Good Afternoon,

Last week, as the Senate considered spending legislation to fund large portions of the government, I fought for an amendment to stop Democrats from sending billions to Iran — a country that routinely chants death to America and death to Israel.
 
Unsurprisingly, Democrats voted to keep sending money to a nation that is the largest state-sponsor of terrorism.

I also introduced two amendments relating to wildfire relief to the spending package before the Senate. The amendments were designed to enhance the ability of disaster aid agencies, including FEMA, to assist individuals affected by the 2024 wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma. I will continue fighting for Texans and the Lone Star State’s needs.

That includes our border security. The illegal immigration crisis unfolding at our southern border is a deliberate invasion intentionally enabled by the Biden administration. Despite illegal aliens murdering Americans and illegal drugs poisoning our communities, Joe Biden continues to push his open border policies. Not even the murder of twenty-two-year-old Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia, by an illegal alien with a criminal record was enough to convince President Biden to change course. 

I’ve joined my colleagues in introducing the Laken Riley Act. This simple and common-sense piece of legislation would give ICE and state governments more tools in the fight against illegal alien crime and put the safety and security of Americans first.

“Had Joe Biden simply followed the law, what would have happened is that murderer would have been put on a plane flown back to Venezuela and Laken Riley would still be alive. But the Biden administration decided their political agenda was more important than protecting the lives of American citizens. And so, they let the murderer go, but that wasn't the last stop of the failures that unfolded. The murder went from El Paso to New York City where he was arrested once again, this time for endangering the safety of a child. Once again, Laken Riley's life could have been saved, but New York City unfortunately is a sanctuary city where Democrats refuse to enforce the law, so they let the murderer go. Had New York City put him in jail that murderer would not have been in Georgia to beat Laken Riley to death, but New York City let him go, once again. This revolving door happens over and over again. I have to say just how indefensible the Biden administration's policies on the border are.”

If Joe Biden won’t act to secure our southern border from this dramatic influx of crime, drugs, and human trafficking plaguing our communities from the crisis he created, then Texas should have the authority to do so. 

“Instead of fighting to secure our borders [the federal government] is fighting the state of Texas by trying to stop Texas from protecting our sovereignty. I am glad Texas is leading the fight here. … But at every step if Joe Biden has a choice between standing with the American people or the human traffickers, he picks the traffickers.”

The Biden administration’s senseless foreign policy is just as outrageous as its handling of the crisis at our southern border. The criteria this administration uses to apply sanctions to a foreign country is blatantly binary. If the Biden administration perceives a foreign country’s government as conservative, it applies sanctions. However, if a country is leftist, it’ll be congratulated – even if it’s overrun with corruption. What this administration is doing is undermining American integrity on the world stage and politicizing corruption sanctions to do so. 

“As I’ve discussed with the State Department multiple times, I am deeply concerned that the Biden administration has politicized corruption sanctions. Those decisions have broadly undermined the integrity of our sanctions regime. You have used corruption sanctions to bludgeon countries and international figures, whom Democrats simply don't like, while ignoring much more significant violations by those embraced by the global populace left. … The State Department has imposed corruption sanctions multiple times against Western Hemisphere figures they perceived to be conservative, most recently against the former president of Guatemala. … I've repeatedly asked State Department officials why the Biden administration has not changed. And I still haven't gotten a satisfactory answer.”

Another pressing issue facing our nation is the growing drug epidemic in America. I teamed up with my colleague Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to introduce a bipartisan piece of legislation, the STOP TRANQ Act. Together, we joined Bret Baier’s Common Ground to discuss the merits of the bill, which would require the State Department to actively report on the emerging threat and the impact of this non-opiate tranquilizer on the current drug epidemic. 

“Last year, over 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses and TRANQ is rising. … So, Tim and I have teamed up together to say, let's get ahead of this [and] let's stop young people from taking this drug and losing their lives.”

Rest assured, I won’t back down in the fight to save our country. God Bless! 

Keep Texas Strong,

MORE FROM SEN. CRUZ:

READ: Cruz Sounds Alarm Over ‘Clear And Present Danger’ To U.S. That Biden Caused
ICYMI: Sens. Cruz, Hirono Lead Bipartisan Effort to Maintain Access to the Federal Courts
READ: EXCLUSIVE: Cruz, Senate Republicans Warn Officials That Blue Cities Might ‘Repurpose’ Airports To House Illegal Immigrants
ICYMI: Senators Cruz, Scott, Tuberville & Britt Call for Targeted Sanctions Against Nicaragua Following Religious Persecutions

State Spotlight

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