Ted Cruz

[Congressional biography]

Born: December 22, 1970 in Calgary, Alberta

Education:

Career:

Key Senate Vote Data for Ted Cruz in 2013

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Cruz Voted
2013-01-28	Offsetting Disaster Relief Costs [HR152]	Rejected (35-62)
Lee (R-UT) amendment to the Superstorm Sandy disaster relief bill would have offset the cost of the bill through a one half of one percent cut in discretionary spending.
2013-01-28	Disaster Relief [HR152]	Passed (62-36)
This bill added $50 billion in spending for "emergency aid" for victims of Superstorm Sandy with no offsets. Most of the spending in the bill was for long-term projects stretching from 2 to 10 years and included billions for Community Development Block Grants that offer blank checks for states to spend as they wish.
2013-02-12	Violence Against Women Act Expansion [S47]	Passed (78-22)
This bill greatly expands a 20-year-old program to include gay and transgender individuals. The Violence Against Women Act, which started as a narrowly focused effort in 1994, has grown in to a $660 million program that funds liberal organizations to carry out an ideological agenda without any results that show it has reduced violence against women.
2013-03-06	Caitlin Halligan Nomination	Rejected (51-41)
The Senate rejected limiting debate (cloture) on the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the District of Columbia Circuit Court for the second time in two years. As New York Solicitor General, Halligan supported a lawsuit against gun manufacturers to hold them liable for crimes committed with guns.
2013-03-22	Parental Notification [SCONRES8]	Rejected (48-51)
Rubio (R-FL) amendment to the budget bill would have expressed the sense of the Senate in support of a bill requiring notification to parents if their child is transported out of state for an abortion.
2013-03-22	Death Tax Repeal [SCONRES8]	Rejected (46-53)
Thune (R-SD) amendment to the budget bill would have called for the repeal of the federal estate tax, or "death" tax.
2013-03-22	Conservative Budget [SCONRES8]	Rejected (18-81)
Paul (R-KY) amendment to the budget bill would have replaced a budget that raises taxes to increase spending with a bill that balances the budget in four years, returns discretionary spending to 2008 levels, replaces welfare programs with block grants to the states, reforms entitlement programs and eliminates capital gains as well as estate and gift taxes.
2013-03-22	Paycheck Protection [SCONRES8]	Rejected (43-56)
Scott (R-SC) amendment to the budget bill would have prohibited the federal government from automatically deducting union dues from federal employee paychecks.
2013-03-22	Prohibiting New EPA Regulations [SCONRES8]	Rejected (47-52)
Inhofe (R-OK) amendment to the budget bill would have prohibited EPA from promulgating further greenhouse gas regulations to supposedly fight "global warming".
2013-03-23	Infrastructure Funding Offset [SCONRES8]	Rejected (26-72)
Paul (R-KY) amendment to the budget bill would have provided increased funding for Interstate bridge infrastructure projects by reducing funding for foreign aid and the Energy Department loan guarantee programs that led to the Solyndra scandal.
2013-03-23	Budget Bill [SCONRES8]	Agreed To (50-49)
This bill raised numerous taxes to help pay for a budget that increased spending by $90 billion over agreed-upon spending limits.
2013-04-17	Second Amendment Infringement [S649]	Rejected (54-46)
Manchin (D-WV) amendment to the Safe Communities Act would add federal government regulations to private sales through the Internet and at gun shows, among other restrictions.
2013-04-17	"Assault" Weapons Ban [S649]	Rejected (40-60)
Feinstein (D-CA) amendment to the Safe Communities Act would have revived the 1990s era "assault" weapons ban that was allowed to expire. ACU opposed the original ban that banned ill-defined "assault" weapons that did nothing to reduce gun violence.
2013-05-08	Second Amendment [S601]	Rejected (56-43)
Coburn (R-OK) amendment to the Water Resources Development Act would have required the Corps of Engineers to follow state firearm possession laws on lands managed by them to conform to practices followed by the National Park Service and other agencies.
2013-05-08	Wasteful Spending [S601]	Agreed To (67-32)
Whitehouse (D-RI) amendment to the Water Resources Development Act creates a new bureaucracy, the National Endowment for the Oceans that would award $100 million in grants to study the oceans and Great Lakes.
2013-05-15	Water Resources Development Act [S601]	Passed (83-14)
This bill, although eliminating earmarks and streamlining some environmental reviews, continues to spend billions of dollars on projects that have nothing to do with infrastructure and funds projects that should be handled at the state and local level. The bill also prohibits Congress from considering any bill that lowers the funding level from the previous year, locking in spending increases.
2013-05-22	Food Stamp Reform [S954]	Rejected (36-60)
Inhofe (R-OK) amendment to the Farm Bill would have replaced the current food stamp program with a program of block grants to the states and would have added work requirements and drug testing for eligibility.
2013-05-23	Limiting Farm Bill Subsidies [S954]	Agreed To (59-33)
Durbin (D-IL) amendment to the Farm Bill limits agricultural subsidies to people or corporations with an income of $750,000 per year or less. The limits would go into effect after a study of its effects is complete.
2013-06-06	Farm Bill [S954]	Agreed To (75-22)
This bill replaces the direct payment system to farmers with an equally or more expensive increase in the crop insurance subsidy program. The bill also includes the greatly expanded food stamp program with no reforms. ACU has long opposed these Depression-era subsidy programs and opposes combining food stamps with agricultural policy.
2013-07-16	Richard Cordray Nomination	Agreed To (71-29)
The Senate confirmed the nomination of Richard Cordray as Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Cordray had been given a recess appointment as director at a time when the Senate was not in recess. The agency was created by the Dodd-Frank banking overhaul bill that prohibited congressional oversight of the agency and Senate Republicans had pledged not to confirm a director until reforms were made.
2013-07-17	Thomas Perez Nomination	Agreed To (60-40)
The Senate confirmed the nomination of Thomas Perez as Secretary of Labor. As Chief of the Department of Justice Civil Rights division he had used his political power to advance his own agenda. An Inspector General's report cited him for overruling career staff recommendations when he tried to stop purging ineligible voters off the rolls and attacked South Carolina's voter ID law.
2013-07-18	Gina McCarthy EPA Nomination	Agreed To (69-31)
The Senate confirmed the nomination of Gina McCarthy as Director of the Environmental Protection Agency. As Assistant Director for Air and Radiation, McCarthy was a key architect of the Obama Administration's draconian regulatory policy that has cost jobs and banned construction of coal-fired plants. After her confirmation, McCarthy's top policy advisor was charged with taking $900,000 in pay and benefits illegally.
2013-11-07	Employment Non-Discrimination Act [S815]	Agreed To (64-34)
This bill would prohibit hiring decisions based on "gender identity" with narrow-based exemptions for religiously-based organizations as defined by the federal government. Under the bill, employers can be liable for legal action based on vaguely defined actions that "adversely affect the status of an employee or applicant."
2013-11-19	Guantanamo [S1197]	Rejected (43-55)
Ayotte (R-NH) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act would have removed provisions that weaken the national security standards required to move terrorists being held at Guantanamo.
2013-12-17	Tax-and-Spend Budget [HJRES59]	Agreed To (67-33)
This bill eliminates the spending reductions agreed to in the sequester, more than doubles the airline ticket tax and uses budget gimmicks to claim savings in future years for spending increases now. ACU opposes tax-and-spend budgets at a time when our national debt is over $17 trillion.

Represents a "Yes" vote.   Represents a "No" vote.   Indicates that this member voted against the conservative position on a particular vote. "No vote" means that this member did not cast a vote (or voted 'Present' instead of Yes or No).