Bellaire: Parade starts at 9:30 festival from 10:00-1:00 at Bellaire-Zindler Park
Theme: Bellaire’s 100th birthday

*if there is thunder and lightning at 8:30 the parade will be cancelled*

for more information call :713-662-8280

Southside Place: Bike Parade at 10:00 in front of City Hall.
Activities in the Park follow the parade.

I hosted the first ever Internet/telephone town hall meeting last Thursday night, broadcast live from my Washington office. I answered questions from constituents via telephone, direct messaging, and email through a live video stream on my website. This exciting new technology gives me the opportunity to maintain a constant and direct dialogue with you. I will be hosting these meetings throughout the summer, and I hope you will participate. You can also catch me on Twitter.com, where I send regular updates from the House floor and the halls of Congress, and on Qik.com, where I film and post video updates on the Internet. This technology allows us to bypass the mainstream media and shine sunlight into the darkest corners of Congress.

The House again considered the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch last week, which passed and will now go to the Senate for consideration. I voted against this bill, which maintains the status quo AMT structure for one year, but it also raises taxes on carried interest by taxing private equity at ordinary income tax rates rather than the lower capital gains rates. The bill also strikes the manufacturing tax credit for the five largest, domestic, integrated oil and gas companies, and reduces the manufacturing tax credit for independent, domestic oil and gas companies from 9% to 6%. With record gas prices and oil around $140 a barrel, the worst thing Congress can do is discourage domestic production by raising taxes. The bill does not single out any other industry that receives the manufacturing tax credit. The permanent tax increases included in this bill total nearly $62 billion.

I also voted against the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act because it guts Medicare Advantage, which provides health insurance coverage for 1,244 seniors in District 7. Medicare Advantage is the only private health insurance option for seniors that competes with Medicare, letting seniors choose their own coverage plan. I support FULL reimbursement for physicians who treat Medicare patients and I believe the entire reimbursement formula should be reworked rather than just passing temporary fixes. Physicians should not be punished for treating Medicare patients and they should not be forced to rely on short-term gimmicks to fix a long-term problem.

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark decision overturning the District of Columbia's ban on hand guns, and upholding the Second Amendment rights of individuals to keep and bear arms. The underlying issue was the interpretation of whether the "right to bear arms" applied to individuals or to state militias. The decision marks the first time the Supreme Court has ever conclusively interpreted the meaning of the Second Amendment since it was ratified 217 years ago. I am thrilled with the Court's decision to uphold the Constitution and validate our individual liberty.

I am spending this week's district work period in Houston, meeting with constituents and attending official events. I am fighting hard to increase domestic energy production and working with my colleagues to bring supply in line with demand and enact practical and long-term solutions to our energy crisis. I am also pleased to announce that the successful zero-tolerance program, Operation Streamline, has been implemented in Brownsville. Under this program, anyone caught illegally crossing the southern border is prosecuted, jailed, and deported. This program has proved very effective at reducing crime, drug trafficking, and illegal crossings in the sectors where it has been implemented, and I will not rest until law and order is restored along the entire southern border.

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H.R. 6275 --The Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 – NO This bill is a one year patch of the AMT with a hold harmless provision for those middle-class Americans who are affected by the AMT. But it contains PERMANENT tax increases for carried interest, meaning it would tax private equity at ordinary income tax rates instead of the currently capital gains rates. The bill also strikes the manufacturing tax credit for the five largest integrated oil and gas companies, and reduces the manufacturing tax credit for all other independent oil and gas companies from 9% to 6%; the bill does not single out any other industry which receives the manufacturing tax credit. I voted against this bill because it contains permanent tax increases. Total cost is approx $64 billion.

I am happy to report that the Democrat led Congress has finally passed a responsible Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, (FISA), that President Bush can sign. FISA expired earlier this year, and months ago, the Senate passed a bipartisan FISA bill providing the intelligence community with the tools and resources it needs to conduct surveillance and the House has now followed suit on this long overdue renewal.

The final FISA bill protects the rights of Americans by requiring a court order to listen in to domestic phone calls, and allows our intelligence services to listen in to phone calls between foreigners in foreign countries with an administrative order. The plotted terrorist attack on skyscrapers in Los Angeles and other attacks in the US and in Iraq were prevented using these long established surveillance techniques.

I believe in Benjamin Franklin's admonition that someone who would trade a little liberty for a little safety will wind up with neither, so I am always ready to respond if our agencies abuse the rights of Americans, but I have not seen any definitive case of that yet. I am not worried about the rights of foreigners in foreign countries who talk about killing Americans through acts of terror. These are the people the FISA bill is targeting, and even they have probable cause safeguards in place.

