Cruz News: February 16, 2019

February 16, 2019

Greetings,  

Following the conviction of Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, aka ‘El Chapo,’ I called upon my Senate colleagues to pass the EL CHAPO Act. This legislation, which I introduced last month, would reserve any amounts forfeited to the U.S. government as a result of the criminal prosecution of ‘El Chapo’ and other drug lords for border security assets and the completion of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. It is far past time that we secure our southern border, and my bill would so without costing American taxpayers one cent. Please read my op-ed in the Washington Post further detailing my legislation.

Unfortunately, the spending bill I voted against on Thursday is a bad deal and fails to reflect Texans’ priorities by not sufficiently securing the border. The bill does not deliver on the promises we made to the American people to keep our communities safe and proves Washington Democrats do not want to secure our southern border.

Texas is home to many people employed in the space industry. I am proud to represent them as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space. On Thursday, I delivered remarks to the SLS-Orion-EGS Suppliers Conference and reiterated my support for the United States to be the global leader in space and for American boots to be the first to step foot on Mars. I was also pleased to meet with and receive updates from NASA directors from Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center on priorities for their respective centers.

I also introduced bipartisan legislation this week with Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the Military Reserve Jobs Act, which gives qualified members of the National Guard and Reserves a tiered preference in hiring for federal civil service jobs. The bill would help promote the hiring of National Guard members and Reservists into the federal workforce and I hope that Congress can swiftly pass it.

Please read below for an update from this last week.

Ted Cruz

Sen. Cruz called upon his Senate colleagues to pass his EL CHAPO Act to secure funding to build a wall following the conviction of Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, aka ‘El Chapo,’ on all 10 federal criminal counts against him. Read more...

Sen. Cruz released a statement in response to the Defense Intelligence Agency’s report “Challenges to Security in Space”. Read more...

Sen. Cruz, member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations appeared on ‘Fox News @ Night’ with Shannon Bream where he discussed his EL CHAPO Act and the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. Read more...

Sen. Cruz issued a statement in opposition to the spending deal. Read more...

Sen. Cruz penned an op-ed for the Washington Post highlighting his EL CHAPO Act, a bill he introduced which would reserve any amounts forfeited to the U.S. government as a result of the criminal prosecution of Mexican drug lord Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (aka “El Chapo”) and other drug kingpins for border security assets and the completion of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Read more...

Sens. Cruz and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) introduced a bipartisan bill that would give qualified members of the National Guard and Reserves a tiered preference in hiring for federal civil service jobs. Read more...

The full press releases may be viewed here.