This week, I voted to pass five bipartisan Republican Science, Space, and Technology bills that will create regional STEM jobs, build our country's capacity to innovate, grow our economy, and ensure the U.S. remains the world leader in science.

• H.R. 4609, the “National Institute of Standards and Technology for the Future Act of 2021”
• H.R. 3858, the “National Science and Technology Strategy Act of 2021”
• H.R. 4588, the “Regional Innovation Act of 2021”
• H.R. 4606, the “Energizing Technology Transfer Act”
• H.R. 4599, the “Steel Upgrading Partnerships and Emissions Reduction Act” or “SUPER Act of 2021”

This week the House took up the Democrats’ first appropriations bills for fiscal year 2022, including a seven-bill “minibus” package.  This $259.5 billion package passed  by a vote of 224 to 189.  H.R. 7608, consists of the FY 2022 State-Foreign Operations, Agriculture-Rural Development-FDA, Interior-Environment, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bills.

As ranking member on the Science, Space, and Technology Energy Subcommittee, I was very concerned that the 2022 appropriations bill provides no funds to keep the Versatile Test Reactor project on budget and on schedule. If we are serious about our clean energy future and want to decrease our dependence on competitors like China and Russia for advanced nuclear R&D, we must commit to our investment in this essential research infrastructure.

To highlight this issue, I offered EN BLOC Amendment #109 which addressed funding for DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy by $348,000,000 to emphasize the importance of completing the Versatile Test Reactor Project.

The Versatile Test Reactor is a priority because it will allow the U.S. to test new reactor technology and materials that are critical in developing the next generation of nuclear reactors. Funding for the VTR would be dispersed through the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Office.  However, DOE’s Nuclear Energy Office saw a 5% increase of their budget but funding for VTR was zeroed out. 

The absence of funding for the project is a consequence of other nuclear projects being funded at the expense of VTR. Without this reactor, it will be impossible for the U.S. to retain its mantle as the world’s greatest nuclear energy innovator. 

We must continue to advocate for nuclear power as a way to provide safe, cheap, reliable and environmentally conscious energy production for all Americans, and ensure that traditional forms of energy production are allowed to operate without having to navigate costly and burdensome regulations that are intended to strangle fossil fuel production in the cradle.  A secure, prosperous and energy independent America requires sustainable investments in nuclear reactor testing capabilities.

I will continue working to ensure that the US research enterprise remains the envy of the world. 

This week I had the great privilege of meeting with Mike Suffredini of Axiom Space to hear about the great work being done in Space City to build the first commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) platform in space.  

I will continue to advocate for the extension of the International Space Station (ISS) to 2030. America should be setting the norms in space, not communist dictatorships.  It is critical that there is no gap in Low Earth Orbit. If ISS is decommissioned China and Russia will exploit the LEO vacuum. 

Congress must ensure that the U.S. research enterprise remains the best in the world.   It is necessary for Congress to support funding for basic research and development in our universities and national labs so that the next great leaps in technological innovation happen here in the U.S. and not in China.  

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Mask Mandate

Authoritarian Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s quest for total power knows no limits as she is now directing the U.S. Capitol Police to arrest Congressional staffers and visitors who do not comply with her arbitrary mask mandate.

Pelosi’s new guidance for vaccinated individuals to wear a mask is based exclusively on a study FROM INDIA—which has NOT passed peer review—using vaccines that are NOT APPROVED in the United States.

See my interview with Newsmax below.  

I joined my colleagues to send a strong and united bi-partisan message to the

This week, I joined my colleagues to send a strong and united bi-partisan message to the Russian Government: The United States cannot, and will not, tolerate its citizens being caught up in Putin’s political games. 

Texas’ own Trevor Reed, a United States Marine Corps veteran, and Paul Whelan of Michigan are both, as we speak, trapped and languishing in a foreign prison on politically motivated, trumped up charges.

In Trevor’s case, he was held for thirteen months and then sentenced to nine years and 8 months in prison.  This is a RECORD sentence for his “alleged” crime.  It would be laughable, if it weren’t so serious.  In fact, the evidence presented in his case was so utterly ludicrous that it was met with laughter in the courtroom—including from the Russian judge.

These human rights violations cannot be tolerated.  This is a travesty for the Reed and Whelan families.  And it is critically problematic for relations with Russia.

Together we call on the Russian Federation to release—IMMEDIATELY—Trevor Reed, Paul Whelan, and all other Putin political prisoners. 

Recent Co-Sponsored Legislation

• H.R. 72 - Thin Blue Line Act
• H.R. 3796 - ELITE Vehicles Act
• H.R. 3860 - To prohibit any requirement that a member of the Armed Forces receive a vaccination against COVID-19.
• H.R. 4561 - To require the Secretary of Commerce to certify, before removing an entity from the entity list, that the entity is no longer involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States and that removing the entity from the list does not pose a threat to allies of the United States.
• H.R. 4721 - To withhold United States contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and for other purposes.
• H.R. 3940 - Local Journalism Sustainability Act
• H.R. 4760 - To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that any alien who has been convicted of a felony or two misdemeanors, is deportable, and for other purposes.

A Houston hospital has its first case of the Lambda variant of the coronavirus and the city of Laredo, Texas confirmed its first positive Delta variant case this week. This comes as Laredo sues the U.S. government to stop the Biden administration from sending unvaccinated illegal immigrants to the border community. 

Despite President Biden’s claim that the border surge is seasonal, illegal border crossings are surging. Over 188,000 encounters at the southern border during the month of June alone. This is the fourth consecutive month of encounters over 170,000 marking a 20-year high. Over 6,000 migrants are caught crossing our border illegally each day. 

I am concerned that the Biden Administration's migrant policies are leaving citizens at risk of getting COVID. 

But I want to hear from you! 

Do you trust the media?

What news source do you trust the most?

2021 Congressional App Challenge

God Bless you and God Bless Texas!