Name: Travis Grantham
Party: Republican
Running for: Congress, District 9
Previous Experience: small business owner
State Press: Why are you running for office?
Travis Grantham: For one thing, CD9 is home. It's where I was born and raised and I care a lot about it. Owning a small business, I've experienced a lot of hardship and had difficulty doing what I do best, which is creating jobs. And serving in the military, I've been disappointed in the direction our foreign policy's going in this country. I've been a national guardsman here for 13 years and I currently fly a KC-135 in the Phoenix Air National Guard. I've deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and I think it's disappointing the way our troops are being treated and in a lot of ways our current policy is being conveyed. Back to the business world, I'm disappointed with the way the federal government has gotten involved in just about every aspect of our everyday lives.
SP: What are your main goals if you end up being elected and going to Washington?
TG: One of my main goals is to stop the out-of-control spending and wasteful spending that takes place in Washington and begin to pay down this enormous national debt that we all own and are all going to be paying down for the rest of our lives. The debt alone in this country, $16 trillion today, is an unimaginable number and its a number that's going to prevent the next generation – our generation – from building the roads we need, fixing our bridges, keeping our defense strong and doing all of the things that we take for granted every day as Americans.
SP: One issue that is really important to ASU students and college students everywhere is the cost of education. What would you do in Congress to help make that easier for the students?
TG: I think the cost of education is tied to a couple of things. I think a lot of the universities, like much of government, are overrun with a lot of folks who work with administration and aren't a valuable part of the process of actually teaching students. Much like in the larger scale of the federal government, in the university system we have to cut back and scale down on some of the wasteful spending and trim a little bit of the fat, if you will. I'm opposed to raising interest rates on student loans. I think that's a frightening proposition because so many people rely on those loans to go to school. And I would continue also to champion the cause of giving those who enlist in the military access to the G.I. Bill, something I had access to and providing different avenues that incentivize high school grads with partial or complete reimbursement of tuition to actually go to college and get that degree.
SP: We've heard a lot during the last few weeks about SB 1070 and other immigration issues. What do you think should be done at the federal level regarding immigration?
TG: First and foremost, we must secure our border. Immigration in this country is an issue because of a border that is not secure. If we stopped the flow of illegal immigration into this country, we really wouldn't have an immigration problem. We have the greatest system in the world that was designed very well and it works very well. The problem is that we have people here illegally that are not being forced to abide by the laws. We are a nation of laws and it is completely wrecking the system for those who try to come here legally. So the answer to the question is first and foremost to secure the border.
SP: We also saw a Supreme Court decision on health care come down a few weeks ago. Do you think any part of that should be changed or should it stay as is?
TG: I actually think the law should be completely stricken down, and now that the Supreme Court has ruled the way they have ruled it's going to be up to the Congress to do that. And the reason I say that is that the Affordable Care Act will not make health care more affordable. If you want to make health care more affordable in this country you need to allow private sector solutions to drive the cost of health care. You need to incentivize people to take better care of themselves. You need to incentivize folks to buy their own health insurance plans, much like as a business owner I get to deduct the premiums that I pay for when we cover our employees. We offer full health care to all employees. You should be able to do the same exact thing. The insurance companies should be allowed to compete across state lines and sell insurance regardless of what state they're located in. When you leave one job and you have a policy there you should be able to take that policy with you when you leave. There was one good part of the Affordable Health Care Act and that was that it allowed people with pre-existing conditions to get health care coverage.
Reach the reporter at julia.shumway@asu.edu or follow @JMShumway on Twitter.
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