Ted Cruz

Mr. President, later this year, American citizens across the country will exercise one of their most valuable and sacred rights: the right to vote—a right that has been hard-earned and fought for from the founding generation of our Republic to today. How was the right to self-government, the right to vote secured? It was secured by American colonists who rejected the royal edict and hurled tea into Boston Harbor, declaring "no taxation without representation." It was secured by ordinary men who seized their muskets and fired the shot heard around world at Lexington and Concord.

Mr. President, today, Texans celebrate 190 years of independence. On March 2, 1836, Texans fought bravely for liberty and for independence from Mexico. Many heroes, including William Barret Travis, James Bowie, and Davy Crockett, laid down their lives for the future of the Lone Star State. It is a longstanding tradition on Texas Independence Day to read aloud the words of Colonel William Barret Travis, the leader of the besieged forces at the Alamo. His call for reinforcements reminds us of the bravery, resilience, and fortitude of those who fought and died for liberty.

I must say, the objection from my friend from New Jersey is deeply unfortunate. The remarks that he gave were unfortunately seriously in error. The Senator from New Jersey suggested that it is only the DC City Council that has the power to do this. This is objectively false. DC is a city unlike any city in America because DC—the Constitution explicitly gives the authority to govern DC to the Congress of the United States. That is written into the Constitution. My friend from New Jersey said he would object if this were done in Newark, NJ.

Mr. President, in reserving the right to object, I thank my friend the Senator from Oregon for his passion for privacy. He has had a passion for protecting privacy his entire tenure in the Senate, as have I, and his passion is genuine. I believe we have an obligation, a bipartisan obligation, to do more to protect the privacy of Americans, especially kids, but to protect the privacy of Americans across the board. We also are well aware we live in a time in which violence is on the rise. There is enormous division. There is enormous anger and hatred.