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May 13, 2016
Greetings,
Congress’ first priority is to provide for the national defense and ensure our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines have everything they need to defend our freedom. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), I was proud this week to include amendments in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that directly benefit military installations in Texas and keep American families safe.
I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure the readiness of our troops, support for our allies, and continued vigilance against our adversaries.
Keep Texas Strong,
Ted Cruz
Sen. Cruz Scores Victories for National Security, Texas in NDAA
On Thursday, Sen. Cruz issued a statement following the passage of the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). The bill, which includes 12 of Sen. Cruz’s amendments, will protect the value of Texas military installations, strengthen ties with American allies, and improve the effectiveness of our national defense organizations.
Sen. Cruz’s amendments address a number of issues critical to Texas, including enhancing border security, preventing the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees, retaining Apache helicopters for the National Guard, and preventing federal encroachment on Texas military property, among others.
“This year’s NDAA is a worthy effort in many regards, and I believe meaningful strides have been made to ensure the readiness of our troops,” Sen. Cruz said. “Unfortunately, the NDAA includes a provision that will force the young women in this country to register for Selective Service and be subject to a draft. I cannot in good conscience vote to draft our daughters into the military, sending them off to war and forcing them into combat. Therefore, I did not support the NDAA in committee. I will continue my efforts to speak out against the effort to force America’s daughters into combat.”
Read Sen. Cruz’s full release, including more information on the adopted amendments, here.
ICYMI: Sen. Cruz Op-Ed in The New York Times: ‘The Mullahs and Their Missiles’
Sen. Cruz today penned an op-ed for The New York Times, calling for strengthening our defenses and those of our allies, specifically support for Israel's missile defense programs, in the face of Iran's ongoing hostility and belligerence.
Read Sen. Cruz’s op-ed in its entirety here. Excerpts are available below:
On Monday, the Iranian military’s deputy chief of staff announced that the Islamic Republic had successfully tested yet another ballistic missile — this time, a high-precision midrange weapon with a reported reach of 2,000 kilometers, or 1,250 miles, and with a degree of accuracy that he claimed to be “without any error.” If these statements are true, the entire Middle East, including Israel, is within the reach of the mullahs’ missiles.
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The mullahs’ policy is, by their own admission, unchanged. It is the same one that inspired the so-called revolutionaries of 1979 to take 52 Americans as hostages for 444 days, and motivated murderous attacks on Israelis and Americans from Buenos Aires to Beirut to Baghdad over the subsequent decades. The only thing that is changing now is the potential scale of this violence, as they seek to replace truck bombs and roadside explosive devices with the most destructive weapons on the planet and the means to deliver them.
The sensible thing to do now is to face this reality, however unpleasant it may be, and do what we can to bolster our defenses and those of our allies.
As a first step, I look forward to working with my congressional colleagues this week and in coming months to make sure that President Obama’s failure to sufficiently fund Israel’s missile defense programs in his latest budget request is reversed.
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We have all been impressed by the success of Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, which targets short-range rockets and was implemented with the generous assistance of American taxpayers.
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Rather than starving these programs, Congress should seize this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to Israel’s security and so to our own. That would send the leaders of the Islamic Republic an unmistakable signal that there are at least some in Washington who still take them at their word, and will act accordingly.
A Regional Update from South Central Texas Regional Director Michael Koerner
South Central Texas Regional Director Michael Koerner, along with other members of Sen. Cruz’s staff, have been working closely with the City of Corpus Christi, the South Texas Military Task Force, and the Texas military community to ensure that wind turbines do not impact the training of America’s airmen. Koerner advised Sen. Cruz and staff on these concerns in South Texas, and this week Sen. Cruz successfully included an amendment in NDAA establishing that under no circumstances should the “clean energy” agenda take precedence over the safety of our Armed Forces or their ability to conduct their missions.
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