Small group of protesters greet Ted Cruz at Houston town hall

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz talks with concerned citizens after an event at Sheraton Brookhollow Hotel on Saturday, July 8, 2017, in Houston. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz talks with concerned citizens after an event at Sheraton Brookhollow Hotel on Saturday, July 8, 2017, in Houston. Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Small group of protesters greet Ted Cruz at Houston town hall 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

About 40 protesters were waiting for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz long before he even pulled up to a Houston hotel on Saturday for his third town hall meeting in as many days in Texas.

While the event was promoted as a "Veterans and Military Town Hall," the army of protesters that lined the streets made clear they had another topic in mind: health care.

"They don't want to fix it, they just want to give tax cuts to the wealthy," said Paula Oddo, a retired teacher who was among protesters withstanding the blazing midday sun.

Cruz has become a clear target for protesters as he remains one of the key GOP holdouts preventing passage of a health care reform bill that has so far stalled in the Senate. Cruz on Thursday said despite efforts by prominent Republicans to get him on board with the Senate plan, he said the bill still doesn't accomplish his primary objective of lowering health care premiums.

During stops near Dallas and in Austin earlier this week, Cruz has said he is hopeful a deal can be worked out but steered clear of predicting it will happen.

At a 4th of July parade in McAllen and his stops in both North Texas and Austin, Cruz has been confronted with protesters opposed to GOP plans to scrap Obamacare. Cruz has risen to national prominence partly due to his insistence of ending the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama's signature legislative accomplishment.

Cruz said in Austin that he's going to continue to push to end Obamacare.

"This law isn't working," Cruz said in Austin. "People are hurting under it."

While healthcare has come up at each of his previous stops in Texas, Cruz has tried to stay focused on veterans issues. Specifically, Cruz has been trying to bring attention to legislation he has filed to require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to hire a chief information officer to modernize outdated software and better watch over the VA's information technology. Cruz said better systems will help get health care to veterans and combat notorious long wait times.

Cruz also used the events to express his support for giving veterans more choices in where they get health care. Cruz said veterans should have more flexibility in getting care from the private sector instead of having to rely on the traditional VA hospitals and clinics. While there is a program to allow veterans to go to private care doctors when they live more than 40 miles from a VA facility, Cruz said it is too limited and needs to be improved. He said if veterans have choices, it will force the VA to improve wait times and care, just like the post office improved when private companies began competing with it.

The town halls have been part of a series created by Concerned Veterans for America, a non-profit advocacy group that has been a vocal critic of the VA's bureaucratic system.