Cruz Slams Cuellar for Voting to Lessen Penalties for Criminals

Senator Ted Cruz

Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) is accusing Democrats of facilitating the rise of car jackings. Moreover, Senator Cruz slammed Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar (D) for assisting in this issue after having been car jacked earlier this year.

Senator Cruz recently discussed rising crime in D.C., warning that “D.C. is nuts.” Specifically, Senator Cruz claims that Democrats are to blame because they’ve taken measures to soften penalties against people committing crimes.

“The crime we’re seeing across the country that’s skyrocketing – we’re seeing it in D.C. – because they let violent criminals go,” he argues.

In early October, Rep. Cuellar was robbed at gunpoint.

He was robbed around 9:30 p.m. outside of his apartment building, which is about a mile south of the Capitol building.

Rep. Cuellar's Chief of Staff, Jacob Hochberg, released a statement on social media soon after the car jacking, explaining that “as Congressman Cuellar was parking his car… 3 armed assailants approached the Congressman and stole his vehicle.”

In response to “skyrocketing murder rates” and “skyrocketing car jackings,” Senator Cruz argues that the City Council has made it easier for people to avoid punishment for crimes. “They passed legislation to lower the penalties for murder, for violent crimes, for car jackings,” Senator Cruz explained.

The legislation “was so extreme, that even the Democrats in Congress – some of them – were willing to stand up to them.”

In a vote, however, the House “overturned the lessening of those penalties.”

“All but two Democrats voted in favor of lowering the penalties for murder, lowering the penalties for car jackings. One of those two was Henry Cuellar.”

Rep. Cuellar has not responded to Senator Cruz’s comments, and he has not commented on the vote.

Republicans have positioned themselves as the “tough on crime” party, and the Republican presidential candidates have admitted that they will implement stronger measures to ensure that crime rates drastically go down.

Daniel Molina

Daniel Molina is a managing editor and legislative correspondent with a decade of experience covering the evolving political landscape of the American South and Southwest.