Houston newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall is coming
Khambrel Marshall is coming
up next.
From KPRC Channel 2, this is
Houston newsmakers with
Khambrel Marshall.
>> Good Morning. Welcome to
Houston Newsmakers, where I’m
pleased to welcome this
morning. Republican Congressman Morgan a trail representing
Morgan a trail representing
the 8th congressional district.
Good morning to you. Once or
business do it does feel okay
now has a feel normal to be
call. Congressman is still an
absolute I it is the. Very strange still is never had
Very strange still is never had
that ambition ever where when
how I was raised just never
thought this would be where I
would be sitting today. So how
did it come to this point?
What made you decide that you
needed to run for office?
Come from Brady Retirement?
Yeah. And I grew up in my
district. My hometown, though.
You’ve all got to get to the
Kevin’s been there for 25 years. There has been accounted
years. There has been accounted
for.
25 years. Family and friends
came to me. The district what
you think would consider this
because we don’t have land
family in every county and
after a lot of prayer lot
family meetings and gatherings,
we decide to to to make a run at it. And we won. So 8th
at it. And we won. So 8th
congressional district has
quite the reputation in part
because of the congressman who
you are replacing for. 25
years. Congressman Kevin Brady
who was the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee for
Ways and Means Committee for
while just really well known.
What is a challenge in taking
over where he left off and what
kind of advice has he given
you as he’s been? He’s been on
my shoulder. I breach out him.
He is a great mentor, one from
and it needs to be said that
he’s he was.
From from what people tell me
the most well-liked member in
Congress. I started out people
just love to death. I will
always say I’m never going to
try to fill his shoes just
simply widen the road that he
paid for from Mister Fields to
Mister Brady to myself had up
to me all 3. Well, 3, he’s got
together when times got 3, 3
generations of takes
representation, which is
amazing.
He has so much institutional
knowledge of how the DC work
So I kind of talked in 2 days
ago can check and not only is
checking on him say, hey,
you’re tired from a career.
That is what Jai, h*, not
right. But also some asking
questions on who can you provide me a lane here? Just
provide me a lane here? Just
give you. Some may be
perspective. I’m not saying
so what? He has such a great
understanding of the
representation of district 8.
I learned so much from that
that I necessarily couldn’t see initially. And the district
initially. And the district
voted for you wasn’t exactly
what you call a squeaker.
I mean, in terms they said,
hey, you’re the guy now you’re
in Congress. What are your
committees that you’re on?
And and and while those the
ones that you chosen someone, 3 committees and 6
3 committees and 6
subcommittees. So we’re on
House Armed services that makes
sense for don’t background.
we met with the steering
Committee steering Committee in
Washington, D.C., is 2 places
the members and their committee
assignments. And we really,
really campaigned for House
Armed Services, give my
background military. And on
that committee, we have to set
committee cyber and we’re all
special operations and
intelligence which being also
come from special warfare.
We’re on the Homeland Security
Committee were border and cyber as well. So to cyber, so coming
as well. So to cyber, so coming
storm really fought for cyber.
And on the border subcommittee
the vice chairman actually,
okay, okay. We’re represents a
district very well. And then
I fought fought, fought for
3rd committee, veterans
Affairs.
My heart, right. And so for those who don’t know, I mean,
those who don’t know, I mean,
you put your military You are
one of the elite. That’s and
that’s probably an
understatement. But that’s
true. Well, as great as you say
that, yeah, where I was and
seal teams might turn into a
career so they were That’s
definitely one of the 2, 1,
to one community church church. >> Well, I’m an Army Brat 30
>> Well, I’m an Army Brat 30
year Army, a dad who that’s all
I know. So I’m sorry. Sorry
when a bee.
But that’s okay. Haha. You know, I have to every 10 every
know, I have to every 10 every
time I lay eyes on Wesley
Hyatt, Army Navy thing to my
first were they ever learn were
go Army beat Navy in the past
or if I close out a text
message or an email to Wesley
Height and it’s Haha what you
guys are and say Merry doing
some of the same stuff. Let’s
talk a little about what’s been happening here.
happening here.
