Ted Cruz

[Congressional biography]

Born: December 22, 1970 in Calgary, Alberta

Education:

Career:

Key Senate Vote Data for Ted Cruz in 2014

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Cruz Voted
2014-01-07	Extending Unemployment Benefits [S1845]	Agreed To (60-37)
This bill would have continued to extend "emergency" unemployment benefits after many previous extensions that in some cases extended benefits for just under two years.
2014-01-16	Omnibus Appropriations [HR3547]	Agreed To (72-26)
This $1.1 trillion spending bill for Fiscal Year 2014 increased spending by $45 billion over the Budget Control Act of 2011 with massive increases of 25- 29% for Obama Administration programs in the Interior-Environment, Labor-HHS-Education and State Department sections. It also included bills that have nothing to do with appropriations, such as an extension of flood insurance subsidies. ACU opposes these bills that are written in secret and passed with no amendments allowed.
2014-01-30	Flood Insurance [S1926]	Rejected (34-65)
Toomey (R-PA) amendment to the flood insurance extension bill, which would have phased in a reduction in government subsidies for flood insurance. ACU supported this compromise proposal to phase out a program that encourages development in flood-prone areas.
2014-01-30	Regulation Opt-Out [S1926]	Rejected (24-75)
Coburn (R-OK) amendment to the flood insurance extension bill, which would have allowed states to opt out of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers, a new regulatory body created by Congress.
2014-02-03	Farm Bill [HR2642]	Agreed To (72-22)
This bill is the final version of the farm bill that replaces direct payments to farmers with a more expensive increase in crop insurance subsidies with no caps on subsidies for wealthy farm corporations. ACU has long opposed these Depression-era programs.
2014-02-27	Waiving Fiscal Responsibility [S1982]	Rejected (56-41)
This motion would waive budget rules for a veterans' benefits bill that requires new spending to be offset by reductions in other spending in order to adhere to the agreed upon spending levels.
2014-03-05	Debo Adegbile Nomination	Rejected (47-52)
This motion would have invoked cloture (limiting debate) on the nomination of Debo Adegbile as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Adegbile received bipartisan opposition due to his activities on behalf of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
2014-04-02	Blocking Government Reform [HR3979]	Agreed To (67-29)		No Vote
Vitter (R-LA) amendment to the unemployment compensation bill would prevent people who are receiving Disability Insurance Benefits from claiming unemployment compensation at the same time.
2014-04-03	Extending Unemployment Compensation [HR3979]	Agreed To (61-35)		No Vote
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tried to use an unrelated House bill to pass a plan to extend unemployment benefits even though it had been defeated once before.
2014-04-09	Labor Law [S2199]	Rejected (53-44)		No Vote
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a bill which would place the burden of proof to charges of sex discrimination on the employer. ACU opposes legislation that makes employers "guilty until proven innocent" and opens the door to expensive lawsuits.
2014-04-30	Minimum Wage [S2223]	Rejected (54-42)
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a bill which would increase the federal minimum wage. ACU opposes these artificial wage minimums that cost jobs among those who need them most, such as inexperienced workers and students.
2014-05-12	Government Energy Standards [S2262]	Rejected (55-36)
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a bill which would have allowed the Obama Administration to create new energy standards for buildings and then use taxpayer funds to promote them. It also created new subsidies for electric motor controls and transformers approved by the government.
2014-06-11	Student Loans [S2432]	Rejected (56-38)
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a bill which would have fixed interest rates for student loans regardless of the market price.
2014-06-25	Performance Standards [HR803]	Rejected (33-63)
Flake (R-AZ) amendment to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act would increase accountability measures for this government program by allowing a Governor to intervene in a failing program after one year instead of waiting for three years.
2014-07-16	Limiting Religious Freedom [S2578]	Rejected (56-43)
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a bill which would have modified provisions in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that protects employers from providing insurance coverage that is against their beliefs. ACU opposes measures that imposes government mandates regardless of religious beliefs.
2014-07-17	Terrorism Risk Insurance [S2244]	Rejected (48-49)
Coburn (R-OK) amendment, which would give flexibility for collecting mandatory increased premiums in the event of more than $1 billion in losses due to terrorism. ACU supported the amendment, agreeing with Coburn that the bill is so unrealistic concerning premium collection that the taxpayers would ultimately foot the bill for losses.
2014-07-29	Federal Transportation Funding [HR5021]	Passed (79-18)
This bill amended the House bill so that an extension of current transportation funding would expire in December, 2014 instead of May, 2015. ACU opposed this deadline as it would have allowed a lame duck Congress to consider major legislation, including tax increases, when there is the least accountability to the taxpayers.
2014-07-30	Business Taxes [S2569]	Rejected (54-42)
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a bill which would have eliminated a tax deduction for business expenses if the business relocated outside the United States while offering a tax credit for 20 percent of business expenses incurred for relocating a business to the U.S. if they increased the number of fulltime employees in the U.S. ACU opposes these punitive tax measures while doing nothing to reduce the highest corporate tax in the world.
2014-07-31	Waiving Fiscal Responsibility [S2648]	Rejected (50-44)
This bill would have spent over $4 billion over and above the agreed on spending levels in order to deal with unaccompanied children entering the country illegally. A key vote came on a motion to waive all budget requirements for the bill. ACU opposes this type of "emergency" spending without comparable reductions.
2014-09-11	Limiting Political Speech [SJRES19]	Rejected (54-42)		No Vote
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a constitutional amendment which would have overturned the Supreme Court's rulings on freedom of political speech in the Citizens United and other cases.
2014-11-18	Keystone Pipeline [S2280]	Defeated (59-41)
This bill would have authorized the construction of the Keystone pipeline from Canada that has already been approved by the State Department.
2014-11-20	Victor Allen Bolden Judicial Nomination	Confirmed (49-46)		No Vote
The Senate voted on the nomination of Victor Allen Bolden to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia. ACU opposed the nomination of Bolden whose primary qualification seems to be as a political activist with the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
2014-12-12	Preventing Federal Land Acquisition [HR3979]	Rejected (18-82)
Coburn (R-OK) motion to the National Defense Authorization Act would have removed 100 unrelated bills that affected federal land.
2014-12-13	Omnibus Appropriations [HR83]	Agreed To (56-40)
This 1,600 page bill uses $19 billion in budget gimmicks to comply with spending caps, increases funding for pork barrel programs such as Community Development Block Grants and includes hundreds of pages of bills that have nothing to do with appropriations and that have not been voted on by either the House or Senate. ACU opposes these bills that are written in secret with no amendments allowed.
2014-12-15	Vivek Murthy Surgeon General Nomination	Confirmed (51-43)
The Senate voted on the nomination of Vivek Murthy to be Surgeon General. ACU opposed the nomination of Murthy, whose primary qualification was founding the group "Doctors for Obama" and who has said that gun control should be a health care issue.

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).