Issues

Agriculture in Texas is a $100 billion per year industry and is vital to our district’s economy and to the state of Texas. I have the pleasure of representing 14 counties, and farming and ranching are major economic drivers in many of these counties. Farmers and ranchers in our district work tirelessly to put food on tables. Farmers face a number of challenges–excessive regulation, increasingly competitive foreign markets, and rising costs of planting, growing, and harvesting a crop. Farmers and ranchers have an important job, and as a Member of the House Appropriations Committee, I work to ensure they have the resources needed to carry out their operations. One bill I cosponsored this Congress was the RESTORE Act, which would ensure that Texas farmers and ranchers received disaster aid through the WHIP+ program for losses that they incurred as a result of Winter Storm Uri. With my support, this legislation was able to be enacted into law. Additionally, I advocated for a regulatory change in the Emergency Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) in 2021 that would allow redfish farmers in our region of Texas to receive aid as a result of Winter Storm Uri. I’ve voted to get government regulators out of the way because Texans know how to manage Texas land and agriculture better than Washington does. I have cosponsored legislation that would terminate this Administration’s proposed “30 x 30” land grab and reaffirm a narrower definition of Waters of the United States. Solutions should be driven by the farmers and ranchers who live and work in agriculture every day, not unelected bureaucrats in D.C. Congress should stay focused on helping American farmers and ranchers secure fair and open markets overseas for their products.

Washington is broken. Our Republic should be a nation of the people, by the people, for the people. Washington is for itself, and that needs to change. Bureaucracy, waste, fraud, abuse, and regulatory burdens plague our government and make it inefficient to operate. It is a goal of mine to reduce the size and scope of government and make it more accountable to the citizens of this great nation. It is an uphill battle and will take a concerted effort to restore Washington to the Founding Fathers’ original vision for our Republic to function for the people. We can start this process by passing my bill, H.R. 2199, the Federal Agency Sunset Commission Act, that would put all agencies and departments on a path to sunset, unless Congress reauthorizes them. Congress should immediately pass term-limits, remove unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles, and reduce government’s burden on hardworking Americans.

My wife came to this country legally using the immigration system, and it took seven years to complete the process. We can do better for those wishing to come here legally. Our nation’s immigration system should, as a matter of principle and practice, benefit America, which means opposing all forms of amnesty. We must improve our nation’s immigration system to be orderly and merit-based. Practical improvements must include the prosecution of visa overstays, elimination of the visa lottery, ending birthright citizenship, ending work visas for those who come here illegally, upholding the rule of law through the implementation of E-Verify, and overturning sanctuary cities. These and many more actions would reduce the magnets that push migrants into coming here illegally. Importantly, enacting these policies would economically ruin the cartels that sexually and physically abuse 1 in 3 women who make their way to the United States.