Rep. Kevin Brady Named Texan Of The Year By State Policy Forum

THE WOODLANDS, TX — U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas' 8th Congressional District was named the 2022 Texan of the Year by the Texas Legislative Conference on Tuesday.

The statewide policy and business forum based in New Braunfels gave the award to Brady, who lives in The Woodlands, in a news conference Tuesday.

"Thank you so much for this honor; it really is an incredible honor," Brady said in the conference on Zoom. "We live in a time where there are a lot of crucial issues, a lot of crucial policies that need discussions with people of every ideology. ... I'm honored to be Texan of the Year for 2022."

Any living Texas who has made a commitment to public service for the good of the state of Texas is eligible to be named Texan of the Year. The recipient cannot be an announced candidate for public office at the time of the award. Brady announced in April he will not run for re-election and will retire in 2022.

Chair of the Texas Legislative Conference Patrick Rose cited Brady's crucial role in passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, his influential work on many of the United States' free trade agreements and his assistance in negotiating the end of a 40-year ban on selling U.S. crude oil overseas as some of the key accomplishments that made him worthy of the award.

Brady was chair of the House Ways and Means Committee from 2015-'19 and has represented Texas' 8th Congressional District since 1997. He previously served six years in the Texas House of Representatives.

During the news conference, Brady expressed optimism in Congress' future ability to work through policy issues, citing a "middle class" of lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle that show up to work in good faith every day.

The Texas Legislative Conference is a nonpartisan organization of Texas business and political leaders who meet annually in New Braunfels to focus on public policy issues.