This week I introduced H.R. 6391, the U.S. Leadership in Space Act of 2021.

“We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history. It is important that Congress does the job it was intended to do: authorize, and then subsequently fund, critical government programs. Especially those that strengthen national security and scientific discovery.

Space is an important domain for several reasons. As any military leader will tell you, whoever occupies the high ground has the strategic advantage. Continued inaction by Congress to adequately address the growing threats posed by an expanding uncontrolled debris field in earth’s orbit; the irresponsible and reckless anti-satellite missile tests by Russia that recently endangered the lives of astronauts (and cosmonauts) aboard the International Space Station (ISS); and the years of intellectual property theft, critical supply chain control, and other nefarious practices by China, require that Congress and this Administration come together to pass meaningful legislation that will ensure continued American preeminence in space.

This legislation is not a replacement for a full NASA authorization bill, because that critical task is the duty of the entire Science Committee here in the House. This bill jumpstarts that long-overdue conversation and calls on the National Space Council to report on foreign threats to the U.S. Commercial Space sector, and recommend actions the Congress can take to protect and promote its success.

Additionally, this legislation would establish Johnson Space Center (JSC) as the Artemis program management office. Since its creation in 1961, JSC remains NASA’s lead center for human spaceflight, serving as the global hub for managing and integrating complex activities associated with keeping astronauts alive and working in space. JSC not only led this charge to the Moon during the Apollo missions, but also subsequently served as the location for the Space Shuttle, ISS, Constellation, Orion, and Gateway programs.

Important to U.S. leadership in a future commercial low-earth orbit (LEO) market, and in preparation for the nation’s deep space exploration activities and scientific endeavors, my bill extends ISS operations to 2030 and ensures that no gap exists in U.S. access to LEO, while also allowing for a seamless transition from government-owned and operated platforms to a commercial successor. Further, my bill instructs NASA to pursue two or more spacesuit design-and-development agreements with industry, understanding that competition is the driver of innovation and lower costs over time.

Eventually, when the Space Station is safely retired at the end of its operational life, the first-ever privately funded commercial station will have operated for years alongside the ISS, expanding capabilities for scientific discovery and commercial activities for the U.S. and our allies, while allowing NASA to focus its attention and resources toward the Moon, Mars, and beyond. I am proud to introduce this critical bill once again, and I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will agree to act now to secure our collective future in space. 

Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership (BAHEP) supports the extension of the International Space Station (ISS) operations to 2030 included in Congressman Weber’s bill, the U.S. Leadership in Space Act of 2021 (H.R. 6391). ISS is important for scientific discovery and will continue to be crucial to commercial development in low-Earth orbit. BAHEP also supports designating Johnson Space Center (JSC) as the Artemis program management office for the coming manned missions to the moon and beyond. JSC has a long history and unique skillset when it comes to all components of human spaceflight and mission ops,” said Bob Mitchell, President of Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.

Read the full text, here. 

President Biden’s Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, LIED to the American people when he denied requesting a letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) that compared concerned parents to "domestic terrorists" in September during an interview with “CBS Mornings,” on Wednesday.
 
“We didn't ask for that letter. We didn't…No. Specifically with that letter, we had no -- we didn't request that, there was no involvement in that,” Cardona told “CBS Mornings.” 
 
This is a flat-out LIE. 
 
On Tuesday, Fox News reported Secretary Cardona in fact “solicited the much-criticized letter from the NSBA that compared protesting parents to domestic terrorists, according to an email exchange reviewed by Fox News." 
 
Previous emails already revealed that the NSBA coordinated with Biden's White House and the Department of Justice for weeks about their letter's content before publicly sending it.
 
Yesterday’s report and Secretary Cardona’s bold lie this morning is why he must immediately testify before Congress about the letter he solicited that labeled parents as "domestic terrorists." 
 
