Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Raúl Labrador (R-ID), Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) for a bipartisan press conference in support of the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015. Transcript of Sen. Cruz’s remarks is below.  “The issue that brings us together today is fairness. What brings us together is justice. What brings us together is common...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, today joined Republicans in a bicameral press conference to call on Senate Democrats to stop filibustering the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), passed by House Republicans earlier this year. In his remarks Sen. Cruz said, “Senate Democrats cannot claim they support the Department of Homeland Security when they stand in the way and block funding DHS. We have a new Senate where amendments are finally allowed on the...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the following statement regarding President Obama’s Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) request: “For several months the Obama Administration has been engaging in military conduct without authorization from Congress, and it is long past time for the White House to seek an AUMF from Congress, which is the only body that has the constitutional authority to declare war.  It will be beneficial to have serious...

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, along with 11 fellow Senators, re-introduced the State Marriage Defense Act, which respects the definition of marriage held by the people of each state and protects states from the federal government's efforts to force any other definition upon them. “Even though the Supreme Court made clear in United States v. Windsor that the federal government should defer to state ‘choices about who may be married,’ the Obama...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today joined ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on This Week and CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union from the Munich Security Conference in Germany to discuss important national security concerns facing the United States. In his interviews, he noted that the Obama-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy has been consistently wrong – especially in regard to Russia, ISIS and Iran – and cited important actions the U.S. should take to stand with...

WASHINGTON, DC -- Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, today released the following statement regarding the Army’s announcement to award the Purple Heart and its civilian counterpart, the Medal for the Defense of Freedom, to the victims of the 2009 terrorist attack upon Fort Hood. “On November 5, 2009, a brutal terror attack was carried out at Fort Hood. The lives of 14 people were taken, one of them an unborn child, and 32 were injured. Today, we are grateful that the U.S. Army has chosen to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today introduced legislation to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The bill has 44 cosponsors. "In November voters all across the country spoke loud and clear that Congress must do everything we can to repeal Obamacare," said Sen. Cruz. "The results of this disastrous law speak for themselves: millions of Americans out of work or unable to find full-time work. Premiums going through the roof while median incomes have...

This week, I was proud to stand in support of National School Choice Week and cosponsor legislation that will expand choice for all students. Texas is a perfect example of school choice opening the doors of opportunity to thousands of students. But with over 100,000 Texas students awaiting admittance, it’s time to open the doors even wider. We cannot waitlist our children’s future. I will keep working to ensure that all students have the opportunity to explore their talents and...

From Breitbart: The Obama Administration's actions towards Israel become more intolerable each day, carrying with their insults deeply damaging national security implications for our country. Earlier this week, Americans opened the newspapers to discover that the Obama campaign team has deployed operatives, including 2012 Field Director Jeremy Bird, to Tel Aviv to try to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through an organization that receives taxpayer grants from the U.S....

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) today announced that they are accepting applications for two judicial vacancies in Texas. The Senators have established a bipartisan panel of leading attorneys in Texas to help identify the most qualified candidates to fill these vacancies. This panel, known as the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, will review applications, interview candidates, and make recommendations to the Senators. The vacancies are in the Northern...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Congressman Lee Zeldin, R-NY-1, today sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for information regarding media reports that U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used to fund efforts to influence upcoming elections in Israel. “Has President Obama launched a political campaign against Prime Minister Netanyahu and his representatives?” Sen. Cruz asked. “This administration’s relentless harassment of Israel is...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today joined as lead cosponsor of the Enhancing Educational Opportunities for All Act, which was introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT, to make a quality K-12 education more accessible and affordable to low-income parents and students. Congressman Luke Messer, R-IN, is author of the bill and has filed companion legislation in the House of Representatives. "The rich and middle class have had school choice from the beginning of time," said Sen. Cruz....

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, questioned Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch, who refused to identify the limits of executive power regarding unilateral executive amnesty, the investigation of illegal targeting by the IRS, and the use of drones on American citizens. With regard to the limits of executive power, Sen. Cruz asked, “Let me ask about your understanding of prosecutorial discretion. Would it allow a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas today addressed more than 300 students on Capitol Hill at a rally for National School Choice Week. "Just last week we celebrated Martin Luther King Day. In 1963, Dr. King stood at the Lincoln Memorial and promised justice for all of our children. School choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century," Sen. Cruz said. "It shouldn't matter what your race or ethnicity or zip code is, every single child deserves an opportunity to achieve the very...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today cosponsored the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2015 (S. 264), to require a full audit of the U.S. central bank. The bill was reintroduced today by Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY. "At long last, it's time for a complete audit of the Federal Reserve, so the American people can fully understand the scope and consequences of the agency's extraordinary monetary policy since 2008," Cruz said. "The Fed has expanded its balance sheet fivefold, yet...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the following statement criticizing the frivolous case against former Texas Gov. Rick Perry: “Rick Perry is a good man, a man of integrity, and a friend. From the outset, this indictment has been a political witch-hunt. It is not a crime for a governor to exercise his constitutional authority to veto legislation. The indictment is frivolous—and consistent with the Travis County DA Office’s sorry history of politicized...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today spoke on the Senate floor to offer an amendment to the Keystone XL Pipeline Approval bill that will expedite liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the 160 countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) by removing unnecessary delays that have been caused by the Department of Energy’s arbitrary permit approval process. “This amendment is important, not just for economic development, not just for jobs and growth, but also for...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today announced his intent to file two bills to protect Americans from partisan abuses and political targeting by the IRS. Both bills will be cosponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, Sen. James Inhofe, R-OK, and Sen. David Vitter, R-LA. “In May 2013 President Obama declared the IRS’s illegal targeting of conservative groups ‘intolerable and inexcusable,’ yet to this date no one has been held accountable for it,”...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today issued the following statement commemorating the 70th anniversary of Allied forces freeing the survivors of Auschwitz: "Seventy years ago, Allied forces liberated the concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland. 7,000 survivors were mercifully freed. Some 1.3 million souls, however, did not emerge from those cursed gates. They were victims of the systematic torture, abuse and murder that characterized the genocidal Nazi project that attempted to...