Sen. Cruz Releases ‘Texas Defends America’ Video

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released a video highlighting his statewide ‘Texas Defends America’ tour of Texas military bases in San Antonio, Houston, San Angelo, Abilene, and Killeen. On the tour, Sen. Cruz touted the over 30 provisions he secured in the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019, all of which directly benefit Texas and America’s national security interests at home and abroad.

Watch the full video here.

On Monday, Sen. Cruz toured Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, where he received a briefing on training operations and visited with the Airmen. In the FY19 NDAA, Sen. Cruz secured a provision allocating $158 million for military construction projects for Texas, which will fund priorities across the state including a much-needed new Basic Military Training (BMT) dormitory at Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland. Additionally, Sen. Cruz worked with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and the City of San Antonio to secure a provision that would require the Air Force to conduct core sampling to identify hazardous substances in the soil before moving forward with a new pipeline on Joint Base San Antonio.

In Houston, Sen. Cruz toured the Coast Guard Air Station on Tuesday, where he received an update on Coast Guard operations conducted in South Texas, a briefing on the lessons learned in the aftermath of Hurricane’s Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and the preparations underway for the 2018 hurricane season. 

During his visit to San Angelo on Wednesday, Sen. Cruz visited Goodfellow Air Force Base where he received an update on operations and training, and met with Air Force service members stationed there. The FY19 NDAA authorizes a significant increase in the size of the Air Force, with the new minimum Active Duty end strength at 329,100 by September 30, 2019.

On Thursday, Sen. Cruz visited Abilene and toured Dyess Air Force Base. There he received an update on the B-1 bomber force, C-130J airlift operations, and preparations for the B-21 “Raider,” a long-range strike bomber. The FY19 NDAA provides full funding of $2.3 billion for the research, development, testing and evaluation of the B-21 “Raider” a long range strike bomber. In May. Sen. Cruz praised the Air Force’s nomination of Dyess to host the B-21 bomber. The bill also provides $51.3 million for procurement items for the B-1, and $178.6 million for procurement for the C-130J.

Finally, on Friday Sen. Cruz toured Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas where he visited Soldiers and received an update on operations and training occurring there. The FY19 NDAA provides $9.6 million in funding for supply support activity. Furthermore, the bill states that Active Protection Systems (APS) for the M1 Abrams tank, Bradley, and Stryker fighting vehicles are vital to our future Armored Brigade Combat Teams and our ability to defend against potential adversaries. A provision was included to upgrade the Army's M1 Abrams tank with Israel's Trophy Active Protection System (APS). This provision helps prepare Armored Brigade Combat Teams for deployments to Europe, such as 1st Brigade, 1st CAV Division who is deployed there now. Earlier this year, Sens. Cruz and John Cornyn (R-Texas) penned a letter to Secretary of the Army, Mark T. Esper urging the Army to consider both Fort Hood and Fort Bliss to host the Army's 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division following the unit's conversion from an Infantry Brigade Combat Team to an Armored Brigade Combat Team.

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