As America Recovers, Texas Leads the Way
Greetings,
As a busy work period ends in Washington, I headed back to Texas this week to see firsthand the needs of Texas families, small businesses, and our servicemen and women.
On Wednesday, I toured Envision Dallas, a company that works to improve the quality of life for blind or visually impaired people through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education, and research. While there, I met with employees to discuss the needs of Texas businesses as they contribute to their communities and the Lone Star State and see the difference their innovation makes in the lives of their patrons.
Later that day, I attended a roundtable discussion hosted by the North Texas Commission with newly elected North Texas mayors to discuss Texas jobs, the economy, and the needs of their communities. Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, Coppell Mayor Wes Mays, Double Oak Mayor Von Beougher, Haslet Mayor Gary Hulsey, Southlake Mayor John Huffman, Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore, Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer, Balch Springs Mayor Carrie Gordon, Plano Mayor John Muns, Keller Mayor Armin Mizani, and Karen Hunt, former Mayor of Coppell, all attended the discussion.
The community leaders explained that they are dealing with similar challenges as many Texans worry about rising inflation. They have the same top priority as me -- a focus I have maintained during my time in the Senate: Texas jobs.
After our meeting, I spoke with local reporters about our shared priorities:
"The people of Texas want jobs; we want more jobs, we want more opportunity and higher wages. We're seeing local leaders here in North Texas and throughout our state focusing on continuing to create an environment where jobs are plentiful, where small businesses can prosper. The key to creating an environment that welcomes and allows small businesses to grow is low taxes, low regulations, and I think Texas is really leading the way across the country. I also heard considerable concern from the mayors about the out-of-control spending and debt that we're seeing in Washington."
Later that day, I toured the Arlington General Motors Assembly Plant, which employs over 5,000 Texans.
On Thursday, I toured the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth to thank our brave servicemen and women for their tireless work defending our nation and to discuss with military commanders their needs as they uphold our national defense. As the home to 15 active duty military bases and over 120,000 active duty military members -- the third-largest population in the country -- Texas continues to be a pillar of America's defense, strategic capabilities, and deterrence due to our service members' work.
While Texans watch the unfolding events in Afghanistan, military leaders shared with me their continued dedication to defending America at home and abroad. After our tour, I spoke to local reporters:
"This is a particularly important time to say thank you, especially to our veterans throughout the country who served in Afghanistan. For 20 years, we were on the front lines in Afghanistan, and countless fighting men and women risked their lives to defend our nation. Some paid the ultimate price. Everyone that serves sacrificed. Right now is a time that we need to say thank you to those fighting men and women. But we also need urgency to get the Americans out of harm's way in Afghanistan right now. [...] There will be time for a careful examination of what went wrong. How this catastrophe unfolded and the responsibility within the administration for the decisions that were made wrong. But right now, the urgency has to be to evacuate every single American from Afghanistan. Not in a month, not in a week -- but right now."
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"Our first responsibility is to protect American citizens. [...] Step number one is evacuate the Americans. Put in place a serious, rapid plan to immediately get them out of harm's way. Step number two is evacuate the Afghans who assisted them, and those who haven't been vetted, move them to a safe third country for a deliberate, careful, thorough security vetting. And then step number three is Congressional inquiries hearings. I'm confident -- I serve in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We're going to be having hearings in the coming weeks about the decisions that were made and why they were made that led to this catastrophe and how they could have made different men made different."
I have led the call this week for President Biden to ensure the safe evacuation of every American citizen in Afghanistan and for the Biden administration to be held accountable for their intelligence analysis, policy decisions, and political calculations regarding this rushed and catastrophic withdrawal.
As I have said repeatedly, our military men and women are owed an incalculable debt from all Americans as well as an explanation of what went wrong over recent weeks and months. Texans and the American public deserve that explanation as well. The administration's response has been entirely unacceptable, and I will continue calling for all Americans to be evacuated, for all American military equipment to be accounted for, and finally, for a Congressional investigation into what went wrong.
This next week, I will continue hearing from Texas businesses, families, and community leaders as I prepare to take that message back with me to Washington. As we recover from the events of this last year and a half, Texas continues to lead the way.
Keep Texas Strong,
MORE ON SEN. CRUZ:
KDFW Dallas - Sen. Ted Cruz stops in Irving to meet with newly-elected North Texas mayors
"Texas Sen. Ted Cruz stood firmly in his conservative beliefs during a meetup with North Texas politicians. Sen. Cruz spent about two hours talking to newly elected North Texas mayors. The conversation was closed to the media, but FOX 4 spoke to the senator afterward. He spoke about several topics, including job creation, COVID, and the situation in Afghanistan. The senator was in Irving Wednesday talking to the mayors about the economy, job creation, and the needs in their communities. Cruz spoke with reporters after the closed-door meeting. He said the key to creating an environment that allows small businesses to grow is low taxes and low regulations. Last month, the Senate passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that's expected to generate 650,000 new jobs nationwide. Both Sen. Cruz and Sen. John Cornyn voted against the sweeping legislation due to its hefty price tag. ‘The out-of-control debt and spending we're seeing in Washington, I think we're on a very dangerous path being driven by the new administration,' Cruz said. He also talked about the turmoil in Afghanistan following the surprisingly swift collapse of the U.S.-supported government. Once the evacuation of Americans and Afghan refugees is complete, Cruz wants congressional hearings to find out what happened. Fort Bliss in El Paso is being set up to house up to 10,000 Afghan refugees. The first 300 are expected to arrive in Texas in the coming days."
