Want to see what political desperation looks like? There’s a race going on in Texas where Democratic Rep. Colin Allred is challenging incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz for his seat, and Allred has taken some odd positions and made some suspicious claims. It’s not unusual to brag and boast during an election, but Allred has been particularly brazen about it.
He recently caused a stir when he released campaign ads showing him standing at the border in front of the wall while explaining his position on immigration. The problem? Allred is not only publicly opposed to the border wall, but also openly calls its existence racist. Today, like the unpredictable Kamala Harris, he seems adept at pouncing on other people’s problems during the campaign. The latest statement is even more brazen and even more hilariously refuted.
Congress just passed a White House bill that would expand the CHIPS Act and encourage domestic technology production. The Building Chips In America Act will ensure that federal regulations and other environmental obstacles are addressed and easily circumvented to allow for the construction of more manufacturing facilities and the creation of many modern jobs. And Colin Allred is here to take credit for it.
After the bill passed the House of Representatives, the congressman issued a press release in which He actually calls this the “Allred legislation.” As we will show, it takes real courage for him to make that claim. As he says, the bill will now be sent to the President for his signature.
The bill now goes to President Biden. It was also introduced in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA-50), and Congressman Brandon Williams (R-NY-22). The Building Chips in America Act was introduced in the Senate by U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Todd Young (R-IN), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
This is a telling detail that undermines Allred’s claim to this bill. First of all, it is vital to note that it is not going to the Senate. That would be the chamber where this bill has been originating since last summer. It was written in July 2023 and only came to the House in December of this year, so we can see that calling it “Allred legislation” is already a stretch.
You may have noticed that his opponent in the Senate race, Ted Cruz, is not on the list. Understandably, he doesn’t want to support the man he’s trying to unseat, but Allred has actually spoken out and said that Cruz is going too far in trying to take credit for the bill.
A win for Texas! The House of Representatives passed our bill, the Building Chips in America Act, to streamline permitting processes and advance CHIPS Act projects. We got this done thanks to a team from both sides of the aisle.
Ted Cruz wants to take credit for this. Typical Ted, who behaves like a “me guy.”
— Colin Allred (@ColinAllredTX) 24 September 2024
An fascinating aspect is that Samsung, one of the semiconductor companies directly affected and which will be able to build modern production facilities after the passage of this law, has expressed its gratitude to the politicians involved. Curiously, Colin Allred is not among these names. But another name is there.
#Samsung welcomes the passage of the Building Chips in America Act, which ensures that US innovation continues to rise! A BIG thank you to @SenMarkKelly @SenTedCruz @RepScottPeters @JenKiggans for your bipartisan leadership on this legislation.
— SamsungDC (@SamsungDC) 23 September 2024
While Allred played a role in getting the bill passed in the House, his claim that Cruz was taking credit for something he had no say in is the height (lowest?) of political desperation. Ted Cruz co-authored the bill with Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), so much so that while it was being drafted and voted on in the Senate, it was referred to as…The Kelly-Cruz bill.”
There was a subcommittee hearing with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo where the details of this bill were worked out. We see the Secretary having a direct conversation with Cruz and fully supporting the modern parameters of the Kelly-Cruz bill. (Highlight added.) “We have built a team at the Department of Commerce that is focused exclusively on business permitting to help states streamline the process and expedite it within the framework of existing laws. We need to – what your amendment will achieve – streamline the process, speed up the process.”
REGARD: @SecRaimondo supports @SenTedCruzAmendment to the NDAA to streamline the approval process for new semiconductor projects:
“We need to streamline the process, speed it up, make it more efficient and user-friendly – and that is what your amendment would do…” pic.twitter.com/E5te8uIjfV
— Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee (@SenateCommerce) October 4, 2023
That is from last October. So Ted Cruz has been actively working on this policy for over a year, including by visiting semiconductor factories in Texas and Conducting public hearings to the development of this legislation. It’s brazen enough that Allred is trying to take the blame for this, but the sheer delusion it takes to say Ted Cruz has no right to take credit for this is bordering on the pathological.
