In anticipation of this vote, Cruz publicly urged Congress to vote in favor of fast-track authority.
“Congress needs to strengthen the country’s bargaining position by establishing trade-promotion authority, also known as TPA, which is an arrangement between Congress and the president for negotiating and considering trade agreements. In short, TPA is what U.S. negotiators need to win a fair deal for the American worker,” Cruz and Ryan said in their Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Cruz and Ryan also pitched the passage as an important step toward helping the domestic workforce. “TPA is what U.S. negotiators need to win a fair deal for the American worker,” they said. “One in five American jobs depends on trade, and that share is only going to grow.”
On May 22, Trade Promotion Authority passed the Senate 62-37 with bipartisan support. Cruz was among the 48 Republicans and 14 Democrats who voted “yes.”
I am getting tired of having to tell Cruz supporters that fact.
After he voted for TPA the first time around, Cruz hit the airwaves to defend his position and his conservative credentials.
“There is nobody in the United States Congress who has stood up and fought President Obama more than I have,” Cruz said in one interview. “This has been a lawless president who has abused his power, and every turn … I had been leading the fight.”
“I don’t trust this president any more than you do,” he added. “But at the same time, my top priority in the Senate has been jobs and economic growth.”
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/245814-cruz-does-180-on-fast-track