THE DEMOCRATS ATTACK ON CONCERNED PARENTS FAILED:

• Concerned parents are NOT domestic terrorists.
• Education is a winning issue for Republicans. 
  • Republicans are working to protect parental rights and expand school choice, not empower the Federal Government.
• Instead of advocating for school choice and parental rights, the Biden Administration wants to take complete control of our children’s education.
• Parents are right to be concerned about their kids being taught radical ideologies or exposed to inappropriate instructional materials – parents should be engaged.
• The Democrats’ Far-Left reconciliation bill would take away the rights of parents and give authority to Democrats in Washington.
  • It would give the Biden administration complete control to approve the early childhood education standards and limits parents’ choice in their children’s education.
  • The Democrats’ child care proposal would SPIKE prices for middle-class families by $13,000.
  • This legislation is a ploy by Democrats to indoctrinate America’s youth with their Far-Left Socialist ideas from the start of their educational process until its conclusion. 

 
This is why I joined 40 of my colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden demanding the termination of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Parents ARE the primary stakeholders in their child's education, not the radical Democrats, federal government, or failed teachers unions. Secretary Cardona’s lie this morning shows the Biden Administration is not prepared to answer to concerned parents on why the Biden Administration thinks they are "domestic terrorists."  

This year started with the worst jobs report of Joe Biden’s presidency and Americans paying more for just about everything while making less because of skyrocketing inflation. 
 
In short, America is facing an economic crisis fueled by President Biden and House Democrats’ Far-Left Socialist agenda and out-of-control government spending. 
 
Given the state of our economy, it’s not surprising that a recent survey by the Associated Press found that 68% of respondents said the economy was “a top 2022 concern,” making it the top overall concern in the survey. 
 
BIDEN’S ECONOMIC CRISIS BY THE NUMBERS: 

• The December jobs report was the worst of Joe Biden’s presidency with only 199,000 jobs being added. 
• The labor force participation rates decreased for the following demographics:
  • African American men 20 and older
  • African American teenagers
  • Asian Americans
  • Hispanic or Latino Americans
• The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 5.7 million in December.
• The weaker than expected December jobs report comes at a time when inflation is still skyrocketing. 
• Inflation is a tax on all Americans, and it has gone up every month of Biden’s presidency.
• Americans are paying more for just about everything because of inflation: 
  • Gasoline is UP 58.1%
  • Car and truck rentals are UP 37.2%
  • Propane, kerosene, and firewood are UP 34.3%
  • Energy is UP 33.3%
  • Bacon and related products are UP 21.0%
  • Beef and veal are UP 20.9%
  • Pork is UP 16.8%
  • Fresh fish and seafood is UP 10.6%
  • Ham is UP 10.7%
  • Chicken is UP 9.2%
  • Eggs are UP 8.0%
  • Coffee is UP 7.5%
• Real wages have decreased under Biden 8 out of the ten months since his first full month in office.

Make no mistake about it: Biden and House Democrats’ Far-Left Socialist agenda and out-of-control government spending are the reason America is in the midst of an economic crisis. 
 

Since taking office, President Biden has repeatedly enacted an anti-energy agenda that has caused U.S. energy prices to skyrocket while threatening American national security. 
 
This week, the Biden White House sent top officials to lobby Senate Democrats against Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) legislation, which would sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
 
Let that sink in: The President of the United States is now lobbying on behalf of Russian interests. 
 

BIDEN'S ENERGY CRISIS: 

• Biden is building pipelines for Putin but not Americans. 
• On President Biden's first day in office, he killed over 11,000 American jobs, which were created by the Keystone Pipeline.
  • The Keystone XL oil pipeline project developer announced that they were abandoning the project, which would have created thousands of high-paying American jobs following President Biden's decision to revoke a key permit for the pipeline.
• Biden is incapable of standing up to Putin and instead is building a pipeline for him while destroying American energy jobs. 
  • The Biden administration waived sanctions on the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline into Germany in May, days before announcing his summit with Putin.
• A five-year extension on the New START treaty with no pre-conditions, surrendering U.S. leverage to revise the treaty.
• The Biden administration waived sanctions on the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline into Germany last May, days before announcing his summit with Putin, giving Putin a MAJOR victory.

Now grocery shoppers across the country are encountering barren shelves and struggling to feed their families. This is what you get when you combine reckless fiscal policy, a war on energy, and suppression of the workforce - a supply chain crisis, exorbitant inflation, and food shortages.

