Times Record News - Thornberry Keeps District 13 Seat

News Article

By John Ingle

The American public needs a federal government it can trust again and one that can function and work together, Rep. Mac Thornberry said after his landslide victory in Tuesday's general election.

The congressional District 13 incumbent handily beat Wichita Falls businessman Democrat Mike Minter, Libertarian Emily Pivoda and Green Party candidate Don Cook.

Thornberry said work needs to be done in Washington, D.C., to correct the course of the country, the first being a budget that passes both chambers of Congress. Very little, he said, has reached the floor of the Senate under Sen. Harry Reid's leadership, but a Republican-led Congress can now work on laws that will move the country forward.

"This is an opportunity to actually get some things done, definitely not all of the things I'd like," he said. "But I think people need to see their government -- at least their Congress -- begin to function again."

As the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, he said national security and having a healthy military is also a priority. Passing a budget and avoiding another round of sequestration that would cut the defense budget even more is also a priority.

Thornberry said the attitude of President Barack Obama will determine what Congress can get accomplished during his last two years in office.

"I think we could definitely pass, for example, some pieces of immigration reform like enforcement and legal immigration reform," he said. "If the president says all or nothing, then nothing will happen, but if he's willing to work with us, then we can start on immigration reform."

Thornberry said what Obama does in the next several weeks will give Congress and the country an idea of how cooperative the two branches of government will be moving forward. If the president goes on his own and tries to accomplish things through executive order, he said, it would be hard to work together.

There are some options for Congress should Obama choose to make changes through executive order, most notably affecting if or how a program is funded.

Thornberry said health care will also be addressed at some point after the new Congress is in place, but the primary goal should be restoring trust in the government and funding functions of the government, something that has been hard to do with the Reid-led Senate.

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