
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) plans to attach an amendment this week to an aviation policy bill scheduled for consideration by the Senate Commerce Committee that would increase security for members of Congress while traveling in commercial airports.
If passed into law, Cruz’s proposal would allow members of Congress and their family members to request additional personal security while traveling through the nation’s airports if they were recently the “subject of a threat.” The amendment would also boost security for cabinet members and U.S. federal judges.
Sen. Ted Cruz, is proposing legislation that would provide lawmakers with a dedicated security escort and expedited airport screening, potentially making their travel less visible to the public.https://t.co/UPp7bRXiQO https://t.co/XRRHAroWXi
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) February 3, 2024
The bill would require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to provide a personal security escort to travel with federal lawmakers, judges, cabinet members and their families “through a commercial airport without delay” and at no cost.
Congressional delegates would also receive private, expedited screening, and their escorts would be required to stay with them “for the entirety of the time” they are traveling.
The amendment comes as delegates to Congress face increasing threats while traveling and at work or home. According to the U.S. Capitol Police, there were 8,000 threats it investigated in 2023, a staggering increase over the 500 reported threats the prior year.
Ted Cruz wants lawmakers to get security escorts through America’s airports https://t.co/CueP8kklxR
— POLITICO (@politico) February 3, 2024
Sen. Cruz recently told Politico his amendment would ensure that political figures are not at risk of danger from the public as they move through public spaces in airports. There are “serious security threats facing public officials,” said Cruz on Tuesday. “It’s important that we take reasonable measures to keep everyone safe.”
The Politico report on the Cruz amendment suggested that the bill was some personal vendetta after a gawker photographed the Texas Senator in an airport on a trip to Cancún in 2021 during a ferocious nationwide snowstorm that damaged infrastructure and left many in danger of freezing temperatures without electrical power.
“Viral photos of politicians jetting off to a tropical hideaway during a deadly cold wave might become a lot rarer under legislation being pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz,” the report said. There is no provision in the bill that prohibits the public from taking photographs of members of Congress in airports.