Dear Friends,

Over the past few weeks, I have been leading the charge to bring more transparency and accountability to our government. New technology and social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter, Qik, and YouTube, allow you to engage your representatives directly in Washington and maintain an open and honest dialogue with them. My efforts to spread sunshine through Congress have been reported by the New York Times, CNN, The Sunlight Foundation, AOL, The Houston Chronicle, and several blogs.

As the first representative to communicate with my constituents from the House floor via the instant messaging site Twitter.com, I welcome ideas, feedback, or suggestions from constituents. All of my posts are personal, unfiltered, and straightforward. You can also find me on Qik.com, where I record videos and interviews of the daily business in Congress and stream the footage live to the Internet.

My personal goal is to use these revolutionary new tools to become a "real time Representative." I am already combining telephone townhall meetings with live, streaming video on my official website. I can talk to tens of thousands of constituents simultaneously in a giant conference call, while they ask me questions on the telephone (one at a time) or in a text message via Ustream or Twitter. Constituents can also email questions through the contact form on my website. This interactive townhall requires some serious multitasking on my part, but it worked well when I did it two weeks ago, and I will do it again this evening at 7 P.M. CDT.

In other news, President Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling. With the price of gasoline now at record highs, Americans are demanding action. With the President taking the first step towards domestic exploration, it is time for Congress to follow suit. The Outer Continental Shelf holds approximately 19 billion barrels of oil and 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. While we must continue developing alternative forms of energy, the anticipated growth in supply from lifting this ban will undoubtedly ease market tensions right now. The bottom line is that America is too dependent on foreign oil, and Congress has tied the hands of our producers by restricting access to our vast energy domestic resources.

To spur Congressional action to alleviate pain at the pump, I have signed the American Energy Pledge to bring onshore oil, deepwater oil, and new refineries online. I spoke about this issue on the House floor, and am holding the House leadership’s feet to the fire to release our own energy resources immediately. I additionally co-sponsored the American Energy Independence and Price Reduction Act (H.R.6107), the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2008 (H.R. 6108), the Oil Shale Opportunity Act of 2008 (H.R. 6211), and H.R. 5656 which would repeal a requirement with respect to the procurement and acquisition of alternative fuels.

Today the President will veto the bill that includes the Medicare physician fee reimbursement for doctors. I voted against the bill when it passed the House, but I will support the veto override that the House will also take up tomorrow. As stated in my letter to members of the Texas Medical Association, I have cosponsored H.R. 6091, the Save Medicare Act of 2008, authored by Congressman Phil English (R-PA) which will help prevent the 10.6% cut from occurring for the remainder of 2008, as well as provide a 1.8% increase in reimbursement for 2009, which is based on the Medicare economic index. These increases are not offset by cutting private health insurance benefits for our seniors or by taking money away from other providers.

It is an honor to serve you in the House of Representatives. Please join me in my Townhall tonight and let me know what is on your mind. Your input is invaluable to me, and your participation holds me accountable to you while on the job in Washington.

Sincerely,
John Culberson
Member of Congress