Washington, D.C. — Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, issued the following statement regarding the passage of legislation to combat the opioid epidemic by the House of Representatives. 

“This week the people’s House took a significant step in confronting our nation’s opioid abuse epidemic. The devastating impact of addiction and abuse has been felt in every community across America—the bills passed this week put in place the tools necessary to fight this crisis and win.

“The House’s response to this public health threat strikes a careful balance to ensure that we do not obstruct patients’ access to pain medication that they truly need. It is more important than ever that we arm doctors with the accurate, complete, and up-to-date information they need to prescribe controlled substances for their patients appropriately.

“While we must act accordingly to ensure that these powerful pain medications do not fall into the hands of abusers, we must be sure that those experiencing chronic pain, particularly our veterans, can still access their medication.”

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Lake Dallas, TX — Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, issued the following statement on the suspension of Senator Cruz’s 2016 Presidential campaign.

“Congratulations to the Cruz camp for fighting the good fight. Senator Cruz has been a dedicated leader of the Republican party and I have an immense amount of respect for him and his family. I endorsed Senator Cruz early on for the Presidency because I believe that he is a strong and proven conservative leader that would have made an exceptional President.

But the people have spoken and now we must turn our focus to the general election. It is critical that the Republican party unites to take back the White House in 2017 and ensure that our country is not subject to a detrimental Clinton Administration. As I have said before, I plan to put all of my support behind the Republican nominee and do whatever is asked of me to ensure a Republican is elected President.”

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Lake Dallas, TX — Today, Congressman Michael Burgess (TX-26), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, announced the winner of the 14^th annual 26^th Congressional District high school art competition. The art competition was open to public, private and home-schooled high school students residing in or attending schools in the district. Meghan Adams, a senior art student of Kathy Toews at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, won the Grand Prize with her color photograph entitled “One Team.” 

As the Grand Prize winner, Meghan will have her artwork displayed for an entire year in the U.S. Capitol and has the opportunity to attend the national ceremony in Washington, D.C. this June.  The ceremony will honor the winning artists from congressional districts all over the country. 

“This competition was designed to foster and encourage the creative development of local high school students across the country,” said Burgess. “I am overwhelmed by the level of talent in the numerous submissions from the 26^th district. Meghan’s creativity is inspiring and we are honored to have her represent our district in the halls of the U.S. Capitol.”

Wendy Ampuero won the “Texas Choice” category for her colored pencil artwork entitled “Warrior Woman.” She is a senior art student of Mark Parr at Little Elm High School. The “Texas Choice” winner was selected by popular vote from the virtual gallery on Congressman Burgess’ website.

Jurist Jo Williams, professional artist and instructor, reviewed the posted artwork and determined the contest finalists based upon artistic merit.  The Juror's Award for the Grand Prize and First Place recognitions were based on the appraisal of each piece of artwork’s level of artistic merit.

Additionally, Bryant Grizzle, a senior at Flower Mound High School and a student of Michelle Harper, won First Place for his pen drawing entitled “Corralled but Content.”  Bryant’s artwork will be displayed in Congressman Burgess’ Lake Dallas district office for the next year. 

“Congratulations to Meghan, Bryant and Wendy for their artistic achievements and thank you to all the students that participated in this year’s competition,” said Burgess.

Since the competition was first launched in 1982, more than 5,000 local contests have been conducted that have involved more than 650,000 high school students across the country. 

Aubrey, TX — This weekend Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, hosted his 8^th Annual Emergency Preparedness Summit & Fair at Aubrey High School in Aubrey, Texas.

Over 500 North Texas residents joined emergency responders from the Aubrey ISD Police Department, the City of Aubrey Fire Department, the Town of Providence Village and Denton County Emergency Services to learn from the experts about putting plans in place to keep themselves and their families safe. Disasters, whether natural or man-made, can occur anytime or anywhere. The North Texas region is no stranger to the unpredictability of dangerous weather or emergency situations.

WBAP Chief Meteorologist Brad Barton and National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Fox delivered the keynote addresses touching on the tumultuous weather that North Texas has experienced over the last year and underscoring the importance of being prepared for even the most unpredictable emergency situations. 

“When disaster strikes, we must be ready to act immediately,” Burgess said. “You are the first line of defense for you and your family and it is critical that you have a plan in place. While we can’t plan for every emergency situation, my hope is that this summit provides North Texans the tools to protect and prepare themselves.”

Attendees had the opportunity to interact with an array of demonstrations and exhibits including Denco Area 9-1-1, FEMA, Texas Search and Rescue – North Texas Division, City of Lewisville – Office of Emergency Management, among many others. Additionally, the electrical engineering department at the University of North Texas conducted a drone demonstration to display the benefits drones provide in the aftermath of emergency situations. 

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LEWISVILLE -- Area members of Congress are in North Texas to check out progress on repairs to the Lake Lewisville Dam.

Work began in January on a $6.5 million project to repair flood damage. Last June, a major soil slide was discovered, raising safety concerns.

On Wednesday we learned that repairs are on schedule to be finished by summer, and a Dam Safety Modification Study will be completed two years ahead of time.

The Army Corps of Engineers is heading up the repairs.

"We've always stated we have concerns at the Lewisville Lake dam, but it is not in imminent danger of failing. We have both short and long-term plans to maintain the safety of the dam -- as public safety is our main priority here at the Fort Worth district," Col. Calvin Hudson said.

Representative Michael Burgess worked with the House Appropriations Committee to ensure funding of the project. His family has enjoyed recreation at the lake since he was a kid.

Sherman, TX — Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, joined fellow Texan Congressman John Ratcliffe (TX-04), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies for a field hearing, in Sherman, Texas, entitled “Cyber Preparedness and Response at the Local Level.”

The field hearing sought to help provide a better understanding of how state and local officials prepare for, respond to and investigate cyber incidents. Additionally, the hearing provided an opportunity to learn about different cyber training opportunities for State and local officials to bolster cyber preparedness and response.

The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, under the chairmanship of Congressman Burgess, has focused extensively on data breach and the notification process that should be required to inform consumers when there has been a data breach.

“While Chairman Ratcliffe’s subcommittee deals with the ‘.gov side’ of the world, my subcommittee deals with the ‘.com side’ of the world. Ultimately, data security is national security,” said Burgess during the hearing. “This hearing comes at an ideal time as all Americans prepare to file their taxes next week and many will face the very real hurdle when they discover that their accounts that have been diverted in the past due to a breach of personal data.”

Last year, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015 (H.R. 1770) was passed through Congressman Burgess’ subcommittee. H.R. 1770 would establish a national standard for procedures used to notify consumers when there has been a breach of their personal data. Currently, 47 states have a security notification standard but there remains no national standard.

H.R. 1770 passed full committee and is awaiting action on the House floor. 

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