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December 4, 2015
Greetings,
This week, our country mourns the passing of 14 Americans, murdered at the hands of what appears to be yet another manifestation of radical Islamic terrorism here at home. The horrific attack in San Bernardino underscores that we are in a time of war.
We are dealing with an enemy that has shown it is not only capable of bypassing U.S. screening, but of recruiting and radicalizing Muslim migrants after their entry to the United States. With the President’s refusal to even utter the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ and his lawless Iranian Nuclear Deal that funnels over $100 billion to the Ayatollah Khamenei who chants ‘Death to America,’ our country faces a very real and very grave threat.
Securing our homeland continues to be one of my top priorities so that Texans and all citizens across the country remain safe.
Please keep reading for an update on the latest in the Senate.
Keep Texas strong,
Ted Cruz
Cruz, Sessions to Obama Administration: Release Immigration History of San Bernardino Attackers
On Thursday, Sens. Ted Cruz and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General demanding the immigration history of the San Bernardino attackers. The letter notes that Congress is days away from consideration of an omnibus year-end funding bill that would set the U.S. on an autopilot path to approve green cards, asylee status, and refugee status to approximately 170,000 migrants from Muslim countries during the next year, and yet the Administration is still concealing the immigration history of 72 known, recent terrorists.
Read the full release and letter in its entirety here.
Sen. Cruz: I Will Continue to Do Everything Necessary and Anything Possible to Repeal Obamacare
Sen. Cruz on Thursday voted to repeal Obamacare, an effort he has championed since being elected in 2012. The reason the Senate did not vote on the flawed House reconciliation bill that left large swaths of Obamacare intact is precisely because of the guidance Sen. Cruz outlined earlier this fall.
“Since before my first day in office, I pledged to do everything within my power to repeal Obamacare. And over the last three years, I’ve worked day and night to do exactly that, sometimes to the dismay of those in Washington,” Sen. Cruz said. “The vote we took today is a significant step towards repealing every word of Obamacare.”
“I am also encouraged that this bill prohibits taxpayer funds from going to abortion-providers. This bill is a substantial improvement over the original House bill, and I’m grateful to Senate conservatives and Senate leadership for joining me in making it so.”
Read Sen. Cruz’s full statement here.
Sen. Cruz Questions ICE Director Saldaña About Administration’s Recurring Failure to Enforce Immigration Laws
On Wednesday, Sen. Cruz continued to highlight the Obama Administration’s negligence in immigration law enforcement in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
While questioning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah Saldaña, Sen. Cruz said, “I recognize that politically the Administration supports amnesty for people who are here illegally. The American people don’t agree with the Administration on that. You are charged with following the law, the law that Congress has actually passed, not the policy views of President Obama that contradict the law.”
Watch Sen. Cruz’s entire line of questioning and read the full release here.
Sen. Cruz: This Highway Bill Is Irresponsible
On Thursday, Sen. Cruz voted against the $281 billion, five-year highway bill that reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank, a quintessential example of cronyism and corporate welfare. Using various budget gimmicks and one-time revenue raisers, this bill guarantees an even larger shortfall in 2020 when the next highway bill comes up.
While Sen. Cruz voted against the final passage of the highway bill, he did support a Budget Point of Order to allow for crop insurance to be included in the overall legislation that passed the Senate.
Sen. Cruz issued the following statement upon the bill’s passage in the Senate:
“Last night, sadly, the Washington Cartel reversed one of the few fiscal conservative victories achieved with this Republican Congress. This past summer, we allowed the Export-Import Bank -- one of the most egregious instances of corporate welfare -- to finally expire. The world didn’t end, and for a few months taxpayers were no longer guaranteeing billions in loans to a handful of giant corporations. Alas, Republican leadership couldn’t allow this victory for the taxpayers to stand, and so last night they slipped the Ex-Im Bank into the highway bill.
“Here’s a simple question: why was the Ex-Im Bank--which Republican leadership promised the Washington lobbyists--slipped into ‘must-pass’ legislation, while the Planned Parenthood defund--which Republicans promised the actual voters--put in reconciliation, which everyone knows will be vetoed? What does that say about leadership’s real priorities? It’s the Cartel in action, and it’s why the American people are so volcanically frustrated.”
Read the full release here.
Sen. Cruz to Obama Administration: Release Details of the Iran Nuclear Deal
Sen. Cruz on Thursday blocked four political nominees to the U.S. Department of State and objected to one career nominee on behalf of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Sen. Cruz’s objections are in accordance with a letter he sent to the Obama Administration earlier this year, declaring his intention to hold authorizations and block nominees for the State Department, unless the President chose not to circumvent Congress with the catastrophic Iranian Nuclear Deal.
“When Secretary Kerry chose to ignore my request that the State Department not submit this catastrophic Iranian Nuclear deal to the United Nations, Secretary Kerry did so with open eyes,” Sen. Cruz said. “He did so knowing the consequences because I had spelled them out explicitly: that the political nominees that he would want to put forward at the Department of State would not proceed if Secretary Kerry chose to undermine the authority of the Congress of the United States, to undermine the sovereignty of this country, and to instead treat the United Nations as the relevant decision-making body. He did so nonetheless.”
Watch Sen. Cruz’s objections on the Senate floor and read his full statement here.
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