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The News with Sen. Cruz - May 29, 2013

Greetings,

I hope you had a restful and reverent Memorial Day weekend. We will never be able to express enough thanks for those who have paid the ultimate price so we may be free, but we can continue to honor their legacy.

Last week was a busy one. The Senate Judiciary Committee finished marking up the immigration bill, unfortunately without accomplishing any significant improvements, and we had a spirited debate on the Senate floor to ensure that procedural tricks aren't used to dig our children and grandchildren deeper into debt.  Please keep reading below to find out more and then share this latest newsletter on Facebook and Twitter.

All the best,

TC Sig
Ted Cruz

REMEMBERING OUR NATION'S HEROES

Memorial Day

On Monday, we paused to remember our nation's fallen military men and service women. Sen. Cruz released a video message honoring their sacrifice, not just on Memorial Day, but every day, and encouraging prayers for the families who grieve the loss of loved ones who have given their lives in defense of liberty. Watch the video here.

PROMOTING COMMON-SENSE IMMIGRATION REFORM

Closing Statement

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee completed the mark-up process of the Gang of Eight's immigration reform bill. Sen. Cruz offered three additional amendments that would have: 

  • Prohibited federal, state, or local entitlement benefits for those here illegally
  • Ensured that illegal immigrants are not given a path to citizenship
  • Modernized, streamlined and expanded legal immigration
Sen. Cruz previously proposed amendments to strengthen border security by dramatically increasing the number of border patrol agents, enhancing infrastructure and technology, and improving the legal immigration system by increasing high-skilled temporary worker visas by 500 percent and raising the cap for legal immigration.

Unfortunately, every Democrat on the committee voted against Sen. Cruz's measures to improve the immigration bill. Sen. Cruz hopes when this bill goes to the Senate floor, those who want immigration reform to pass will look to bipartisan areas of cooperation to improve this bill and fix the problem.

Following the mark-up process, the committee approved the bill. Sen. Cruz wants common sense immigration reform to pass, but he voted against this bill because it has two major problems. Number one, it doesn’t stop illegal immigration. If anything it makes the problem worse by failing to secure the border and incentivizing future illegal immigration. And number two, in its current form, the bill is highly unlikely to pass the House. If Congress cannot pass immigration reform, that will be a terrible outcome.

NO PROCEDURAL TRICKS TO RAISE DEBT CEILING

Floor Speech

On Thursday, Sen. Cruz joined Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) on the Senate floor to reiterate their willingness to move forward with the budget if the Senate agrees not to use the budget process to raise the debt ceiling with only 50 votes. Several senators have requested to move towards a budget conference, which would open the door to back room deals that allow the Democrat majority to raise the debt ceiling with a simple majority vote. However, a debt ceiling increase considered through normal order would require 60 votes. Sen. Cruz is holding firm because the American people want the Senate to fix the problem and stop putting our country on the same path as Greece. Watch and share Sen. Cruz's floor speech.

FREEDOM MINUTE

Freedom Minute

In his most recent "Freedom Minute" segment, Sen. Cruz notes why the Lone Star State should serve as a model for the nation. Despite the great stagnation gripping the country, Texas is prospering in an environment of low, predictable tax rates that create growth, jobs, and opportunity. Listen to and share it here.

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