⬇⬇⬇ Welcome to far-left utopia.  ⬇⬇⬇

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is planning on using a legislative gimmick in order to bring forward the Democrats' "voting rights" legislation in the coming days. 

According to Politico: 

"The House will imminently pass a bill containing both sweeping federal elections reform and beefed up Voting Right Act provisions. Because the bill will be sent to the Senate as a "message" from the House, it will not be subject to an initial filibuster by the GOP and will be debated on the floor. Instead, the Senate will confront its raging debate over the filibuster when Majority Leader Schumer moves to shut down debate."  

Make no mistake about it: The Democrats' "voting rights" legislation is nothing more than an attempt to nationalize elections to maintain power. If enacted, it will destroy our institutions and enable Speaker Nancy Pelosi to take over all elections throughout the country.  

Democrats' crying foul at the use of the filibuster is the height of hypocrisy as Schumer himself has voted OVER 500 times to sustain a filibuster during his 23 years in the Senate. In 2020, Democrats used the filibuster 327 times alone.

HERE ARE THE FACTS: 

• The Democrats' "voting rights" legislation would:
  • Give BILLIONS of public dollars to campaigns. Speaker Pelosi would receive up to $22.7 MILLION in public dollars for her reelection campaign, and Senate Majority Leader Schumer would receive up to $44.1 for his reelection campaign. 
  • Transform the office of the U.S. Attorney General into an unelected, unaccountable "Elections Czar" with the power to change state elections law and circumvent state constitutional processes.
  • Force states to legalize ballot harvesting. 
  • Make it harder for states to maintain their voter lists.
  • Disregard state voter identification laws and provisional ballot rules.
  • Imposes liberal California voting methods on every state.
  • Allow the IRS to investigate and consider the political and policy persuasions of organizations before granting tax-exempt status.
• 2020 saw the highest turnout in 120 years and, according to Pew, 94% say it's easy to vote. There is clearly no widespread "voter suppression" issue in this country.

DEMOCRATS FILIBUSTER HYPOCRISY: 

• In 2017, 32 Democrat senators signed a letter urging the Senate leadership to preserve the filibuster including Vice President Kamala Harris 
• The filibuster is the only reason millions of Americans have a voice in the current government.
• Democrats used the filibuster 327 times in 2020 alone.
• For decades, Joe Biden stood against eliminating the filibuster say it would have drastic consequences:
  • In 2020, during an interview with New York Times editorial board, Biden said he did not support abolishing the legislative filibuster. 
  • In 2019, Biden told reporters that ending the filibuster was “a very dangerous thing to do” adding that it had been used by Democrats “the whole time” Republicans were in power. 
  • In 2005, Biden said that ending the “would undermine the protections of a minority point of view” and have “long term consequences.”
• Vice President Kamala Harris has expressed support for the filibuster in the past:
  • In 2019, Harris said she had a “practical concern” if the filibuster were not in place during an interview. 
  • In 2017, Harris along with 31 other Democrat senators signed a letter urging the Senate leadership to preserve the 60-vote threshold. 
  • In 2017, Harris praised Senator Jeff Merkley’s filibuster of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. 
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has voted OVER 500 times to sustain a filibuster during his 23 years in the Senate. 
  • In 2005, Schumer said that it would be a “doomsday for democracy” if the Senate changed its rules on the filibuster. 

Legislation sponsored:

• H.R. 6391 - To ensure continued United States leadership in space and low-earth orbit.

Legislation cosponsored:

• H.R. 1531 - Adoption Information Act
• H.R. 6382 - To nullify the order of the Mayor of the District of Columbia imposing a vaccine entry requirement for certain establishments and facilities, and for other purposes.

Friends, 

As I said above, whoever occupies the high ground has the strategic advantage. I believe Congress needs to adequately address the growing threats posed the irresponsible and reckless anti-satellite missile tests by Russia that recently endangered the lives of astronauts (and cosmonauts) aboard the International Space Station (ISS); and the years of intellectual property theft, critical supply chain control, and other nefarious practices by China, require that Congress and this Administration come together to pass meaningful legislation that will ensure continued American preeminence in space.

But, I want to hear from you! 

God Bless you and God Bless Texas!