We must fund the government properly and refrain from continuing to function under expired CRs. 

Texas Insider Report: (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Last week, Congress came up on the government funding deadline, which resulted in a 4th continuing resolution (CR). As many of you know, since September 30th, Congress has been operating under a CR while we work to pass all 12 single-subject appropriations bills. The CR continues to fund our government, which is nearly $35 trillion dollars in debt, at Nancy Pelosi’s dream levels. That continues to fund a Department of Homeland Security that refuses to secure our border, continues to fund woke policies, and continues to spend money we don’t have.

Congress continues to kick the can further down the road instead of addressing our spending problem or securing the border. This is the status quo. I voted against the CR. We need to have the guts to address this very real problem impacting every American. We must fund the government properly and refrain from continuing to function under expired CRs. I hope that in the next few weeks, my colleagues will get serious about passing spending bills that reduce spending, secure the southern border, and put America first.

I have been fighting with my conservative colleagues for meaningful policy change to the way our government has functioned for way too long and will continue to do so.
 

President Biden's Trip to Texas

Yesterday, President Biden visited Brownsville, Texas, to blame Republicans for not passing legislation to secure the border. House Republicans have passed legislation to secure the border. We came together as House Republicans to say, 'we are going to fix this problem and show the country how you can secure the border' when we passed H.R. 2, on May 11, 2023, a critical piece of legislation that combined all the different elements that we gathered as we worked with Border Patrol agents, and other experts that know what's at stake, to say, 'let's fix this problem.' It's a shame that not a single Democrat voted for that bill because they're not serious about the problem. They don't want to fix the problem.

Last time I checked on the first day of Joe Biden's presidency, with a stroke of a pen, he undid the policies that President Trump had in place that were working. Over the last three years, we have seen over 8 million illegals cross the border. We have seen Americans killed by illegal aliens who are living in our community with criminal records. We have seen Americans raped. We have seen Americans kidnapped. We have seen Americans die from fentanyl brought into this country by the drug cartels.

If President Biden wanted to, he could put back in place policies that worked. President Biden instead wants Congress to pass the Senate immigration bill that does not secure the border, but rubber stamps the crisis at our southern border. The time for President Biden's "comprehensive" immigration reform is not right now. We need to stop the bleeding at the southern border. We need to secure the border. We need to ensure that criminals from other countries are not walking our streets. Then, let's talk about comprehensive immigration reform. It is that simple.

If our southern border is not secure, every single American is in danger. Our school systems will be overburdened, our healthcare system will be overburdened, and American taxpayers will be responsible for picking up the slack for the millions of illegal immigrants living in our country because of Joe Biden.
 

This week, the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Atomic Energy Advancement Act to encourage and support advancements in nuclear energy by modernizing and improving the current process at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. My bill, the Modernize Nuclear Reactor Environmental Reviews Act, was included in this package and would direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to submit a report and conduct a rulemaking on facilitating efficient, timely environmental review process for nuclear reactor applications.

Nuclear energy is clean, safe, and reliable. Going forward, nuclear needs to be a significant component of America's energy profile, and to make that happen, we need to cut the red tape at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expediting environmental reviews for nuclear reactors. Time and time again…the environmental review process takes entirely WAY TOO LONG.

This much needed modernization of our regulatory framework will restore America's nuclear dominance, encourage innovation, enable industry to deploy safe, reliable nuclear energy, and usher in a new era of U.S. energy leadership.

Recent Legislation cosponsored:
 

• H.R. 5084 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1106 Main Street in Bastrop, Texas, as the "Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh Post Office".
• H.R. 7480 - To amend section 102(a)(20) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to require the exclusion of service-connected disability compensation when determining whether a person is a person of low and moderate income, a person of low income, or a person of moderate income, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 7501 - To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Chad Robichaux, Sarah Verardo, Tim Kennedy, Kevin Rourke, Sean Gabler, Dave Johnson, and Dennis Price, in recognition of their exceptional efforts and selfless dedication during the Afghanistan evacuation in 2021, which led to the safe evacuation of over 17,000 people from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
• H.R. 7505 - To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to the issuance of nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b).
• H.Res. 1041 - Condemning the order issued by the International Court of Justice on January 26, 2024, imposing provisional measures against Israel.
• H.Res. 1046 - Honoring the brave men and women who participated in the Afghanistan evacuation in 2021 following the United States withdrawal, for their extraordinary efforts and exceptional service in the safe evacuation of over 17,000 people from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 7468 - To ensure that United States diplomats and officials of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission are able to advance efforts seeking compliance by the United Mexican States with the 1944 Treaty on Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande.
• H.R. 7455 - To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for Congressional oversight of agency rulemaking, and for other purposes.
• H.Res. 1031 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the situation at the southern border is an invasion.