Sen. Cruz on Texas Radio
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today joined 660 AM The Answer’s Mark Davis and KTSA San Antonio’s Trey Ware to discuss tariffs, trade negotiations and his efforts to shine a light on political dissidents oppressed by brutal totalitarian regimes, among other items.
On the Mark Davis show, Sen. Cruz noted Texas farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and job creators are enthusiastic about the booming economy and tax cuts, but remain concerned about tariffs and trade.
“I think American farmers and ranchers and manufacturers and small businesses – Texans – do well when we open up foreign markets,” Sen. Cruz said to Davis. “That we compete very effectively in trade. What I have urged the President directly is that our focus should be on lowering the tariffs of our trading partners and getting our goods and crops and livestock and manufactured goods into those countries. Trade is the most consistent concern that I hear from the business community in Texas. Small businesses, farmers, ranchers are thrilled with the tax cut. It’s making a real difference. They’re thrilled that job-killing regulations have been pulled back. They’re worried about trade. They’re worried about what that’s going to do to the Texas economy, and I’ve certainly conveyed that to the President repeatedly. I hope we go into the direction of expanding trade because that’s what will benefit the economy.”
Mark Davis also asked Sen. Cruz about his efforts to shine a light on the brutality of communist regimes, calling it, “A responsibility we have to speak out against oppression and to speak out for freedom.”
“One of the things that I’ve tried to do frequently – I think that there is value to focusing on the very real victims of communism, on people who face oppression,” Sen. Cruz said. “I’ve tried during my time in the Senate to focus on dissidents, to speak out for dissidents whether it’s Liu Xiaobo, who was a Nobel Peace laureate in China who was wrongfully imprisoned and who passed just recently, or his wife Liu Xia. I try over and over and over again to shine the light on those speaking out for freedom against oppression, and you know that’s really a lesson that all of us learned from President Reagan. From when President Reagan went and stood up to the Soviet Union and called it the ‘Evil Empire,’ when he said that Marxism and Leninism will end up on the ash heap of history. When he called Mr. Gorbachev, ‘Tear down this Wall.’ That clear American leadership has power and I think it’s a responsibility we have to speak out against oppression and to speak out for freedom.”
On KTSA’s Trey Ware Show, Ware asked Sen. Cruz questions he received from callers, including whether there should be drug testing for unemployment insurance. Sen. Cruz highlighted his bill with Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) to disapprove and nullify a drug-testing rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor in the final months of the Obama administration, which President Trump signed into law last year.
“Not only do I think it’s a good idea, I introduced legislation last year to allow it,” Sen. Cruz said to Ware. “And it passed into law. That was a bill I successfully passed last year. The Obama administration had put in regulations preventing it and essentially shutting down the Texas state legislation that had allowed drug testing unemployment benefits and so I introduced legislation to reverse those Obama regulations and passed them into law last year.”
Listen to Sen. Cruz’s radio interviews below: