10.21.2023

e-Newsletter: Week of October 21st

What we’ve seen unfold in Israel is utterly horrific. In the early hours of Saturday, October 7th Iran-backed terrorists launched a deadly attack killing 1,400 innocent Israelis and 30 Americans. This malicious, vicious, and unspeakable evil, was the worst attack on Israel in fifty years and the largest mass murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. Entire Israeli families were murdered in door-to-door horrors. Israeli babies were brutally slaughtered, burned, and decapitated. Women and girls systematically raped. In some homes, children were shot in front of their parents. In other homes, the parents were shot in front of the children, and the children then kidnapped. Husbands and wives murdered in front of each other. Holocaust survivors massacred. America must unequivocally stand with Israel. This week, I delivered a speech on the Senate floor condemning Hamas for their grotesque act of war against the Jewish people. I also called upon our country to unequivocally stand with our Israeli allies by providing military and diplomatic support to utterly eradicate Hamas, for as long as it takes.

“This is a battle between good and evil, and anyone who draws a moral equivalency between Hamas and Israel is lying. This is an existential fight for Israel. As Golda Meir once said, quote: ‘If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons, there would be no more Israel.’ … Hamas uses human shields as standard practice. Israel does everything it can to minimize civilian casualties.”

On Tuesday, I attended the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the legislative proposals regarding name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights for collegiate athletes. At the hearing, I addressed the discussion draft I released to codify NIL rights for college athletes by providing legal certainty for the roles of universities, conferences, and athletic associations to ensure nationwide legal uniformity while preserving the self-governance model. Read more here.

“My legislation protects NIL rights, front and center. I think it’s important that athletes … if their skills are generating millions of dollars and are a massive economic powerhouse that these young men and young women should enjoy significant fruits from their hard work and their performance.”

On Wednesday, as the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, I attended a hearing led by the Subcommittee on Space and Science. Innovation in the space industry is absolutely critical to keeping America on top and the federal government has no place limiting innovation as it continues to establish a regulatory framework over this critical industry.

“Since I was first elected to the Senate eleven years ago, I have been proud to help lead nearly every major piece of space legislation that has been signed into law. … I am especially proud that Texas is at the forefront of American leadership in space. … But we can’t rest on our laurels. As the pace of commercial space activity is picked up a regulatory system has started to strain and is now showing serious cracks. … The government relies on a vibrant commercial space sector for access to space whether that is transporting our astronauts to the ISS, sending rovers to Mars, launching national security missions or any of the other myriad of space missions. … My philosophy is quite clear—get government out of the way to the greatest extent possible and let the private sector roar.”

On Wednesday afternoon, I attended the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where I questioned the Biden administration’s nominee to be the Ambassador of Israel, Jack Lew. When asked, he refused to say whether the billions of dollars that flowed into Iran by the Biden administration funded Hamas’s war on Israel.

“Mr. Secretary … You said at the time, nobody could have imagined what happened in Israel with this terror attack. I have to say I disagree. … You were a critical player in the Obama administration's campaign of appeasement with Iran. You played a pivotal role in flooding over $100 billion to the Iranian regime. The Biden administration has continued that policy flooding nearly an additional $100 billion to the Iranian regime. That policy of appeasement, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to a theocratic, homicidal, genocidal maniac, who leads chants of ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ has proven catastrophic.”

Later, on Wednesday evening, I joined Sean Hannity on Fox News where I further addressed what’s unfolding in Israel and hit back on the disgustingly false narrative equating Israel and Hamas.

“We have seen Palestinian terrorists committing horrific acts of murder. … It is evil. There is no moral equivalence. Everyone in the media, every Democrat who is saying Hamas and Israel are the same—they are not remotely the same.”

Rest assured, I will continue to stand up for the Jewish people and stand with our ally Israel. God Bless!

Keep Texas Strong,

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