Cruz: Democrats Block Bipartisan Committee Initiatives

Click to view full remarks

WASHINGTON, D.C.- In his opening statement during today's Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee executive session, Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) explained how Committee Democrats boycotted a markup and effectively blocked passage of overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation that Democrats had earlier negotiated and agreed to.

During the Committee's effort to deliver consensus-driven work, all nine bills under consideration were bipartisan. The various legislation, which was either sponsored or cosponsored by 23 of the Committee's 28 members, would have protected children, strengthened national security, and advanced science, particularly in the field of quantum computing.

Chairman Cruz's remarks as delivered:

"I appreciate the Republican members who are here this morning for the markup. We are gathered at a time where in the United States Senate, Senate Democrats have decided to be utterly and completely dysfunctional.

"For more than three weeks, we have had the Department of Homeland Security defunded and shutdown because Democrats have decided their overwhelming priority is fighting for illegal aliens. And they care so much about preventing gang bangers and murderers and child rapists from being deported, that they are willing to defund the Department of Homeland Security at a time of heightened risk of terrorism.

"We've had four terrorist attacks in the last two weeks, all from radical Islamic terrorists. The Department of Homeland Security exists to prevent terrorist attacks.

"And every Democrat but one, every Democrat but John Fetterman has voted seven times now to defund DHS. They voted seven times not to pay the TSA. We now have 450 TSA agents who've been forced to quit. We have waiting lines of two, three, four hours or more at airports across the country. TSA agents have missed two paychecks. What the Democrats are doing to TSA agents is wildly irresponsible and they are deliberately inflicting massive pain on the American people. Again, because their number one priority is illegal aliens and apparently American citizens who they were elected to represent is not a priority.

"This markup was designed to be a markup to move bipartisan legislation that had overwhelming agreement.

"Today's markup, every one of the bills on the markup is bipartisan. Of the 28 members on this committee, 23 of the 28 co-sponsored legislation on the agenda today. That's by design.

"The legislation scheduled for the markup includes the Alex Gate Safety Act, from Senator Curtis and Klobuchar, directing the Consumer Product Safety Commission to address automatic sliding gates. It's named for Alex Quanbeck, who tragically lost his life to one of these gates in 2019 when he was just seven years old.

"The No Fentanyl on Social Media Act, introduced with Senators Klobuchar and Blunt Rochester, responds to the tragedy of minors accessing deadly drugs online.

"We face the challenge of opioids time and time again; last February, this committee heard directly from Jena Ehlinger of Texas, whose son tragically passed away after taking what he thought was a Xanax. Increasingly, drug dealers are reaching young people via platforms like TikTok and Instagram, pitching supposedly legitimate pills that are in fact laced with fentanyl. To address this issue, the bill before us directs the Federal Trade Commission in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services to report on the ability of minors to access fentanyl and social media.

"The Stop the Scroll Act, introduced with Senator Fetterman, would require a warning label regarding mental health harms associated with social media. The bill has been scoped to avoid First Amendment challenges and help remind young users of what we heard at our Section 230 hearing last Wednesday, that social media comes with risks.

"Next, we have several security related bills.

"The Secure Space Act, from Senators Fischer and Luján, would bar FCC licenses and US market access for certain satellite systems held or controlled by our adversaries.

"The Satellite Cybersecurity Act, introduced by Senator Peters, would establish a centralized clearinghouse of cybersecurity resources at the Department of Commerce.

"The Safeguards Act, introduced by Senator Moran, makes changes to the mandatory security fee that passengers pay when they buy plane tickets. More of the money will go to the Aviation Security Capital Fund as well as a new bucket for security tech at checkpoints.

"And finally, we turn to the realm of science with two program reauthorizations.

"Senator Wicker's bill to reauthorize Regional Ocean Partnerships, introduced with Senators Blunt Rochester and Markey, will reform and reauthorize a state-led, non-regulatory model for coordinated ocean research and management.

"The National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act, introduced by Senators Young, Cantwell, Blackburn, Luján, Budd, and Baldwin, among others, will catalyze federal quantum research by supporting new centers and test beds. I will not pretend quantum is easy to explain, but I know that it has the potential to unlock computing power far beyond what is possible today.

"And because quantum could one day break the encryption that protects sensitive data, it is critical that America leads this field.

"This overwhelmingly bipartisan markup was actually going to be the Senate doing its job, but instead, and I guess it is fitting with the shutdown we're seeing, we are treated to a Democrat temper tantrum.

"Our Democrat colleagues have decided they're not willing to show up to this markup to pass their own damn bills. They are the author or co-author of every bill on the markup, and yet apparently, they don't want to pass their own legislation.

"The origin of this dispute is last Tuesday, the day before we noticed this markup, Senator Duckworth's staff for the first time, asked my staff to put a bill of hers on the markup.

"With one day's notice, we did not have time to review the bill or to assess it. And so, Senator Duckworth had planned to introduce 50 amendments to be dilatory, to keep members here for hours and waste their time to try to block these amendments. I will say that is a very strange way to conduct business.

"And I will speak to my Republican colleagues. Every member of this committee knows that last year when I became chairman, I went personally to the office of every member of this committee and I asked every member of this committee, 'What are your priorities What matters for your constituents What do you want to move forth ' And it wasn't just Republicans. I went to the office of every Democrat and said, 'What do you care about moving in the commerce committee this year ' I went to Senator Duckworth's office and I asked her, 'What are your priorities' Neither she nor her staff raised this issue with my team until Tuesday of last week.

"And so, this temper tantrum is bizarre, but sadly it is fitting with what we're seeing the Democrats doing across the board.

"Look, the United States Senate is a body that is meant to be occupied by adults who are actually responsible and capable of doing their job. Half of this committee showed up to work today. Half of this committee is prepared to pass bipartisan legislation that would actually make a difference in this country, but the other half the Democrats are more interested in throwing a fit than doing their job. That is unfortunate."

###