Cruz told POLITICO that his amendment is about ensuring that political VIPs aren’t endangered as they pass through public spaces in airports.
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 Texas Republican — infamously photographed by a gawker while en route to Cancún in 2021 — is proposing a bill amendment that would offer lawmakers a dedicated security escort at airports, along with expedited screening outside of public view. That could make it much less likely that the politicians’ comings and goings would become fodder for embarrassing news reports and late-night comedy mockery.
The measure would also provide the same special treatment to federal judges and Cabinet members, as well as a limited number of their family and staff. Cruz is trying to attach the amendment to a major aviation policy bill, S. 1939, that is expected to be marked up in the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday.
Kenneth Copeland. The URL for this is a little unwieldy since it was archived with a bunch of parameters but here’s the video where he says it. Little after 2:50 if you want to skip to that part, first few minutes have some interesting weirdness too though.
There’s also this interview about the quote where he does a pretty good reenactment of the Fellowship of the Rings movie scene where Bilbo lunges at the ring around Frodo’s neck (timestamp 4:15).