Congressman Thornberry talks issues impacting local community - KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, Sports

Congressman Mac Thornberry believes the latest effort from Republicans against Obamacare may be enough to repeal the controversial law. 

Thornberry addressed that topic, and his other stances on recent votes, during a community tour Thursday in Amarillo. 

"I'm for doing just about anything the senate can pass that would repeal Obamacare," Thornberry said. 

 "Just this week I had more and more people talking about how their health insurance premiums are getting higher and higher, and harder to afford, " said Thornberry.

But Thornberry says the latest effort by Republicans to repeal Obamacare may help.

"The bill they are looking at that turns a lot of this into block grants puts more discretion in the states," Thornberry said. "(It) would be a good thing for Texas." 

A block grant is a grant from central government to the state, which local authority can allocate to a wide range of services.

Thornberry also discussed the latest movement to shut down military bases in order to cut spending. 

"Some people are pushing for another round of base closings now as a way of saving money," he said. "I'm cautious because the last time we did this it didn't save us any money.

"Another point is we shrunk our military, we can't build it back. So we better be careful about closing military bases until we know the size of military we need," said Thornberry.

Congressman Thornberry recently voted against raising the debt ceiling.

"It's hurting our military," said Thornberry, stating the current system doesn't spend the money it should on the armed forces.

"Of course I support increasing the debt limit. I support hurricane relief, but I am not going to allow those worthy things to be an excuse for continuing to damage the military."

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