Cruz News: August 12, 2018

August 12, 2018

Greetings,

This week, I had the pleasure of visiting our brave servicemen and women and Texas military communities during my statewide ‘Texas Defends America’ tour, which included Lackland, Goodfellow and Dyess Air Force Bases and Fort Hood. At these bases, I received updates on training operations and long-term investments that will benefit and improve our military. I am proud to have secured over 30 provisions in FY19 NDAA which benefit Texas and support America’s national security interests at home and abroad. In the challenging environment we live in today, peace through strength is best achieved with a strong, well-funded military. There is no state in the union that loves and values our active duty military and our veterans the way the state of Texas does.

On Wednesday, I participated in a ‘Defend & Reform’ town hall hosted by Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) in San Angelo, where I answered questions from attendees and discussed the issues affecting veterans and their families. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I fight for our military service members and work to ensure that meaningful reform is occurring at the Department of Veterans Affairs to properly support them when they transition to civilian life. That’s why I introduced the V.E.T. Protection Act earlier this year following a January 2017 Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report concerning the abuse of official time practices and union activities by employees at the VA. Each year, VA employees spend over a million hours on union organizing and other activities instead of caring for veterans. That is an enormous amount of time that should be devoted to our veterans. My bill would limit the amount of time VA employees can devote to union activity. The central mission of the VA should be caring for veterans, not spending time on political activities. 

I also visited the Coast Guard Air Station in Houston, where I received an update on Coast Guard operations conducted in South Texas, a briefing on the lessons learned following Hurricane Harvey, and the preparations taking place for the 2018 hurricane season. Hurricane Harvey was unlike anything Texas had ever seen before, and without the help of the brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard, many Texans would not have made their way through it. Without hesitation, and despite facing personal loss and property damage to their own homes, the Coast Guardsmen jumped into action and led rescue and recovery efforts. Texas continues to rebuild stronger than ever, and we owe these brave men and women our gratitude. From the floodwaters of hurricanes to the shores of foreign conflict, Texas continues to lead the nation in military readiness and defense.

As we continue to rebuild from the unprecedented devastation from Hurricane Harvey, we must also take all steps necessary to prepare for the hurricane season ahead. For those seeking information or assistance during the recovery and rebuilding process, please do not hesitate to contact my office or use the federal and state resources listed here. For those seeking preparedness information and resources, please refer to the federal and state resources listed here.

Please read below for an update from this last week.

Keep Texas Strong,

Ted Cruz

Sen. Cruz issued a statement applauding the administration's enforcement of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Read more...

Sen. Cruz kicked off the ‘Texas Defends America' tour, a week-long tour of Texas military bases, with a visit to Military City, USA. Read more...

Sen. Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday continued his ‘Texas Defends America’ tour, a week-long tour of Texas military bases, with a visit to the Coast Guard Air Station in Houston. Read more...

Sen. Cruz oj Wednesday continued his statewide ‘Texas Defends America' tour with a visit to Goodfellow Air Force Base. Read more...

On Wednesday, Sen. Cruz participated in a ‘Defend & Reform' town hall hosted by Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) in San Angelo as part of his statewide ‘Texas Defends America' tour. Read more...

Sen. Cruz on Thursday continued his statewide ‘Texas Defends America' tour with a visit to Dyess Air Force Base where he received an update on the B-1 bomber force, C-130J airlift operations, and preparations for the B-21 “Raider,” a long-range strike bomber. Read more...

Sen. Cruz on Friday continued his statewide ‘Texas Defends America' tour with a visit to Georgetown, where he participated in a ceremony hosted by ‘Helping a Hero.' Read more...

Sen. Cruz issued a statement in response to Hamas's escalating terror attacks in Israel. Read more...

Sen. Cruz on Friday concluded his statewide ‘Texas Defends America' tour with a visit to Fort Hood. Read more...

The full press releases may be viewed here.