June 24, 2016
Greetings,
This week, the Supreme Court blocked President Obama’s unlawful executive amnesty action, maintaining a temporary injunction against the president’s illegal overreach.
This decision is a victory for the rule of law. As The Washington Post rightly noted, “the action deals Obama perhaps the biggest legal loss of his presidency.” By trying to unilaterally grant amnesty to nearly five million people, President Obama invited even more illegal immigration, which in turn undermines our security and drives down the wages of Americans across our nation.
No President has the authority to rewrite the law or ignore our immigration laws, and the Court’s rejection of Obama’s executive amnesty is a powerful rebuke of this administration’s lawlessness.
I salute Texas for leading 25 other states in securing this important victory for our Constitution and for our sovereignty.
Keep Texas Strong,
Ted Cruz
Sen. Cruz Applauds Federal Judge’s Decision to Strike Down the Obama Admin’s Fracking Regulations
Sen. Cruz on Wednesday issued the following statement, applauding the U.S. District Court of Wyoming for its ruling to strike down the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) fracking rule:
“Today, a federal court in Wyoming made important progress to rein in President Obama and his army of regulatory bureaucrats,” Sen. Cruz said. “In Texas, we’re blessed to lead the nation in energy production, but this also means our state faces the greatest damage imposed by the administration’s job-killing regulations. As Judge Scott W. Skavdahl rightly observed, this BLM rule defied common sense. ‘Congress has not delegated to the Department of Interior the authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing,’ Judge Skavdahl held. ‘The BLM’s effort to do so…is in excess of its statutory authority and contrary to law.’ I applaud the U.S. District Court of Wyoming for upholding the rule of law and putting a stop to this administration’s egregious pattern of overstepping its constitutional and legal authorities.”
Read the entire release here.
Sen. Cruz Op-Ed in Conservative Review: ‘Bowing at the Altar of Political Correctness Won’t Defeat Terrorism. Here’s What Will.’
On Monday, Sen. Cruz penned an op-ed for Conservative Review, highlighting the Obama administration’s failure to fight radical Islamic terrorism and outlining a path forward that would protect our country and its citizens.
“The events in Fort Hood, Boston, San Bernardino and now Orlando demonstrate that this administration has failed to produce a clear-eyed strategy to defeat Islamic-inspired terrorism,” Sen. Cruz wrote. “Instead, it has generated such utterly unenlightening and meaningless policies as the “countering violent extremism” initiative that do more harm than good. By willfully blinding itself to the real threat, the Obama administration is fighting blind in the war on terror.”
“…To protect America from this terrorist threat will require defeating the radical Islamist ideology that inspires it. And that, in turn, requires destroying the credibility of the ideology in the eyes of potential adherents, as well as preventing the ideology from taking root anywhere in the United States.”
Read the full release, including Sen. Cruz’s op-ed in its entirety, here.
Sen. Cruz to Hold Hearing on Cover-Up of Islamic Terror by Obama Administration
Next Tuesday, June 28, Sen. Cruz will chair a hearing titled ‘Willful Blindness: Consequences of Agency Efforts to Deemphasize Radical Islam in Combating Terrorism.’ The hearing will examine the Obama administration’s refusal to attribute the terrorist threats we face with radical Islam, hobbling our ability to combat the enemy. The hearing will specifically investigate how the federal government has not only refused to appropriately identify the specific threat of radical Islam, but has sought to undermine the people and information who have sought to highlight the threat.
On Wednesday, Conservative Review’s Daniel Horowitz wrote an article highlighting the importance of Sen. Cruz’s upcoming hearing and the need for Congress to shift its attention from unconstitutional gun control measures to fighting radical Islamic terrorism.
Read the full release, including Mr. Horowitz’s article, here.
Sen. Cruz Issues Statement on ‘Brexit’ Results
Sen. Cruz today issued the following statement on the United Kingdom’s referendum on its membership in the European Union:
“The British people have spoken clearly: They choose to leave the European Union,” Sen. Cruz said. “The results of the ‘Brexit’ referendum should serve as a wake-up call for internationalist bureaucrats from Brussels to Washington, D.C. that some free nations still wish to preserve their national sovereignty. The British people have indicated that they will no longer outsource their future to the EU, and prefer to chart their own path forward. The United States can learn from the referendum and attend to the issues of security, immigration and economic autonomy that drove this historic vote. In addition, we should treat the ‘Brexit’ as an opportunity to forge a closer partnership with our historic friend and ally, including immediately starting negotiations for a targeted US-UK free trade agreement.”
Earlier this week, Sen. Cruz and others sent a letter to President Obama requesting that the United States not interfere with the United Kingdom’s decision.
Read Sen. Cruz’s full statement on the ‘Brexit’ results here. Sen. Cruz’s letter to President Obama is available here.
Cruz, Lankford, Lee, Duffy Continue Fighting Obama’s Internet Giveaway
On Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), sent a letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling, questioning the agency’s apparent violation of federal law in using federal funds to relinquish U.S. oversight of the Internet.
“As you know, Section 539 of the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus (Public Law No. 114-113) states, ‘None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to relinquish the responsibility of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, during fiscal year 2016, with respect to Internet domain name system functions, including responsibility with respect to the authoritative root zone file and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions,’” the senators and congressman wrote.
“We believe that NTIA has violated that prohibition by funding projects whose only conceivable purpose is to facilitate the proposed transition of responsibility to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).”
Read the letter in its entirety here.
Sen. Cruz: We Should Protect Good Guys and Target Bad Guys
Sen. Cruz on Wednesday released the following statement after voting in favor of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) amendment that would provide law enforcement with more effective tools to keep Americans safe from terrorism:
“In this age of jihad, the federal government has an obligation to do everything possible to keep us safe from terrorism and, at the same time, to protect the constitutional liberties of law-abiding Americans. We should protect good guys, and target bad guys,” Sen. Cruz said.
“Last year, I joined with Sen. Lee to pass the USA Freedom Act, which ended the federal government’s bulk collection of phone meta-data--protecting the privacy of millions of Americans.
“Today, I joined with Sen. McCain in voting to allow the FBI to obtain Internet search data of specifically-identified suspected terrorists as part of an ‘authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.’ The government still will not be able to collect this information on Americans in bulk, but we will have the tools to investigate specific jihadists and--with an Administration willing to confront the enemy--hopefully prevent future terrorists attacks.
“Both measures are positive steps to protect the rights of innocent Americans and enhance the ability of law enforcement to defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”
Read the statement in its entirety here.
A Regional Update from North Texas Deputy Regional Director Michael Flusche
This week, Sen. Cruz’s North Texas Deputy Regional Director Michael Flusche attended the unveiling of the first Israeli Air Force F-35, a product of Lockheed Martin. Flusche visited with Israeli officials, including Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman, about the enduring U.S.-Israel alliance and the importance of bolstering Israel’s national defense with the F-35.
An Update From Washington, D.C.
This week, members of the senator's staff met with Texas industry leaders in Washington, D.C.
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