Our new Texas US Senator

[Butch Lambert]

Email I just received from Ted Cruz

February 28, 2013

Greetings,

What an incredible two months! Thank you for allowing me to update you about what I'm working on in Washington and around Texas through this newsletter.

There's nothing more important than keeping the lines of communication clear between my office and my constituents, and I'd like to use this newsletter to keep you apprised of my positions on various issues, votes I have cast, and major media appearances.

It's truly an honor to represent you and the great state of Texas in the U.S. Senate. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to do so.

Respectfully,

Ted Cruz

Swearing In

SECOND AMENDMENT

Senator Cruz has participated in two major hearings about the Second Amendment as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee about the Constitution.

Videos from both hearings have been uploaded to Sen. Cruz's YouTube page. This video includes questions Sen. Cruz asked during the Judiciary hearing about the assault weapons ban, and this video includes his opening statement at the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights hearing about how to best prevent gun violence.

Second Amendment

Policy makers should always be vigilant in working to prevent, deter, and punish violent criminals, but various gun control measures that have been proposed would restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens rather than targeting violent criminals. The Second Amendment exists to ensure that law-abiding Americans can protect their homes and families, and Sen. Cruz looks forward to helping lead the fight to defeat this bill and to protect our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Sen. Cruz also appeared on NBC's Meet the Press with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace to discuss the Second Amendment and gun violence.

OBAMACARE

Sen. Cruz promised voters that the first bill he would file as a U.S. Senator would be to repeal every last word of the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, that President Obama signed into law on March 23, 2010. Sen. Cruz made good on that promise by introducing the bill in late January with 32 Republican cosponsors. Since it was made law, Obamcare has driven up the cost of health insurance and caused employers to drop coverage for workers. If it continues to be implemented, it will reduce the quality of healthcare, produce scarcity and rationing, and wedge government bureaucrats between patients and their doctors. Sen. Cruz will continue to work with Texans to expand coverage through effective free-market reforms and to protect the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship.

HAGEL NOMINATION

Last month, President Obama nominated former Sen. Chuck Hagel to become the Secretary of Defense. Chuck Hagel is a decorated Vietnam veteran with an honorable history fighting for his country, and Sen. Cruz commends his personal valor and sacrifice. But, after learning of Hagel's policy positions that would substantially weaken the U.S.'s posture on the world stage, Sen. Cruz felt compelled to oppose Hagel's nomination. Sen. Cruz outlined his concerns in op-eds published by Politico and USA Today. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he also participated in Hagel's confirmation hearings. Videos of his contributions to those hearings are available here and here. Two weeks ago, Hagel's nomination failed to get the 60 votes needed to proceed to confirmation. This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid held another vote and Hagel was confirmed.

BACK HOME

NASA

Sen. Cruz had the pleasure of visiting the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas recently. There, he met with several officials and toured the Orion Space Vehicle Mockup Facility.

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

In mid-February many of Sen. Cruz's subcommittee assignments were announced.

On the Senate's Committee on Science, Commerce, and Transportation, Sen. Cruz was named to: the Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security; the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet; the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance; the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard; the Subcommittee on Science and Space; and the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security.

On the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Cruz was named to the: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights; the Subcommittee on Bankruptcy and the Courts; the Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism; and the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security.

On the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Cruz was named to the: Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities; the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support; and the Subcommittee on Seapower.

OTHER VOTES AND NOTES

IMMIGRATION: A framework for comprehensive immigration reform was recently unveiled by a group of bipartisan senators, and Sen. Cruz appreciates the good work senators in both parties put into trying to fix our broken immigration system. There are some good elements in this proposal, especially increasing the resources and manpower to secure our border and improving and streamlining legal immigration. However, Sen. Cruz has deep concerns with the proposed path to citizenship. To allow those who came here illegally to be placed on such a path is both inconsistent with rule of law and profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who waited years, if not decades, to come to America legally.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT: Sen. Cruz worked in law enforcement for many years, helping lead the fight to ensure that violent criminals—and especially sexual predators who target women and children—should face the very strictest punishment. Indeed, Sen. Cruz has personally argued and successfully defended the Texas Sexually Violent Predator Civil Commitment law before the Texas Supreme Court, and he has repeatedly argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the very strictest punishments for rapists and violent criminals who target women and children. Nevertheless, he voted against this federal law because stopping and punishing violent criminals is primarily a state responsibility, and the federal government does not need to be dictating state criminal law.

HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF: Hurricane Sandy inflicted devastating damage on the East Coast, and Congress appropriately responded with hurricane relief. Unfortunately, cynical politicians in Washington could not resist loading up this relief bill with billions in new spending utterly unrelated to Sandy. Emergency relief for the families who are suffering from this natural disaster should not be used as a Christmas tree for billions in unrelated spending, including projects such as Smithsonian repairs, upgrades to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration airplanes, and more funding for Head Start. Two-thirds of this spending was not remotely "emergency"; the Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 30% of the authorized funds would be spent in the next 20 months, and over a billion dollars will be spent as late as 2021. This bill was symptomatic of a larger problem in Washington—an addiction to spending money we do not have. Sen. Cruz believes the United States Senate should not be in the business of exploiting victims of natural disasters to fund pork projects that further expand our debt and voted against this bill.

STATE OF THE UNION: Following the President's State of the Union Address in Congress, Sen. Cruz discussed the speech on Fox News with host Sean Hannity. Click here to view the discussion.

SOTU Response

Austin Office
300 E. 8th St, Suite #961
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 916-5834


Dallas Office
10440 N Central Expwy, Suite #1160
Dallas, TX 75231
Phone: (214) 361-3500

Houston Office
1919 Smith St., Suite #800
Houston, TX 77002
Phone: (713) 653-3456

San Antonio Office
3133 General Hudnell Dr., Suite # 120
San Antonio, TX 78226
Phone: (210) 340-2885


Washington Office
B40B Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-5922

 

[Phil Deese]

Great Senator!!

If we just had 99 more like him there might be hope!!

 

[vicvanb]

Cruz On Hagel--Shamefull

Cruz's treatment of Chuck Hagel during his confirmation hearings was unbelievable--right out of the playbook of Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. False rumors with no basis whatever in fact. Suggestions of improper alliances and payments from foreign nations that proved untrue. Even after everyone knew that Hagel would be confirmed Cruz persisted. What a sad commentary on how low Cruz was willing to go. As one of the attorneys said to McCarthy during a hearing: "Have you no sense of decency?" Everyone at the time knew that the answer was "no."

 

[Butch Lambert]

Cruz's treatment of Chuck Hagel during his confirmation hearings was unbelievable--right out of the playbook of Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. False rumors with no basis whatever in fact. Suggestions of improper alliances and payments from foreign nations that proved untrue. Even after everyone knew that Hagel would be confirmed Cruz persisted. What a sad commentary on how low Cruz was willing to go. As one of the attorneys said to McCarthy during a hearing: "Have you no sense of decency?" Everyone at the time knew that the answer was "no."

It seems I disagree with a lot of your thoughts and this is one of those. That is OK, we all have the privilege to believe as we do. Cruz is not kissing aZZ in Washington. We need a lot of him.

 

[Fred J]

Thanks Butch

Thanks, Butch. You said it before I could.

 

[mkihne]

Cruz's treatment of Chuck Hagel during his confirmation hearings was unbelievable--right out of the playbook of Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. False rumors with no basis whatever in fact. Suggestions of improper alliances and payments from foreign nations that proved untrue. Even after everyone knew that Hagel would be confirmed Cruz persisted. What a sad commentary on how low Cruz was willing to go. As one of the attorneys said to McCarthy during a hearing: "Have you no sense of decency?" Everyone at the time knew that the answer was "no."

Nice paraphrase, but you omit the entire context of the quote. If you factually check the entire situation, you would know this was nothing more than bluster on the part of the attorney(imagine that) or senator(I don't recall). The person McCarthy was referencing in the hearing was outed as a communist sympathizer(proven and admitted) which was initially denied by the person you quote(who happened to be his immediate superior). The feigned outrage quote was similar to the Hillary Clinton "Does it really matter how they died?"(Bengazi) for the purposes of deflecting the crux of the matter. Some of us choose to remember the entire context(in which McCarthy was absolutely correct) while others merely pick up the often repeated liberal slant of the event. McCarthy went on to be proven correct in his assessment of communists in the government as shown over the years from US sources as well as from documents unclassified and released by the Russians in the mid 1990's. If people would take time to read the facts I think you would be inclined to support McCarthy's viewpoint. Others, of course, would prefer the facts would not get in the way of revisionist history.

