Last week, the House passed the overwhelmingly bipartisan resolution, H. Res. 771, "Standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists." This resolution condemns Hamas’ unprovoked, detestable attacks against the state of Israel and the efforts of Iran to support terror groups in the region. This measure reaffirms our commitment to Israel and calls on Hamas to cease their attacks on Israel and release every hostage immediately.

This week, the House passed the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act to provide $14.3 billion in emergency funds for Israel – assisting our allies in their fight to destabilize Hamas’ threat to peace in the Middle East and reinforce Israel’s right to protect itself from terrorism. Importantly, this package is fully paid for by repurposing funding that the Biden administration originally planned to use for supercharging the IRS with new tax agents. So, the legislation that passed out of the House was budget neutral with those offsets.

In the House Judiciary Committee this week, we also approved a number of bills, ranging from legislation focused on preventing human trafficking to countering Chinese espionage. Some of the bills included in the markup were:

• H.R. 2601, National Human Trafficking Hotline Enhancement Act
• H.R. 5430, Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct, which would prevent judges from considering factors in sentencing that a jury found a defendant not guilty of. 
• H.R. 5404, Countering Chinese Espionage Act, which requires DOJ to issue an annual report on its efforts to counter Chinese espionage, particularly intellectual property theft by Chinese companies and agents.
• H.R. 3315, National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Extension Act, which ensures that service members who get deployed, and as a result have a change in income, are not penalized for debt. 

This week, I had the chance to meet with former Acting Attorney General Matt Whittaker and 13 district attorneys from across the United States who are advocating for our Constitution and conservative values. At CPAC headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, I gave them a legislative update on law and order bills, bills passed this year affecting the criminal justice system, and matters coming up in the Judiciary Committee, including needed reforms to FISA, among other topics. It was incredibly insightful to receive their feedback and have an open conversation about how to address the many important bills that run through the Judiciary Committee. 

In the spirit of getting back to work, the House has already passed two more appropriations bills since selecting a new Speaker of the House. We passed the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which provides non-defense discretionary spending totaling to $25.417 billion, which is 35% below the FY23 enacted level and $21.371 billion below the President’s Budget Request. The House also passed the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, which includes $5.302 billion in discretionary appropriations to fund the offices of the House of Representatives. This is a 4.7% decrease from the FY23 enacted level. In conjunction with the Senate items, the amount allocated for the Legislative Branch is $6.735 billion, a 2.4% reduction from the FY23 enacted level.

These Fiscal Year 2024 bills actually lower funding below the enacted Fiscal Year 2023 legislation – responsibly funding our government and taking a step toward fiscal stability. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress in the coming weeks to pass the remaining appropriations bills.

Dealing with federal agencies can be complicated, and my office is here to help.

If you need help with Social Security, the IRS, passport renewals, the VA, or other federal agencies – please do not hesitate to reach out to my office by calling (903) 561-6349 or visiting my website by clicking HERE.

It is an honor to be your voice in Congress.

With gratitude,

P.S.

How many European countries is Texas larger than?

Check next week’s newsletter for the answer to this week’s Texas Trivia question!