PA Bill Number: SB1198
Title: In plants and plant products, providing for plant and pollinator protection; conferring powers and duties on the Department of Agriculture and ...
Description: In plants and plant products, providing for plant and pollinator protection; conferring powers and duties on the Department of Agriculture and .. ...
Last Action: Referred to AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Last Action Date: May 17, 2024
Cruz vows he'll protect Second Amendment, defends his stand on ethanol :: 02/01/2016
IDA GROVE, Iowa | Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Saturday slammed progressive policies and pointed to a conservative revolution ahead as he exhorted an enthusiastic crowd to support him in the Monday Iowa caucuses.
Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, was making his final Northwest Iowa swing to appeal for votes. He played off the energy of the Siouxlanders near him in the warm community rec center room, who laughed when he said he would return french fries to school lunches, murmured with approval when he cited Bible verses and whooped when Cruz said he would not allow any chipping away of gun ownership rights laid out in the Second Amendment.
“On the Second Amendment, you all are reminding me of a roomful of Texans,” Cruz said to the 200 people packed in the venue to hear him.
In response to a question from a man near the end of his 30-minute campaign stop, Cruz talked extensively about a topic that has dogged his Iowa candidacy. Some supporters of ethanol, a fuel blend that uses a lot of Iowa corn, have criticized Cruz for not supporting an extension to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard for ethanol. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad a few days ago said Cruz should not get the backing of Iowans, given his stance on the RFS.
The man questioning Cruz noted there is an “allegation that the gas industry owns you.” Cruz said lobbyists are trying to perpetuate a myth that he hates ethanol.
“It is complete and utter nonsense. I support ethanol,” he said.
Cruz said he supports all energy options and thinks none should be singled out for subsidies.
“There should be no mandates and no subsidies for any energy source,” he said.
On other issues, Cruz said he would repeal all of the 2010 Affordable Care Act that reformed health care in America, end the federal income tax and replace it with a flat tax and “defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”
Cruz was joined in Ida Grove by his wife, Heidi Cruz, and evangelical conservative Bob Vander Plaats, who formerly lived in Sioux City. Vander Plaats said the Republican race in Iowa has come down to a battle between Cruz and Donald Trump. Vander Plaats said Trump doesn’t have the humility to be president, given statements that mocked a person with disabilities and disparaged Vietnam War hero John McCain.
Jory Hemer, of Odebolt, Iowa, has supported Cruz for many months and was seeing him speak for the second time in the election cycle.
“(Cruz) holds himself to a high moral standard,” Hemer said. “He’s got a proven history of standing up for what he’s said he’ll stand up for.”
Cecile Bargar, of Ida Grove, said she liked what Cruz had to say as he made Biblical references, but is leaning toward supporting Trump on Monday. She said Trump is most poised to deliver on wholesale changes in how the government operates.
“At my age, I’ve heard it before -- ‘When I get to the White House, I’ll do this’ -- and it never happens,” Bargar said.
Cruz also held a Saturday evening event in Sioux City, where he was joined by influential U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and conservative media critic Glenn Beck. King in late 2015 endorsed Cruz about the time he began to rise to the top of Iowa polls, joining Trump at the top of the 12-candidate pack. King has since campaigned extensively with Cruz.
