Ted Cruz is now proposing a bill to grant security escorts to lawmakers in airports. This bill would make it harder to spot lawmakers fleeing from their duties, as Cruz did during Winter Storm Uri when he left for Cancun.
According to a Politico report, the bill would provide lawmakers with their own security escort at airports and grant them expedited screening out of the public eye. This would make it harder for people to track where lawmakers are going and whether they are evading their responsibilities.
The bill will also grant the same special treatment to federal judges and Cabinet members, as well as some of their family members and staff.
When asked why these measures are necessary, Cruz told Politico that the bill would ensure the safety of political VIPs, as they are “serious security threats facing public officials”, and that “it’s important that we take reasonable measures to keep everyone safe.”
Threats against lawmakers have increased this year. In 2023, Capitol Police investigated nearly 8,000 threats against lawmakers, 5,000 more than the previous year. The trend is expected to increase this year because of the election.
Stil, Kevin Murphy, executive director of the Airport Law Enforcement said that the measurement proposed by Cruz would be “a burden to airport police agencies,” because federal budgets do not adequately fund airport police units. He also said it would divert police from “crime suppression and security functions at airports, which is our fundamental duty.”
According to Murphy, any escort duties for lawmakers and political VIPs should be the job of federal law enforcement.
Under Cruz’s proposals, the Transportation Security Administration would have to “arrange” a security escort, for the time the politicians are at an airport. It would also grant VIPs the ability to be screened without delay.
Had these measures been enacted in 2021, no one might have known that Cruz flew to Cancun while Texas was hit by one of the most powerful winter storms in history. After his pictures were published, he returned to the U.S. and handed out water bottles to storm-stricken residents while blaming his daughters for the getaway.