 

[vicvanb]

If you factually check the entire situation, you would know this was nothing more than bluster on the part of the attorney(imagine that) or senator(I don't recall). The person McCarthy was referencing in the hearing was outed as a communist sympathizer(proven and admitted) which was initially denied by the person you quote(who happened to be his immediate superior). The feigned outrage quote was...

"Bluster?" "Feigned outrage?"

McCarthy tried to smear a lawyer named Fred Fisher who at one time belonged to the National Lawyers Guild, an alleged communist organization. Fisher was certainly not a "proven" or "admitted" communist. Joseph Welch, a lawyer appearing before McCarthy's committee (Fisher worked in his law firm) finally had enough and called McCarthy on his reference to Fisher. Welch's remarks finally exposed McCarthy for what he was and ultimately McCarthy was brought down. Welch's comments were a pivotal event, far from bluster or feigned outrage.

 

[Bill Wynne]

Ted Cruz is my senator. I voted for him. He may have a lot of good in him but I also think he was out of line with Chuck Hagle. Like a republican senator said, "Hagle is as good as this President will put forward".

Concho Bill

 

[mkihne]

Ted Cruz is my senator. I voted for him. He may have a lot of good in him but I also think he was out of line with Chuck Hagle. Like a republican senator said, "Hagle is as good as this President will put forward".

Concho Bill

Halleluja! At least he didn't nominate Van Jones! Pass the Kool-Aid. Nothing to see here. Move along.

 

[mkihne]

"Bluster?" "Feigned outrage?"

McCarthy tried to smear a lawyer named Fred Fisher who at one time belonged to the National Lawyers Guild, an alleged communist organization. Fisher was certainly not a "proven" or "admitted" communist. Joseph Welch, a lawyer appearing before McCarthy's committee (Fisher worked in his law firm) finally had enough and called McCarthy on his reference to Fisher. Welch's remarks finally exposed McCarthy for what he was and ultimately McCarthy was brought down. Welch's comments were a pivotal event, far from bluster or feigned outrage.

And now for the rest of the story:
First of all, the "hearing" was not "McCarthy's committee". This was the Army-McCarthy hearing by a senate sub-committee in which McCarthy was a defendant. The Army's council was the firm of Hale and Dorr from Boston, and the lead attorney was your man, Joseph Welch. This firm had hired a young Harvard Law graduate , Frederick Fisher, who was sent with another attorney in the firm to assist their senior partner, Mr. Welch. Welch got cold feet regarding Fisher, who it turns out, had belonged to the National Lawyers Guild, an "alleged" communist organization(your words). He thought this association would be troublesome with regard to the prosecution of McCarthy. Below is an excerpt from Fisher's biography in Wikipedia:

Fisher graduated from Bowdoin College in 1942, summa cum laude. After serving in the Army Signal Corps during World War II, he attended Harvard Law School. He graduated in 1948 and joined the law firm of Hale and Dorr in Boston.
In 1954, the firm represented the U.S. Army at the Army–McCarthy hearings on Senator Joseph McCarthy's conduct, and Fisher and Jim St. Clair were the two attorneys initially sent to Washington, D.C. to assist Joseph Welch. On questioning them, Welch learned of Fisher's having belonged to the National Lawyers Guild while in law school and shortly after. Welch decided that that left-wing association made Fisher's participation in the hearings a potential problem, and a colleague, John Kimball, Jr., replaced Fisher on the case.
Fisher's name was prominently publicized when McCarthy intimated on national television that Welch should get Fisher fired as a Communist, and that Welch had specifically chosen him for the abortive assignment. In response, Welch delivered the most memorable lines from the McCarthy Hearings:
Welch dismissed Fisher's association with the NLG as a youthful indiscretion and attacked McCarthy for naming the young man before a nationwide television audience without prior warning or previous agreement to do so:[citation needed]
"Until this moment, Senator, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. Fred Fisher is a young man who went to the Harvard Law School and came into my firm and is starting what looks to be a brilliant career with us. Little did I dream you could be so reckless and so cruel as to do an injury to that lad. It is true he is still with Hale and Dorr. It is true that he will continue to be with Hale and Dorr. It is, I regret to say, equally true that I fear he shall always bear a scar needlessly inflicted by you. If it were in my power to forgive you for your reckless cruelty I would do so. I like to think I am a gentle man but your forgiveness will have to come from someone other than me."
When McCarthy tried to renew his attack, Welch interrupted him:
"Senator, may we not drop this? We know he belonged to the Lawyers Guild. Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
McCarthy tried to ask Welch another question about Fisher, and Welch cut him off:
"Mr. McCarthy, I will not discuss this further with you. You have sat within six feet of me and could have asked me about Fred Fisher. You have seen fit to bring it out. And if there is a God in Heaven it will do neither you nor your cause any good. I will not discuss it further.

