Sen. Cruz at Press Conference for Inaugural SAT-DCA Direct Flight: ‘Texas Prevailed’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, delivered remarks during a press conference at San Antonio International Airport (SAT), celebrating the first direct flight from San Antonio to Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. This flight was made possible due to a provision Sen. Cruz secured in his FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.

Excerpts of Sen. Cruz’s remarks are included below:

“Last year, we passed the FAA Reauthorization Act. At the time, I was the Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The Ranking Member was the senior Republican, not yet in the majority. And that FAA bill, I wrote alongside Maria Cantwell, the chairman of the Committee, a Democrat from Washington state. As we wrote that landmark legislation, it was $110 billion in new resources invested in aviation safety — directing the FAA to hire the maximum number of air traffic controllers to keep passengers safe as you and your family board flights to travel across America and across the world — investing in technology on runways to prevent the multiple near misses that we’ve seen on runways to enhance the ability to avert those disasters — expanding competition and investing in new technology in airports here in San Antonio and all across Texas.

“Now, that bill was a bipartisan bill that had enormous support. And do you know what the single greatest battle on that bill was? The new flight for San Antonio to DCA. On that new flight, you had millions of dollars of lobbying trying to prevent that flight from happening. It was as bare-knuckle a fight as I've seen in Washington. You had the senators from Virginia and Maryland both lobbying vigorously against it. The battle ended up delaying the entire bill on the floor of the Senate for two days. Now, we ended up having, thankfully, the entire congressional delegation united.

“In the House, you had Chip Roy, who did a phenomenal job. You had Joaquin Castro, Greg Casar, Tony Gonzales, and Henry Cuellar all working together — Republicans and Democrats, hand in hand. In San Antonio, you had the city, the elected leadership, the business community — all standing as one — united. In the Senate, John Cornyn and I worked hand in hand, whipping the votes. I have, if you come to my office, and Mayor, I’ll show you the whip sheet for the slots, which I have framed, back-to-back, with every one of the Senators because it was literally hand-to-hand combat to get the votes. At the end of the day, Texas prevailed.”

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