Ted Cruz on Immigration: Senator Not Blocking DHS Funding Bill; Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama Working for Top 1 Percent
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called for the Republican Party leadership to address the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding and block President Barack Obama's immigration executive action.
Cruz denied claims he is blocking the House's DHS funding bill, which includes amendments to defund Obama's deferred action programs. Last week, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, named the two Texas senators to help in the effort to stop Obama's immigration executive actions. Boehner stated, "It's time for Senator Cruz and Senator [Jeff] Sessions and Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats to stand with the American people and to block the president's actions."
Cruz said he has no ulterior motive and the House leadership needs to figure out their next steps. He added, "This was not my plan. This was leadership's plan. This was the Cromnibus, which you'll recall in December, I fought vigorously against it. I said, this plan doesn't make sense. It gives away all our leverage, and it's a plan that is designed to fail. So, I would ask leadership, this is their plan they designed. Let's see what their next step is."
Cruz did echo Boehner statement about Republicans needing to "honor the commitment" made to American voters to stop the immigration executive actions, which Cruz labeled as "illegal and unconstitutional."
The Texas Senator also commented on the U.S. economy and the 2016 presidential election. In response to a statement about Hillary Clinton potentially stating Democrats have fixed the country's economy following Republican's missteps, Cruz said, "If Hillary Clinton wants to run by telling Americans that the economy is doing great and you can credit President Obama and Hillary Clinton for that, I would encourage her to follow that strategy. Because the simple reality is, that's true for the wealthy."
Read also: Jeb Bush on Immigration: Wants To 'Politely Ask' Unwelcomed Undocumented Immigrants to Leave US
Cruz added that the top 1 percent has benefitted the most from the Obama administration and said millionaires and billionaires have earned a higher share of income than any previous year since 1928. He continued, "Those with power and influence who walk the corridors of power of the Obama administration have gotten fat and happy under big government."
According to Cruz, wages have been stagnant while 92 million Americans are not employed and the lowest labor force participation since 1978. As Latin Post reported, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics updated the country's unemployment to 5.7 percent, which is an increase from December 2014's 5.6 percent. People not participating in the labor force did decline from nearly 92.9 million to 92.5 million.
Cruz also addressed the actions potential Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has to make during primary voting season.
"If he chooses to run -- it certainly looks like he's going to -- he's going to have to make the case to Republican primary voters, concerning his record, concerning certainly his support for Common Core, concerning his policies on immigration, and I think we'll have a debate on that," said Cruz.
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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.
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