Congressman Kevin Brady represents Texas’ 8th congressional district, which begins at The Woodlands and stretches north along Interstate 45 through portions of Montgomery and Walker Counties. The Republican has held the position since 1997.

On this edition of Houston Matters, Rep. Brady, who serves as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, joins us to talk about some of the issues facing his district and other concerns, such as efforts to repeal and/or replace the Affordable Care Act, trade policy, taxes and other critical issues under consideration as the new congress and Trump Administration take power.

Also this hour…

Astros Great Jeff Bagwell Voted Into Baseball Hall of Fame

Craig Biggio will soon have company in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. His longtime teammate, Jeff Bagwell, has been voted in by the Baseball Writers of America.

To discuss Bagwell’s legacy as a player and Astro, we check in with one of the Hall of Fame voters, Jose de Jesus Ortiz. He was the Astros beat writer for the Houston Chronicle for 15 years, including during Bagwell’s final seasons as a player. We discuss what makes Bagwell Hall of Fame worthy, how voting for the Hall of Fame has grown more complicated for some baseball writers due to the steroid era, how some are calling for changes in the voting process, and what it says about the Houston Astros that the franchise now has had inductees in back-to-back years.

Researching Your Family History through DNA Testing

We’ve all seen commercials for services that will test your DNA and tell you about your family heritage. But you might not have known there’s one such service based here in Houston. It’s called Family Tree DNA, and we find out how it works — and what makes it different from other such services — from its CEO Bennett Greenspan.

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