>> Recently, United States is
not actively taking part in a
war in Ukraine, but clearly is
providing support. Last week
President Biden went there,
spent some time there on the
one-year anniversary. You know
what war is like? You know what
happens in cases of armed
conflict, your background that,
you know what happens or ask
your thoughts about what our
continued involvement should or
should not be as far as It’s
it’s very challenging and has
to be a member now and see
getting the briefings and
hearings and classified
briefings on what’s happening
over Ukraine and after fighting
2 wars on never want to put
my son was in war. I don’t want
the Americans to go forward and
say, hey, look, now were
active, were in it.
>> Support is another thing.
And I I I would have not voted
to send as much as we have
designed it. I want more more
guardrails on the amount of
money that we’re spending given
issues that we’re having in our
country support. Yes, they
need. the tri-cities and I had
a town town hall last night
where I was trying to explain
somebody, okay. I’ve seen the
atrocities of war and a bully such as Russia is taking
such as Russia is taking
advantage of Ukraine, United
States, whether or not we like
it or not, where the big and
it’s it’s it’s an art. It’s in
our DNA, if you will, to
protect those that need
protecting whether or not a broad we have to protect our
broad we have to protect our
citizens here. Certainly wrong.
I’m all about and I’m very
laser focused on that front.
We can’t let Russia take
Ukraine. It’s just it’s
strategically just a huge
mistake in Ocon’s. McCall was
over there about the same time
that President Biden was there
asking for the he wanted the
administration to even more morning you. You’re not
morning you. You’re not
necessarily in that cat that
looks like, OK, you know, we if
we overextend ourselves are so
many different narratives going
on in the world today we can to
plea have or are or is there
that can deplete our mean our
defensive postures can’t of
deplete.
Our way of life for your case. It comes to our shores. Are we
It comes to our shores. Are we
are. We’re pulled East right?
The system. And so, yeah.
some of the president’s critics
also argue that, hey, you know,
it’s OK, Ukraine, we need that.
But we need to do more on our
southern border crisis and
there there’s a challenge there
is ongoing. Your thoughts about
what’s being done and what
Congress should do because
there clearly has been room for
some sort of compromise in
Congress. But there hasn’t been
one this bomb throwing on both
sides. There’s a lot of
accusations, you know, way back when they had the gang of 8 who
when they had the gang of 8 who
came again, they actually had a
plan and it
was mixed at the last former
House number happy about that
because he had a deal that he
blames Ted Cruz for that.
Not happening, but that’s
another whole story. But it is.
What are your thoughts about
what’s going on to win the war? We’ve been to the border.
We’ve been to the border.
We’re going to tax relief for
the board in the morning where
that they’ll pass and then in 2
weeks and that will back down
the gallon. So the it’s there
it lives that breeze it exists. It is it is a cut tax for the
It is it is a cut tax for the
there is a crisis and it’s
unfortunate that we feel that
pressure, especially here in
our districts, the landing zone
for all for for a lot of rest
of me. Even the fit. The
fentanyl problem is in
Montgomery County and it’s huge
in Harris County and that’s
coming through our southern
borders. We have the ability to its with the
the ability to its with the
majority in the Republican
Party is to apply pressure
right now because we don’t have
the Senate. We don’t have the
White But what we do is raise
we keep and this will keep
moving the needle to keep in
mind those pressures that. This is what we need this
This is what we need this
legislation in place to secure
that border. All right. It’s
just not being enforced by the
secretary of Homeland Security,
which I’ve sent letters to him.
I’ve reached out to him.
I just you need to tell me why
this is happening. So that’s
where the pressure is coming
from from the popular. You want
to make sure that you have that the images of this so that the
the images of this so that the
voters know that we want we
want our bases in the American
public knows like, hey, look,
we’re taking this seriously.
We are working as hard as we
can. We’re moving legislation
out of the homely committee and members across the southern
members across the southern
borders are saying, hey, we
we’re dying down here. You have
to miss it that something can
get done. I mean, this such a
political football. It’s a
shame that it is a political
football called it in. It
shouldn’t be that way. Is the
national security, the
livelihood of our our citizens
do I think that could be done?
I think it’s going to take a
Republican president come in
and say we don’t. You’re going to be able to
You’re going to be able to
enforce the laws that are in
place. Okay. So we don’t have
to pass new legislation which
have to get. The administration
to say, OK, look, we’re going
to really get behind the laws
here.
Putting a tourniquet on this,
believe. Well, you see the new