Cruz delivers opening statement at markup to subpoena docs over housing of illegal immigrants at Logan Airport

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In his opening statement at today’s Senate Commerce Committee Executive Session to authorize subpoenas, Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) highlighted how oversight within the Senate’s standing committees has become rare, and pledged that the Commerce Committee will continue to engage in robust oversight under his leadership. Introducing the subpoena for documents and materials from the Massachusetts Port Authority, Sen. Cruz outlined his investigation into the Biden administration's practice of housing illegal immigrants at domestic airports, including Boston’s Logan Airport. Massport refused to comply with the Committee’s oversight requests. Sen. Cruz also noted that the Committee would not be voting on subpoenas for two additional entities, Bonterra and Newpoint Strategies, after these companies made good-faith efforts to comply with the Committee’s requests.

Here are Sen. Cruz’s remarks as delivered:

“The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will come to order. Today, the Committee will execute on one of Congress’s most indispensable responsibilities: oversight. Whether it is to defend the taxpayer or to stop malfeasance, Congress possesses the ‘means of inquiry,’ as founding father James Wilson put it, to help inform its legislative work. But in recent years, the Senate has allowed its oversight muscles to atrophy. Oversight rarely occurs within our standing committees, and I believe our country is worse off for it. It’s a void I sought to fill as ranking member and it’s a front I will continue to lead on as chairman.

“To that end, we will be making a motion to authorize a subpoena to the Massachusetts Port Authority today. This authorization vote stems from an investigation I initiated last Congress.  

“In October 2023, I began investigating the effect of President Biden’s immigration policies on aviation and airport security. A key focus of this investigation has been the sheltering of illegal immigrants at domestic airports.

“In January 2024, following reports that O’Hare Airport was housing illegal immigrants, I and six other members of the Committee sent a letter to the Mayor of Chicago. The letter noted the obligations that come with receiving federal Airport Improvement Program funds, including that ‘the airport and its facilities must be available for public use as an airport.’ I subsequently sent letters to the Federal Aviation Administration, the association representing the owners and operators of commercial airports, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“On March 4, 2024, I along with other Republican members of the Committee, sent a letter to Massport seeking information about the illegal aliens living in Boston’s Logan International Airport, which had been acting as a sanctuary airport since at least July 2023.

“You can see this image is not what one expects of a typical airport, and it is certainly not what one expects of an airport receiving federal taxpayer funds and then diverting those funds for the political agenda of the White House, rather than devoting those funds for the stated purpose, which is to run an airport that is available to the public.

“After I sent the letter, my staff reached out to Massport a total of nine separate times by email and by phone. In August, having still received no response to my March letter, I sent another letter instructing Massport to preserve all records referring or relating to (1) the housing or sheltering of illegal aliens at airports or airport facilities, (2) law enforcement incidents involving illegal aliens at or involving an airport, and (3) communications with federal officials. I requested a response by August 23, 2024, and stated that failure to respond could result in compulsion.

“I never heard a thing. To date, the questions from my March 2024 letter have not been answered, though I will note that, in the past few days, my staff has had improved conversations with Massport about its compliance. That said, Massport was given ample opportunity to engage with the Committee. Its recalcitrance should be contrasted with the approach of the City of Chicago and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, both of which engaged and provided requested documents and communications.

“That's why we’re not voting on any compulsory process concerning Chicago O’Hare Airport or JFK Airport, because those two institutions made the decision to comply with Senate oversight. It was Massport alone that made the decision to utterly defy and ignore our oversight efforts. That’s why we are voting today to authorize a subpoena to Massport. Whether the subpoena will, in fact, be issued will depend on large part on Massport’s actions moving forward.  

“Important to note, we’re not voting today to authorize subpoenas on two other entities that we had planned to and noticed initially: Bonterra and NewPoint Strategies. That’s because they have made good-faith efforts to comply. Bonterra, a tech company that was the subject of an oversight report I put out last year about how tech platforms were deplatforming conservative organizations with which they disagreed politically, Bonterra, like Massport had refused to comply with reasonable oversight. However, upon noticing this hearing to authorize the issuance of a subpoena, Bonterra reached out and affirmatively agreed to provide the requested documents by March 19. I intend to hold the company to that commitment.

“Similarly, just last night, the second of the three subpoenas that we were going to vote on today, a subpoena directed at NewPoint Strategies […] Just last night NewPoint Strategies reached out and affirmatively produced the documents we had requested. I intend to review these documents and ensure that NewPoint, which was given thousands in taxpayer dollars to conduct ‘diversity training’ for Department of Commerce employees, is held to account.

“NewPoint is one of several companies whose products run afoul of the president’s recent Executive Order on ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.’ I worry that vendors like NewPoint have been attempting to whitewash their liberal bias and rebrand materials to evade the President’s directive.  

“The company has deleted multiple pages from its website, including an incriminating article titled ‘Don’t Cut Back on DEI – Here Are 3 Reasons Why.’ When you attempt to access that article now, you get a 404 error that suddenly the website page in question no longer exists. The Committee will remain vigilant as we review this recent production.

“There are times when we should be firm. Bonterra and NewPoint’s compliance, in the face of their previous refusal to comply, demonstrates what can be accomplished with even a little pressure. So, I urge my colleagues to vote to authorize a subpoena to Massport and send a clear message that there are consequences for failing to comply with congressional oversight.”

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