DALLAS — Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is confident as he campaigns for a third term in the U.S. Senate.
Even though he’s already served 12 years in office, he says there’s still an “enormous” amount he wants to accomplish.
“My number one priority in the Senate is jobs, jobs, jobs,” the Republican told WFAA on Inside Texas Politics. “And why is it that companies from all over America come to Texas to open jobs? Because we’re the best environment. We have low taxes, reasonable regulations, and we gotta protect, we gotta keep Texas, Texas.”
As one example of a success story, Cruz pointed to Google’s recent announcement that it would be investing an additional $1 billion in Texas through its locations in Red Oak and Midlothian.
Cruz says that will lead to hundreds more full-time jobs and thousands of temporary construction jobs.
The Republican is the ranking member on the Senate Committee for Commerce, Science and Transportation, which he says has jurisdiction over 40% of the U.S. economy.
If the GOP regains control of the Senate, he would become the chair of that committee, which he says would be a big deal for Texas, and Texas jobs.
And that is just one difference, he says, between him and his opponent, Democratic Congressman Colin Allred.
And Cruz says elections should be about records and results.
“He’s been in the House of Representatives for the last six years," Cruz says. "He’s authored and passed three bills into law. He’s essentially done nothing in his time in Congress. In the same time, in 12 years, I’ve authored and passed a hundred different pieces of legislation, almost all with major bipartisan support.”
According to GovTrac.us, which tracks Congress and publishes the status of legislation and voting records, Congressman Allred introduced three bills that became law during the 117th Congress (Jan 2021 – Jan 2023). He introduced 13 bills and resolutions during the 116th Congress (Jan 2019 – Jan 2021). Two of those resolutions were “agreed to” by Congress, but the website says none of the bills became law.
During that same time period only (Jan 2019 – Jan 2023), GovTrac.us says Senator Cruz introduced 78 bills and resolutions during the 116th Congress. At least three resolutions were “agreed to.” But GovTrac says no bills became law.
During the 117th Congress, the website says Cruz introduced 108 bills and resolutions, and four of those bills became law.
Since he was elected, GovTrac says Cruz was the primary sponsor of 17 bills that were enacted.
As GovTrac points out, it is very difficult to enact any legislation, even during less partisan times.
As it relates to abortion, Cruz is firm in his belief that the issue should be decided by states, not the federal government.
And he did tell us he’s supported legislation in the past that included exceptions for rape and incest.
In 2021, he co-sponsored the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” which would ban abortions after 20 weeks. But the legislation did include an exception for rape, incest and the mother’s health. The bill was not enacted into law.
“And if you want to know what I believe in, you can look at legislation that I’ve introduced, and I’ve introduced, authored and introduced legislation to protect IVF, to protect in vitro fertilization,” Cruz said.
That was in May of this year, when the Senator introduced the “IVF Protection Act,” an attempt to make sure states don’t prohibit access to the service.
When discussing the border, Cruz argues the state of Texas is getting “hammered” by President Biden’s policies.
“We have, right now, the worst illegal immigration in the history of our country. 11.5 million people have come in illegally to this country. And it is hurting the people of Texas,” claimed Cruz.
In May of this year, Politifact, a website dedicated to fact-checking statements made by politicians, checked the numbers and concluded there were between 11 and 12 million people in the U.S. illegally.
While illegal crossings reached a record high in December 2023, with nearly 250,000 encounters according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), by June of 2024, the numbers had dropped to the lowest level in three years with 83,500 encounters along the southwest border.
June was the first month of President Biden’s executive order that barred migrants who enter the country illegally from receiving asylum.
By last month, July 2024, the number of illegal crossings reached the lowest level in four years, with just more than 56,000 encounters. The CBP says July’s numbers are lower than July 2019 and lower than the monthly average for all of 2019, the last comparable year, it says, before the pandemic.
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