Minority News

Press Releases

Press Releases 03/6/2025
Senate Approves Coast Guard Authorization Act Unanimously
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, which was introduced by U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The bipartisan measure was agreed to at the end of last year by leaders of both the Senate Commerce Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, but the session ended before final passage could occur. The bill authorizes funding to strengthen the Coast Guard’s ability to protect our borders, facilitate maritime commerce, unleash American energy, bolster deterrence efforts, and improve support for Coast Guard personnel and their families.
Press Releases 03/5/2025
Chairman Cruz Announces Executive Session for March 12th
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a full committee Executive Session on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. ET to consider the following nominations and legislation:
Press Releases 03/5/2025
Chairman Cruz: The Senate Has Allowed Its Oversight Muscle to Atrophy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his opening statement at today’s Senate Commerce Committee Executive Session to authorize subpoenas, Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) highlighted how oversight within the Senate’s standing committees has become rare, and pledged that the Commerce Committee will continue to engage in robust oversight under his leadership. Introducing the subpoena for documents and materials from the Massachusetts Port Authority, Sen. Cruz outlined his investigation into the Biden administration's practice of housing illegal immigrants at domestic airports, including Boston’s Logan Airport. Massport refused to comply with the Committee’s oversight requests. Sen. Cruz also noted that the Committee would not be voting on subpoenas for two additional entities, Bonterra and Newpoint Strategies, after these companies made good-faith efforts to comply with the Committee’s requests.
Press Releases 03/4/2025
Commerce Committee Leaders Reintroduce Bill to Ensure Coast Guard Personnel Are Paid In Event of Gov’t Shutdown
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) recently reintroduced the Pay Our Coast Guard Act, bipartisan legislation that would ensure Coast Guard personnel receive pay and allowances in the event of a government shutdown. The legislation would ensure that the Coast Guard gets the same treatment as the other branches of the armed services if there is a lapse in appropriations. Because the Coast Guard is housed within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it was left off a previous funding stopgap that only covered the Department of Defense (DoD).
Press Releases 03/3/2025
House Leaders Pledge to Advance ‘Take It Down’ Act at Sen. Cruz’s Bipartisan Roundtable with First Lady Melania Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and U.S. Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) hosted a bipartisan roundtable with First Lady Melania Trump to hear from victims of revenge and deepfake pornography and highlight the urgent need for the House to pass the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act. The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, criminalizes the publication of such non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including explicit content generated by artificial intelligence.
Press Releases 02/27/2025
DOT Deputy Secretary Nominee Steven Bradbury Advances Out of Commerce Committee
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), cleared President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation, Steven Bradbury, for consideration by the full Senate. Bradbury’s nomination passed the committee by a vote of 15 yeas and 13 nays.
Press Releases 02/27/2025
Sen. Young Chairs “Grand Theft Cargo” Subcommittee Hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety, convened a subcommittee hearing titled “Grand Theft Cargo: Examining a Costly Threat to Consumers to the U.S. Supply Chain.”
Press Releases 02/26/2025
Sens. Cruz, King Reintroduce MAPOceans Act to Make Fishing Easier
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Senator Angus King (I-Maine) reintroduced the Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans (MAPOceans) Act, which would standardize, digitize, and map fishing restrictions in federal waters. The legislation is similar to a law that provides reliable information about hunting on public lands.
Press Releases 02/26/2025
Sen. Cruz: You Cannot Stop Deadly Drugs With an Open Border
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his opening statement at today’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing titled “Interdicting Illicit Drug Trafficking: A View from the Front Lines,” Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) discussed how the Biden administration’s radical, open-border policies weakened the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) ability to stop deadly drugs from crossing U.S. maritime borders and allow Middle East drug runners to help fund Iranian terrorism. Sen. Cruz highlighted how the bicameral and bipartisan Coast Guard Authorization Act, cosponsored by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), aims to end the 'catch and release' approach to Middle East drug enforcement and close a loophole so cartels could be prosecuted for drug smuggling via remotely operated sea drones.
Press Releases 02/25/2025
Sen. Cruz: The Story of the 21st Century Will Be Written by Whichever Nation Can Innovate the Fastest
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his opening statement at today’s Senate Commerce Committee nominations hearing for Michael Kratsios, nominee to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and Mark Meador, nominee to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) highlighted the importance of fostering of innovative technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and 5G technology to create new, high-paying jobs across the country.

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