09.27.2024

e-Newsletter: Week of September 27th

Good Evening,

America has fallen behind where we need to be when it comes to advanced semiconductors. As a nation, we have become vastly dependent on foreign manufacturing, which poses a risk to our national security and economic vitality. Nearly every device we use today, from cell phones to military weapons, relies on microchips. That’s why I teamed up with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) to author and pass bipartisan legislation aimed at expediting the construction of semiconductor manufacturing plants by removing burdensome hurdles to achieving environmental reviews and permits for microchip projects. This week, our legislation cleared the House after unanimously passing the Senate last December, and it’s now headed to the President’s desk for signature. This initiative will not only bolster our technological independence, but also create tens of thousands of jobs in Texas and attract hundreds of billions in new investments.

READ: U.S. House Passes 'Kelly-Cruz Amendment' to CHIPS Act, Sent to Biden's Desk

ICYMI: Cruz-Kelly Chips Permitting Reform Bill Passed Congress with Widespread Bipartisan Support

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As the Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce Committee, I took to the Senate floor this week to pushanother important bill: the TAKE IT DOWN Act. Unfortunately, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) objected to this vital legislation, aimed at protecting victims of AI-generated explicit imagery. His objection is not just a legislative setback; it’s a slap in the face to every victim of sextortion and revenge porn.

READ: Cruz gets heated after Booker blocks deepfake revenge porn bill

ICYMI: Sen. Cruz’s Bipartisan Effort to Protect Teenagers from Deepfake ‘Revenge Porn’ Blocked by Sen. Booker

“I certainly hope that the Senator from New Jersey doesn’t actually believe that realistic child pornography, as we’ve described here today, is protected speech under any of our legal precedents. It is not. … If he objects, teenage girls, like Francesca Mani of New Jersey, Elliston Berry of Texas, or teenage boys like Gavin Guffey [of South Carolina], will have no protection from sextortion or from having fake sexual abuse material, images, and videos — literal child pornography — from being publicly shared by predators and sex offenders.”

This week, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I questioned Judge Anthony Brindisi, yet another extreme Biden-Harris nominee for a lifetime court appointment. His record, which includes advocating for biological men to access girls' locker rooms and compete in girls’ sports, is appalling. Placing the responsibility of upholding law and order in his hands would be a reckless disregard for justice.

“You were a Congressman from 2019 to 2021, [and during that time] you were the original co-sponsor of and you voted for an Orwellian named extreme piece of Democrat legislation called the Equality Act. The Equality Act mandated that biological men could play in women's sports, could go to women's bathrooms, [and] could go to women's locker rooms – the women were not asked. The women were not asked if biological men could go into their locker rooms and disrobe with them, [but] you sponsored it and voted for it. You just said a minute ago you didn't agree with men exposing themselves to unwilling women. If you didn't agree with that, why did you sponsor and vote for legislation that would mandate that women be victimized like that?”

Rest assured, I won’t stop fighting to preserve the future of our democracy. God Bless!

Keep Texas Strong,

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