U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, is back in her home district this week after a defense bill she authored as chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Defense was approved.
It is a $650 billion spending bill for the military.
"Well, it's important, first of all, to the nation, because it's over half the spending for the Congress, is defense. So it's the biggest bill that's written, and I say the most important, because it funds the work force, it funds the equipment, it funds raises for our military. It's all there," Granger said. "And we did so much cutting for such a long time that what I'm trying to do is rebuild."
Granger said her committee heard from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, along with military leaders from all of the branches.
"It's, 'We don't have enough people, we don't have enough planes and ships, and we don't have enough maintenance money to keep the planes and ships going,'" she said.
The bill will benefit her home district with money for military aircraft produced by Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter.
Congress left for summer break after the Senate put off a vote on its version of the health care bill. There are concerns about the future of Medicaid and whether pre-existing conditions would be covered in the bill.
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NBC 5 political reporter Julie Fine asked Granger whether she thinks everyone with a pre-existing condition should covered.
"Yes. Now, let me explain, because, as an insurance agent, just because if you have a pre-existing condition, I can take you, it doesn't mean we'll (insurance) cover that condition. People don't take the next step, so you may have a pre-existing condition, you get insurance, you may pay higher, but it doesn't mean that condition will be accepted. So we need to be very clear to people," Granger said.
Fine then asked if anyone with a pre-existing condition should be accepted and covered by insurance.
"Not necessarily, because of the huge cost. We promised everything to everybody and then said it's not gonna cost you any more. That is just not going to happen. It is going to cost someone more," Granger said.
The Senate will be back in session next week, and on Friday, President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putting face-to-face for the first time since Trump was elected. There have been questions as to whether the president will bring up Russia's meddling in our election.
"They should be confronted. I am not as worried about it, because I am not that surprised about it. That is what the Russians have been doing. They have been spying for decades. It didn't surprise me that much. It concerns me because they have spied and meddled, but what they are accused of is trying to affect the outcome of the elections. That is a different situation. I do think they should be confronted with the proof we have. We don't have as much proof as we thought we did," Granger said.
