Good Evening,

Yet another week of meeting with and advocating for Texans up here in Washington, D.C. is wrapping up as I head back to Austin to speak at the Texas Tribune Tribfest. 

We began the week celebrating the United States Air Force’s birthday. For 75 years, the Air Force has defended the skies and kept our country safe. Thank you to all who have served!

This week, I had the honor of meeting with my friend Rosa Maria Paya, the daughter of Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, to discuss her advocacy for freedom and human rights. Recounting the parallels of our experiences as children of men subjected to the atrocities of communism was a sobering experience and harrowing reminder of how precious the freedom the United States affords us truly is. I promise to keep up the fight to uphold our freedom here at home, and to promote liberty abroad.   

Speaking of defending freedom, Biden nominated a socialist, radical Venezuelan congressman who served under Hugo Chavez to represent America abroad. It's completely unacceptable. When Senate Democrats tried to push through a live unanimous consent vote for this socialist, I stepped in to ensure the vote did not proceed. Watch my speech below.

Monday evening, I spoke to a room of patriots at the Conservative Partnership Institute’s Annual Conference. It was an honor to speak to the men and women in attendance about CPI’s integral role in aiding my day-to-day as a Senator and thank them for standing strong in their conservative principles. And, of course, it was a great opportunity to crack a few jokes.

This week, negotiations on the Journalism Competition and Protection Act (JCPA) continued. As originally drafted, the JCPA lacked proper safeguards to ensure the media could not use their new antitrust exemption to collude with each other and Big Tech to censor and suppress conservative speech. My amendment successfully adds new and critically important safeguards to protect free speech. Specifically, the amendment would prohibit the media and Big Tech from negotiating over or agreeing to content moderation and censorship. I am proud to defend free speech at every opportunity.

To see what I had to say about Big Tech, click above ↑

  

Read my full statement here. 

Wednesday, I joined the Regional Airline Association for their Leaders Conference to talk about my work as the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation. We also discussed the pilot shortage and priorities for the FAA Reauthorization coming up next year in the Commerce Committee.

This week I also had the privilege of speaking at the Association of Christian Schools International Advocacy Summit about the importance of school choice and religious liberty. I believe school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century, and I’ve worked to expand school choice in the Senate. As part of the historic 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Congress passed by Student Opportunity Amendment, which allows families to save for K-12 educational expenses through 529 savings accounts tax free. I’ve also introduced the Student Empowerment Act, which would allow 100% of American students to use 529’s to pay for K-12 education, and the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act, which would create a federal tax credit for taxpayers who donate to scholarship organizations supporting K-12 education and crucially, postsecondary workforce education. The American Dream should be within reach for every student, and a good education often determines their ability to seize it. 


“The threats to our freedoms, including our religious liberty, are never ceasing, and the space in which it is deemed acceptable to practice one’s faith shrinks each and every day. We need to stand up, we need to fight for what we believe in, and we need an American revival.”

  
Keep Texas Strong, 

MORE FROM SEN. CRUZ: 


READ: Daily Wire: Ted Cruz Urges DeSantis, Abbott To Send Illegal Immigrants To 3 New Liberal Spots 

ICYMI: Varney & Co.: Biden’s policy of catch-and-release is a complete disaster! 

READ: The Coin Republic: Texas Senator Ted Cruz Extremely Bullish On Bitcoin, Believes It An Asset For The Environment 

ICYMI: Sen. Cruz on Hannity: “The Biggest Human Trafficker on the Planet Right Now Is Joseph Robinette Biden.”

STATE SPOTLIGHT: 

The Texans I met with this week 

 

The Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce 

CEO & Chairman of Nap Queen, Garrett Clayton

Texas Business Leadership Council

Texas Military Spouses

Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute Angels in Adoption

National Sand, Stone, and Gravel Association