Yesterday, the Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing with TikTok's CEO, Shou Chew. Big Tech has increasingly become a destructive force in American society. ByteDance-owned TikTok has knowingly allowed the Chinese Communist Party to access American user data. Americans deserve to know how these actions impact their privacy and data security and what actions TikTok is taking to keep our kids safe from online and offline harm. That is what we did yesterday in a four-hour hearing. 

This hearing was long overdue, but it didn’t disappoint. Here are a few of my biggest takeaways.

TikTok poses a serious threat to our national and personal security. The company’s undeniable ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leave 150 million American users vulnerable to the platform’s harmful algorithms, manipulation, and data collection. Make no mistake about it: your privacy is not protected on TikTok. In fact, the CCP can collect sensitive information on you while simultaneously influencing what you see, hear, and believe. TikTok can’t even guarantee that China can’t spy on you! 

The bottom line is that I do not trust that TikTok will ever embrace American values – freedom, human rights, and innovation. Instead, the company has repeatedly chosen the path for more control, more surveillance, and more manipulation.

Like I said during my questioning...If this committee has its way, TikTok's time is up. 

Joe Biden used his first veto to overturn a House Republican resolution that would nullify the Biden Administration's attempt to greenlight Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing in employer-sponsored retirement plans to fund Biden's Far Left agenda. Your retirement savings are your money, not Joe Biden's. Wall Street should maximize your returns, not fund Biden's Far Left political agenda.

These ESG "risks" make up a broad range of factors, including carbon emissions and diversity quotas, which Far Left activists believe companies should address when disclosing a company's financial performance to investors and regulators. The submitted rule would impact 142 million Americans who participate in a federally regulated retirement plan, totaling more than $11.7 trillion in assets. 

Over the past five years, ESG investment funds have performed nearly three percentage points below the broader market's returns, according to a recent study. Retirement plan fiduciaries are caretakers of retirement accounts, not woke activists. ESG funds have underperformed for years. Additionally, investors are exposed to more risk when investing in ESG. Both situations can leave American savers with less. Biden’s veto comes after both the House and the Senate voted in a bipartisan manner to reject his own Administration’s rule.

This week, House Republicans voted to overturn Joe Biden's veto. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the votes we needed from House Democrats to be successful. But that won’t stop me from keeping the pressure on. I am going to do everything I can to hold President Biden accountable and make sure you are able to save for your retirement without supporting any radical agendas.

This week in the District, Team Weber attended the Lower Brazos River Coalition's quarterly luncheon with guest speaker Carlos Rubinstein, where he discussed Texas water policy. They also attended the Women in Alliance Leadership Luncheon, where Kate Lightfoot, a plant manager at ExxonMobil's Baytown Olefins Plant, spoke about being the first woman in her position. 

• H.R. 1734 - To require coordinated National Institute of Standards and Technology science and research activities regarding illicit drugs containing xylazine, novel synthetic opioids, and other substances of concern, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 1769 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create health freedom accounts available to all individuals.
• H.R. 1700 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to establish an administrative relief process for individuals whose applications for transfer and registration of a firearm were denied, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 1 - Lower Energy Costs Act
• H.J.Res. 44 - Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives relating to "Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached 'Stabilizing Braces'".

It is a privilege to represent our district in Congress.  While we’ve faced many challenges in recent years, through strength and prayer, we have persevered. 

Please know that we are always a resource for you.  Call or stop by any of the offices (YOUR offices, we work for you), whenever you need assistance or want to talk about an issue before Congress.

For assistance or more information, please call or go online to visit us at weber.house.gov.

God Bless you and God Bless Texas!