On the recordSeptember 6, 2022
Mr. President, here we are, back in the Nation's Capital, after having had the opportunity to spend a few weeks back home. While it is still hot in Texas at this time of year--so it is nice to get a little bit of respite back here--we certainly have a lot of work cut out for us, but it is always helpful to me to sort of compare what people are focused on here in Washington, DC, with what folks back home care about the most. It is actually the best way to get some feedback on how we can do our jobs more effectively in representing the people we represent--in my case, the 29 million people who call Texas home. Also, people are not shy about expressing their views on what we have done and even about offering some input on things we are considering doing. For example, in Corpus Christi, which is on the gulf coast of Texas, I spoke with industry at the Port of Corpus Christi about the untapped potential of hydrogen energy. In Round Rock, which is just outside of Austin, I sat down with a number of sexual assault survivors, prosecutors, and medical professionals to talk about the need to train more sexual assault nurse examiners, which is a highly specialized form of nursing, to make sure that not only people who are sexually assaulted are compassionately cared for but also that the evidence that is necessary to convict their assailants is selected in a way that is admissible in court. In Austin, I met with the Texas Association of Counties. We have 254 counties in Texas.…