“The aftermath of Hurricane Helene left dangerous flood waters and debris that can be life-threatening to people and animals. Our hearts grieve for all Americans who were lost, and Texas will continue to do all we can to help our fellow Americans in this time of need,” said Gov. Greg Abbott, today announcing he has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy state emergency response resources to support the state's recovery efforts following a request from North Carolina Emergency Management.

“This Kelly-Cruz bipartisan legislation is a major win for Texas, and it will speed up the building of new semiconductor projects nationwide while unlocking tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in Texas," said Ted Cruz, the Senate Commerce Committee's Ranking Member, of the bipartisan legislation he authored with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) to expedite semiconductor manufacturing construction. The bill removes burdensome hurdles to achieving environmental reviews and dramatically speeds up construction timelines for current and future projects not only in Texas, but across the country.  

Last week, the House of Representatives passed my bill, the "Next Generation Pipelines Research & Development Act," which will strengthen public-private partnerships and improve Federal research, development, and demonstration related to the evolution of key pipeline systems across the country. As our nation’s infrastructure is rapidly aging, this legislation ensures pipelines are modern, secure, and cost effective, ready to take on our growing energy needs.

“While overall September sales tax collections grew modestly, receipts were down across most major sectors compared with a year ago,” said Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar earlier today, noting that State Sales Tax Revenue totaled nearly $3.85 billion in September – which represents an increase of 1.5% when compared to September of 2023. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 58% of all tax collections.

Governor Greg Abbott on Monday celebrated the Texas Stock Exchange (TSXE) and the state’s historic economic milestones during a press conference at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin. The Governor was joined at the press conference by TXSE Group Inc. Founder and CEO James Lee, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Senator Tan Parker, Representative Giovanni Capriglione, Representative Morgan Meyer, and other business and community leaders.

"The City of Austin is illegally seeking to use public funding to support travel expenses for out-of-state abortions. The Texas Constitution prohibits governmental entities from doing so,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, filing suit against the City of Austin to prevent the it's unlawful use of public money to fund expenses for women traveling out of Texas. Austin appropriated $400,000 in taxpayer money for “Reproductive Health Grants” which “included support for airfare, gas reimbursements, hotel stays, ride reimbursements, childcare stipends, companion travel, and food.” 

Three years after the Biden-Harris White House’s deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan – which resulted in the deaths of 13 brave U.S. Servicemembers and over 170 Afghan civilians – no one has been held accountable for the administration's dereliction of duty. This week at the UN General Assembly in New York, Mr. Biden touted his withdrawal as "the right decision" even though it left 1,000 Americans stranded under Taliban rule, and emboldened America’s adversaries around the globe.

In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated reauthorizations for the Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG projects, threatening 7,000 jobs and undermining $24 billion in investments in the Rio Grande Valley. On September 25, 2024, Sen. Cruz sent a letter to the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission urging him to appeal this terrible decision.

"Israel's successes in countering Hezbollah, including and especially the liquidation of Nasrallah, underscore in dramatic fashion that Israel and America share the same enemies – and that when our Israel allies move to advance their interests, they directly enhance the national security of Americans. Unfortunately, Israel's historical victories are being accomplished despite the policies of the Biden-Harris White House," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Ted Cruz.

U.S. Congressman Brian Babin (TX-36) issued the following statement on the House passage of the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (H.R. 8958). This bipartisan legislation reaffirms our commitment to leading global space and science endeavors and emphasizes the importance of commercial partnerships and international collaboration in advancing space exploration and scientific research.

On March 13th, 2024, Cong. Tony Gonzales (TX-23) wrote President Biden and Dept. of Homeland Security Sect Alejandro Mayorkas requesting detailed information regarding how many potential criminals were being released into our nation's local communities. Last Thursday evening, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deputy Director Patrick Lechleiter responded: as of July 2024, 662,566 illegal immigrants awaiting a hearing on ICE’s legal dockets have a criminal history.

Governor Greg Abbott today issued a proclamation calling for a statewide moment of silence at 7:00 AM CDT on Monday, October 7th, 2024, to honor the victims whose lives were tragically taken due to the acts of war committed by the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, and to remember those who are still being held hostage to this day. Gov. Abbott will lower the Texas and U.S. flags to half-staff next Monday, and asked religious leaders to light a candle at their next service in observance of this solemn day.

U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced The Advancing Research in Nuclear Fuel Recycling Act. The bill requires the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Academy of Science to create an independent committee of experts to study recycling the country’s spent nuclear fuel. The DOE-commissioned study would evaluate the cost, benefits, and risks of recycling our spent nuclear fuel compared to the status quo of interim storage.

Governor Greg Abbott today announced 36 Fund for Veterans’ Assistance (FVA) grants totaling more than $8.6 million were awarded to 32 organizations in Dallas-Fort Worth and the North Texas region as part of the Texas Veterans Commission’s (TVC) Grants Across Texas presentations. Presented by TVC today, the funding will provide services to more than 10,900 veterans and their families across 30 counties.

"I joined my colleagues on the House Oversight & Accountability Committee. Tuesday, I chaired my Subcommittee on Government Operations & the Federal Workforce to oversee the egregious spending habits of the Department of Defense, and am carefully watching as taxpayers deserve transparency in how their hard-earned dollars are being spent to support them. The DOD is the only federal agency unable to achieve a clean audit," said Cong. Pete Sessions.

With a rapidly growing population and economy, it is vital Texas remains powered.  Texas set a daily power consumption record six times in May 2024, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas anticipates the state's growth will continue to push power consumption to new highs. This growing demand necessitates a diverse energy portfolio that can meet the needs of our state with reliable and dispatchable power.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced the Regional Impact of Disasters and Emergencies Relief (RIDER) Act to improve access to and delivery of federal relief to disaster-struck communities. This bipartisan, bicameral bill would amend existing law to better address the on-the-ground experiences of communities affected by major disasters. Reps. Brian Babin (R-Texas-36) and John Garamendi (D-Calif.-8) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

The lawsuit follows comments previously submitted by Commissioner Buckingham to the USFWS more than a year ago outlining inconsistencies with listing the DSL as endangered and how moving forward with this classification "could have a crippling impact on the oil and gas industry" which will result in job losses across the state and decreased revenue for the Permanent School Fund (PSF) and Permanent University Fund (PUF).

The House Republicans brought up H.R. 7909, the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, which amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make illegal immigrants who are convicted of, who admit having committed, or who admit committing sex offenses or domestic violence inadmissible and deportable from the United States.

This biennial award honors women in state service who are helping to shape the future of Texas by contributing their notable talents and skills. Candidates were nominated by their respective state agency leadership in four categories, and an independent committee selected the women whose contributions best exemplified the categories of leadership, professional development, community involvement, and rising star.