Congress desperately needs to pass a bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration for the next four years before a short-term funding extension runs out in May. It’s a big enough deal that even Republicans aren’t willing to roll the dice on whether or not air travel can safely continue without reauthorizing the FAA. That doesn’t mean, however, that they aren’t going to try to sneak their pet projects into the reauthorization bill. Senator Ted Cruz, for example, wants lawmakers to be guaranteed a police escort through the airport when they travel.
The Dallas Morning News reports that Cruz’s amendment would guarantee a police escort through the airport for the president’s cabinet, federal judges and members of Congress if they face a security threat. What danger lawmakers would be in while walking through the airport remains unclear since the Transportation Safety Administration won’t let you bring more than 3.4 ounces of mustard through security, much less a bomb or knife. Still, this is a very important issue for Cruz, the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, who insists it’s a bipartisan security measure.
In a statement, Senate Republican Commerce Committee spokesperson Melissa Braid said:
The airport security amendment was drafted in a bipartisan manner to address the growing number of serious threats against justices, judges, public officials, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. It passed out of committee unanimously by voice vote and was included in the Senate’s bipartisan FAA reauthorization bill. With rising security incidents at airports, this amendment ensures that when law enforcement determines a threat exists, reasonable security measures will be taken to keep everybody safe.
This amendment comes only a couple of years after Ted Cruz was caught fleeing to Mexico for a warm vacation during a deadly power outage caused by a winter storm that killed hundreds. The backlash was so serious that Cruz flew back to Texas the next day. “It was obviously a mistake and, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have done it. I was trying to be a dad,” he told reporters at the time.
If you’re thinking the amendment he added to the FAA reauthorization bill is related to that incident, though, his staff wants to make it clear that that’s definitely not the case since lawmakers would still have to wait at the terminal with their security detail. So don’t even think it. It’s a completely separate issue.
Cruz has made a name for himself over the years as one of the most unlikable people ever, with former House speaker John Boehner previously saying, “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.” Senator Lindsey Graham has also expressed a similar sentiment, saying, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.”
Boehner and Graham are far from the only people to voice their distaste for Cruz. President George W. Bush kept his opinion on Cruz short, saying only, “I just don’t like the guy.” Ann Coulter expounded a little more, saying, “Just look at Cruz’s face: it’s got career scum politician, aka liar, written all over it,” while President Trump once said, “He’s a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him.”