In other news, I have joined several other Members of Congress in sending a letter to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility calling for an investigation into Johnny Sutton’s prosecutorial tactics in the Ramos and Compean case. We are deeply concerned at Attorney Sutton’s manipulation of the U.S. federal code to secure a court victory, rather than justice, in his case against the two border agents. I am convinced that Mr. Sutton is guilty of prosecutorial misconduct and that both Ramos and Compean received unfair sentences for these unjust charges. I continue working hard to get their prison sentences commuted just as Scooter Libby's sentence was commuted.

Congressman Culberson will appear as a guest on Lou Dobbs Tonight discussing the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold environmental waivers that Congress approved in 2005 so the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could build the border fence without unnecessary environmental delays.

Congressman Culberson cosponsored and supported the Secure Fence Act, which gave DHS the authority to waive certain environmental laws to speed construction, and he is pleased that the Supreme Court upheld the law.

The program will air from 6-7 P.M. CDT this evening on CNN. Please tune in to see Congressman Culberson speak about this important decision.

FISA Bill YES I supported this legislation because it provides for the continuation of key surveillance efforts targeting foreign terrorist suspects in foreign countries, it streamlines the process to obtain FISA court orders, it includes civil liberty protections for US citizens, and it includes immunity for telecommunications companies who worked in good faith with the federal government to provide records on suspected terrorists. FISA expired earlier this year and this legislation is long past due. This bill will give the intelligence community the tools it needs to locate and track suspected terrorists and it aids our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by providing them with the most accurate intelligence in their fight against terrorists overseas.

H.R. 5749 --Unemployment Insurance (5 minutes)– NO Would temporarily extend unemployment benefits for up to 13 weeks in all States and for up to 26 weeks in certain “high unemployment States”, on top of the 26 weeks of benefits provided under current law. The “minimum of 20 weeks of work” requirement is NOT included in this bill - which Congress included in the 2002 temporary extended benefits program that was 100% federally funded, as is this bill. So, workers who qualify for 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits – and could have an attachment to the workforce of as little as two weeks before being laid off – could qualify for up to 52 weeks of regular and extended benefits in some States under this bill. Prior extended benefits programs have never begun when the national unemployment rate was at today’s modest 5.5% (compared to the most recent program, enacted in March 2002, of 5.7%) This bill also violates PAYGO-the fifth time the Majority has violated PAYGO in the past 6 months. Cost: $14 billion over two years and will operate through March 31, 2009

With the onset of the 2008 Hurricane Season, it is important for you and your family to be prepared in the event of a major storm.

Be sure to assemble disaster kits with items such as batteries, flash lights, water, food and a first aid kit. Your family will want to have an evacuation plan in place, taking relatives with needs and stipulations for your pets into account. Individuals with special needs can pre-arrange for evacuation transportation or for information on local shelters call 2-1-1.

Please read on to view valuable resources pertaining to evacuation routes, shelters and emergency management numbers.

“It is inexcusable, it is intolerable for us to send one dime to the Mexican government when they can afford to pay for this equipment themselves. But even more importantly than that, our southern border is not secure.”

Congressman Culberson spoke on the House floor yesterday in opposition to the Merida Initiative, a plan that would send $1.6 billion dollars to Mexico and Central America over the next three years.  Congressman Culberson requested a recorded vote on the legislation, which passed 311-106.

The proposal would provide equipment, training and resources for Mexican law enforcement officers to fight drug trafficking and drug-related violence. 

Dear Friends,

In the midst of my work to expand the zero tolerance policy for illegal aliens all the way to the mouth of the Rio Grande, and to open up drilling and production of domestic oil and gas fields, I am also working this week on the Appropriations Bills for Homeland Security and for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, NASA and Science. I am very passionate about balancing the budget while focusing our limited resources on the essentials like national security, border security, and critical infrastructure, but I never forget the vital importance of investing in medical and scientific research, including our nation's space program.

I am sending you this second e-mail in case you want to witness a very interesting event on Monday morning. At 10 a.m. CDT, if you log onto http://qik.com/johnculberson you will be able to watch me broadcast a portion of the weekly meeting of the Mars Rover scientists and engineers as they decide where and when they will drive the Opportunity Rover on the surface of the Red Planet. The Rover is on the edge of a huge crater which has exposed multiple layers of ancient Martian soil. The Mars Science Operating Working Group, led by Principal Investigator Steve Squyres, will review the latest data and photographs, decide and design the next moves of the spacecraft, and then run simulations with computer graphics to ensure the spacecraft can perform the movements without getting into trouble. (See marsrover.nasa.gov/home/index.html, look at the Opportunity Rover).