e-Newsletter: Week of January 12th
Good Evening,
In 2023, my team and I were hard at work serving Texans throughout the Lone Star State. Over this past year, I was proud to fight for you and your family by creating new jobs, standing up for your freedoms, and putting pressure on the Biden administration to prioritize our national security. We had some incredible wins in 2023, and I look forward to building on those successes for Texans, and all Americans, in 2024!
Last week, I held a bipartisan press conference at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas where I joined Rep. Henry Cuellar in celebrating a major win for South Texas and the entire Lone Star State. I am proud that House and Senate lawmakers announced an agreement on an annual defense authorization bill to streamline a presidential permitting process for new and expanded bridges across the Rio Grande in Brownsville, Laredo, and Eagle Pass, Texas. I am proud to have led this effort so we can alleviate border crossing bottlenecks, improve infrastructure, create thousands of jobs, and expand trade and commerce throughout the region.
“This is a win for Texas farmers and ranchers. This is a win for Texas small businesses and manufacturers. This is a win for jobs. … This is also a win for national security. One of the things we're seeing is more and more onshoring and nearshoring of manufacturing coming from China. … Bringing that manufacturing back to North America is unequivocally good for U.S. national security, making us less dependent on China. And this is a win for the environment. … It’s much better for the environment to have enough lanes open and enough bridges open so that the trade and commerce can move quickly and expeditiously.”
Last week, as the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, I also hosted a round table and press conference at the Texas A&M Health and Science Center in Round Rock to discuss the CHIPS Act, which would help bring semiconductor manufacturing back the U.S.
“The United States’ economy is far too dependent on foreign manufacturing, particularly in advanced semiconductors. That's a vulnerability, and a vulnerability in particular to China is intolerable. It's intolerable to our economy, and it's intolerable to our national security. … Texas has been front and center leading the way over the last three years. We've seen over $61 billion in direct investments in semiconductors in Texas, and over 8,000 high paying jobs created here in Texas. In the Senate, I have been vigorously fighting for Texas to be on the front end of bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to America.”
On Tuesday, I joined Sean Hannity on Fox News to discuss how the Biden administration has consistently prioritized politics over protecting Americans by ignoring the ongoing catastrophe at our southern border.
“You cannot defend it. Biden's entire strategy is hoping the media ignores [the border]. … He stood up last week and said the problem is the Republicans won't fund border security. What an utter lie. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Alejandro Mayorkas are letting illegal immigrants into this country. They created this problem. And I'll tell you, Sean, there's an amazing phenomenon. Whatever the Democrats in the left wing accuse the other side of doing, it is what they're doing.”
On Wednesday, I joined The Story with Martha MacCallum on Fox News supporting House Republican efforts to impeach U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas for defying federal law and accelerating illegal immigration. Under his reckless lack of leadership we’ve seen 9.6 million illegal aliens flood into America.
“I think Alejandro Mayorkas should be impeached. I think he should have been impeached two years ago. You got to understand it's not that Mayorkas is bad at his job. It's that he is openly defying federal law. He is not trying to secure the border. He is instead trying to accelerate illegal immigration. He is trying to process illegal immigrants faster. We've had over the Joe Biden's entire tenure 9.6 million illegal immigrants flood into this country.”
Rest assured, I will never stop fighting to secure our southern border. God Bless!
Keep Texas Strong,
MORE FROM SEN. CRUZ:
READ: Cruz on Biden’s Handling of Border Crisis: ‘Utterly Ignores the Law’
ICYMI: Ted Cruz discusses CHIPS Act, pushes to streamline permitting process for plants
READ: International bridge projects get speedier approval process with push from Texas lawmakers
ICYMI: Cruz calls for U.S. semiconductor production boosts to mitigate 'vulnerability' to China
Commerce Corner
Samsung Austin Semiconductor Facility