Now, inquiring minds want to know:
If Welch, in the context of the hearing, was concerned about Fishers membership in the left wing group(NLG), the group was obviously not a sub chapter of the tea party. To quote Welch, "a youthful indiscretion" indeed. An organization akin to the Boy Scouts, no doubt. If it quacks, flies and walks like a duck.......well.
Unless CV's for job applications were not in existence at the time of Fisher's employment, Welch's law firm either didn't care or approved of his associations at the time of his employment. At best it spoke of sloppy vetting of a potential employee. Furthermore, as Welch stated in the biography above, the firm would take no action against Fisher and he would continue his employment, so sloppiness is not an option.
As McCarthy was a defendant in this hearing, he had every right to make his case and even though Fisher had been outed earlier by Welch himself, Welch "blustered" and "feigned outrage" as documented in hearing excerpts noted above, to avoid further discussion of their employes' associations.

Lost in this little snipet is the fact that there were numerous communists, left wing communit sympathizers and spys, both within and with connections to the government, many of whom were not revealed or made public until Russian classified documents were made public some time in the 1990's. Joe McCarthy was hardly paranoid. Below are a couple of interesting links as to the extent to which the Republic was compromized.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Soviet_and_Russian_espionage_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Soviet_agents_in_the_United_States


And to this day the beat goes on(Borked, Palined, or Thomased). Same song, different verse.

 

[vicvanb]

Some of us choose to remember the entire context(in which McCarthy was absolutely correct)...

If people would take time to read the facts I think you would be inclined to support McCarthy's viewpoint.

McCarthy preyed on people's unfounded suspicions and fears. His actions led to blacklists and he ruined the careers of innocent people. Those were some our darkest days. Most people know this. How anyone can defend him is beyond me.

 

[JerrySharrett]

Butch your new Senator Cruz has a bunch of the Establishment really pi$$ed off. Pour it on Senator Ted.

Another Texas boy and US Senator, Rand Paul is causing smoke from the loyal followers of the status quo too.

As to Senator Joe McCarthy, he was right on target too. That is why he turned up dead at the age of 48!!!

 

[GerryM]

Your a lucky man. we need some clones made up of him.
I have the commies shumer and guilibrand.

 

[vinny]

More politicians like Ted Cruze, and no liberals makes for a beautiful world. That includes liberals who think they can shoot

 

[caroby]

As to Senator Joe McCarthy, he was right on target too.

Yes he was Jerry........! Hell, now the friggen Communist Progressives are thick as theves.....
Emphisis on the THEVES.

Damn sick watch this country being DE-stroyed.! God help our REPUBLIC.!

Mad as hell!)chill( )chill(
cale

 

[Pete Wass]

Joe McCarthy:

"Bluster?" "Feigned outrage?"

McCarthy tried to smear a lawyer named Fred Fisher who at one time belonged to the National Lawyers Guild, an alleged communist organization. Fisher was certainly not a "proven" or "admitted" communist. Joseph Welch, a lawyer appearing before McCarthy's committee (Fisher worked in his law firm) finally had enough and called McCarthy on his reference to Fisher. Welch's remarks finally exposed McCarthy for what he was and ultimately McCarthy was brought down. Welch's comments were a pivotal event, far from bluster or feigned outrage.

I have come to believe that Joe McCarthy was on the right track but was looking at the wrong people. If he had looked in the Universities he would have found those he was looking for.

Pete

 

[steve stanley]

I am pretty sure they are still there Pete, schools are full of liberals and they are trying their best to corrupt the youth of this country and they are having way to much success.Parents need to make sure that their kids know how to think for themselves because we have way too many sheepel already!