Ted Cruz

“ It seems absurd that we should tie that to funding for ObamaCare. Yet that is where we find ourselves because of the fact that we have been operating under a continuous string of back-to-back continuing resolutions for the last 4 or 5 years. It is time for us to start breaking away from those false and ultimately ridiculous choices. It is time for us to demand more as a people from our Congress. It is time for us as a people to start to demand independent debate and discussion, debate and discussion that far more closely reflects the will of the American people and their ongoing needs. ”

“ Across this country increasingly people are starting to wonder, that which we know as the American dream, is that still alive? They want to believe it still is. They believe in America, but they are starting to wonder if that formula I have outlined—hard work and sacrifice lead to a better life—if that formula still works. Why are they wondering that? It is not hard to understand. They are working hard. They are working harder than they ever have. Look at median incomes in America. Look at the people who feel as if their lives have stagnated. They are working hard. ”

“ We knew that the risk of this kind of tyranny— some might call it soft or incremental tyranny—exists even in republics, even when democratic forces are at play. We knew this type of risk of soft tyranny, as some would describe it, is greatest within national governments. The bigger the nation, the more powerful the government and the fewer the restrictions on that government, the greater the risk that the rights of the people will be undermined; the greater the risk the people of that great nation will become subjects rather than sovereigns—which of course they should always be. ”

“ By golly, we really, really, really dislike ObamaCare. Can we add a couple of more reallys? I want to make it clear that it is really, really, really.
We wonder why our constituents look at us and say: What on Earth are you doing? Do you actually care that we are losing our jobs? Do you actually care that we can’t find a job? Do you care that our small businesses are not growing? Do you care that health insurance premiums for people who are struggling are skyrocketing? Do you care that more and more Americans are losing their health insurance? ”

“ What a sad testament, given the American spirit, the American spirit that we can do anything we set our minds to, that anyone — the great blessings of this Nation have been fundamentally that it does not matter who you are, it does not matter who your daddy was, it does not matter whether you were born into great wealth and privilege and advantage or whether you were born into humble means, anyone in this country can achieve anything based on hard work, perseverance, and based on the content of your character. What a tremendous, unique blessing that is in the United States of America. ”

“ First, America began from the presupposition that our rights come from God. It is for that reason the Declaration Of Independence begins: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal", that we are endowed — not by a king, not by a queen, not even by a President — but "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." ”

“ Far better that we get back to our founding principles, far better that we get back to what has made America great, which is our free enterprise system—a robust, free enterprise system that encourages small businesses to grow and to prosper, that encourages people working a job as a janitor to work hard and get a promotion and climb that ladder, to pay their own rent, to pay for their own food for their kids, to work and to advance. ”

“ If America declines, who will inspire people around the world to seek not just freedom but economic opportunity? Who will stand as proof that it is a lie to tell people they can’t achieve? Who will stand as an example that that is not true if America declines? The one thing that will lead quickest to America’s decline is not simply the debt or taxes or these unconstitutional violations we see on a daily basis. ”

“ We must have the clarity of vision to see the difference between what is essential and what is merely desirable, and then the courage to use this insight to bring our government back under control and make it acceptable to the people. It has long been said that freedom is the condition in which the government fears the people and tyranny is the condition in which the people fear the government. Throughout the duration of our history as a republic, we have enjoyed liberty, we have enjoyed freedom, and we have had a notable absence of tyranny. ”

“ I would much rather have real spending cuts, roll up our sleeves and address the out- of-control spending and debt. But I am perfectly willing to vote for a continuing resolution that maintains the status quo on everything, except for ObamaCare, because I view the gravity of ObamaCare, the threat of ObamaCare to hard-working American men and women so grave. As you know, in politics and in life you have got to pick your battles. We have to pick our battles one at a time. ”

