Week Two of Sen. Cruz’s Second Statewide Tele-Tour Focused on Long-Term Recovery From COVID-19 Pandemic

HOUSTON, Texas - This week, before Hurricane Laura's landfall in Southeast Texas, Sen. Cruz continued his statewide tele-tour to talk with working men and women across Texas on how to safely reopen our businesses and schools as we work to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout the week, Sen. Cruz spoke with the U.S. India Chamber of Commerce of Dallas-Fort Worth, as well as the Chambers of Commerce from Nacogdoches County, Texarkana, Irving, and Midlothian. He also participated in a higher education roundtable with presidents from East Texas universities. Further, Sen. Cruz also received a briefing from Customs and Border Patrol Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan on how our border patrol agents are protecting Americans' health and safety during this public health crisis.

On Thursday, Sen. Cruz traveled to Orange, Texas to survey the damage from Hurricane Laura. During a press conference with local, state, and federal officials, Sen. Cruz said:

"One of the realities in Texas when it comes to hurricanes is this was not our first rodeo. We have experience with natural disaster. And at this point, we have county judges and mayors and state officials and federal officials who have come together and dealt with tragedy from Hurricane Harvey to Imelda to Rita to Ike. [...] We have such terrific cooperation at the local level, the state level, [and] the federal level. All of us have been talking to each other. Talking to the governor, repeatedly. Talking to the White House. Yesterday, I talked to the Secretary of Homeland Security. You've got the federal government, state, and local, all working hand in hand."

On Texans' resilience and how the state will overcome these challenging times, Sen. Cruz told the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce:

"We will make it through. Texans, Americans, we are strong and resilient. We have overcome other challenges, we will make it through this. We need to unleash the American system. I thank the leadership in Texarkana and I am proud to stand with you. We will get to brighter days ahead." (Sen Cruz. "Ted Talk: Senator addresses chamber in online meeting," Texarkana Gazette, 8/26/20)

He continued:

"I put together a recovery plan, for example, based on encouraging the easing of restrictions and getting businesses to reopen and let the American economy do its thing. Because government propping up the economy is a short term thing anyway. You need businesses and they need customers. Businesses need to be able to reopen and conduct business and people need to go back to work, earn a living and bring their business to these businesses." (Sen Cruz. "Ted Talk: Senator addresses chamber in online meeting," Texarkana Gazette, 8/26/20)

On the current state of COVID-19 response negotiations in Congress, Sen. Cruz told the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce:

"I'm not optimistic we are going to see much legislation move between now and Election Day because I don't believe congressional Democrats want to see legislation move [...] I think Texans believe in common sense. The common sense answer is we shouldn't kill our economy, but we also ought to take reasonable steps to keep people safe." (Sen. Cruz, "Cruz: Next round of relief won't come soon," The Daily Sentinel, 8/25/20)

Sen. Cruz also discussed the need to have students return to school and for expanded access to school choice. While talking with the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce, Sen. Cruz said:

"The real downside to school shutdown is feeding students. Schools that remain closed, schools aren't feeding them, which causes food hardships among some poorer families. Food banks have stepped into the gap but we need to get them open. Also, kids have fallen behind in their studies, time that will never be regained. The longer this goes on, the more behind they get. Not educating kids is a horrific idea. I personally think this is a time to bring up school choice, giving families options, encourage them to send their kids elsewhere, especially if some traditional schools won't reopen." (Sen Cruz. "Ted Talk: Senator addresses chamber in online meeting," Texarkana Gazette, 8/26/20)

Read more about Sen. Cruz's efforts to get the economy back up and running here.

For COVID-19 information and additional resources, visit www.cruz.senate.gov/coronavirus/.

###