My Commitment to Houstonians

Last Friday, the current Continuing Resolution to fund the government expired, resulting in a government shutdown.

The House passed all 12 appropriations bills and voted to keep the government open. The House has funded the military, law enforcement, and other essential government services and fully reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years.

Unfortunately, the Senate has failed to pass any appropriations bills and did not pass a simple continuing resolution to keep the government open for a few, short weeks. This is because their 60-vote procedural rule requires 60 votes to pass legislation. This 60-vote rule gives the minority in the Senate the power to block anything they wish – and that’s exactly what they’ve done. I am deeply disappointed that the minority is using DACA as a political weapon, because it’s now endangering our national security and threatening the readiness of our military.

I’m committed to finding a bipartisan solution on DACA that will preserve respect for the rule of law, while being compassionate to those who were brought here as very young children. The DACA deadline is March 5, not last Friday. Last Friday has now become the day that 9 million children lost healthcare and over 2 million military members were not paid – all because the Democrats used DACA to shut down the government.

The Senate Democrats are also blocking final passage of the Hurricane Harvey relief bill, which I spearheaded in the House. 
                                         
I know that many of you are counting on these funds to rebuild and withholding this money for any reason is unacceptable. I will not stop until Texas is provided the resources we need to rebuild from this terrible hurricane. Please know that the government shutdown will not affect your ability to access relief money from FEMA.  If you have questions, please contact my Houston office at (713) 682-8828, email me, or visit my Harvey Resources page.