Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Ted Cruz Announces Candidacy With Focus On Agenda of Religious Conservatives

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz yesterday became the first to officially announce his candidacy for President of the United States in 2016.  In a speech at Liberty University (full text) directed particularly at Christian Conservatives, Cruz enumerated the Conservative agenda and said in part:
Today, roughly half of born again Christians aren’t voting. They’re staying home. Imagine instead millions of people of faith all across America coming out to the polls and voting our values.
CBS News described his speech as "an impassioned appeal to the religious right."

In another move that focuses on concerns of the religious right, Cruz announced last week that he has introduced two joint resolutions in Congress to overturn recently enacted legislation by the D.C. City Council. (S.J. Res. 10;  S.J. Res. 11). As described by Cruz's press release:
In January, the District enacted the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014, which could require employers to provide health plans that cover abortion services, and the Human Rights Amendment Act of 2014, which could force religious schools to support activities that violate the tenets of their faith.
Congress has until April 17 to act to prevent the D.C. laws from taking effect. (See prior related posting.)