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U.S. Rep. August Pfluger has released his 2025 year-in-review report, highlighting legislative accomplishments for Texas’s 11th Congressional District.

Pfluger, a Republican, pointed to several major developments in the Concho Valley, including visits from Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson. Pfluger said those visits resulted in direct support for local operations, including provisions in the upcoming farm bill aimed at helping area farmers and ranchers and securing funding for dorm upgrades at Goodfellow Air Force Base.

The report also notes more than $17 million returned to taxpayers through the "One Big Beautiful Bill", which Pfluger said ranks among his top accomplishments.

Pfluger also addressed the federal response to devastating floods in July, but championed San Angelo's local response.

"The federal government has a role and needs to be accountable for the monies that are spent and needs to be accountable for how that money goes into a community," Pfluger said. "But our community set the gold standard for coming together and we saw that first hand in San Angelo. It takes a long time to rebuild, but I'm very proud of not only the federal government response, but of our community spirit that really set the gold standard for how to deal with the tragedy like this."

Pfluger also said more work remains, particularly in the health care system. He criticized the Affordable Care Act, saying it raised prices without transparency, and compared health care spending issues to fraud cases seen recently in Minnesota.

"That fraud is also rampant in the healthcare system in states like California and New York, and we are going to dismantle it, we are going to provide accountability," Pfluger said. "As the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, we have answers to make healthcare affordable, to make it transparent, to make it cost effective so that the money doesn't go to insurance companies, but rather it transfers directly into the patients hands so that they can spend it and they can have choices instead of the government telling them where to spend it."

The congressman added progress on health care reform has been slowed by partisan disagreements in Congress, which he said contributed to a months-long government shutdown.

"I, in the heart of my hearts, wish that Congress could come up here and have good, reasonable debates," he said. "It's unfortunate that the the political environment is very divisive. It made me and all of our communities, you know, really feel like our institutions and our government was not working for the citizens, but but against it."

Despite those challenges, Pfluger said every one of his bills passed with bipartisan support. He said he plans to continue his work as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, focusing on lowering costs for health care, energy and housing.

"And I think what you'll see in 2026 is a concerted effort to not have a 40-plus-year-old average age of first-time home buyers, but let's move that down so that the American dream is realized by people in their 20s. Once again, our effort in the Republican Study Committee and ... through the Republican Conference is going to be aimed directly at making the American dream affordable again."