Cruz doubles down in McConnell attack

[mystery-ak]

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/249232-cruz-doubles-down-in-mcconnell-attack

 By Kevin Cirilli - 07/26/15 03:32 PM EDT

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) doubled-down Sunday in his attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Cruz on Friday accused McConnell of lying to him about whether he had agreed to allow Democrats a vote on extending the Export-Import Bank during negotiations earlier this summer on trade legislation.

On Sunday, he repeated the charge — which McConnell and his allies have criticized.

“On Friday I gave an unusual speech, a speech unlike any I have given in this chamber. It was not a speech I was happy to give,” said Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate. “I described an explicit promise the majority leader had made to me and to all 53 Republican senators.”

He said that McConnell made a promise “in front of every Republican senator” while “looking me in the eyes [that] there was no deal on the Export-Import Bank.”

“We saw on Friday that promise was false," Cruz said. "That promise was made and that promise was broken.”

Cruz said that McConnell took steps to “force a vote to reauthorize the Export-Import bank and they were directly contrary to the promises the majority leader made to all 53 Republicans.”

“My saying so [on Friday] may be uncomfortable but it is a simple fact,” Cruz said.

He also responded to critics.

“I would note that it is entirely consistent with decorum and with the nature of this body traditionally as the world's greatest deliberative body, to speak the truth,” Cruz said. “Speaking the truth about actions is entirely consistent with civility.”

[mystery-ak]

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/249229-mcconnell-no-special-deal-needed-for-ex-im-vote

July 26, 2015, 02:25 pm
McConnell, GOP senators slam Cruz

By Jordain Carney and Kevin Cirilli



Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans on Sunday criticized their colleague Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who on Friday accused McConnell of lying about a deal to revive the Expot-Import Bank.
 
Cruz hit McConnell hard on Friday for allowing a vote on Ex-Im, which expired last month. But McConnell said there should be nothing wrong with having a vote on the issue.
 
"I don't see a reason why they shouldn't be allowed a debate and then a vote," the Republican leader said from the Senate floor. "When there is some overwhelming bipartisan support for an idea, even if I oppose it, it doesn't require some special deal to see a vote occur on that measure."
 
Ex-Im supporters in a floor vote earlier this year showed that a strong majority in the Senate want to extend Ex-Im.
 
Other Republicans close to McConnell argued that Cruz's push would create "chaos" in the Senate. Some also accused the presidential candidate of playing politics.
 
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) lamented in a floor speech that the upper chamber had been a place where "colleagues treat each other with respect."
 
“Squabbling and sanctimony may be tolerated on the campaign trail but not in here," Hatch said.
 
He called for an end for senators using the Senate floor as a means of "advancing personal ambitions" to "promote a personal campaign" and "fundraise."
 
Cruz on Sunday is asking the Senate to overturn a ruling that blocked him from offering his own amendment to the fedaeral highway spending bill. McConnell used a Senate procedural tactic on Friday that prevents additional amendments from being considered.
 
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said in a floor speech that Cruz's effort "would destroy regular order in the Senate."
 
"It would create chaos in the Senate," Alexander said.
 
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said on the Senate floor that Cruz's effort would create "chaos."
 
"We will lose all control of the Senate's schedule," he said on the Senate floor. "I certainly don't think it's in the best effort of the American people."
 
Cornyn said that "there was no misrepresentation made the by majority leader on the Ex-Im Bank."
 
On the floor Friday, Cruz said McConnell in a private conversation denied to him that there was no deal to allow a vote on Ex-Im.
 
This story was updated at 3:09 p.m.

[EdinVA]

...would destroy regular order in the Senate...

Now how can asking for an amendment to be debated destroy anything other than a rigged system?

I guess Cruz's position is that it is not worth being here if I cannot do my job so either it gets fixed or else..

[bkepley]

Now how can asking for an amendment to be debated destroy anything other than a rigged system?

I guess Cruz's position is that it is not worth being here if I cannot do my job so either it gets fixed or else..

Or it is Cruz's position that is now or never.  Young man in a hurry.

[EdinVA]

Or it is Cruz's position that is now or never.  Young man in a hurry.

You may be right BK...
He just strikes me a more deliberate but frustrated with the system.
Trump is the one that looks to be in a hurry... but not young.. :)