Ted Cruz’s Idea To Safeguard Lawmakers At Airports Was Blocked

(NewsReady.com) – Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) knows what it’s like to receive unwelcome attention in airports. The lawmaker was famously photographed jetting off to Cancún, Mexico, in 2021, when people were freezing to death in his state. He returned from vacation early and apologized to Texans who were angry with him, saying it was a mistake. Cruz recently introduced a measure to make it harder for Americans to interact with politicians and others at the airport, but it was blocked.

Cruz supported a provision to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that would have allowed judges and lawmakers facing credible threats, to get special security at airports. The guards would have escorted the individuals through the airport.

Additionally, the provision would have allowed those individuals to go through special screening. Basically, they would have received the same treatment as senior administration officials, like Cabinet secretaries. Currently, lawmakers and judges are required to go through the same screenings as every other traveler.

However, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, stepped in and blocked the provision. Sources told The Hill that Thompson blocked the provision after the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lobbied against it.

Critics accused Cruz of trying to block lawmakers from public view to avoid embarrassing media coverage like his Mexico trip. The lawmaker denied the allegations. Earlier this year, he said he supported the measure because there are “serious security threats facing public officials” and he wants to “keep everyone safe.”

Kevin Murphy, the head of the Airport Law Enforcement Agencies Network, told POLITICO that the measure would have been “a burden to airport police agencies.” Further, he said it would have diverted officers from “crime suppression and security functions,” which is their “fundamental duty.”

Murphy suggested lawmakers receive escorts from federal law enforcement agencies to keep the burden on the government, not underfunded airport police officers.