Dear Friends, This week the House of Representatives focused on two pieces of legislation – H.R. 7 and H.R. 1195. I managed the Rule debate for Republicans on both bills Wednesday. This Week in Washington: Thursday from the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, Senate and House Democrats released a plan to expand the U.S. Supreme Court by four seats. The idea of fundamentally changing the highest court of the land has been tried before and failed. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed the idea in ... Read more

April 16th, 2021 Dear Friends, Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement by Dr. Peter Marks, Director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of CDC, in regards to the very rare but serious adverse events associated with the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine. Today, it was announced that the CDC vaccine panel is planning to hold an e... Read more

Dear Friends, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 80% of all childcare workers, school staff and teachers have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot. The CDC updated cleaning and disinfecting guidance. The National Institutes of Health started phase one clinical trials to determine Moderna’s new investigational vaccine’s effectiveness against the B.1.351 SARS-CoV-2 variant. North Texas Update: Week 18 COVID-19 vaccine allocations are posted here. **Ple... Read more

April 6th, 2021 Dear Friends, Today, I toured the Texas Motor Speedway and saw the work that Denton County Public Health is doing to get shots in the arms of TX-26 residents. National Update: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their travel guidance for domestic travel. Fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves. Fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. COVID-19 testing or post-travel self-quarantining are not required if travelers take COVID... Read more

Dear Friends, We learned that in February the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services received the highest number of referrals of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) in the history of the program. In addition, Customs and Border Patrol encountered over 100,000 individuals along our southern border attempting to cross without authorization. Last week, to gain a better understanding of what was exactly happening I took a trip to our southern border. I mentioned... Read more

April 1st, 2021 Dear Friends, This week, Pfizer/BioNTech reported that their COVID-19 vaccine was effectivein preventing infection among teens ages 12-15 in a late-stage trial. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced an expansion in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 vaccinations from 17,000 participating pharmacies to 40,000 stores. The CDC and National Institutes of Health launched the “Say Yes! COVID Test” initiative to provide free at-home COVID tests in... Read more

March 26th, 2021 Dear Friends, I published an Op-Ed in the Denton Record Chronicle on Wednesday discussing the important role the COVID-19 vaccine will play in keeping us healthy and returning our society back to normal. I encourage everyone to join me in receiving their COVID-19 vaccines. In other news, the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published a study on the effectiveness of the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant and lactating women, who may pass prot... Read more

Dear Friends, This week during an Energy and Commerce hearing on the LIFT Act, I asked Dr. Tom Frieden about the importance of retaining health care staff in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintaining a strong health care workforce is critical to the health of this nation during normal times and especially during this public health emergency. National Update: AstraZeneca announced its vaccine is 79% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% effective in preventing serious d... Read more

Dear Friends, Yesterday, during a House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing, I asked Dr. Fauci about the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. To lead by example, I have received both shots for the vaccine. Operation Warp Speed was driven by science and data to determine the safety and effectiveness of this vaccine. I encourage every American to talk with their talk doctor and to receive a COVID-19 vaccine along with me. National Update: According to the C... Read more

Dear Friends, This week, I joined Fox and Friends First to discuss the crisis that is happening at our Southern Border. It is very concerning that over 100 COVID-19 positive migrants were released into the U.S. During debate for the Democrats' American Rescue Plan, I offered an amendment that would provide COVID-19 testing and PPE to those crossing our border. It was blocked from being added as an amendment. National Updates: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Med... Read more