“ So when we find ourselves with an idea in our head, when we find ourselves listening to people, people who might begin with a chorus of one calling out for Congress to do something to protect the American people, we might be inclined to dismiss that one idea coming from that one person as the product of madness. When two people join together, when 10, when 100, 1,000, 10,000, and so forth—with each order of magnitude, we find that the idea acquires more potency, the idea acquires more lasting power, the idea moves more and more people. The idea to defund ObamaCare is not new. ”

“ CRUZ. I thank my friend from Utah for that very good question. The answer is absolutely yes. That is the foundation of our Nation. If you look at the history of government in the world, it hasn’t been pretty. The history of government for most of the existence of mankind has been a story of oppression, a story of rulers imposing their will on their subjects. For millennia, we were told that rights come from government. They come from kings and queens, and they are to be given to the people by grace, to be taken away by the whim of the ruler. ”

“ For those Members of the Republican caucus who were perhaps not as adamant that we should insist on a complete and total defund now, I don’t intend to waiver from that position, but there may be others who disagree. If you want to get to any middle ground that is not a symbolic vote to tell our constituents but that actually changes the law to make things better for the men and women at home, to mitigate the harms of ObamaCare, the only way to do so is for Republicans to stand united and to deny the majority leader the ability to fund ObamaCare on a 51-vote partisan vote. ”

“ The tears that I talked about, and am now experiencing a little bit, are a very small reflection of the very real tears I have seen from men and women all across Texas. Men and women have looked me in the eyes and said: I am scared for my country, my kids, and my grandkids. We are losing America. We are losing the wonderful free enterprise system. We are losing the prosperity. We are losing growth. Will my kids and grandkids have a better life than I did? I don’t think so. I cannot tell you how many Texans have said that. ”

“ Our job is to do everything we can to ensure that this is the one country on Earth where that is still possible. When we pass bills such as ObamaCare, which claims to help people like this, we are not helping them. We are hurting them. If we hurt them, we hurt the country because there cannot be an America without an American dream. We can’t be special and exceptional without the American dream, and that is what is being undermined by big government and by ObamaCare. At the end of the day that is why we are so passionate about this, and that is why this is an issue worth fighting for. ”

“ Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue, or in any way affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest, reared not by themselves, but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow-citizens. This is a state of things in which it may be said with some truth that laws are made for the few, not for the many. In another point of view, great injury results from an unstable government. ”

“ It would be nice if ObamaCare funding had to stand or fall on its own merits. If we were starting from zero when it came to providing ObamaCare funding and we had to justify it, we had to make the case for it, and we had to say, let’s prove to the American people why we ought to be funding the enforcement of this law—this law that will make health care less affordable rather than more and this law that is being implemented in a fundamentally unfair manner, I think that would prove a very different debate and discussion. ”

“ Everything I have seen about his entire course of life—I think he believes genuinely, earnestly, and with all of his heart in government solutions, government control of the economy and our lives, and in redistribution of wealth. I have no reason to doubt that the President sleeps like a babe at night believing that he is fighting to better America. At the same time, I believe the ideas the President believes in and the policies he has advanced are profoundly harmful—not a little bit wrong but profoundly harmful to this country. ”

“ Beyond that you might hear—and this is the very clever Republicans—ObamaCare is such a train wreck and a nightmare that we just need to sit quietly. James Hoffa said he couldn’t sit silent anymore, but Republicans say to sit silently and let ObamaCare collapse on its own weight. Never mind that HARRY REID said when it collapses on its own weight, it will lead us to single-payer socialized health care. Why? Because it will destroy the private health insurance. Never mind that. We have been told that if we do nothing, it will collapse on its own weight and everyone will blame the Democrats. ”

“ Listen, I would like to see those without insurance get health insurance. I would like to see a competitive market where low-cost catastrophic policies were attractive to people and they chose to purchase it. But one of the best ways for someone to get health insurance is for them to get a good job, for them to actually start making real money, have some disposable income, start climbing the economic ladder. The unintended consequence of ObamaCare is it has ended up hammering economic growth, hammering small businesses. ”