Vice President Mike Pence, on his second trip to Texas this month, praised Republican governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for state initiatives that he said were the building blocks behind much of what the White House was trying to accomplish with tax and healthcare plans.
Speaking at the Republican Governors Association’s annual conference, Pence, a former governor, praised the state policies created Republican governors all across the nation.
“These Republican governors are proving every day that Republican policies work in our states, they work for free enterprise, they work for families and Republican policies can work to make the entire American economy great again,” Pence told the hundred of attendees at the JW Marriott in downtown Austin.
During his speech, the vice president singled out Abbott’s leadership in the aftermath of the Sutherland Springs church shooting and during Hurricane Harvey.
Pence, prior to his speech, joined Abbott and former governor, now Energy Secretary Rick Perry for a briefing about the ongoing needs Texans still recovering from Hurricane Harvey face.
The briefing and Pence’s visit followed Abbott’s White House visit this week involving the state’s push for additional federal disaster aid.
“One reason why we gather today is to find strategies of what we need to do to help our fellow Texans respond to the challenges they still face and to make sure that we do so as swiftly as possible,” Abbott told reporters.
Abbott said that the White House has insured his office that the Office of Management and Budget will issue a supplement disaster funding measure for the House to take up later this week.
Ryan Poppe can be reached at rpoppe@tpr.org or on Twitter @RyanPoppe1
