Sen. Ted Cruz today met with leaders from the Deep East Texas Council of Governments & Economic Development District (DETCOG,) a voluntary association of local governments in the 11 County Region encompassing all of Angelina, Houston, Nacogdoches, Newton, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity and Tyler counties. Their objective was to provide more jobs and economic opportunity to people in rural East Texas.

“For a state that continues to grow massively, we're at the height of our production during the day and we generate more power than California and New York combined – but we need more dispatchable power generation," said Governor Greg Abbott earlier today, highlighting the important role of nuclear technology and energy in Texas’ thriving economy during an energy summit held at The University of Texas (UT) at Austin.

“Today's report again confirms that Joe Biden and Biden White House officials are pathologically obsessed with undermining Israel. They made a day one decision to pour hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars into areas controlled by Palestinian terrorists, despite knowing that such actions would benefit terrorist groups that have the blood of Americans and Israelis on their hands," said Sen. Ted Cruz after news reports revealed the State Department secretly sought exemptions from U.S. anti-terrorism laws to restart aid to Palestinian-controlled territories.

In the past two decades, destructive Crested Caracaras birds of prey – tropical black & white falcons that behave like vultures – have taken up residence throughout Texas. Despite being a predatory invasive species, the Caracara is currently a "protected species", which prohibits the taking of – including killing, capturing, selling, trading & transport – the migratory birds without prior authorization by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

“From funding his ‘green’ energy fantasies with the passage of the largest climate bill in history, to an unrelenting barrage of bureaucratic rules from his agencies, Joe Biden's next ploy of taxpayer subsidized boondoggles will have far-reaching implications – and our nation’s middle class is worse off for it,” said Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, voicing his opposition to the installation of offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico.

"I have one metric by which we at the General Land Office take action and judge our success: serve the people you are supposed to serve – and do it well," said Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, announcing a historic undertaking to transform the Hobby State Office Building in Austin into substantial Workforce Housing Development. She was joined by Austin Mayor Kirk Watson as she presented the GLO's Project Solicitation for the momentous endeavor.

In response to widespread wildfire activity throughout the state, Gov. Greg Abbott announced he has issued a Disaster Declaration for 191 of Texas' 254 counties – with additional counties to be added as conditions warrant. According to Texas A&M's Forest Service, wildfire activity is expected to continue, and at the Governor’s direction, the following State Firefighting Resources remain deployed by the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

“The EPA continues to undermine the needs of Americans,” said Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick. “The latest proposed rule is unrealistic, and potentially dangerous," Craddick said, as the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sent joint comments criticizing and opposing the Biden EPA’s proposed rule to add onerous regulations to electricity generating plants across the nation..

New inflation numbers for July were just released, and they show a 3.2% inflation rate since last year – and a 15% increase in prices since Joe Biden took office. But almost no one in Middle Class America believes these numbers. Why? Because the biggest price increases have hit the products & areas of life that matter most to us – Gas at the pump's up 36% , Rent's up 32%, Eggs, Cereal, Coffee & Used Cars are up about 20%, and Electricity and Utilities are up 22%.

“The State of Texas has been on a mission to use higher education to expand access to healthcare, and today marks a giant step toward achieving our goals,” said Gov. Greg Abbott, as he and members of the UT Board of Regents announced a transformative partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center to bring the nation’s top-ranked oncology clinicians & health care providers to a new hospital and Comprehensive Cancer Care Center on the UT campus.

Texas placed buoys in the Rio Grande River to encourage migrants to cross the border at points of entry rather than crossing the river illegally. The U.S. Dept. of Justice responded with a lawsuit, alleging that those buoys were un-permitted obstructions to navigable waters in violation of the Rivers & Harbors Act. I signed an amicus brief highlighting that Biden’s DOJ does not have the standing to sue Texas on this matter.

"As kids return to the classroom, we must continue to facilitate conversations and bring stakeholders together to ensure we're doing everything we can to keep our children safe at school,” said Cong. Tony Gonzales as he hosted a School Safety & Security Roundtable alongside Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, the National Association of School Resource Officers, and Regional School District Leadership.

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 406,500 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 32,700 criminal arrests, with more than 29,900 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, Texas law enforcement has seized over 422 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission.

Sen. Ted Cruz toured Coast Guard Sector & Air Station Corpus Christi, as well as Station South Padre Island with aerial and water tour surveys of the maritime boundary line, including the Brownsville Ship Channel. He received a briefing update at South Padre's new Tethered Aerostat Radar System Station, and also heard how Coast Guard members are working to stop illegal immigration under the evolving challenges in South Texas.

For more than three months, I have been asking the State Department to provide documents relating to the Biden White House's chaotic and deadly Afghanistan withdrawal – and for months, the State Department has refused to comply. They've even now gone so far as to ignore a legally issued subpoena – for the second time. This is not acceptable, and our nation's veterans and Gold Star Families deserve better.

This week, I traveled 637 miles around Texas’ 31st district to hear from my constituents, talk to local businesses, and meet with elected officials. It was a busy and productive week.

"Here in Texas, we embrace the energy industry – and as long as I'm Governor, I will fight for the energy sector to ensure Texas remains America’s energy leader," said Gov. Greg Abbott during his keynote address to 150+ energy leaders, promising to keep Texas positioned as the "Energy Capital of the World." The bills Abbott signed will, among other things, protect Texas’ oil & gas industry from harmful federal actions.

I’ve worked to bring together a bipartisan group and the south Texas congressional delegation to push for federal approval of four cross-border bridges between Texas and Mexico that have been stalled by the Biden administration. Two weeks ago, I got a measure into the National Defense Authorization Act that would require the Biden administration to expedite the permitting decisions for these cross-border bridges.

Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) will host a roundtable alongside Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, San Antonio Police Department Chief of Police William McManus, the National Association of School Resource Officers, and regional school district leadership to discuss initiatives to keep classrooms safe as children return to school on Monday, August 14.

The Texas foster care system is infamous for failing its wards. The system is so flawed that in 2015 it was found in violation of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees the right for people to be free from an unreasonable risk of harm while in government custody. The reason: Kids entering the Texas system came out in worse shape than when they entered. Many kids go in because of physical abuse at home, so how bad is the system?