jobs Act to void the State right-to-work laws that protect workers from being required to join and pay forced dues to a union to get or keep a job.

President Biden showed his complete disregard for the Constitution this week when he ordered sweeping new federal vaccine requirements that will directly affect nearly 100 million Americans — private-sector employees as well as health care workers and federal contractors. This is Coercion of private businesses (with 100 employees or more) to require COVID-19 vaccination or otherwise impose burdensome testing requirements for unvaccinated employees. These directives are un-American, exemplifying federal overreach of the highest order. 

Every American has the inalienable right to make their own medical decision, in consultation with their physician, whether (or not) to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.  For some, medical conditions do not allow them to receive a vaccine.  For others, after weighing the risks and benefits, they decided—as is their prerogative—not to receive the vaccine.  A mandated vaccination of all federal employees and contractors is an excessive exercise of Biden's executive authority, while a mandate on private business is undoubtedly an unconstitutional overreach.

As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 75 percent of the U.S. population 18 years and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Moreover, vaccines are widely available to the general public, and virtually every American has been afforded the opportunity to receive the vaccine.  Their private medical decisions are just that, private and a forced vaccine mandate, augmented by a burdensome testing regime on private business, is simply coercion.

I vow to join my Texas colleagues and Governor Abbott in fighting back against these mandates in every way possible. Texans deserve the right to make medical decisions for ourselves, not as ordered by government officials in Washington D.C.  

As such, I wrote a letter to President Biden calling on him to reverse this executive order and allow federal employees—not to mention private businesses—to make their own personal health decisions.

I also signed on to Rep. Chip Roy's letter to Governor Abbott encouraging him to utilize all powers vested as Governor of Texas and all tools at his disposal to ensure that the federal government does not penalize, arrest, fine, coerce, or otherwise harm any Texan – or shut down any Texas business from operating – due to these COVID-19-related mandates.

You can read both letters below.

Last Week's Poll Results

League City Office Move

I am pleased to announce that our League City District Office has officially moved locations.

The new office is located at 303 East Main Street, Suite 250, League City, Texas 77573.  The phone number remains the same – (281) 316-0231.

2021 Congressional App Challenge

I am pleased to announce that my office is hosting a 2021 Congressional App Challenge.

The Congressional App Challenge is a competition aimed at encouraging middle and high school students to learn how to code by creating their own applications.  The Challenge is intended to highlight the value of computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education.

The House of Representatives knows how crucial these skills are and wants to encourage students to engage in these fields.  By encouraging and recognizing our nation’s young programming talent, Congress hopes to shine a light on the growing importance of these skills.

This competition is open to all students who meet the eligibility requirements, regardless of coding experience.  We strongly encourage students of all skill levels to participate, enabling them to learn how to create their own apps.  Students are encouraged to register online and submit their apps by November 1st.  To learn more about the competition or to submit an app go to weber.house.gov.

Student Registration 

Rules
Learn to Code
Prizes 

For over 100 years, our great service academies have produced some of America’s greatest leaders.  Not only are these programs producing military leaders, they are also molding better citizens for America.  They prepare our youth to be well-rounded leaders and agile thinkers who will take their lessons of discipline and leadership with them into both military and civilian careers.

Part of my responsibility as a Member of Congress is that I am authorized to nominate candidates for appointment to the U.S. Service Academies.  Every year, I look forward to reviewing those applications.  I am always impressed by the character, selflessness, and—above all—the devotion to the ideals of our great nation.

The honor of attending a service academy comes with the obligation and commitment to serve in the military for a minimum of five years upon graduation.

Each member of Congress may nominate up to ten individuals for each vacant academy slot allotted to our district for appointment to four of the five U.S. service academies: U.S. Military Academy (USMA), West Point, NY; the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA), Annapolis, MD; the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA), Colorado Springs, CO; and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), Kings Point, NY.  The fifth service academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), New London, CT, does not require a congressional nomination for appointment.

Below you will find all the information  to start the process, including checklists and important dates.  This year's deadline is Friday, October 15, 2021.  I would also encourage you to watch the videos linked here called “The Five-Pointed Star.”  It’s a great overview of what each of the US Service Academies have to offer.

• 2021 Academy Day Nomination Application
• 2021 Academy Day Nomination Checklist
• 2021 Academy Day Nomination Personal Evaluation

To request a Military Academy Nomination from our office, please contact Jared Bargas, at jared.bargas@mail.house.gov or (281) 316-0231 for more information. 

Best wishes to you as you pursue your goal of attending one of the U.S. Service Academies and serving our country!