Blog

Congressman Crenshaw checking in after a historic week in Congress.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach the president for the third time in history. Below I’ve highlighted my thoughts on this disappointing and historic vote in addition to several other votes we took this week: USMCA and the fiscal year 2020 appropriations bills. Lastly, be sure to check out a recap video of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson’s visit to Houston.

As a reminder to TX-02 residents, please reach out to my offices if you have a concern, want to hear what we’re working on in Congress, or are having trouble with a federal agency. Please be aware that over the next two weeks operating hours for our D.C. and Houston-based offices will be limited in observance of the holidays.

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At the beginning of this week, I was honored to have Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson in Houston to discuss ways to address homelessness and improve public housing in the Houston community. We toured a faith-based community center for homeless families and met with local stakeholders to discuss how we can improve the successful public-private partnership model that’s decreased homelessness in Houston.

For a recap of Secretary Carson’s visit, click the image below or click here.

First up for this week’s big votes were the appropriations bills for the 2020 fiscal year. Although I disagreed with the top-line spending, I supported the deal because negotiators did a good job reaching a bipartisan agreement to fund the government next year. The bills will do a lot of good for Houston, like appropriating $22 million for maintenance of the Houston Ship Channel, almost $18 billion for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund and delaying cuts in funding for several Houston hospitals. This spending deal also funds barriers at our border and additional staff for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

While Congress must make a better effort to rein in our discretionary and mandatory spending, I appreciate the good faith compromise and find these provisions to be too important to oppose and risk another government shutdown.

For my full thoughts on the appropriations bills, click the image below or click here.

Next up is the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the much-needed trade deal with our northern and southern neighbors. Congress finally voted on it, and while I’m disappointed that Democrats added unnecessary provisions that will hurt the American people, I voted for it because it’s too important of a deal to pass up because of its economic impact - estimated to add $68.2 billion to the U.S. economy and create 176,000 new jobs.

For the full truth about USMCA, click the image below or click here.

Lastly, impeachment. This week’s historic vote in the House sets a dangerous precedent based on the thinnest, weakest, fastest case for impeachment since our nation’s founding.

Click the below image or click here to get my full thoughts.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from our family to yours.

Wishing you a blessed holiday season! I’m so grateful to serve the great people of TX-02 and looking forward to a productive 2020.