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June 5, 2015
Greetings,
This week, I held a hearing in the Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight to answer Americans’ questions about the Treasury Department and IRS’s unlawful Obamacare rulemaking that is imposing billions of dollars of taxes on Americans.
Unfortunately, the Treasury officials who helped write the rule refused my request to attend. Their failure to respond to Congress and answer the people typifies the Obama Administration’s contempt for the law and disregard for citizens who are hurting because of Obamacare.
Please keep reading for the latest in the Senate.
Keep Texas strong,
Ted Cruz
Texas Flood Relief Efforts
As Texans continue to recover from severe weather, they remain in our thoughts and prayers.
It has been heartwarming to see volunteer efforts and donations from around the country help our Texas communities in this time of need. Churches, non-profits, and emergency response organizations have logged thousands of volunteer hours and have provided much needed relief and assistance. From helping search and rescue efforts to providing food, water, and clothing, the volunteers have made a remarkable difference in helping Texans begin to rebuild.
If you sustained damage as a result of the severe storms and flooding, you are urged to register for assistance with FEMA at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or via smartphone or web-enabled device at m.fema.gov. Applicants may also call 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Additional information can also be obtained by contacting your local Mayor or County Judge.
See more information here.
Sen. Cruz Chairs Judiciary Hearing on Obamacare Subsidies; Obama Administration Officials Refuse to Attend
Click to view video
On Thursday, Sen. Cruz held a hearing in the Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts to examine the Department of Treasury’s rulemaking that has disregarded the text of the law and illegally enabled the IRS to provide federal Obamacare subsidies to millions of Americans. Sen. Cruz invited Treasury officials, but they refused to attend.
“I wanted to take just a few minutes to discuss the empty table before us. It is a symbol for how little regard the Obama Administration has for the American people,” Sen. Cruz said.
He continued, “This is fundamentally about the question of whether the federal government can impose billions of dollars of taxes upon millions of Americans directly contrary to the text of federal law. It is likewise about whether the federal government can spend billions of dollars explicitly prohibited by federal law. If the answer to both of those questions is yes, if the Administration’s interpretation is acceded to, it makes the entire constitutional law-making function superfluous.”
Sen. Cruz concluded, “These penalties coming from the individual mandate disproportionally hurt the most vulnerable among us. The people being hurt by these illegal taxes… are young people, they are single moms, they are Hispanics, they are African Americans, that are suddenly finding a big tax bill that is due from an administration that is ignoring and violating federal law to extract illegal taxes.”
Though the first panel failed to attend, the second panel consisted of the following legal and health care experts: Michael A. Carvin, partner at Jones Day; Michael F. Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute; Andy Grewal, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law; Elizabeth B. Wydra, Chief Counsel of the Constitutional Accountability Center; and Robert N. Weiner, partner at Arnold & Porter LLP.
Last week, Sen. Cruz sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew regarding the department’s refusal to supply key witnesses for the hearing and stating that he may have “no choice but to pursue other options, including compulsory process.”
View the full release here.
Sen. Cruz Praises Congress’ Passage of USA FREEDOM Act
On Tuesday, Sen. Cruz released the following statement regarding the Senate's passage of the USA FREEDOM Act:
“The USA FREEDOM Act is the right policy approach. It protects the civil liberties of every American. It ends the federal government's bulk collection of personal data from law-abiding citizens. And at the same time it ensures that we maintain the tools that are needed to target violent terrorists and prevent acts of terror. That's why the House passed it overwhelmingly, and today the Senate passed it with a two-thirds majority. That's why I'm proud to be one of the original cosponsors of this bipartisan legislation. The USA FREEDOM Act strikes the right balance between protecting our privacy rights and our national security interests, and I am pleased that today Congress has passed this bill and is sending it to the President's desk.”
Sen. Cruz Sends Letter to U.N.: Israel Is Not a Terrorist Organization
On Wednesday, Sen. Cruz sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regarding his outrage that the State of Israel may be added to the U.N.’s list of “parties to conflict who commit grave violations against children.”
“This designation would falsely and shamefully equate Israel with some of the most barbaric terrorist organizations around the world,” Sen. Cruz wrote. “Mr. Secretary-General, I submit that, should you determine to add more parties to your list, you should focus on those who actually exploit their own children as human shields, indoctrinate and raise their children to glorify violence and martyrdom, and target the children of others to achieve their destructive goals who should receive priority consideration, such as Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad. There is absolutely no moral equivalence between radical Islamic terrorists, who are motivated by these factors, and Israel, which is justifiably motivated solely by the defense of her people….As the largest contributor to the United Nations, Congress will have no choice but to reassess the United States’ relationship with the United Nations and consider serious consequences if you choose to take this action.”
Read the full release here.
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