Cruz Says No GOP Colleague Supported His Efforts Against Planned Parenthood, Iran; Rand Paul Says Cruz is “Done For” in Senate

While speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) implored Republican leadership to defend the right to life – an issue for which many Republican leaders have strongly advocated – and fight for conservative principles. Sen. Cruz’s speech followed Senate GOP leadership’s blocking of his attempt to get a vote on his amendment to end taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and the Iranian nuclear deal.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is excoriating the Republican leadership in the House and Senate for failing to “lift a finger to defend life” by eliminating taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. Cruz’s speech on the Senate floor comes as the lawmakers voted, 77-19, to advance a bill to authorize government spending that includes funding for Planned Parenthood…Cruz said it is likely that Planned Parenthood has committed multiple crimes that are punishable with imprisonment, yet asked why the Obama Department of Justice and FBI have failed to open investigations into the abortion organization. Similarly, he observed that not one Democrat has asked to have Planned Parenthood investigated.

Cruz, one of several conservatives determined not to see one more taxpayer dollar go to Planned Parenthood in the wake of several disturbing videos, criticized his party after the vote for about an hour, accusing them of failing to show any passion for the causes for which they are supposed to fight. While President Obama and the Democrats have no problem “walking through glass” to defend Big Government programs, Cruz said the GOP has failed to live up to its tenets.

“So what does he say?” Cruz said of Obama. “If you don’t fund this one private organization that’s not part of the government, that’s under multiple criminal investigations, I, Barack Obama, will veto funding for the entire federal government and shut it down.” “And what does Republican leadership say?” he asked. “Well, it will surprise no one. Republican leadership says, we surrender.” He said the result is that Republicans end up funding anything the Democrats want, including Planned Parenthood. The House and Senate are about to pass a “clean” spending bill, but Cruz said that bill is anything but clean.

As the Senate voted Monday on a continuing resolution with taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, Cruz attempted to offer an amendment ending all federal funding for America’s largest abortion provider. The amendment also cut off money to implement the Iran nuclear deal. But in a departure from Senate custom, a quartet of Republican leaders blocked the Texas senator from even getting a vote on his amendment. Only one senator, Mike Lee of Utah, stood with Cruz on the Senate floor.

Ted Cruz couldn’t get anyone in the Senate to back him tonight as he tried to get a ban on Planned Parenthood funding and a linkage of the Iran Nuclear deal in a government funding bill…Cruz’s amendment would place a one-year ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood. It would also ban the Obama administration from using funds from the short-term bill to implement the Iran nuclear deal or any “assessed contributions” to the United Nations until lawmakers receive the “side deals” between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Tonight Senator Ted Cruz attempted to offer an amendment to the must pass spending bill that would have halted the implementation of Obama’s Iran Deal and public funding to abortionists like Planned Parenthood…Cruz however wanted to make one last effort to put members of the Senate on the record, but GOP Senators were so scared of voting to strike funding for these Obama priorities that they opted to block Cruz from even receiving a vote. (Read original Press Release on “Standing Alone, Cruz Says No to Planned Parenthood, Iran” HERE)
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Senator Rand Paul: Cruz “Done For” in the Senate

By Niels Lesniewski. Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday said fellow Republican presidential candidate Ted. Cruz is “done for” in the Senate.

“Ted has chosen to make this really personal and chosen to call people dishonest in leadership and call them names, which really goes against the decorum and also against the rules of the Senate, and as a consequence, he can’t get anything done legislatively,” Paul told Fox News Radio. “He is pretty much done for and stifled and it’s really because of personal relationships, or lack of personal relationships, and it is a problem”. . .

“I approach things a little different, I am still just as hardcore in saying what we are doing, I just chose not to call people liars on the Senate floor and it’s just a matter of different perspectives on how best to get to the end result,” Paul said in the interview.

Paul backed McConnell’s 2014 re-election bid. Cruz had accused McConnell of lying to him about the way forward for the revival of the Export-Import Bank in the Senate. (Read more from “Rand Paul: Cruz Says No to Compromise, ‘Done For’ in Senate” HERE)