After winning the House seat formerly held by Rep. Filomen Vela, D-Texas, in a special election, Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, has joined the House Agriculture Committee.

Vela resigned to take a lobbying position

Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee said, “After a historic victory in Texas’ 34th Congressional District, I’m excited to welcome Congresswoman Mayra Flores to the House Agriculture Committee.”

“As the first Mexican-born congresswoman and the first Republican to represent the Rio Grande Valley in more than a century, I look forward to Rep. Flores sharing her unique perspective. I have great confidence she will represent the agriculture industry well and I’m grateful to have her on our farm team as we work together to support rural communities nationwide,” Thompson said.

Flores said, “As a legal immigrant from Mexico who grew up working in cotton fields to help ends meet, I am looking forward to working alongside my colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee to advance commonsense policies that help farmers and producers in South Texas and across the country continue to feed the world and provide good-paying jobs for Americans.”

The special election covers the period through the end of this year. Flores must run for re-election in November.